Today was the day for the infamous “deck wars” - a competition of skill, strength and rope-throwing marksmanship among all the ship’s deck-side cadets. It’s in this ultimate test of will that they focus their talents on winning by drawing upon all they have learned during the 2014 cruise, assuming they have been paying attention!
The competition took place in the morning between the three teams - stern, bow, and house - and began with a firefighting competition. In essence, this involved turning a hose on a buoy that was hanging from a rope, and seeing which team could push it the farthest. While I still have no idea who won in this division due to all the spray, we all had a great time watching and getting partially hosed on this warm and sunny August morning!
Other events in this fateful challenge included throwing a heaving line around the arms of a scarecrow longshoreman, aiming a bowline around one of the bits, and a contest to see who could throw on their fire gear the fastest!
As the contest unfolded, a three-way tug of war was by far the event that received the most shouts and cheers from the crowd. Each team put their strongest feet forward and pulled their hardest for three intensive matches. As the results came in, the crowd grew quiet as Mate Vecchio announced the winner….Congratulations to the ‘house’ team, winner of the cruise B 2014 deck wars - and good luck to all the cadets in their future endeavours!
This is our last evening at sea and we will spend it bbq-ing while anchored off Stapleton, NY before breezing through New York Harbor early tomorrow morning. The best part of the cruise, however, is only a few hours away when we get to see and greet all of you back at SUNY Maritime’s Fort Schuyler!
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