Email from and to Randy aboard TSGB has been delayed these first few days. A couple of messages from him may have disappeared altogether into the ether. But here are a few tidbits that have drifted in recently.
Thursday, 5/4/06 at 4:00 p.m.
"We'll be 30 miles off the tip of Baja in another couple of hours. Would have already gone past (even though we're too far out to see it), but we spent from 0800 to 1200 going in circles as the 1st-year cadets got their first taste of 'rubber docking.' ...they throw a buoy overboard and students pretend it's a dock they have to pull up to. One student I watched make the circle did pretty well. I don't know about the others.
"Sea temp is up to 65. ... The noon sun is absolutely straight overhead, so really intense even with the air temp still in the high 60s. A bit cloudy this morning, but now sunny with brilliant blue seas.
"My astronomy class had its first star gazing last night, since it was our first clear night. Everyone was pretty excited and having a good time. 'What's that? What's that?' I'm having them keep a journal of their observations. My energy class has its first 'lab' tomorrow with the various things I brought.
"Seeing an increasing amount of ship traffic, mostly tankers. And a few fishing boats. Didn't see any the first 2 or 3 days. Saw a couple of dolphin this morning, but they didn't stick around. Still no birds around."
Friday, 5/5/06 at 10:00 p.m.
"Just came down off deck from star viewing with my class. Now getting quite warm - shirt-sleeve weather on deck at night even with a stiff breeze. But it was partially overcast, and the moon is now straight overhead, so viewing conditions were pretty marginal. Would have been able to see the Southern Cross from this latitude, but too cloudy toward the south.
"We zipped past the tip of Baja this morning, close enough to see the mountains fairly distinctly. The morning's rubber docking practice got cancelled after the wind came up rather strong. We're now into flying fish territory. Quite a few schools of them leaping out of the waves at various times during the day. The CM cadets often fish off the back during the day. One told me they had caught a couple of skipjacks, but not really very much considering how long they leave the lines out.
"As you'll see in the Captain's log, we're making a detour to Panama to buy fuel. It costs well over a million dollars to 'fill 'er up' (I wonder if they take credit cards?), and apparently fuel is enough cheaper in Panama to save a couple hundred thousand dollars. Certainly enough to justify the detour. They can run both training cruises of the summer (we're just the first cruise of two) from one full load of fuel. We won't be cleared to leave the ship, so we'll have to be content with looking at Balboa from the water. This will keep us running relatively close to land all the way down rather than cutting across from Mexico to Peru through the Galapagos. Looks like a couple of weeks of toasty tropical weather before it starts turning cool as we get into late fall in the southern hemisphere."
Saturday, 5/6/06 at 9:00 p.m.
"...just finished my 6:30 p.m. astronomy class for Sat. Never taught a Sat. night class before! Sunday is a free day - not even call to quarters for the cadets - and the captain is hosting a bar-b-que on the fantail tomorrow afternoon. BBQ ribs and BBQ chicken on the menu for dinner tomorrow.
"Definitely tropical now. Temps in the mid-70s, sea temp up to 80, and very humid. Fortunately, there's been quite a good breeze the last two afternoons. The word had been to prepare for the ship being overly cold. The classrooms are, indeed, rather cool, but my stateroom and some of the other areas are quite warm. Didn't see any flying fish today, but did see a first frigate bird when I went up after class to see sunset.
"Scheduled to be in Zhihuatenejo (terribly misspelled, I'm sure) by dawn Monday, and everyone will be cleared to go ashore right after call-to-quarters at 7:45. Have to be back on the ship midnight Wed night for a middle-of-the-night departure for Panama. We're anchoring in this port, so we go back and forth to shore in some of the tenders. I'm not sure of the details. The Captain and his wife, who apparently is flying down, are hosting an on-shore reception for faculty and officers on Tuesday afternoon.
"I think tomorrow [Sunday] will be laundry day. Laundry is forbidden while we're at anchor because they're not running the water generator, and I think I'll run out of socks before Thursday. Grade a couple of quizzes and lounge around."
No comments:
Post a Comment