Delivery of email both going to and coming from The Golden Bear has been sporadic in spite of many promises that everything has been "fixed." So here are missives from Randy for the last 3 days.
From Sunday, May 14, 2006
"Another BBQ completed, BBQ in the common sense of grilling, not BBQ as you would wish to use the term. Steak this time. Not as good as last week's ribs. They do dogs and burgers too for those so inclined. A couple of the officers start cooking midafternoon, and sometimes the captain even takes a turn. Then food serving starts around 5. There's a stereo set up on the fantail for (loud) music, and last week the students hung around until quite late. A couple of squalls passed on either side of us this morning, but it didn't rain at the ship and it's been quite lovely this afternoon.
"If you check your map, you'll see that Panama is very snake-like. We've rounded the southern tip and are currently heading due east. I guess we'll have to swing around to north during the night to reach Balboa. I understand we'll pass under the Transamerica Highway Bridge before going wherever it is we have to go. Sounds like about an 8-hour process - if all goes well- so we should be in Panama all day tomorrow [Monday, May 15] but, with luck, head out tomorrow night. Lots of ship traffic now that we're so close to the canal."
From Monday, May 15, 2006
"Dropped anchor in the bay outside Balboa about 8:30. I counted 35 - 40 other ships anchored here and there, waiting their turn through the canal or waiting for fuel or just waiting. I guess diplomatic negotiations ensued. We hoisted anchor about 10:30 to proceed on into Balboa. I missed most of it because I was in class. We were just edging up to the dock, assisted by a tug, when I came out of class.
"We're in a humongous shipyard pretty much right inside the Transamerica Highway Bridge. Ships and giant cranes and heavy lifting machines all over the place. It took well over an hour to rig up large, heavy hoses (look to be about 6 inch inside diameter) and get them hooked up to the dockside pumps and to the ship. Everything is bolted together with heavy bolts. They started pumping about 3, and I hear they pump 2000 barrels per hour. If all goes according to plan, we should be filled around midnight, then they have to get everything disconnected and pull us out of the dock. I expect Balboa will be far behind us when I get up in the morning. Scattered thunderstorms around the area this afternoon, but only sprinkles at the ship."
From Rainy Tuesday, May 16, 2006
"Word around the ship is that no email has been sent out since Sunday morning. Blaming the satellite this time. I had not received any incoming from you since Sunday morning, although this afternoon I got your Sunday email not as an actual email but as an attachment emailed to me by the IT guy. Strange. Even the officers are starting to grumble seriously about how the email is so much worse this year that we all should get refunds. Except for the couple of old timers who say they liked it better in days gone by when there was no email at all. They'd call their wives/girlfriends whenever they got to port, and that was it. I'll continue to send one out once a day, with no guarantee when (or if) it will reach you.
"Departed Panama about 2 a.m. So they say. Cloudy when I got up, then heavy rain steady since about noon with occasional thunder. With reduced visibility, the ship sounds its big horn every 2 minutes as a fog horn. It will be nice to get the salt washed off the ship. We can access all points in the ship through corridors at the lower levels, so no need to go outside while it's raining. At least for us. Cadets on watch still have to make their rounds of the ship.
"So no star viewing tonight [Tuesday]. Tonight and tomorrow are ideal times, with the moon now rising late (last week was too much moon light) and still warm temps. We'll be getting into much cooler weather in another couple of days as we round the 'corner' of South America and move into the cool Humbolt Current. And then we'll be moving into the southern hemisphere winter with shorter days. Should be mild (70) in Lima, although overcast and fog are common this time of year. Down to 10 hours of daylight or less when we reach Valparaiso.
"If we continue on our present heading and speed, I calculate we'll cross the equator at 8:30 tomorrow [Wednesday] morning. That's in the middle of oceanography, but probably worth a class break to go up topside and all watch the GPS tick down to zero. If it's not pouring."
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