Date/Time: 16 Mar 07 2000 hours
Latitude and Longitude: Norfolk, Virginia
Entry
“Hello Journal! At 0730 I went to chow, had my apple juice with my fellow cadets, and was at muster by 0800. The boatswain, [name removed,] is a rather large man with a deep, booming voice – I could tell the deck gang respected him. He didn’t require us to work – we had to officially be signed on since no one was around yesterday. We went to the purser’s office, and she took care of all our documents, endorsed our orders, etc. Next, we went to the ship’s doctor, but he told us to come back since he was going on leave. We were then summoned by the cargo mate – who is actually a 2nd mate, but is in charge of cargo operations, not navigating. He wanted us to help the deck gang clean out a storage area in the forward truck tunnels. Truck tunnels on this ship act as storage areas – paint, dunnage, unrep gear, forklifts, etc. They are open structured that remind me something like incomplete decks – like glorified carports or open garages. There are 3 in all, forward, midships, and aft. We went forward and worked with [the deck gang.] [One of the senior sailors] had us moving old unrep gear into boxes, which would be transported by forklifts to different areas for restowage or disposal. He showed us NATO fittings, a triangular faced coupling that allows our ship to fuel older NATO vessels. He said we used them rarely anymore since everyone is moving to the universal fittins. At 1120, we knocked off for lunch with the task practically done. At 1300, the Chief Mate and Master met us, gave us the ‘stay out of trouble and welcome aboard’ speech. Then they gave us the weekend off. We spent the rest of the day walking the ship, working out, etc. Wow, I wish I had more room to write . . . Us cadets are headed off to the movies!”
Reflection
I didn’t really comment much here – but the boatswain was over 6′5″ and was just huge. His voice was that deep Barry White sounding sort of voice. He was always respectful to the deck gang, no matter what – he always addressed them as “Gentlemen,” and anytime there were females on deck, he would address them as “Ladies.” As a cadet at sea, I was very unaccustomed to the boatswain being respectful. The boatswain is the senior member of the deck maintenance gang – basically he’s the foreman. He’s the front-line manager. He’s your platoon sergeant, whatever. They’re supposed to be the roughest, toughest old salts on the ship. . . but I suppose the moral there is not to judge people based on their profession. I came to like and respect this “Gentleman Boatswain” as time went on. I’m sure he’d probably think I’m a bit weird for saying that – but that’s kind of how I remember him.
Also something I’d like to note – this was my first crack at working on the ship. That means these guys, who have seen countless numbers of cadets come aboard their ships, saw me just like any other. I had to prove that, on DAY ONE, I was willing to work and learn the trade. . . I think I did that. They told me later on that my fellow cadet and I were the hardest-working they had seen yet. . . So it just goes to show work hard on day one, and it won’t go unnoticed.
