Deciding to come home and leave my dream behind wasn't hard. I've already mentioned many of the things I found difficult to deal with.
My roommate was a pretty good guy. He was learning to drive the boat and did so often when in the open ocean. He was however a slob. I managed to get all of my clothes into the limited space provided but he used the shelves and floor for his. At times you could barely get to the sink and the door was always blocked with dirty clothes.
I may have mentioned the bathroom before but its worth another mention. It was shared by 4 crew members. I was tiny and the toilet rarely flushed correctly. All of us used a public toilet in another part of the boat. The shower was small and dirty. There were exposed pipes covered with corrosion, rust and mold. The cover for the vent fan was missing leaving exposed wiring about 6 inches from your head.
Remarks were make several times during the week when we attemped to go diving. No one said a word if you slept or stayed in your room when not on duty but diving seemed to be discouraged. This is very strange on a dive boat. I went diving anyway and assisted diver with finding creatures and finding their way back to the boat. Other crew members went diving my themselves and never went with customers. I just don't understand this philosophy.
One dive master was highly regarded by the captain but not at all liked by most of the crew. His dive briefings were a joke. He couldn't read or understand a compass at all and was unable to provide directions to divers. He was outstanding under water however and could find things and get around without any problems. He did dive with the guests a couple of times but was the only one to do so.
The new first mate got off the boat after only 2 days. He left when we stopped for repairs in Key West. The engineer that joined us in Belize left when I did. He said he was going to have a breakdown if he stayed another day. He said he was not properly trained and there were too many problems with the boat and its systems. I don't think its normal that 3 crew members would leave a boat within a week. This boat is a mess.
Other than the captain, cook and steward, the most senior person on the boat had been there about 6 months. They were in constant training mode with people like me that didn't stay long. They were all burned out and in need of a break.
The crew was only allowed 2 to 3 hours per week off the boat. All other live aboards dock on Friday afternoon and let most of the crew off until mid day on Saturday. This one didn't dock until late at night and no one is allowed to leave. The other boats hire local workers to clean the boat on Saturday and get it ready for the next cruise. This boat did not do that. The crew cleaned the boat and restocked it for the next cruise. The nearest restaurant (no lunch or dinner served on Saturday) or Internet cafe was at least a 1/2 hour away leaving you with an hour to call home, get email, get a haircut and do any personal business. I could not deal with that.
Monday, October 30, 2006
A WEEK AT SEA
Pictures include a part of my 5' by 9' room. No mirror on the medicine cabinet. A picture of the hatch leading to the engine room. A picture of the boat.
I hope I can remember my first and last week at sea with paying customers.
I enjoyed the week and the work is much easier than the shipyard duties. Basically, I had dive deck duties each day and then had night watch 2 times and was galley assistant once. Galley assistant is not too bad with only 6 guests on board. I had plenty of time of relax and eat more food than I care to a admit. In fact, I spent much of the week eating. There is always food available and its pretty good. I must have eaten 30 or 40 large cookies during the week.
Dive deck duties included helping get the boat hooked up to a mooring sight. One person handles a huge 2" bow line that they drop into the water. Another person jumps into the water and uses a giant shackle to fasten this line to the mooring line. A "granny" line is then dropped into the water and that is fastened to the mooring line also and the diver swims the line to the back of the boat where its attached. This line serves as a safety line in case of strong current for divers.
Other duties include filling tanks, assisting divers get into and out of their gear. I helped keep the deck clear and clean. I raised and lowered the platform as necessary. I was shocked to find out that we did not accompany the divers in the water. Unless you went diving on your "off time", no diving was involved with this job. This is very strange is not the way any of the other live aboards work. I was really disappointed.
I began to learn just how complex this boat was. Most of the systems were totally manual and included no safety devices to prevent human error. Several errors were made during this first week that resulted in various problems. One engineering assistant forgot one of several switches during a routine switch of generators and caused major problems with the chiller (air conditioning) system on the boat. I couldn't see the water level in the water reservour so and there is no shut off so the water overflowed into the engine room. It wasn't serious but it did require the use of pumps to get rid of the water. A water pipe broke one night and caused flooding in the engineering area which drained into the engine room. That water was pumped back into engineering and then fell back into the engine room again. What a mess.
Several air handlers were broken when we left Fort Lauderdale. Most were fixed by the end of the cruise week but it was always guesswork that fixed them. No one really understand them. Condensation problems occured in one guest room, in the salon, and in the lower hallway during the week. S0me of the unused rooms had waste baskets on the beds collecting falling water all week. Fans ran the entire week attempting to dry out the wet carpet and some carpet was removed and taking to the sun deck for drying.
I'm not sure if the generators are too small of it the wiring is inadequate but we were constantly warned about compressor operation. There are 3 compressors on board but only one can operate at one time. Apparantly the entire system shuts down with lots of damage if two are accidently switched on at one time. Two are on one side of the boat and the other is far away on the other side. They are all in very dark area's and its difficult to see the switches.
There are small stainless tubes (1/4" inch at most) that run from the compressor to the dive deck that supply the air or Nitrox. At least on of these tubes runs across the boat about 40 feet. It was only attached in a couple of places so it dangled around. It was leaking (surprise) so one side of the boat did not have Nitrox.
I think you can tell this boat is a mess. I don't know if its really unsafe or not but its certainly not very enjoyable when something is constantly broken. I was embarrassed the entire week by the condition of the boat. Rust is everywhere. Most doors don't work properly and you have to lean into them to get the open or closed. Over spray and paint drips are everywhere. Some things are painted but have rust holes going completely through the paint and metal surface.
Nitrox scuba tanks are suppose to be marked to indicate Nitrox is being used so air and Nitrox are not mixed up. The Nekton did not mark their tanks. The "hang tank" or safety tank placed in the water before every dive had at least 2 leaks. It was empty within an hour of being placed in the water leaving no air for emergencies.
There was an emergency on another boat during the week. The Sundancer II from Peter Hughes had a diver collapse on deck. He had been complaining of severe heartburn for two days but did nothing about it. He stoped breathing and the crew could not revive him. They hailed our boat and we had a doctor on board that immediate went to help along with an AED and some oxygen. He was unable to revive the diver however and he died.
I had the opportunity to teach a Nitrox class during the week. It was fun and easy. The student studies on their own and completes a couple of knowledge reviews and quizes. I covered those with him and explained the answers for those he missed. I then gave him a final exam and explained those missed questions. He did very well and was certified on Friday. He was my first real student.
As I said earlier, I'm back at home now. I told the captain about 10 am on Friday that I was leaving. He was not happy.
Sunday, October 29, 2006
ITS ALL OVER
I'm back home. I'll explain everything as I get caught up. Basically the boat was a mess and the job wasn't at all what I expected. More later.
Still Going
Today is Saturday and we are still about 22 hours away from Belize.
This morning I volunteered to replace the scuba tank holders on the dive deck. This was one job that didn’t require any painting for a change. I also didn’t thing it would be that dirty but it wasn’t that clean either. The plastic holders fit into an aluminum channel that is screwed onto the boat. I removed one of channels only to find out the holders themselves were damaged so badly and everything was so corroded that they wouldn’t budge. I tried another unit that had a single holder and that one worked properly so I switched it out. I was also able to remove 7 holders from the adjacent channel. In all I replaced a dozen holders but another 30 need replacing. We didn’t have any more parts however.
After lunch the captain suggested I look at their computer that wouldn’t boot. They have no disks on board – not even a repair or Windows disk. He did locate a Windows disk from a different brand PC and I tried to repair using it but it failed. I suggested that I move the hard drive to another PC so we could copy the data from it. I did that and was able to copy all of the presentations they use for customers and as well as many stolen movies. Luckily this took most of the afternoon.
Each day I’m more convinced that this is a mistake. Today I learned that the Steward (the captain’s girl friend) will no longer do watches. It seem as if she has to shortest schedule of any crew member but maybe I’m missing something.
I have been coughing badly ever since the 3rd of 4th day on board. I truly believe I may be allergic to all the mold around the boat. I’m sure its in the air.
This morning I volunteered to replace the scuba tank holders on the dive deck. This was one job that didn’t require any painting for a change. I also didn’t thing it would be that dirty but it wasn’t that clean either. The plastic holders fit into an aluminum channel that is screwed onto the boat. I removed one of channels only to find out the holders themselves were damaged so badly and everything was so corroded that they wouldn’t budge. I tried another unit that had a single holder and that one worked properly so I switched it out. I was also able to remove 7 holders from the adjacent channel. In all I replaced a dozen holders but another 30 need replacing. We didn’t have any more parts however.
After lunch the captain suggested I look at their computer that wouldn’t boot. They have no disks on board – not even a repair or Windows disk. He did locate a Windows disk from a different brand PC and I tried to repair using it but it failed. I suggested that I move the hard drive to another PC so we could copy the data from it. I did that and was able to copy all of the presentations they use for customers and as well as many stolen movies. Luckily this took most of the afternoon.
Each day I’m more convinced that this is a mistake. Today I learned that the Steward (the captain’s girl friend) will no longer do watches. It seem as if she has to shortest schedule of any crew member but maybe I’m missing something.
I have been coughing badly ever since the 3rd of 4th day on board. I truly believe I may be allergic to all the mold around the boat. I’m sure its in the air.
ON THE WAY
I had watch last night and talked to one of the boat drivers for a minute or two. At that time we were 49 hours from Belize. We should arrive about 5am on Sunday. Apparently they are entertaining the guests that were suppose to join us Saturday night. They will join us Sunday night instead.
I am still seriously considering getting off the boat in Belize and not going on the first charter. I dislike just about everything on this boat. The captain had a management style that I don’t like also.
Last night on watch, I washed a lot of dishes that were left lying around. Later I decided to do some laundry. It was still going when the Captain woke up about 6am and he was really nasty in telling me I should have finished the laundry that was lying around and should have folded the items I removed from the dryer. I had no idea whose it was or that we were responsible for folding other people’s clothes. It was his tone that was the real problem however. I explained I didn’t know the rules and he suggested that if I was home I would fold the previous clothes. Frankly, that doesn’t happen very often and you certainly wouldn’t do that at a public Laundromat. It appears that we’ll be doing laundry and dishes every time we have watch when there are guest on board. You also have to prepare the boat for the next days dives and guests.
Today I helped with the scuba tanks some more. We removed the valves again and took off the old O rings. We don’t have enough new ones so we are attempting to reuse the old ones. I cleaned them up and lubed them. I put some epoxy primer on the tanks that is suppose to help prevent rust. It is suppose to dry for 24 hours but they started painting over it within a couple of hours. It was very runny and still as wet as when I applied it. Every thing around here is done to expedite things regardless of whether its right or wrong. I looked up the procedure this morning for inspecting tanks and we definitely did not do it correctly. Steel tanks are to be left alone or sent someone so steel balls can be placed inside and tumbled to remove rust. We didn't have the tools and we used a steel cable for cleaning. This is pretty scary.
Later I was asked to clean up the sun deck. I cleaned a bunch of shelves and some storage lockers. Then I had to start cleaning chairs. We have about 40 chairs and each one had to be hand scrubbed and then washed down
I am still seriously considering getting off the boat in Belize and not going on the first charter. I dislike just about everything on this boat. The captain had a management style that I don’t like also.
Last night on watch, I washed a lot of dishes that were left lying around. Later I decided to do some laundry. It was still going when the Captain woke up about 6am and he was really nasty in telling me I should have finished the laundry that was lying around and should have folded the items I removed from the dryer. I had no idea whose it was or that we were responsible for folding other people’s clothes. It was his tone that was the real problem however. I explained I didn’t know the rules and he suggested that if I was home I would fold the previous clothes. Frankly, that doesn’t happen very often and you certainly wouldn’t do that at a public Laundromat. It appears that we’ll be doing laundry and dishes every time we have watch when there are guest on board. You also have to prepare the boat for the next days dives and guests.
Today I helped with the scuba tanks some more. We removed the valves again and took off the old O rings. We don’t have enough new ones so we are attempting to reuse the old ones. I cleaned them up and lubed them. I put some epoxy primer on the tanks that is suppose to help prevent rust. It is suppose to dry for 24 hours but they started painting over it within a couple of hours. It was very runny and still as wet as when I applied it. Every thing around here is done to expedite things regardless of whether its right or wrong. I looked up the procedure this morning for inspecting tanks and we definitely did not do it correctly. Steel tanks are to be left alone or sent someone so steel balls can be placed inside and tumbled to remove rust. We didn't have the tools and we used a steel cable for cleaning. This is pretty scary.
Later I was asked to clean up the sun deck. I cleaned a bunch of shelves and some storage lockers. Then I had to start cleaning chairs. We have about 40 chairs and each one had to be hand scrubbed and then washed down
Wednesday, October 18, 2006
KEY WEST
KEY WEST
We arrived in Key West about 9am on Wednesday. We parked at an old dock that has some very old junky boats. In fact our slip is between two partially sunken wrecks. It was a really tight fit.
The repair crew drove down from Ft. Lauderdale and arrived about 10am. They immediately started removing the broken turbo so they’d be ready when the new one arrived. Apparantly it was a real challenge getting the old one out but they finally did about 2pm. Unfortunately the new parts did arrive until about 5:30pm. It turns out that all we needed was a $5 part and they knew that several days ago. Because of some bad decisions, I estimate the repairs cost more than $5000 not counting the expenses caused by the now delayed or possibly cancelled charter that is suppose to start on Saturday. We won’t even be there by Saturday.
This boat only travels at 6 knots and its 600 miles to Belize.
We had some challenges today. The repair crew brought us a new washer and dryer while they were at it and we had to install them. Unfortunately, they don’t fit through the normal hallway in the boat so we had to bring them in using a small removable bulkhead in a storage locker at the front. We had to rip out the insulation that had just been replaced to get to the steel plates. We also had to totally empty this huge locker and the laundry room.
We were able to get the old ones out and the new ones in however. It was hard work and it was extremely hot. I believe it reached a 100. We didn’t replace the insulation and we used duct tape to cover up the cracks in the poor fitting plates. It looks horrible and it was just a quick fix.
I was able to talk to Gerri again today and I could pay $12 to connect to the Internet but I’m not sure how long we’ll be here.
I’m more convinced than ever that this job won’t last long. This boat is generally in poor condition. Because of the extremely long days when divers are aboard, the living conditions for the crew deteriorate rapidly. They is just no time for personally clean up from what I’ve heard. I also hear that there on only about 10 to 12 guest for several weeks so there are lots of empty rooms that could make things more pleasant but I don’t think we’ll be able to use them.
We arrived in Key West about 9am on Wednesday. We parked at an old dock that has some very old junky boats. In fact our slip is between two partially sunken wrecks. It was a really tight fit.
The repair crew drove down from Ft. Lauderdale and arrived about 10am. They immediately started removing the broken turbo so they’d be ready when the new one arrived. Apparantly it was a real challenge getting the old one out but they finally did about 2pm. Unfortunately the new parts did arrive until about 5:30pm. It turns out that all we needed was a $5 part and they knew that several days ago. Because of some bad decisions, I estimate the repairs cost more than $5000 not counting the expenses caused by the now delayed or possibly cancelled charter that is suppose to start on Saturday. We won’t even be there by Saturday.
This boat only travels at 6 knots and its 600 miles to Belize.
We had some challenges today. The repair crew brought us a new washer and dryer while they were at it and we had to install them. Unfortunately, they don’t fit through the normal hallway in the boat so we had to bring them in using a small removable bulkhead in a storage locker at the front. We had to rip out the insulation that had just been replaced to get to the steel plates. We also had to totally empty this huge locker and the laundry room.
We were able to get the old ones out and the new ones in however. It was hard work and it was extremely hot. I believe it reached a 100. We didn’t replace the insulation and we used duct tape to cover up the cracks in the poor fitting plates. It looks horrible and it was just a quick fix.
I was able to talk to Gerri again today and I could pay $12 to connect to the Internet but I’m not sure how long we’ll be here.
I’m more convinced than ever that this job won’t last long. This boat is generally in poor condition. Because of the extremely long days when divers are aboard, the living conditions for the crew deteriorate rapidly. They is just no time for personally clean up from what I’ve heard. I also hear that there on only about 10 to 12 guest for several weeks so there are lots of empty rooms that could make things more pleasant but I don’t think we’ll be able to use them.
A DAY OFF
Finally – A DAY OFF
Tuesday we didn’t have to do anything. We were headed to Belize finally and the captain decided to give us a free day. I did a few simple things like put carpet in my room and put in some wall hangers. I also rebuilt a guest camera table that was falling apart.
Since we were going along the coast of the Keys, I was able to get a cell signal so I talked to Gerri several times. Other than that the day was pretty slow.
I didn’t mention that I would not have made it through the previous day without the support of Gerri once again. She was able to get me calmed down enough to even discuss the problem with the president. We talked more about it today also. Basically we decided the two guys would win all around if I left the boat.
Chance and Brad haven’t talked to me since the big event of course. I say “hi” and greet them on occasion but they just ignore me. I know the crew is wondering what is going on but no one is saying a word since this is all he said, they said.
We found out about mid day that we a turbo had broken and we were headed to Key West to do repairs.
Tuesday we didn’t have to do anything. We were headed to Belize finally and the captain decided to give us a free day. I did a few simple things like put carpet in my room and put in some wall hangers. I also rebuilt a guest camera table that was falling apart.
Since we were going along the coast of the Keys, I was able to get a cell signal so I talked to Gerri several times. Other than that the day was pretty slow.
I didn’t mention that I would not have made it through the previous day without the support of Gerri once again. She was able to get me calmed down enough to even discuss the problem with the president. We talked more about it today also. Basically we decided the two guys would win all around if I left the boat.
Chance and Brad haven’t talked to me since the big event of course. I say “hi” and greet them on occasion but they just ignore me. I know the crew is wondering what is going on but no one is saying a word since this is all he said, they said.
We found out about mid day that we a turbo had broken and we were headed to Key West to do repairs.
Wow! What a day!
Wow! Monday was interesting. All of us that were not STCW certified had to get off the boat about 7:30 am for the coast guard inspection. We were taken to the Nekton offices that are in a large commercial type garage. We never went into the offices themselves to I have no idea what they look like but the outside was very unimpressive. The garage area was cluttered with junk and 3 new freezers. We had to use a special paint on the bottom and hinges that is suppose to inhibit rust. These are regular indoor freezers that are kept outside exposed to the salt air and they deteriorate rapidly. Anyway the paint was really for aluminum and not steel but we used it anyway. We then covered it up with white marine paint.
When we finished we were allowed to go off and run errands for several hours. I had to ride with Chance (the guy that lived in the car) and Brad. The car was a mess and full of clothes, booze and junk. I barely had room to sit in the back seat. I was seated right next to a speaker panel and the music was often turned up full blast. Chance drives like a mad man and the entire trip was horrible.
We started off by going to a storage facility to Chance could find out how much it would cost to store his car. He used his dad’s name and attempted to use his dad’s credit card number without actually having a card. After some discussion the facility just said he couldn’t stay there. It was just too fishy.
Next we hit a dive shop and Brad bought a $1000 worth of equipment and I bought a back up computer since I got instructor pricing.
We had lunch at some little pub and it was okay but not great. We all wanted some “real” food for a change.
I suggested we pick up the pace of things so we could get back to the boat. Both of the other guys didn’t like that idea and wanted to fool around for awhile so they didn’t have to work. I explained that the rest of the crew was working and it wasn’t fair for us to be messing around. They were not impressed.
Brad was upset and called the captain to find out how things were going. He determined the inspection wasn’t done yet but we had to go take a drug test. Suddenly the mood changed. Brad reached down onto the floor and pulled up two bottles of something. It was some sort of drink that is supposed to fool drug tests. They drank it down but it was apparently horrible tasting and they both gagged on it several times. Chance asked my to get him a bottle of booze from the back sit so he could mix it into this crap. I found a bottle of booze and he poured just a little bit into the bottle.
They started laughing histerically and said the hoped this $50 a bottle stuff would really work. Chance asked Brad it he thought it was worth while to “smoke” on the last night. Both agreed it was and kept laughing and joking about the entire situation.
Then we went to Lowes so I could buy some hooks and things to help create space in my crew cabin. I bought a few things but there were several items I wanted that I couldn’t find.
We headed off to another dive shop and every time a “good” song came on Chance would crank up the volume. I was so mad about the drugs, booze, crazy driving and loud music that I finally said “Stop the car, I want out”. They stopped and let me out at an Arby’s. I called the office and asked for a ride. Some of the staff was gone already so I had to call someone at the boat. I explained what I had witnessed and that I was standing on a street corner and needed a ride.
The president of the company showed up about an hour later. He wanted all the facts and details which I provided as best I could. He seemed genuinely concerned and we talked about it for a while and he drove me to take my drug test. Chance and Brad showed up at the same time. We all took the test but the results wouldn’t be known for 3 days. Chance and Brad proceeded on there way and John (the president) returned to pick me up. He purchased some immediate results drug tests for them to take. I was taken to the boat and he proceeded to pick them up at another storage facility. He took them to the office and did the drug test which they both passed. Apparently the cover up worked and I was now the bad guy with no proof.
John discussed the situation with me and still seemed concerned. I had said I wouldn’t be going on the boat if Chance and Brad went so he now wanted to know my plan. He recommended I stay since their test was negative so I decided I would give it a try.
As I said “wow, what a day”.
When we finished we were allowed to go off and run errands for several hours. I had to ride with Chance (the guy that lived in the car) and Brad. The car was a mess and full of clothes, booze and junk. I barely had room to sit in the back seat. I was seated right next to a speaker panel and the music was often turned up full blast. Chance drives like a mad man and the entire trip was horrible.
We started off by going to a storage facility to Chance could find out how much it would cost to store his car. He used his dad’s name and attempted to use his dad’s credit card number without actually having a card. After some discussion the facility just said he couldn’t stay there. It was just too fishy.
Next we hit a dive shop and Brad bought a $1000 worth of equipment and I bought a back up computer since I got instructor pricing.
We had lunch at some little pub and it was okay but not great. We all wanted some “real” food for a change.
I suggested we pick up the pace of things so we could get back to the boat. Both of the other guys didn’t like that idea and wanted to fool around for awhile so they didn’t have to work. I explained that the rest of the crew was working and it wasn’t fair for us to be messing around. They were not impressed.
Brad was upset and called the captain to find out how things were going. He determined the inspection wasn’t done yet but we had to go take a drug test. Suddenly the mood changed. Brad reached down onto the floor and pulled up two bottles of something. It was some sort of drink that is supposed to fool drug tests. They drank it down but it was apparently horrible tasting and they both gagged on it several times. Chance asked my to get him a bottle of booze from the back sit so he could mix it into this crap. I found a bottle of booze and he poured just a little bit into the bottle.
They started laughing histerically and said the hoped this $50 a bottle stuff would really work. Chance asked Brad it he thought it was worth while to “smoke” on the last night. Both agreed it was and kept laughing and joking about the entire situation.
Then we went to Lowes so I could buy some hooks and things to help create space in my crew cabin. I bought a few things but there were several items I wanted that I couldn’t find.
We headed off to another dive shop and every time a “good” song came on Chance would crank up the volume. I was so mad about the drugs, booze, crazy driving and loud music that I finally said “Stop the car, I want out”. They stopped and let me out at an Arby’s. I called the office and asked for a ride. Some of the staff was gone already so I had to call someone at the boat. I explained what I had witnessed and that I was standing on a street corner and needed a ride.
The president of the company showed up about an hour later. He wanted all the facts and details which I provided as best I could. He seemed genuinely concerned and we talked about it for a while and he drove me to take my drug test. Chance and Brad showed up at the same time. We all took the test but the results wouldn’t be known for 3 days. Chance and Brad proceeded on there way and John (the president) returned to pick me up. He purchased some immediate results drug tests for them to take. I was taken to the boat and he proceeded to pick them up at another storage facility. He took them to the office and did the drug test which they both passed. Apparently the cover up worked and I was now the bad guy with no proof.
John discussed the situation with me and still seemed concerned. I had said I wouldn’t be going on the boat if Chance and Brad went so he now wanted to know my plan. He recommended I stay since their test was negative so I decided I would give it a try.
As I said “wow, what a day”.
Sunday, October 15, 2006
ARE WE HAVING FUN YET
Friday was another day of more painting. For that matter so was Saturday. This boat needs a lot of paint and a lot of work. Anyway, nothing to unusual happened on Friday.
In addition to the painting I also helped load more crap into a trailer so they can bring all this stuff back when the coast guard leaves. In addition, I helped throw out tons of trash. The new carpet is almost done and we trashed all of the little extra pieces and scraps. I saved a piece so I can carpet my room if I ever find time. Now that I think about it, I should be able to do that today (Sunday) since I'm currently on watch again. Its about 4:15 am and they let me go back to bed for a couple of hours after my shift ends at 7 am.
We learnd a little (very little) about MARSEC today. That's the marine equivelant of the homeland securty stuff for land based security. We also had a meeting on the various emergency procedures such as fires, man overboard and abandon ship. Since I'm not STCW certified, I only listened and didn't participate. Later today we are suppose to go out to sea and practice some of this stuff some more.
I signd all of the employment papers today and they are really strange. There were about 20 or more pages most of them saying you have no rights, no benefits and lots of extra costs that you are responsible for. (STCW certification and your own gear for which they take no responsibility regardless it its stolen or lost) They take no responsibility for anything except the mandatory workers compensation. They pay you $6 a day if you get hurt. WOW!
This situation has got to get a lot better if I'm going to stay. They claim it will be fun once we get passengers so I"m hoping that's the case. I think I can survive long enough to give that a try. I did read one thing however that really bugs me. The old crew actually takes a vote after your first week working with passengers to determine if you get to stay or not. The customers don't matter, your work doesn't matter, and the captain doesn't matter. This is really strange and I don't like it very much. If they are worried that you might be more popular with guests and get some private tips, they could vote you off. That makes no sense to me.
In addition to the painting I also helped load more crap into a trailer so they can bring all this stuff back when the coast guard leaves. In addition, I helped throw out tons of trash. The new carpet is almost done and we trashed all of the little extra pieces and scraps. I saved a piece so I can carpet my room if I ever find time. Now that I think about it, I should be able to do that today (Sunday) since I'm currently on watch again. Its about 4:15 am and they let me go back to bed for a couple of hours after my shift ends at 7 am.
We learnd a little (very little) about MARSEC today. That's the marine equivelant of the homeland securty stuff for land based security. We also had a meeting on the various emergency procedures such as fires, man overboard and abandon ship. Since I'm not STCW certified, I only listened and didn't participate. Later today we are suppose to go out to sea and practice some of this stuff some more.
I signd all of the employment papers today and they are really strange. There were about 20 or more pages most of them saying you have no rights, no benefits and lots of extra costs that you are responsible for. (STCW certification and your own gear for which they take no responsibility regardless it its stolen or lost) They take no responsibility for anything except the mandatory workers compensation. They pay you $6 a day if you get hurt. WOW!
This situation has got to get a lot better if I'm going to stay. They claim it will be fun once we get passengers so I"m hoping that's the case. I think I can survive long enough to give that a try. I did read one thing however that really bugs me. The old crew actually takes a vote after your first week working with passengers to determine if you get to stay or not. The customers don't matter, your work doesn't matter, and the captain doesn't matter. This is really strange and I don't like it very much. If they are worried that you might be more popular with guests and get some private tips, they could vote you off. That makes no sense to me.
Thursday, October 12, 2006
Water Problems Continue
Water Problems Continue
I took my mattress up to the sun deck today and let it dry out. I had to carry it down the hall, through the engineering area and the up two flights of stairs. It was worth it however. It was nice and dry.
I decided to gut the room of carpet today so I cut it off where it met the bed. I left the part under the bed. I did however remove everything from under the bed. It was truly disgusting. My roommate had cloths down there that I’m sure had been there dirty for months. I tired of the situation so I just piled all his crap on his bed for him to sort out. I then removed the carpet and put in some fresh padding. I don’t have any carpet yet so its just padding for now.
During the cleanup I discovered that the missing ceiling panel was behind the door. They had used a pillow case taped to the ceiling because they were too lazy to fix it correctly and maybe they couldn’t find the panel behind all the crap. Any, I cut the panel to fit and the ceiling is back together. The panel was steal so cutting it was fun.
I also removed the ceiling vent cover because it was really rusty. I scraped it down and painted it. I reinstalled it only to find water dripping from it a little later. After further investigation I determined that the flue pipe feeding the air conditioner sweats from the floor, through the closet and up into the ceiling. I asked the captain about getting it fixed and one of the people suggested I turn off the AC when I’m not in the room. I’m trying that now. If this doesn’t resolve the water issues, I’m going to reconsider this enter adventure. I can put up with a lot of stuff but wet clothes and moldy carpet is more than I can take.
Work was much easier today. I just worked on my room and did on jobs off and on. It rained in the afternoon so that put a stop to a lot of the work. We are suppose to cruise to Belize next week but I’m not sure if we’ll be ready or not. I really hope we get under way so we don’t have to sit here another week and work on this boat.
I took my mattress up to the sun deck today and let it dry out. I had to carry it down the hall, through the engineering area and the up two flights of stairs. It was worth it however. It was nice and dry.
I decided to gut the room of carpet today so I cut it off where it met the bed. I left the part under the bed. I did however remove everything from under the bed. It was truly disgusting. My roommate had cloths down there that I’m sure had been there dirty for months. I tired of the situation so I just piled all his crap on his bed for him to sort out. I then removed the carpet and put in some fresh padding. I don’t have any carpet yet so its just padding for now.
During the cleanup I discovered that the missing ceiling panel was behind the door. They had used a pillow case taped to the ceiling because they were too lazy to fix it correctly and maybe they couldn’t find the panel behind all the crap. Any, I cut the panel to fit and the ceiling is back together. The panel was steal so cutting it was fun.
I also removed the ceiling vent cover because it was really rusty. I scraped it down and painted it. I reinstalled it only to find water dripping from it a little later. After further investigation I determined that the flue pipe feeding the air conditioner sweats from the floor, through the closet and up into the ceiling. I asked the captain about getting it fixed and one of the people suggested I turn off the AC when I’m not in the room. I’m trying that now. If this doesn’t resolve the water issues, I’m going to reconsider this enter adventure. I can put up with a lot of stuff but wet clothes and moldy carpet is more than I can take.
Work was much easier today. I just worked on my room and did on jobs off and on. It rained in the afternoon so that put a stop to a lot of the work. We are suppose to cruise to Belize next week but I’m not sure if we’ll be ready or not. I really hope we get under way so we don’t have to sit here another week and work on this boat.
Interesting Characters
I haven't had a chance to report on the crew yet so this is my first attempt. I don't really know anyone very well yet but I thought I'd share what I do know.
One guy is named DOC. He apparantly is a retired surgeon. He's a divemaster and soon will have his captain's license. I thought my story was crazy but his is even more crazy.
Another young kid that started a few hours after me is called Chance. He was living out of his car near the beach. Apparantly someone saw his diving sticker on the car and started a conversation with him. They invited him to the boat and the captain is giving him a "chance". I think he's going to be an engineer on board. He claims to have been to diving schools as a divemaster but he hasn't completed some of the training and paperwork. He's only 18 and was working at a sub shop to earn a few dollars before stumbling onto this job. He won't make much money but he'll have a place to stay and descent food. I suppose he'll do some diving at some point too. Since I've got so much money invested in my dive training and insurance, I'll be watching what they do for him.
Another guy started a couple days after me and he was training and working in Thailand. I like him and he and I share some of the same concerns although he seems to like all the hard work a lot more than me. His name is Wade.
I mentioned to the captain the deal I made with the president of the company. The captain had not heard of it and may not honor it. I was suppose to come back to the states and attend a dive show and then get my safety training. I guess we'll just see how that all plays out.
One guy is named DOC. He apparantly is a retired surgeon. He's a divemaster and soon will have his captain's license. I thought my story was crazy but his is even more crazy.
Another young kid that started a few hours after me is called Chance. He was living out of his car near the beach. Apparantly someone saw his diving sticker on the car and started a conversation with him. They invited him to the boat and the captain is giving him a "chance". I think he's going to be an engineer on board. He claims to have been to diving schools as a divemaster but he hasn't completed some of the training and paperwork. He's only 18 and was working at a sub shop to earn a few dollars before stumbling onto this job. He won't make much money but he'll have a place to stay and descent food. I suppose he'll do some diving at some point too. Since I've got so much money invested in my dive training and insurance, I'll be watching what they do for him.
Another guy started a couple days after me and he was training and working in Thailand. I like him and he and I share some of the same concerns although he seems to like all the hard work a lot more than me. His name is Wade.
I mentioned to the captain the deal I made with the president of the company. The captain had not heard of it and may not honor it. I was suppose to come back to the states and attend a dive show and then get my safety training. I guess we'll just see how that all plays out.
IT NEVER STOPS
Today was more painting. I had to paint the railings around the top deck of the boat today. I used some sort of epoxy paint that is very difficult to work with. It is sticky and doesn't spread well at all. The deck is obviously out in the hot sun so that made the work even more fun.
I did get a short break while a crane was brought in to lift the lift rafts onto the boat. Apparantly the are removed and inspected each year. They are 25 man rafts that are extremely heavy hence the crane.
New carpeting was installed in parts of the boat today and work continues on installing it in the guest cabins and common areas.
After dinner I went to my room as usual to shower and change clothes. Another surprise. My bed, the top bunk, was soaked. The clothes on the bed were soaked along with the bedding. I was pissed to say the least. I went to the captain and reported the problem. An engineer came down to look but we couldn't find any leak. It turned out the someone was changing the faucet in the room above and didn't shut the water off properly.
I did go to the store tonight along with the cook. I bought a lot of junk food I didn't really need along with a few supplies such as gloves, hat, flashlight and a few other things.
I needed a new place to stay but the boat in such a mess I couldn't really find a room. I got dry bedding and deciced to sleep on the deck again. This time I used one of the mattresses tempoarily stored there. I didn't sleep well however and I had watch again at 3:30. It the middle of the night as I write this entry.
I did get a short break while a crane was brought in to lift the lift rafts onto the boat. Apparantly the are removed and inspected each year. They are 25 man rafts that are extremely heavy hence the crane.
New carpeting was installed in parts of the boat today and work continues on installing it in the guest cabins and common areas.
After dinner I went to my room as usual to shower and change clothes. Another surprise. My bed, the top bunk, was soaked. The clothes on the bed were soaked along with the bedding. I was pissed to say the least. I went to the captain and reported the problem. An engineer came down to look but we couldn't find any leak. It turned out the someone was changing the faucet in the room above and didn't shut the water off properly.
I did go to the store tonight along with the cook. I bought a lot of junk food I didn't really need along with a few supplies such as gloves, hat, flashlight and a few other things.
I needed a new place to stay but the boat in such a mess I couldn't really find a room. I got dry bedding and deciced to sleep on the deck again. This time I used one of the mattresses tempoarily stored there. I didn't sleep well however and I had watch again at 3:30. It the middle of the night as I write this entry.
Tuesday, October 10, 2006
Hard Tuesday
Another great day in paradise. Today I cut the heads off of hundreds of screws. All the carpet on the boat is being replaced and the tack strips used along the edges have to be screwed down because the floor is aluminum. They don’t come back out the next time you need to carpet. Most of the screws are stainless steel and strong as heck. We went through several cut off wheels on dremel tools and drills. What fun.
I finally got a ride to the drug store today after missing the trip to Wal Mart last night. I bought some much needed soap and a bunch of snacks. I need a bunch of other stuff but I’ll have to wait until the next Wally World trip.
On the road back from the store, the captain said he bought me something. I looked in the bag and it was a replacement quart of RED paint for the one I spilled. Lucky me got to do a lot more red painting in the afternoon. I missed some previous gas pipes because they were behind a bunch of machinery. No excuse, I had to just reach back there and paint them anyway. What a joy but it got worse. I had to crawl down into the engine room in the pontoon again and paint a dual fuel filter down there. That was a joy. Getting materials like rags, Gunk, paint brush and paint down the shaft is a challenge in itself. I loaded my pockets and then put some of the stuff on an angle iron wall and moved it as I descended. The darn filters were behind the engine so I had to crawl over all kinds of pipes, tubes and other dangerous items to reach the filter. I had no room to work but I did the best I could.
We had to remove all of the oil and flammable liquiuds from the boat. Apparantly the coast guard doesn’t allow this stuff. Strange to think you can’t have oil on board. We must have removed 50 or more gallons of oil. They all go to storage and then come back apparently later. I’m not really sure what was going on, I just do what I’m told.
Later in the day they started power washing the dive deck. I’m not really sure why at this point since there are still several more dirty jobs to do so it will get dirty again. Oh well, I’m sure there is some reason for all of this but they sure don’t tell us what is going on. The general lack of communications is pretty crazy.
Can you tell – I’M HAVING FUN!
I finally got a ride to the drug store today after missing the trip to Wal Mart last night. I bought some much needed soap and a bunch of snacks. I need a bunch of other stuff but I’ll have to wait until the next Wally World trip.
On the road back from the store, the captain said he bought me something. I looked in the bag and it was a replacement quart of RED paint for the one I spilled. Lucky me got to do a lot more red painting in the afternoon. I missed some previous gas pipes because they were behind a bunch of machinery. No excuse, I had to just reach back there and paint them anyway. What a joy but it got worse. I had to crawl down into the engine room in the pontoon again and paint a dual fuel filter down there. That was a joy. Getting materials like rags, Gunk, paint brush and paint down the shaft is a challenge in itself. I loaded my pockets and then put some of the stuff on an angle iron wall and moved it as I descended. The darn filters were behind the engine so I had to crawl over all kinds of pipes, tubes and other dangerous items to reach the filter. I had no room to work but I did the best I could.
We had to remove all of the oil and flammable liquiuds from the boat. Apparantly the coast guard doesn’t allow this stuff. Strange to think you can’t have oil on board. We must have removed 50 or more gallons of oil. They all go to storage and then come back apparently later. I’m not really sure what was going on, I just do what I’m told.
Later in the day they started power washing the dive deck. I’m not really sure why at this point since there are still several more dirty jobs to do so it will get dirty again. Oh well, I’m sure there is some reason for all of this but they sure don’t tell us what is going on. The general lack of communications is pretty crazy.
Can you tell – I’M HAVING FUN!
Blue Mondayh
I thought I knew what hard work was. Boy was I mistaken. Today I spent about 7 hours scraping not skid material from the engineering deck. The deck is made up of 2’ by 2’ heavy aluminum panels that cover various pipes, hoses and wiring. The panels are normally slippery so the glue this non stick material on them. They changed there mind and now want to paint it with non skid paint. I used a razor blade in a holder to try and scrape this crap up. I was difficult I broke one of the tools. I eventually learned that you need to break off the corners of the razor blade so its not so wide. Then you start scrapping any way you can. Since it’s a floor in an machine area, there is oil and grime everywhere. There are also hundreds of nicks in the floor and your tool gets stopped by every one of those nicks. It was unbelievably hard and tedious but I made it. Someone else had done a little of it earlier so that helped.
What makes the job more difficult is that one of the generators is always running so its incredibly noisy and pretty warm. Fans keep the air moving but its still no place you want to be. I wore ear plugs and ear muffs today do try and stop some of the noise. I really don’t like being around all that machinery when its running but its just part of the job.
I had my first night watch last night. I was woken up at midnight and had to be on duty until 3:30. Basically I had to crawl down into each pontoon and make sure no water was coming in. I also checked the generator and a few gauges, the ice machine and the chiller. You do that once every hours but it only takes about 10 minutes for each round. Obviously its pretty hard to stay awake in the middle of the night. I found some yogurt to snack on the help pass the time. I have watch again on Wednesday and I think I’ll have my computer ready so I can mess around on it to pass the time. That assumes they don’t have duties for me.
Speaking of duties, the work seems to never stop. We are working 7 days a week in port with only the evenings being free. This is grueling.
My free internet isn’t working tonight so its hard to say when this will get posted.
What makes the job more difficult is that one of the generators is always running so its incredibly noisy and pretty warm. Fans keep the air moving but its still no place you want to be. I wore ear plugs and ear muffs today do try and stop some of the noise. I really don’t like being around all that machinery when its running but its just part of the job.
I had my first night watch last night. I was woken up at midnight and had to be on duty until 3:30. Basically I had to crawl down into each pontoon and make sure no water was coming in. I also checked the generator and a few gauges, the ice machine and the chiller. You do that once every hours but it only takes about 10 minutes for each round. Obviously its pretty hard to stay awake in the middle of the night. I found some yogurt to snack on the help pass the time. I have watch again on Wednesday and I think I’ll have my computer ready so I can mess around on it to pass the time. That assumes they don’t have duties for me.
Speaking of duties, the work seems to never stop. We are working 7 days a week in port with only the evenings being free. This is grueling.
My free internet isn’t working tonight so its hard to say when this will get posted.
Sunday, October 08, 2006
ABOARD THE NEKTON PILOT
Well I'm here and in shock. The boat is a total disaster. I had no idea dry dock meant the boat is almost stripped. All the guest rooms are stripped bare. The lounge is a mess with stuff just thrown everywere. The sun deck is most open but its got mattresses piles all over the place.
Things are not as I expected. The work is dry dock is exhausting and relentless. I spent the entire day today painting. I started out using white paint and painting various parts of the enginneering area. Basically its the room with the generators, water maker, ice maker and many other gadgets I fail to understand or comprehend at this point. Anyway everything is dirty and oily and you just spray GUNK on it and then wipe it off and paint. I don't think its very effective but I suppose there's no real choice. I painted some wooden tables and shelves and people were putting stuff back on them before they were even dry. We use very strong oil based paint.
Later I had to scrap, sand, clean and paint the fuel lines on the boat. They were painted bright red as you might expect. I screwed up and tipped over the quart can of RED paint and made a mess. I took me over and hour to get it cleaned up and even then it wasn't very good. I spilled most of the paint so they have to buy some more so I can finish.
Still later I helped paint some of the floor. I think they bought the wrong paint and I don't think its going to work but we'll see in the morning.
Its impossible to accurately describe my room. Its very very tiny with a set of bunk beds that are much smaller than normal. There is one shared closet that is about a foot wide and 4 feet in height. I have one shelf about 12" x 18" for all my stuff. Basically all my clothes are just piled up. The light is over the bed and I can't see in the closet anyway. The rooms are not maintained at all and are dirty and crumy. I knew it would be rough but this is much worse than I ever dreamed.
I'm using an open internet connection on one of the boats in the harbor so who knows if I"ll be able to do this often. I'll only have internet on Saturday in Belize assuming I last that long.
I have "night watch" duties tonight from midnight to 3:30am. That will be fun. I have to walk around and take various reading from various devices every hour. I have to crawl down into the engine rooms which are in each of the pontoons. There's a tiny hatch and about 20 steps down a tube to get into the rooms. You can't stand up in them and you barely have room to move around. I have to check at least 3 things down there as well as make sure no water is coming it and stuff like that. This isn't very glamorous.
At this point I have my doubts that I'll make it but my chances of working on a live aboard are doomed it I don't stick it out. Stay tuned.
Things are not as I expected. The work is dry dock is exhausting and relentless. I spent the entire day today painting. I started out using white paint and painting various parts of the enginneering area. Basically its the room with the generators, water maker, ice maker and many other gadgets I fail to understand or comprehend at this point. Anyway everything is dirty and oily and you just spray GUNK on it and then wipe it off and paint. I don't think its very effective but I suppose there's no real choice. I painted some wooden tables and shelves and people were putting stuff back on them before they were even dry. We use very strong oil based paint.
Later I had to scrap, sand, clean and paint the fuel lines on the boat. They were painted bright red as you might expect. I screwed up and tipped over the quart can of RED paint and made a mess. I took me over and hour to get it cleaned up and even then it wasn't very good. I spilled most of the paint so they have to buy some more so I can finish.
Still later I helped paint some of the floor. I think they bought the wrong paint and I don't think its going to work but we'll see in the morning.
Its impossible to accurately describe my room. Its very very tiny with a set of bunk beds that are much smaller than normal. There is one shared closet that is about a foot wide and 4 feet in height. I have one shelf about 12" x 18" for all my stuff. Basically all my clothes are just piled up. The light is over the bed and I can't see in the closet anyway. The rooms are not maintained at all and are dirty and crumy. I knew it would be rough but this is much worse than I ever dreamed.
I'm using an open internet connection on one of the boats in the harbor so who knows if I"ll be able to do this often. I'll only have internet on Saturday in Belize assuming I last that long.
I have "night watch" duties tonight from midnight to 3:30am. That will be fun. I have to walk around and take various reading from various devices every hour. I have to crawl down into the engine rooms which are in each of the pontoons. There's a tiny hatch and about 20 steps down a tube to get into the rooms. You can't stand up in them and you barely have room to move around. I have to check at least 3 things down there as well as make sure no water is coming it and stuff like that. This isn't very glamorous.
At this point I have my doubts that I'll make it but my chances of working on a live aboard are doomed it I don't stick it out. Stay tuned.
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