The Return of the Bibliographer

Good afternoon folks...

And I can truly mean that as I am now in the New York time zone and have partially slept off my jet lag. I just want to thank everybody for all their support. It isn't often when coming home I happen to get greeted by cheering parents shouting, "Hey, its Joe, the Librarian!" Also an apology since at that time I was in the throws (and still am) of jet lag having not slept on the ride back at all, which thankfully passed with no incident and allowed me to finish an entire book (it was on the sailor's disease of Scurvy) before we landed! But, I definitely wasn't at my best both unkempt and bewildered. :)

Now, for those of you following the entire cruise, you probably already know, but in case you do not, Richard D, is doing his own blog at http://bibliosailor.blogspot.com/.

For anybody who may wish to reach me, my email is jwilliams@sunymaritime.edu, and I will also be publishing semi-regular posts on items that may (or may not) be related to items of interest.

Thanks again!

Fair Winds and Following Seas,

Joe

A Report from Dublin

Folks...

My dogs are realy barking. It is 8:17 pm now and I've been walking around since 11 am.

Dublin, of course, is a very lovely city so in the limited amount of time I have I've been trying to make the most of it. This is the official list of what I did today:

1. Took the shuttle bus to the city. Saw the book of Keels and the Long Room at Trinity College. (no pictures allowed)
2. Went to an internet cafe and posted the pictures in the prior post for your viewing pleasure.
3. Purchased post cards.
4. At at Pacinos. Filled out post cards. I had the siloin ciabatta. Not bad! Then went to post office to mail afformentioned post cards.
5. Made a call to the U.S. You know, I'm not even sure what airline we are flying in on.
6. Wandered over to Dublin Castle and then the Chester Beatty Library to enjoy their exhibition on comparative religion.
7. Went to "Dublinia and the Viking World. " This is a fun exhibit where I got to see how Vikings went to the bathroom. (see images below)
8. Went to Christ Church Cathedral where I explored the crypt. I had my first run-in with cadets there. Is there a sort of irony that I would run into them in a tomb?
9. Wandered over the Jameson Distillery and took the tour (which is essentially a huge advertisement for Jamesons). I think alcoholics should avoid this place. AND I ran into a bunch of cadets here... (predictable, right?) I also volunteered for the whiskey tasting where we compared Scotch, Jameson, and Jack Daniels. And yes, Jameson is better. I even got a certificate! The funny part of this was that when they asked for volunteers for the taste test, all the cadets present shot up their hands in unison before the question was even finished.
10. Continued on the alcoholics anonymous tour and headed to the Guinness Brewery... guess who was there? More cadets! They said it was cool, but by the time I got there the museum part was closed. I might try tomorrow.
11. I then wandered through St. Stephen's Green with the intention of going to Iveagh Gardens. But alas, they were closed, so....
12. I trotted over to a shopping center, bought a luggage tag. The only tag available was one with the Guinness label. I think there is an unsublimible message here.
13. Now, after all this, I somehow found myself in a pub where I ordered... Guinness! I don't know what made me do it, but folks, trust me, it tastes the same here as it does at home. I also got a smoked salmon sandwich.
14. With my feet crying for mercy I started to head back, but compulsively wanted to write up a post before I go to the ship and pass out.

Tomorrow's agenda:
1. Retrieve passport.
2. Meet with Richard, my successor.
3. Go back into Dublin, see the Archaeology Museum and maybe the Guinness factory.
4. Shop.
5. Go back, go to airport.
6. Home!

See you soon!
Fair Winds and Following Seas,
Joe


St. Stephen's Green (well not the green, but in the park)

The distillery at the Jameson Distillery

Christ Church Cathedral

A footbridge leading to the Cathedral

View of Dublin

View of Dublin

View of Dublin

View of Dublin

At the museum, Dublinia, they show you how Vikings use the loo!

Dublin Castle

Pics!

We have arrived in Dublin and I'm not at an internet cafe. Here are pictures since Greece.

The Tower of the Winds - Athens

National Archaeology Museum - Athens

The Port of Piraeus


The Spanish Coast Guard

Spanish Coast Guard

Cadet Mess Deck

Cadets eating

Plugging leaks

Plugging leaks

Plugging leaks

Plugging leaks

Plugging leaks - yeah I found it interesting so I took a bunch of pictures

M-12, my new cabin

M-12, my new cabin

Students doing work in library

Dilligent cadets

The harbor pilot from Piraeus leaves the ship down the pilots ladder

A tugboat in Piraeus hauling us out

Piraeus from the stern

Agristi island

Sunset on my last full day at sea

The Flat World

6-20-10


As we steam through the Celtic Sea and into the Irish Sea we have met nice, fair weather and a beautiful view of a boundless ocean with no land in sight. It is calm, and everything is flat like a disc.

So today is my last full day at sea and as such one might say I have *not* become sentimental – as the lovely Michelle could tell you, I abhor sentimentality even when I am sentimental. So with that being said, I have composed, in the best spirit of David Letterman, the “Top Twenty Most Memorable Moments of this Cruise.” Ten would be far too few.

20 – Seeing Mallorca for the millionth time and contemplating mutiny so I can go visit.
19 – Deciding what to do about Jane Fonda’s Workout Book
18 – Listening to Johnny Cash while visiting Ronda
17 – Sea Disease, the high seas and battling flying carts that are possessed by poltergeists.
16 – The VHS Tape player drama.
15 – Finding out I was too square to be a mate.
14 – Watching cadets plug leaks
13 – Passing through the Strait of Gibraltar (the first time)
12 – My Undisclosed Location
11 – Having the navigation systems explained to me by a cadet and not understanding a word he was saying.
10 – Seeing cetaceans!
9 – Watching cadets “cliff dive” at Andros
8 – The “Bed Wetting” incident and its aftermath
7 – Smearing my pants on a greasy line the first day aboard.
6 – Compulsively eating French fries and pizza at 11:15 pm every night.
5 – Learning the scale to the sound of needle guns
4 – Setting foot on land at Malaga and then being sent back to get a liberty card.
3 – Learning how to improve my balance by practicing on the heavy bag while at sea.
2 – Seeing the Empire State VI from the Alcazaba in Malaga
1 – Gaining modest notoriety among the cadets and crew as this blog went viral among the fathers and mothers of Maritime College.

Seriously, your comments and interest have made me compulsively post about our trip and I appreciate that immensely. In fact, I am considering continuing this blog as interesting things happen at the college or wherever.

In any event, today I did abbreviated hours since I have not had a day off since we left Greece and I’ve become afflicted with an obsession for Doritos. I think when I get back I might put myself on a cleansing diet (after the lovely Michelle makes me a delicious egg sandwich).

That’s all for now. Stay tuned for some pics and entries on Dublin on the next post.

Fair Winds and Following Seas,
Joe

The Bay of Biscay

As we sail full steam ahead into the Bay of Biscay the rough seas have
continued. This time, however, the Bibliographic Mariner has learned his
lesson and has firmly secured everything with bungee cords. I have had no
incidents of flying book carts!

In fact, although we are in a 10 foot swell, it is not nearly as obnoxious
as our initial crossing (or I have learned to tolerate it better). I have
only had one teeny passing bout of sea disease, and now I’m fine.

On the plus side I did see a pod of small dolphins today. They couldn’t
have been more than four or five feet long as they followed the ship and
were playing. There was also a whale sighting (dead ahead), but I didn’t
see the leviathan unfortunately. Yet I ponder what the ship would do if
the whale decided if he didn’t want to move. Do we play chicken with it?

I firmly believe there is a conspiracy aboard. This is not a conspiracy
to mutiny, but a conspiracy to make all the hands grotesquely obese. For
dinner tonight we were served chicken fried steak with some sort of cream
sauce on top, as well as cheese grits. I forwent any hint of green in
this meal and the current capacity of my innards is at full. Naturally,
the slow rocking of the ship does not aid digestion. Still, it was a very
good meal.

So today is my last full day behind the desk. Tomorrow, I am doing
abbreviated hours in the evening. The extra time will be spent packing
and cleaning up my mess for Richard, my replacement (this may take hours)..

Also, I was inundated with a flood of donations today. It seems that as
some of the crew wraps things up, they want to get rid of their of their
paperbacks and other material they don’t want to bring home. So among
today’s contributions were a couple of Clive Cussler books, a book on
spider silk (a rather esoteric topic), flies (I guess if you have a book
on spider silk, it naturally follows to have one on flies), snowflakes,
and covert Navy SEAL operations. The largest donation came in the form of
a stack of Life magazines that one of the officers thought the cadets
might find interesting since they are from the 1960s and 70s. On the
covers: “Disney World Opens,” “Ali vs. Frazier” (with photos taken by
Frank Sinatra), “The Love and Terror Cult” (with a photo of Charles
Manson), “Paul Mcartney and Linda,” “John Lennon” (psychedelic photo),
“Marijuana: At least 12 million Americans have now tried it. Are
penalties too severe? Should it be legalized?” (amazing how the debate is
the same), etc.

You get the idea.

So I need to figure out what to do with these. On the one hand they are
interesting to look at for historic value, but on the other, they make my
library seem even more out of date! Oh what to do. Maybe I’ll just let
Richard figure it out.

You see, that is the best part about being a short-timer. All the hard
decisions can be passed onto the new guy!

Anyway…

The cadets are now finishing up their tests, so tomorrow should be a free
day for them (more or less). This does not mean that they are free not to
work, so I am still expecting a noisome onslaught in the morning.

In other news, I have completed the Dublin port guide and have begun
distribution. Of the sites the cadets are asking about two in particular
have come up repeatedly: The Old Jameson Distillery and the Guinness
Factory. These are *actually* supposedly really cool museums and high on
the tourist itinerary, but this observation is merely an insight into the
mind of our future mariners.

That’s all for today!

Fair Winds and Following Seas,
Joe

Walking Papers

As we emerged from the Straits of Gibraltar and into the Atlantic, a
change has overtaken the water. Where once the smooth seas of the
Mediterranean lay beneath us, it has been replaced by the slow and steady
rocking of the Atlantic. Yay.

The water looks different visually as well – it is somewhat grayer. But,
on the good side I did see a dolphin or a small whale today peaking up
with its dorsal fin. It was just a passing glance and I didn’t see it
after the first look.

We are now about 80 miles off the coast of Portugal and moving at roughly
full steam north to the Bay of Biscay and then the waters of Great Britain
and Ireland. With only two days to go before our next landfall, a certain
sense of “channel fever” or restless giddiness has fallen over the hands.
Jokes are getting sillier, and the cadets seem caught between the tension
of their testing, while at the same time the coming landfall. It should
be noted that there is an inherent jealously of those who are on the ship
for the full 90 days versus those who are aboard for 45. It is rather
nice being on the receiving end of that jealousy.

Today, I have received my “Walking Papers” so to speak. This is a nice
letter I found tacked to my cabin door which thanked me for my help on
this half of the cruise. It went over departure procedures such as
remembering to get my passport (can’t go far without that item), and to
leave my lifejacket behind. It looks like there is also no assigned
seating on the charter plane, so it will be first-come-first serve. Hmmm,
I wonder how I can plot to get one of the first class seats.

And in other items of interest I had this rather lengthy conversation with
some deck officers at dinner tonight about longitude, how to find it
either by the moons of Jupiter or chronometers, how it was so difficult to
calculate longitude and how it was related to Hawaii.

I told you “channel fever” is setting in.

Fair winds and following seas,
Joe

Are You Doing Your Part?

This morning was perhaps the foggiest it has been on the whole cruise. I
emerged on the deck only to be greeting with a wall of white mist and the
ship’s foghorn blaring. I happened upon Professor Palmiotti, the head of
the Deck Department and mentioned that I hoped that the radar was still
working. He said because there was no wind the fog is just sticking.

By lunch time, this spectral mist had passed and the day was more or less
filled with cadets preparing for their exams. Even as we passed through
the mighty Pillars of Hercules (which happened earlier than expected so I
didn’t get to see the Rock), almost all hands seem in their own universe
of studying --- ahem – or goofing off… take your pick.

So even as I write this we have entered the Atlantic and the sea is
already slightly rougher, but nowhere near what we had experienced on our
initial crossing. Yet a warning has been posted on the “Plan of Day”
saying to make sure things get secured.

Speaking of which, I don’t think I ever mentioned these “Plans of the
Day,” but in order to give you a taste of the daily grind around here, you
must indulge me in this relevant tangent.

The “Plan of the Day” is a sheet that gets posted all about the ship that
gives a general outline of what is happening on a given day. It includes
a list of class sections that are meeting, the sections on watch, and then
a schedule of events… Here is today’s schedule as listed, with some
explanatory commentary:

0600 – Reveille (don’t worry, they don’t use bugles)
0615 – Report to Cleaning Station (Muster on Sun Deck)
0615-0645: Cleaning Stations (this is when they clean all the popcorn from
the floor of the Cadet Lounge)
0645-0700: Cleaning Station Inspections (this is when they make sure there
is no popcorn on the floor of the Cadet Lounge)
0615-0750: Breakfast (I never make it to breakfast – I am a night owl on
this ship)
0800: Cadet Formation (this is where they make sure everybody is here who
is supposed to be here)
1100-1250: Lunch 1/c (because of their seniority the First Class gets to
eat first – at 11am)
1130 – 1250: Lunch 2/c
1200-1250: Lunch 3/c (they get to eat if they are lucky)
1700-1850: Dinner 1/c
1730-1850: Dinner 2/c
1800-1850: Dinner 3/c
1900-2100: Mess Deck Closed
1900: Cadet berthing inspections (undoubtedly somebody is going down to
the holds with a white glove)
1930: Movie: The Hangover (I didn’t pick this one I swear!)
2115: Movie: Signs (I didn’t pick this either)
2100-0000: Cadet Snack Bar (this is where our cadets can stock up on
pizza, nachos, popcorn, and other snack foods)
2300: All quiet about the ship (this is purely theoretical, but mostly
obeyed. At least there is no needle guns going off at this hour)

The plan of the day also includes various hours of operation such as the
library, the ship’s barber (bet you didn’t know we had one – I’m sure he’s
skilled, but I am leery of letting someone cut my hair on a moving
platform), and sickbay.

It is also a place where we put important announcements such as
information on our flight to JFK (Flight WO3001 landing at terminal #4 at
1215am), that you can’t do laundry while in port, when certain exams are,
and of course the most important announcement of all: RETURN YOUR LIBRARY
BOOKS!

Other announcements are made as well, such as the need to conserve fresh
water with instructions for sea showering such as, “Wet yourself down,
turn off the water, lather up with soap, turn shower on to rinse off
quickly, turn shower off.” I also think if we just dunked cadets over the
side it would keep them clean and totally conserve water.

It is also a place where birthdays are announced, such as Cadet William
Schroeder’s. Happy birthday to Mr. Schroeder!

These plans of the day are good, because a) it shows we do have a plan and
b) it lets everybody know we have a plan. Yet in all seriousness, it is
the most public form of announcements and bulletins we use.

Perhaps if everybody made up their own individual plans of the day, the
world would be a more organized place. If you took the effort to write
out your plan, then you would no doubt gain the discipline we are
instilling to our young cadets as well as conserve our resources… Just
remember, everybody must do their part. Are you?

Fair Winds and Following Seas,
Jo

Guardians of the Coast

Weather is calm and clear. Beautiful day in fact.

Happy Finals Eve! The students are diligently working with their sight
tables as they furiously cram for the beginning of finals which starts
tomorrow. These tests will carry through Sunday, and Monday shall be an
off day for them. They get an extra hour of studying tonight since we
‘retard’ (I still hate that term), the clocks back one hour.

Tomorrow at about 5pm (oh sorry 1700), we pass through the Straits of
Gibraltar – for me it will be a farewell to the Mediterranean, although
many aboard will be seeing these waters again.

Aside from the normal bustle aboard today, I saw a most curious sight as a
swift ship with a gun neared us. Could it be Barbary Pirates? Somebody
reminded me that if you happen to see them fire, remember to duck! Other
cadets were of course facetiously talking about what we should do if they
attempt to board us. Alas, it was only the Spanish Coast Guard. They
were checking us out. I can assure you that I personally am not up to any
malicious or foul deeds as these defenders of the Spanish shores crossed
our wake. The ship itself, was some sort of cutter that had guns mounted
on it.
In any event, they were checking out a tanker that was anchored near us.
When they were done, they passed by and gave us a wave. Everybody waved
back. So much for the guardians of the Costa de Espana. But I know they
were secretly trembling in fear at the glory of our… noisy needle guns.

Since everybody seems to enjoy learning about various marine pedagogical
methods, I learned a new one today that demonstrates the power of
leverage, winches, and angle. Captain Kien, one of our instructors had
the students engage in an odd tug-o-war with him. They fastened a rope
onto a beam, and then the Kien had several cadets hold the rope taut with
instructions not to let him move the rope. This they did, and then Kien
simply went over and with two fingers pulled the rope to the sideways so
that they were pulled by a much lesser force. I think we can bestow the
Archimedes award for this lesson, although I still think plugging leaks
with your body and finding mannequins in the dark to be more fun.

As for goings on in the library, I have now become the Library Cop and
have been hunting down those malefactors who think they can hold onto
their books indefinitely. We all know that those people who borrow books,
and do not return them are actually hindering the education and enjoyment
of others. It is every person’s civic duty to pay their taxes, serve on
juries, and return their library books. So a word out there for anybody
who likes to flout democracy… we are watching you.

Fair Winds and Following Seas,
Joe

A Different Kind of Pedagogy

We shall begin today by celebrating the return of fully functioning email
(knock on wood and cross fingers). I cannot begin to tell you how the
restoration of full service has improved the spirits of our cadets, crew
and officers.

However…

There is a teeny problem. To fix the bug, all correspondence within the
last few days was lost. Therefore, if you sent myself, or somebody else
on the ship, an email of great importance, you *could* take it personally
and think they’ve been ignoring you *or* you can simply resend it and hope
it isn’t treated as spam.

We are finally pulling out from the Balearic Islands today and our course
is set for the Straits of Gibraltar. We can expect to be there within a
couple of days, and then out to the Atlantic, and then the cool waters of
the Irish Sea.

At lunch and dinner today I had a conversation with two instructors who
told me just how practical the instruction is here.

In my prior posts, I alluded to the practicality of some of the exercises
(i.e. boat drills and plugging leaks). In this new exercise, the
instructor had the cadets wear self contained breathing apparatuses, and
then taped over the goggles so they were effectively blinded. He then
brought them into a room full of junk, debris, etc. The goal was to find
a mannequin and remove it from the room. That must have been F-U-N.

To the further disquiet of the cadet and purely unintentional, there was a
massive amount of hammering, drilling, and other sorts of work being done
on the ship. So not only were the students blinded and wearing this heavy
gear, but they were also afflicted with an auditory assault – and if you
have been reading this blog you may have a good sense on just how loud
this ship can get.

The stress of the voyage is starting to wear on some of the cadets,
especially those who are going home in Dublin. As the unofficial
non-alcohol bartender of this vessel, cadets somehow believe that because
I am sitting at this desk, that I may listen to all their problems with a
sympathetic ear. I believe their level of trust with me has grown due to
a) I don’t order them around b) they have gotten used to my presence and
c) I am the closest thing to a bartender on this ship. I even have rags
to polish the counter of my desk as well as complimentary tissues and hand
sanitizer. But I will let you, gentle reader, decide just how sympathetic
I am. The conversations, however, do provide some insight into the lives
of the cadets.

For example, all the underclassmen are housed in the holds, and some of
them are in large chambers with dozens of cadets berthed with them. These
chambers of course necessitate an inharmonious state if a few of the
inevitable bad apples end up with them. Loudness, music, games, etc
predominate – and although their condition is by no means squalid, it
brings to my mind immigrant tenement living. Such conditions provide
another test to these cadets: To live felicitously with their neighbors.

Perhaps it is in part the crowded living conditions that make the Doctor’s
sick list grow just as we leave a port. The primal instinct for tender
loving care makes one run for their parents (an impossibility on this
vessel), or for the doctor. Of course these sick cases drop off just
before a port which is a testament to the wonderful curative powers of the
mind.

However, the condition of our students is by far much better than it was
in the *old* days of the “St. Mary’s” or the “Newport” where the students
slept in hammocks and holystoned decks.

My thought is that the constant pressure of being in cramped quarters, on
a self-sustained floating city can do wonderful chicanery to the
imagination – particularly the underclassmen as they are deciding if this
is something they really want to do. After all – not everybody can be
librarians.

Fair Winds and Following Seas,
Joe

Showing the Love

Another day at sea in the Mediterranean and the good ship “Empire State
VI” continues on its leisurely cruise. Weather, as has been the case has
been calm, although we saw some showers today.

Alas, there were no boat drills yesterday since we did not receive
permission from the Majorcan authorities to conduct them. It looks like
we will not be doing them tonight either. However, this morning, the
cadets continued to have fun with their “how to plug a leak drills” and
since it was already raining, they did not seem to mind being wet.

Last night, the captain approached me and wanted to give me an update on
the insidious email situation. As you know from my previous posts, the
problem is with Seawave and the captain has been on the phone with them
trying to get the situation resolved. We need the system fully
operational in order to do customs, etc before getting to Dublin. As it
stands now, I have approximately 40 emails waiting for me, although I
cannot see the subject or who they are from. Thank you very much for
showing me “the love.” I can’t wait to read them all. I usually get
asked several times a day about the email status and almost all questions
are prefaced with a situation about how this “sucks” followed by a
particular situation about why they must have email.

I also shook the Captain down for another piece of information – we are
going to be berthed at “Ocean Terminal West Berth 33.” This will
apparently be a few kilometers from the center of Dublin. It is a good
thing I bought new sneakers before coming on this voyage.

It’s hard to believe that this part of the trip is wrapping up for me.
I’m not going to lie – I’m definitely looking forward to getting back to
New York although I really wanted to go to Malta. I don’t know why –
maybe it is because I don’t know anybody who ever went there.

People are definitely starting to get a bit land-crazy. Last night, while
we are anchored off of Majorca, I came on deck after work and it was
filled to the brim with cadets staring hungrily at the land. I hope they
realize that when they do this for a living they’ll be away from land for
much longer periods of time. Everybody sort of wants these islands that
we are not going to go to (unless you happen to be one lucky ship’s doctor
escorting a kid for an x-ray) to go away. For myself, I just know we are
not getting off till Dublin, so for some reason it isn’t bothering me as
much. Or perhaps this is the first sign of the onset of insanity.

Anyway, last night I showed the twin feature of “Spiderman” and “Rocky IV”
(i.e. the one with the Russian). I still can’t get over at how popular
some of these movies are that came out before these cadets were born. I
had a full house for Rocky IV, but my number one crowd pleaser was “Top
Gun.” I find it all very amusing that all the pop culture from when I was
a kid/teenager has gained a cult following. I can’t remember anything
similar when I was their age except maybe I like Led Zeppelin and I Love
Lucy. Why do these kids have to rip-off my childhood?

Speaking of age gaps, I came to the conclusion that I’m getting older.
While I had supposed myself a modern-day Lazarus, several cadets were down
here borrowing a dictionary from me for their Scrabble game when somehow
and someway I got asked my age.

So I told them facetiously that I was ‘46’… which is a decade off. They
responded… ‘ooooh’ as in “Wow sir, you really take good care of yourself.”

Of course this was worse since they actually believed me. Impulsively I
corrected them with my true age to which they responded, “Oh your still
old, but you look good for your age.”

Then I calculated their birthdates (all at about the time I graduated high
school), a fine melancholy settled in for a few minutes. Fortunately, I
am not the kind of Bibliographic Mariner that broods overmuch. Well,
maybe I do a little, but my brooding usually involves pondering
quasi-functioning email systems. Also, I keep my brooding to myself
except that brooding (such as this one), that becomes plastered all over
the internet. It is a sure sign of an ingrained streak of masochism. It
is good that I have avoided establishing a Twitter account.

As part of this full internet disclosure, I shall also inform you that I
have sent some of my minions (work studies) undercover to obtain some
photos for me. In particular, I got some photos of the mess deck which
were requested by one parent. I wish to get images of the cadets in their
native environments and since I cannot install a trip camera, I had to
convert one of their own to do my bidding.

Is megalomania a sign of being at sea too long?

Also, to the parent of Cadet Frate… I had a conversation with your
daughter where I have been asked if I was as “funny in person” as my
writing. Personally, I was shocked that I would ever be asked that
question. My writing is of the most serious nature as I explore the
sociology of this ship. And if you think leaking ceilings on my person at
0300 are funny… well, you are a bit twisted. We’ll have to meet for tea
sometime. But I did assure her that I was not funny, humorous or witty in
any way. In fact, I informed her that I was quite depressing to be
around. Thank you.

Fair Winds and Following Seas,
Joe

Plugging a Leak at Sea

With an emphasis always upon hard work and practical training on the
“Empire State VI,” you can imagine my surprise this morning when I went
out on the deck and happened upon a group of cadets in their bathing
suits. In addition, there was an awful lot of water on deck. In fact,
the deck was awash in water. Did I miss something here? Are we sinking
and our cadets, wise to the wonders of the sea are simply prepared to make
a swim for it? Or perhaps our ship become a pleasure yacht, or perhaps we
were having a special “Monday at Sea” since we didn’t have our typical
light day yesterday. Or maybe the cadets were just getting ready to take
a swim in the warm waters off of Majorca.

Upon closer examination, I discovered that all of these suppositions were
as far from the truth as possible. The students were in fact, practicing
how to plug a leak.

Aft, near the fantail, by the “crane thing,” they had set up this
contraption that was hooked up to a pump. It sort of looked like a red
wall with some holes torn in it. What they did was rig it up to the pump
so that water came gushing out of the holes. Then the cadets, using
makeshift plugs of wood, clothing, and various implements attempted to
plug the holes. Several strategies were put into play as teams tried to
beat the force of the water. Usually the best results were achieved when
one cadet would block the largest hole on the bottom with their body while
the others would use rags and all sorts of things to plug the upper holes..
All of these holes were far bigger than a thumb, so the story about the
Dutch boy who plugged the hole in the dike with his finger could not apply
here. To make matters worse for the cadets, and more humorous for the
observers, the instructor, desiring to simulate real conditions, was
taking buckets of seawater and tossing them on our neophyte mariners. And
never fear -- I have taken plenty of pictures that I will post once we hit
Dublin.

The only complaint I would say about this whole exercise, is that if a
leak did occur on the ship, they wouldn’t be wearing their bathing suits
(one even had on a pair of goggles). I would suggest that in the future
our cadets do this exercise in uniform.

Today, we are supposed to be doing boat exercises, although I heard that
might be delayed until tomorrow. We are now parked off of Mallorca, and
there seems to be a great deal of practical training going on.

Despite all the practical training, students still manage to make their
way down to me and inquire about the status of email. I am apparently a
Source (capital ‘S’ intended) of information concerning email, but all I
know is that the problem is on Seawave’s end and that it is being worked
on. We may even start receiving as early as tonight. We shall see.

In other news, I came not that close to actually getting to go to
Mallorca. The word on the deck is one of our cadets dislocated his
shoulder, so they are taken him ashore for X-rays. He’s probably ok, but
they need to verify that there are no breaks. So the doctor, is going to
take the fast rescue boat and take him to the hospital. I of course
volunteered to escort the young man myself, since we could always use new
periodicals for the students, plus it is better to have the doctor aboard..
They could say… drop us off for a day or two and simply pick us up again
when they are ready. I think they thought I was joking when I made this
suggestion…

So I’m still aboard.

I have also begun the process of preparing my port guide to Dublin. The
word is that the ship is going to be docked F-A-R from the city center (at
least 2 to 3 miles), so I may be indulging in a cab. Dublin, I have
discovered, has no metro system, and I have an aversion to buses rooted in
my childhood of going to summer day camp in a bus.

On the checklist of places to go I have Trinity College, Guiness Factory,
Pacino’s (the restaurant – I don’t think Al lives in Dublin), Grafton
Street, and Temple Bar. Incidentally, “Temple Bar” is a neighborhood, not
a bar… although there are bars in Temple Bar, but I think they call them
pubs in Dublin.

That’s all for today!

Fair Winds and Following Seas,
Joe

And on the Seventh Day

Notice from Administrator (a/k/a Joe's girlfriend): It appears that email is down yet again! Also, I checked the school's website and the flight information has changed for arriving students from what it was before. This Post is from 6/13

the librarian worked. Today is our third Sunday while at sea, but this
time no barbeque... We’ll probably get a barbecue next Sunday instead.
No… today is just a regular working day for all aboard. Despite that, I
think the cadets think I’m closed today because it’s been really quiet
here.

At the time of this writing we are passing through the strait between
Sardinia and Corsica again following back our tracks toward Gibraltar.
Weather and seas have been pretty calm; like they have been through most
of the Mediterranean.

The main mystery of the day is in what Bermuda Triangle have all our
inbound emails vanished. We can actually *see* how many we have waiting
for us – I have 17 waiting in fact – so at least I can feel the love out
there. Please keep writing; I’m sure we’ll get them… eventually. The
current theory (the Professor McKoy Theorum) is because today is a Sunday,
this situation will not get resolved until people get into their offices
on Monday.

So my new flat on the main deck seems to be working out, although sleeping
in the bottom bunk of a bunk bed makes me feel like a vampire, since the
bottom of the top bunk is so close. Actually, I have become a bit of a
night owl since I’ve been closing the library at 2300 (that’s 11pm to you
and me), and stay up until 0100. The strange thing is that the cadets
seem to be up *all* the time. Plus, many of them are doing physical labor
which can be scraping paint, painting, garbaging (i.e. garbage watch),
changing light bulbs (incidentally, it takes two cadets to change a light
bulb – a Mug to change it and an upperclassman to supervise him), welding,
and other use of tools that no teenager should be allowed to play with.
No wonder why some of them just pass out on the couches in the library!

In other news we are starting to feel the pinch of a cup shortage. When
we left New York we had a certain supply of plastic reusable cups and
disposable paper cups. Between then and now a couple of thousand of the
plastic cups have vanished and of the paper cups, we have used
approximately 30,000 of them which is over half of what we had. We are
now urging conservation, but as to the whereabouts of all the plastic
cups, you can take your best guess! We suppose that if each of cadets
took 4 or 5 cups and has them in their room or down in the holds, that
will account for the figure that is missing. They are no doubt afraid to
return them to avoid demerits. So if you want to send a care package to
your son or daughter, best send a reusable mug.

Tomorrow, the students are going to be practicing with and handling boats
while we are at anchor around Mallorca. From what I understand, they are
actually going to be lowering and using the boats *in* the water. I’m
hoping maybe they can give me a lift to the island – you know… as practice
in how to transport a civilian and back. I think it would be very
educational.

Fair Winds and Following Seas,
Joe

Cabin Karma Strikes!

Cloudy skies, occasionally drizzly, calm seas.

My cabin karma has taken a strange turn today. This morning, as I was
quietly reading, I was invaded by the engineering department. It looks
like good ole cabin C-8 will be out of commission for a while.
Apparently, part of the ongoing problem which can originate to the leak on
my bed has now grown to such a magnitude that welding in my cabin shall be
required.

This precipitated a mid-morning move to my new abode, cabin M-12, with the
‘M’ standing for Main Deck. My main concern was that I would not have to
share a cabin (sorry, but I lack a certain spirit of community). Aside
from the crazed move I did this morning, I have rather mixed feelings
about my new home.

First I shall list the positives: 1) I have a real porthole. 2) I have
bunk beds 3) I have a shorter commute (by about 40 stairs) 4) there is
less rocking on the maindeck than the cabin deck in case of rough weather..

Now I shall list the negatives: 1) I have a real porthole as opposed to my
expansive view of the lifeboats 2) I have bunk beds 3) I share a bathroom
(luckily it isn’t like a bed and breakfast where I have to go out in the
hall to use it).

Bunkbeds were always a childish dream I had in the supposition that if you
were on the top bunk you therefore had a position of dominance. For one
semester in college, I slept on the top of a bunk bed, and through
experience I have gained the wisdom to choose the lower bunk. As an
added bonus, both beds are affixed with a protective rail to guard me from
spilling out. A very ingenious device.

There is something very plebian about coming down from my ivory tower on
the cabin deck to mingle with the stalwarts of the main deck. I feel like
I am with the “regular folks” now. However, please rest assured that my
inner hubris is still alive and well.

Aside from my move downtown, the Dublin buzz has started already with
people already asking me for the guidebooks. I have yet to construct my
guides for the students yet (which I shall have to include a reference to
Pacino’s restaurant) since I am in the middle of a cataloging project.

To give you a taste of my woe, and to give you another eye into the
peculiar world of the librarian, I have been deleting hundreds of records
in our database today. These are blank, spurious records that some
jokester thought would be funny to create in order to torment me. Since I
am a librarian, and as you are aware we are all imparted with the gene of
neurotic order (at least in terms of books, don’t ask about personal
effects or offices), I have been cleaning them up one by one by one by
one….

Anyway, not wishing to bore you with details of that part of my life, we
are now cruising toward Sardinia and Corsica so we are somewhere in the
Tyrrhenian Sea. The ship has settled back into its routine and tomorrow
shall be a regular day for all 567 hands of the “Empire State VI.”

As a side note, it has come to my attention that our inbound email seems
to be backed up and we are not receiving messages at the time of this
writing. However, our outbound email seems to be working fine, so I am
going to assume (bad word), that this post, as well as my other ones have
been getting to you in one piece.

Fair Winds and Following Seas,
Joe

It’s Déjà Vu all Over Again

The weather clear and calm.

In many respects being at sea is akin to the film, “Ground Hog’s Day”
where the protagonist relives the same day over and over again. Take for
example today. It is a Friday (at least I think it is), but that does not
denote a weekend or pause in activity. In fact, we will not be having a
“Sunday at Sea” this Sunday, but classes are to be held as usual.

To magnify this, we are also going back the way we came. As I write this,
we are passing again through the Straits of Messina, although there is
less fanfare than the last time. It even has a similar feel with all the
cadets on deck staring ravenously at land.

In fact, the only way to denote the passage of space-time is by a
disciplined use of a word-of-the-day calendar my mother gave to me for the
holidays. Today’s word is “masterful” which I don’t think is a
particularly obscure word to make it to a vocabulary list. Many of those
who visit the library often check out my word of the day. So far, the
favorite word on this trip has been “Svengali.”

Time, however, will apparently grow greater for us as we begin to pass
west into new time zones. Starting tonight, we will set the clocks back
one hour, thus gaining an extra hour of sleep (or work). This is known by
plastic signs hung all about the ship which say “retard clocks one hour
tonight.” Retard is a rather ill-used term in my opinion that has fallen
into the realm of the politically incorrect. Be that as it may, I shall
gladly retard my clock for that extra 3,600 seconds.

Our plan after passing through the straits is to proceed back to Mallorca
where we are probably going to “hang out” for a few days (no shore leave
alas) and do some circles before we head toward Gibraltar. Our pace is
leisurely as we have time to kill before we come to the Emerald Isle.

Now, one or two have written to me specifically asking about signaling,
lights, and rules of the road. I’m happy to report I had dinner tonight
with the venerable Captain Stephens who is probably one of the most
interesting persons aboard. Captain Hugh Stephens was on liberty ships
during World War II and now serves as an instructor on the ship. He is
hale, cheery-natured, and above all things a gentleman. Among the classes
he teaches are Rules of the Road. So let me give a breakdown of what my
land lubberly mind has absorbed.

Ships naturally need to communicate. In the old days, they used to use
flags (this was after they discovered that burning smoke signals on a
wooden ship was not a good idea). Flags, however, have become obsolete
and are now used mostly as decoration. Radio communication predominates,
but also heavily used are lights and sound.

Sound of course does not consist of shouting “Yo” over to a ship that
might be miles away. It consists of blasting a signal that we might
compare to a car’s horn. That is it can be used as a warning, but also
certain sequences can indicate distress.

Let’s take for example a few days ago. There was a luxury yacht that
crossed our bow by less than a half-mile. We warned them with a blast of
the horn, but they crossed us anyway. Naturally, the pilot of this yacht
is unfamiliar with the Rules of the Road which also specifically state
that ships to the right have the right of way. Anyway, I am sure our crew
got their license plate so we can report him to the proper authorities.

Lights are far more complex and any number of lights can mean different
things either by arrangement or color. Information you can get from
lights could indicate what kind of ship it is, how big it is, if it is in
distress, etc. Captain Stephens told me that cadets have more difficulty
with learning the lights than they do with the sounds just because there
are so many of them.

Also, there is a whole sequence of rules at sea which need to be followed..
First of all, you should always try to stay to the right. This was a
rule invented by the British which evidently did not transfer over to
their land roads. Perhaps if you are in England you should not get in the
car with a British mariner. They may start going the wrong way.

Then there are buoys. Here I got a bit confused since there are two basic
colors these days: green and red. I can remember these with a simple
trick from the Cold War period. Going east means you are going to
Communist (Red) countries. Likewise a red buoy should be on your right to
the east. Going west means you are going to the world of the Capitalists
(green for money) in which case you need to keep the green on your right.

I might get the hang of this yet. Of course, I might have gotten all of
this wrong, but I assure you, while I might not be able to differentiate
fore and aft with speed or accuracy, I can certainly guide you through
your database searches.

Fair Winds and Following Seas,
Joe

6/10/2010 The Devil’s Channel and Other Minutia

Now, many of you do not realize that librarians actually work for a
living. That is, we do not simply sit behind a desk and look peevishly
erudite (which we have boiled down to a science). No, we actually
organize and research information – sometimes even with our barehands.

Let’s take, as an example, the book collection in our library. I have
been working since day one to get it better organized. We currently have
three different cataloging systems (and if you are about to make a Dewey
Decimal comment I assure you we do not subscribe to that classification
scheme here) and these systems have much overlap.

For example, we have a donated collection in memorial of an alumni who was
lost at sea some years back. Most of this collection is sea
adventure-type stories or historical works. Our second collection is a
medley of Library of Congress classified materials, and then we have a
whole collection of paperbacks that are organized by “genre” (sort of) and
then the author’s last name.

The overlap occurs when a certain book can appear in any given area. So
for example, I can have Moby Dick in the memorial collection, the regular
collection, and also the genre based collection.

This has created a bibliographic Gordian Knot which yours truly wants to
cut like a certain Macedonian conqueror.

So right now I’m cataloging books, and I’ve been “weeding” out some that
people haven’t borrowed in some time. It is amazing how trashy people’s
taste is. For example, I encountered our copy of Steinway’s “The Grapes
of Wrath” – no one borrowed it ever… but then I encountered that other
classic “I’ll Take Manhattan” by that well-known scribe Judith Krantz.
This particular book is dog-eared and well-borrowed. Apparently readers
prefer to read about the “Gorgeous and flamboyant Maxi Amberville” as
opposed to the Dustbowl. Hmmm… When I put it that way, I would be too.
Actually, if the blurb writer, could write a book, why that would be the
biggest best seller since Jeremiah McMahon’s “Devil’s Channel.”

Uh-oh… what is “Devil’s Channel?” Well, if you are literary-refined
please try to avert your eyes from the train wreck that follows.

If you had not heard of “Devil’s Channel,” you obviously have good taste.
This is a “…terrifying novel of possession to rank with ‘The Other’ and
‘The Exorcist’.” And then of course the blurb on the back begins, “Diana
stood naked in front of the television set. Now she would receive the
Satanic message.”

This undoubtedly makes you want to read on… let’s flip to a random page…
Fortunately, there is no page ‘666’ (whew)….

Page 61, “Katherine, full of vitality and the omnipotence of vigorous
evil, sat triumphant on her magic charge.”

Look out for that vigorous evil! It sure is omnipotent… The train wreck
continues…

Page 136, “Rollo had climbed onto a chair. He gazed into the crystal
ball. “What’s this thing for?”
“For Magic! I can see the past and future and sometimes even the present
in it.”

Well no duh you can see the present. I can also see we like run-on
sentences.

Unfortunately for “Devil’s Channel” since its incorporation into our
collection, it has seen no circulation. I believe our cadets, while okay
with borrowing a good Krantz yarn, are a bit embarrassed to borrow this
particular work which has a lady on the front worshipping a TV. Perhaps I
should be the first to read this one.

Do you think I would become possessed if I read “Devil’s Channel?”

Ship news:
We had a lifeboat and safety drill today, and since I am the “Official
Player of the Lifeboat Tapes” that means that I get to avoid wearing one
of those unstylish life jackets.

But alas, we have had some problems. As most of you know I have multiple
VHS players that are all malfunctional. This has created all sorts of
nightmares for yours truly in trying to play the infamous medical care
provider tapes.

But, fortune is smiling upon the Bibliographic Mariner, because today, I
got a “new” DVD and VHS player. This is actually the same model that I
had before except that this one does not eat tapes and actually rewinds
them. Amazing. The interesting thing about this model is that it is
glued onto a piece of wood which they brought down looking like it was on
a dinner platter. I shall have to get tools and other equipment to
disassemble this Frankenstein’s monster.

Of course, as Murphy’s Law would have it, the DVD that I had to play did
not work on our system so we had to get a laptop upon which I did not have
the correct password to logon, and when we finally did get running with
it, there was no sound so we had to use subtitles.

The cadets were thrilled.

The second movie, went quicker but more painfully. Realize that nobody
has ever made a good training video. Has anybody ever watched a training
video and said… wow… I want to see it again!

The highlights of this second video included seeing the use of life rafts
and gumby suits (which are life suits that make you look like Gumby). I
think one of these suits would make a great Halloween costume although it
would be hard to walk in it.

Fair Winds and Following Seas,
Joe

6/9/10 The Williamson Maneuver and Smells of the Sea

I had a revelation today. One often does not realize how potent the sense
of smell is. It can no doubt repulse, seduce, inspire hunger, or
inspiration. What I have come to realize is that each location on the
ship has a different smell which you can use to identify it.

The easiest identifying smell is on the level below the maindeck where
they prepare the garbage. That is probably the easiest smell to identify..
Others are perhaps a bit more subtle. If you are outside, and dependent
on your location, you can catch a waft of the exhaust of the ship which
has a smooth, noxious element to it not unlike a diesel truck brought to
the fifth power. Likewise, the sweetest smelling area of the ship would
be if you go forward on the maindeck. The air always seems to be the
purest there.

The cadet mess deck, which I walk through often enough, has is own unique
odor, that while not unpleasant, is highly institutional.

In addition to these common smells, there are intermittent smells
dependant on the work going on. This could be that smell I described a
couple of weeks ago of rotten eggs and rust (probably sulfur), as well as
paint and various industrial smells. The library has its own smell –
decidedly neutral and perhaps a bit bookish.

Another interesting fact I found out today is that one cannot simply stop
a ship like a car. In order to stop a ship, you need to have about 2
miles (or more depending on your speed). So if something comes up in your
way, you can’t simply hit the brakes so to speak. Rather, you need to
maneuver the ship around the obstacle.

That is why among other reasons you need to have watches, and you need to
keep ships at a safe distance. The larger the vessel, the harder it is to
stop it. And how do you stop it? By reversing the engines, yet you can
imagine how much power it would take to stop something as big as an oil
tanker.

Now, imagine this situation and somebody goes overboard. The best you can
do is throw them one of those life rings and execute a circle (called a
Williamson circle). The person in the water has to wait until the ship
can complete the circle and hopefully they can fish you out.

With that said, the ship, smells and all, is now back in the Aegean and
heading pretty much on the same path we came in. We ended up getting a
late start, having been piloted out of Piraeus at about 1330. We have
plenty of time though and I believe we will be doing our circles soon.

Fair Winds and Following Seas,
Joe

Next Stop Dublin

This is going to be a quick post since I just got back to the ship and
it’s a bit on the late side, but I have gotten so used to putting up one
post a day that I feel compelled to give you something.

First off, allow me to apologize to those of you who have been sending me
emails, particularly regarding the web cam. I had no idea they had one,
who set it up, or where it was. I don’t think the cam in question is
affiliated with the school, but I’ll check it out.

Next, I came to the realization that I am pretty much illiterate in
Greece. Not only do I not understand any Greek, but I don’t even know the
alphabet. If only I had joined a fraternity in college…

So today, after returning, I immediately went back into Athens to visit
their National Archeology Museum as well as the Acropolis Museum (I
recommend both if you love rooms and rooms and rooms of either vases or
statues). After that, I went to a bookstore that had some English
language books, but could only locate two English language news
periodicals (Time and the Economist). I also bought two up-to-date
guidebooks to Dublin. My colleagues at the library had forwarded our
guides to Ireland, but I wanted something specifically on that city. We
should be set now.

I must admit, it feels like ages since I was on the ship. My Greek
Holiday was some sort of alternate universe! With that said, being back
has now placed a bit of punctuation on this voyage since I can feel my
part winding down despite the fact that there are yet a couple of weeks
until the handoff to Richard, the next librarian.

I think the cadets are feeling it a bit too. As I came back to the ship
tonight, every phone about the port was swarmed with cadets getting in
their last minute phone calls.

Another change is that I have my own cabin now. Tim has now gone to join
the “State of Maine” and will be returning back on their ship to deploy
more buoys. Although I’ll miss Tim, it is rather nice to have a room to
myself. All he left behind as a box for Richard to mail, and his bottle
of shampoo. I wonder if he though that was mine… we both used head and
shoulders 2 in 1… Maybe I’ll never know.

So, hopefully with the repairs done above my bed, this final portion of
the cruise for me will go pleasantly… but with a little luck there will be
some zany anecdotes about the happenings aboard the ESVI.

Fair Winds and Following Seas,
Joe

An Undisclosed Location

Date: 6-7-2010

Location: I'm not telling except that it is a lovely island.

As you can guess, I managed to get an adapter so I'm back up and rolling. Here is a quick rundown of happenings. Let me preface this post by saying that against my better judgement much of this is going to sound like a travelogue... so this may be one of my duller posts and not so College focused. But there are pictures (but none with cadets in them for parents who are reading this)!

After we arrived in Athens, I took leave early in the day and went into the city by myself using the metro. The walk to the subway was rather long, but I think it was closer than Malaga. I landed at the Monastratiki stop and looked up to see the famed Acropolis of Athens.

After wandering up and up and up I found the way in an encountered huge crowds among which I found the SUNY Maritime tour group. They really stand out cause they are the only people in the city who wear ballcaps.

I spoke to a few of them and they were really impressed not only by the ruins, but also by the view of the city...

As well as the dogs that sleep on the steps up to the Acropolis...

After parting ways, I kept on running into our people. This was in part because it was Sunday, and even though there were many tourists, we still had a large concentration of them.

I spent the day wandering the streets, ruins, and tried to find the English language bookstore to by magazines for the library (it was closed). I also went among Roman ruins and found a partial statue of Hadrian, my favorite Roman emperor (everybody has to have a favorite Roman emperor) and then returned to the ship at about 5pm.

After this, I took off for my "undisclosed location" where I am staying until tomorrow. But to give you an idea, I'm on a very quiet island that is about an hour by hydrofoil from Piraeaus... oh ok... I'm on the island of Agristi. I felt the need to check out more of these islands. So I checked into to this nice inn that has fantastic views of the Saronic Gulf...

Today, I visited the island of Aegina in the morning where I saw the Temple of Aphaia, which are very well-preserved Doric ruins...

Also, the view from up there is amazing...

And here is a pic of Aegina town...

And two more photos from where I am staying tonight...

So tomorrow I shall be returning to the ship and then my plan is to visit a couple of museums since they are open a bit later. After that, I can resume in my "sordid" expose of life and times on the Empire State VI!

I also would say that doing tourist-type activity on a Monday is great since there are less crowds. At the Temple of Aphaia, as an extreme example, there were only two other people there with me.

Fair Winds and Following Seas,

Joe

A sample of pics

OK... I realized I don't have a converter for my adapter so I'll try to get one tomorrow. Here is a sampling of pics since Spain! No particular order

ESVI at Piraeus

Being ferried to Andros

The Parthenon
ESVI at Andros... see the lifeboat in the center?

Athens
The Cadet lounge (where they watch movies). Notice the exhaustion!

Lifeboat Drills

Andros

Cadets on deck
Michelle, what is this?

Andros - an old arch leading to a tower. The cadets were "cliff diving around here"

Cadets "cliff diving" at Andros

Andros - debarkation

Cadet getting the courage to jump - Andros

ESVI at Andros

Street in Andros

Me at the Acropolis

Sign on a gas meter welcoming ESVI to Andros

My cabin - evidence of the work they had to do

At the Acropolis. It was windy

Students in Library
Lifeboat drills

Dolphins at the Prow. Courtesy of Laura Botel

ESVI at Piraeus
Students at the library
Students at the library. Notice book in girl's hand!

Students during Sunday at Sea
Preparing for Hydra. Notice temporary floating dock.

Sunday at sea BBQ
Preparing for Andros

The lifeboat

Shot of the maindeck port side

Instructors Palmiotti, Capt. Stephens, Art Sulzer, McKoy and Ducy. Mate Mahanna in b/g center

Sunset in the Med.
Random shot
More lifeboat drills

Dolphin movie courtesy of Laura B.