5/27/2010 Radar and Recalibrations

3° 40.367' E by 39° 44.298' N. Course: 94° Speed: 8.9 knots

One of the most interesting aspects of being a landlubber aboard “Empire
State VI,” is that I am invited to areas of the ship to observe the cadets
at work. Last night, as an example, I was invited by one of the mates to
come up to the bridge at night.

Now I’ve been on the bridge before, but during the day – but this time I
got to see some of the very technical equipment they use to navigate the
vessel as well as the ship’s radar systems.

Now the first thing that impressed me about the bridge at midnight is that
there are no lights on aside from the diodes in the equipment. The reason
for this is similar to why one does not drive a car with their interior
lights on – it makes it much more difficult to see the outside.

While on the bridge, I was first introduced to the technical navigational
and GPS equipment they have. While their GPS equipment does not provide
vocal directions such as, “Turn starboard at the next reef.” The system
is incredibly intricate where the navigators lay in waypoints. In the
training ship, they also use paper charts to plot the ship’s course. They
use triple backup systems since this is an educational voyage, and safety
is paramount.

The mate then brought me over to a first class cadet who in a very
professional manner taught me about the radar systems that the ship uses.
The ship has two types of radar, one long range, and another that is short
range. Both of these are available through two monitors with a third
monitor of the outline of the land being shown. Their system also allows
them to home in on points, acquire pictures and information about ships
that appear in the radar such as the name of a ship, its dimensions, and
probably its make and model (to use automotive terminology). The cadet,
who has to instruct his lower classmen about the use of the radar systems,
had undoubtedly given these presentations multiple times.

Next I went over to one of those standing watch where we viewed
lighthouses and looked for objects along the horizon. This particular
cadet, who is a frequent library user, is right now in the midst of the
Horatio Hornblower series of novels which he is trying to finish by the
end of the cruise. He of course had several Napoleonic era jokes which
probably would not transfer well into an electronic medium. I did find
out at this time what a point is… A ‘point’ is about 15 degrees or so.
So if you say, 2 points off the port bow, then you mean about 30 degrees
to the front and left.

By the morning, we had left the island of Majorca behind and now we are
sitting and recalibrating the compasses in front of the island of Minorca..
The reason for this recalibration, I have been told, is because of
variations in the Earth’s magnetic field will sometimes offset the
compass, therefore the need to recalibrate it.

The weather has become hazy and hot and while I took some photos of
Minorca, I do not believe they will look very appealing since the haze
obscures the island somewhat.

In other news I have to admit my disappointment in finding out that there
is no window to the ocean in engineering. One of the engineers made a
joke about it and I believed him for maybe about 30 seconds before he
apologized and said it is a joke he usually plays on the cadets.
Personally, I think it would be cool to have a window into Jacques
Cousteau’s magical universe down in the hold!

One last thought as I munch on a midnight snack. Some people might wonder
why people gain weight at sea. The simple answer is free food in
unlimited quantities. After all, the best food is free food. For
example, I shut down the library at 11pm (excuse me, 2300). At that
point, I meander up the 72 steps from the hold to the officer mess deck
where one finds a wholesome selection of pizza, French fries, soda, nacho
chips (with cheese), cakes, pies, and puddings. The only think lacking in
this nutritional rainbow is anything green. Now, luckily, most of the
stuff is cold by the time I get up there, but still… cold pizza is
sometimes good. I am happy to report that my pastry abstinence is
continuing. You see, my girlfriend is a pastry chef so I have taken it
upon myself to avoid sweets since nothing is better than those delicacies
that she makes with her own hands. However, French fries aren’t pastry…
You almost wish the food was wretched so it would be easier not to stuff
yourself.

Anyway, that is all I have for today.

Ship email went down today indefinitely. I’ll still write these posts and
throw them all up when we get to Greece.

Fair Winds and Following Seas,
Joe