June 9th, 2009
We are still at the dock unloading containers. Armed soldiers are still
aboard the vessel and patrolling the dock and the Coast Guard is protecting
our port side. Yesterday one of the gantry cranes broke down and slowed our
progress a bit. It seems to be running okay today.
There is a rumor that we will get under way in the morning. I have not seen
the sailing board yet, but if true we should know sometime during my watch.
Speaking of watches, I am working the 4 to 8 watch. In port I stand gangway
watch from 4pm to midnight. At sea I will stand watch on the bridge from 4
to 8 am and pm. This ship limits the amount of overtime I am allowed to
work. I get no overtime while in port, which is actually fine most of the
time, I prefer to go visit new places rather than paint the ship. At sea we
are limited to only 3 hours overtime each day; one hour less than I am used
to.
I have made contact with two raccoons who entertain me at night on the
gangway. They are quite nimble. One has a habit of climbing up the lines
on the stern to see if any garbage is on the deck. He quickly scampers back
down the line if anyone goes back there. Both of them seem to have no
problem being with in arms length of me. I guess they are quite used to
people being around. The other one likes to walk up the gangway and try to
get aboard, but since he has no ID and since he is wearing a mask, I never
grant him permission to board the ship. Apparently the AB on watch after me
did not know about the raccoons and looked down one night to see a raccoon
looking up at him from about 2 feet away, he confessed to screaming like a
little girl. He was a bit surprised LOL.
So far the crew seems to be pretty good and I suspect this will be a good
trip. I am looking forward to sailing the Panama Canal. It will be my
first time through.
Oh, the mailing address I gave last update has changed. Not that anyone
needs it, but here is a correction.
Inchape Shipping Service
Attn: Jesse S James
M/V American Tern
130 Granby Street, Suite 100
Norfolk, VA 23510
The email seems to be working, thanks for the messages and keep them coming,
it is always nice to hear from ya'll.
Jesse
P.S. Please do not send attachments.
Most of you already know, I do not have access to the internet. Also email
is expensive on a ship so no attachments are allowed to be sent or recieved
without an okay from the captain.
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