Dan Brazelton

I took some time off from this blog on purpose, and so this is a return to blogging with a long post.
I thought it was going to be a hiatus only for a couple of weeks during a run up to Ketchikan, but that turned into 3 weeks, into 4, 5….
My intention was to go on a run just as a cook. My last run was exhausting, and after 2 months of school and then 2 months going stir crazy, I wasn’t relishing being the odd ball cadet on the crew. I just wanted to fit in for once. I was also at a point in this mad pursuit where I had a lot of doubts. Was this really what I wanted to do. Am I crazy? And I was a little burnt out on learning. So, no camera, no computer, no books. Just cook.

It didn’t turn out quite like that. I did tell the captain that I was in the PMI program, and what that was. I still wanted him to sign my training record book so I would get seatime credit.

He in turn, was enthusiastic about training. He asked what my priorities were, and I showed him my TOAR (Towing Officers Assessment Record) - which I figured would be the hardest thing to get signed off on. It’s a whole set of assessments specific to towing, and are the only ones that require maneuvering of an actual vessel, docking and undocking. Getting to captain to let an licensed person to do this is unheard of. Let alone me, cadet cook. He looked at it, and said we could take care of some of it. Cool.

To make a long story short, the captain, the mate and the 2nd mate all gave me lectures, tips, activities and assessments - on the
way up to Ketchikan, there and back.

After we secured our barge in Ketchikan, Captain T. asked me to come over to the wheel house. I was on the barge, and figured it was my chance to do something with the boat. Cool. So I jumped over to the boat, and…..off went my glasses. Into the water. No spare. No contacts left.

I went to the wheelhouse and informed the Captain T. that my vision was limited, so would this count as an assessment in piloting in limited visibility?

I was able to get a local eye doctor to give me a pair of sample contacts, but they wouldn’t sell me more as my prescription was out of date. This was a bit dodgy as I had a few weeks before I could get to the doctor, but even the samples took me 4 hours of waiting and cajoling to get.

We had a couple of days waiting in Ketchikan while the barge was loading, and the Captain handed over control to me on enough occasions to allow me to dock a few times, sidle up to a barge, undock etc. Most of my TOAR is filled out. What is left, he said no captain is going to allow - so I need to talk to the school - and see if it can be done in simulation. Those tasks include towing a barge under a bridge and landing a barge. Most mates wait years to be allowed to do this.

So, what I thought was going to be a low key trip was very, very productive. Believe me, I am elated. This is a significant step on my path. A huge relief to have so much accomplished, especially now that I am 2 months behind. I may even get my seatime mostly caught up.

More significant - It was such a pleasure to be on the boat. The camaraderie was there, everyone worked hard, but also took time to be social. There was mutual respect and even criticism was given well. All in all a very enjoyable trip.

Just when the trip was about to be done, I was informed that I was staying on the boat for another run. We pulled into Everett, I had a few hours to go home, get some gear (and my camera) say hi to a couple of folks and back to boat. I slept on the boat and was off to the store for more provisions at 7:30 am.

Since then, I have been to Klawoc AL, Nanaimo and Beaver Cove in Canada, Eureka CA and now I am headed to Long View OR. I’ll be relieved there and drive up to Seattle.

Very successful trip - and I am charged to continue the journey. I’ll be bringing my sextant on the next voyage. Now, off to the eye doctor to get a new prescription and lots of contacts.

Posted via the magic of technology off the Columbia Bar. 46 13.846 124 10.776