Maine Maritime Academy Cruise 2013

Location: N 27 39.1 W 081 40.2 Course: 210 Speed 12.1 kt

Weather: Sunny, Wind E 5-10 kt. Seas: Small SE Swell.

We cast off all lines at 0840 this morning and had a peaceful transit through Tampa Bay. The students are quickly shaking off the fog of liberty and are turning to training and ship’s work, enjoying the breeze and a slight cloud cover.

Today finds Alpha finishing up its fourth training module while Delta is on watch and executing the sail plan. Bravo is busy working on ventilation systems in order to ensure that we can stay as cool as possible while we continue the trek South.

DISCLAIMER:  Due to the Training Ship’s limited connectivity to the internet, blog postings are delayed and are not intended for real-time communication. To communicate with your student, please send messages to his or her issued e-mail address.

A-Rod blew them off but at least the Hooters
Girls gave them a picture.

Relaxing in Ybor City.

Location: N 27 56.7  W 082 26.6  Course: N/A  Speed 0 kt

Weather: Sunny, Wind ESE 5-10 kt.   Seas: Calm.

As we bid adieu to Tampa, all eyes are on the next eight days at sea.  Each Company was afforded two days of liberty to explore the port and I believe they made the most of it.  There were busses running to Busch Gardens as well as out to Clearwater Beach on Saturday and Sunday so many students spent their days basking in the Florida sun and catching a break from the ship’s routine.  We docked in the heart of downtown Tampa, directly astern of the American Victory.  Students were granted free tours of the WWII era transport and I am pretty sure they are much happier about their accommodations aboard the TSSOM after seeing what their predecessors had to deal with.

I am sure each of your students will have their individualized stories to tell, from eating their first cuban sandwich to being invited to join a harbor cruise on Saturday evening.

On Saturday, nearly 80 alumni came aboard for a reception and spent several hours meeting our students and getting reacquainted with past shipmates.  Sunday we had a Boy Scout Troop aboard for tours as well as a local high school magnet program that specializes in marine studies.

Today’s TSSOM fun fact comes from 2/C Jonathan Payne:  The training ship has three large sea water system sea chests.  The sea water that is pulled in through these chests is used for cooling purposes and is returned overboard once it passes through the cooling systems’ heat exchangers.  The sea chests are located in the forward end of the lower engine room.  Tow of the chess are situated low on the hull, on either side of the keel while the third is higher up.  The lower sea chests are utilized while at sea and in deeper water where there is less chance of picking up sediment off the bottom and the upper sea chest is used in port.

DISCLAIMER:  Due to the Training Ship’s limited connectivity to the internet, blog postings are delayed and are not intended for real-time communication.  To communicate with your student, please send messages to his or her issued e-mail address.

A day at Busch Gardens.

Location: N 26 24.1 W 083 57.3 Course: 357 Speed 14.0 kt

Weather: Partly Cloudy, Wind ESE 14 kt. Seas: Small Swell.

More painting, more training and the students are ready to see Tampa, FL. We held a drill in the morning, simulating a fire in Freshman berthing, requiring the Emergency Squad to respond two decks below and in a very confined space. The Chief Mate had selected 5 simulated casualties and our E-Squad managed the situation quite well, getting the simulated casualties up to Ship’s Medical while also fighting the simulated fire.

The afternoon was spent with Deck Students getting a chance to try maneuvering the ship to pick up a simulated “Man Overboard.” Some tough lessons were learned about leeway and turning radius but overall, they did very well.

Today’s TSSOM fun fact is provided by 2/C Brendan Scully: The steering gear aboard the TSSOM is capable of producing nearly 667,000 ft-lbs of torque. It is the piece of equipment in the aft part of the ship that moves the rudder in order to change the course of the vessel. For comparison, a new diesel pickup truck off the lot can produce upwards of 600 ft-lbs of torque, which means it would take over 1100 trucks to equal the torque of the steering gear.

We will pick up the pilot at 0500 on Friday and expect to be along side well before lunch. Since the students will be maximizing their liberty time in port, we will not put out a new blog until we get back to sea on Monday. Hopefully we will have some good stories to relay to you about Tampa.

DISCLAIMER:  Due to the Training Ship’s limited connectivity to the internet, blog postings are delayed and are not intended for real-time communication. To communicate with your student, please send messages to his or her issued e-mail address.

Maybe all that talk about teamwork is paying off…

Taking a break from Deck Training.

Shooting a sun line.

Hey, I didn’t know we had a periscope on
the TSSOM?!

DISCLAIMER:  Due to the Training Ship’s limited connectivity to the internet, blog postings are delayed and are not intended for real-time communication. To communicate with your student, please send messages to his or her issued e-mail address.

Location: N 25 15.0 W 080 01.0 Course: 203 Speed 12.4 kt

Weather: Partly Cloudy, Wind ENE 14 kt. Seas: Moderate Easterly Swell.

Today’s blog is going to focus on a fine example of what our students learn and do on this Summer Sea Term. 2/C Tyler Bowen, from Belfast ME, has spent the last two days working on repairing an expensive saw for the ship.

There is a hydraulic articulating arm that controls the speed that the saw will cut through work material. The head of that articulating arm had failed which made it dangerous to use because the weight of the saw would cause too much friction between blade and material, reducing the life of the cutting blade or worse, causing catastrophic failure. Tyler took guidance from the Engineering Department and grabbed a few other students to assist and went to work fabricating a sleeve to slide over the head of the articulating arm, allowing it to re-attach to the cutting arm and restoring the saw to service. Purchasing a new mechanism would have cost more than $500.

In order to fabricate this piece, Tyler turned the stock on a lathe to get the proper outside diameter, then used the lathe to hollow out the sleeve so it would slide down on the damaged arm. After that he used a drill press to create the hole for the locking screw and tapped it for a perfect fit. Finally, he used low amp welding to affix the sleeve to the hydraulic ram in order to prevent the heat from damaging the seal. Pictures of the project are included below.

DISCLAIMER:  Due to the Training Ship’s limited connectivity to the internet, blog postings are delayed and are not intended for real-time communication. To communicate with your student, please send messages to his or her issued e-mail address.

Location: N 30 05.0 W 079 03.0 Course: 197 Speed 13.7 kt

Weather: Mostly sunny, Wind ENE 8 kt. Seas: Small

As the students made their way to morning muster, we were off the cost of Savannah, GA and we are starting to see more shipping traffic. With all the sunny weather, the painting is going fast and furious. Students are busy with needle guns, primer, and top coats of paint, all working on different parts of the ship. Bravo Company is starting it’s three day maintenance block and the engineers are busy with wiring projects throughout the ship.

In their off time, the students are working on getting their living spaces ready for inspection as we approach our first port call. The movie locker is getting regular visits as well and we would like to thank all who donated movies this year.

Today’s ship fact is provided by 2/C Mitchell Cobb: The propeller shaft is 20 inches in diameter, 125 feet 8-5/8 inches long from the reduction gear to the propeller hub, and weighs 164,721 pounds, or just a bit over 82 tons. When running at a full speed of 117 RPM and at full pitch, the propeller pushes the shaft against the thrust bearing with 93,000 pounds of force, or 46 ½ tons. This force is what actually moves the ship forward.

How do you relax after a hard day at work?
Students kick back at 1600 on our first sunny day.

In the bilges, students work on freeing a stuck valve.

Location: N 34 25.6 W 075 25.8 Course: 228 Speed 13.2 kt

Weather: Showers early turning mostly sunny in the afternoon, Wind N 30 kt. Seas: Moderate ENE Swell.

The morning started slow with showers at sunrise but things started clearing up considerably by lunchtime. As we cleared Cape Hatteras the swells began to build and the ship began moving a bit more.  Some of the Deck students helped the Mate with some re-ballasting while a large party worked on getting the 03 Reception Deck ready for Tampa.
The Engineers have kept busy with several projects including welding new storage brackets in aft steering and fabricating some new drainage lines.

Cadet Chief Engineer Ethan Stubbs has provided the following bit of Ship’s Trivia: The main engine burns approximately one gallon of heavy fuel for every 287 feet the ship moves. This equates to about 2 gallons of fuel to every ship length.

DISCLAIMER:  Due to the Training Ship’s limited connectivity to the internet, blog postings are delayed and are not intended for real-time communication. To communicate with your student, please send messages to his or her issued e-mail address.

4/C all have shifts when they help the
Sodexo Staff with food service needs.

By 1600, everyone was ready to relax.

A new group is learning basic self-defense.

Location: N 39 23.6 W 073 50.8 Course: 183 Speed 14.0 kt

Weather: Partly cloudy, Wind W 12 kt. Seas: with a Southerly Swell.

Happy Mother’s Day!

Please note that many more students turned up to have their picture taken with a Mother’s Day wish but due to bandwidth considerations, we only are sending out group shots.

It is an odd custom here on the TSSOM, but we had a wonderful meal to celebrate Mother’s Day today even though we couldn’t share it with you. The Sodexo staff put together a prime rib and potato supper with homemade pie for dessert.

The daily routine continues with preparations being made for Tampa in a few days. The students have started to attack painting projects that did not get done last summer due to the ship being in the yard and some of our engineers have been tracing plumbing lines in order to fix a few drainage issues.

Location: N 40 38.8 W 074 03.2 Course: Anchored Speed Anchored

Weather: Partly cloudy, Wind SW 10 kt

We spent the morning traveling the Southern end of Long Island before turning toward New York City. By 1100 we had taken the pilot on board and were making our way to the anchorage. The afternoon and evening were consumed by receiving the fuel barge and transferring 1,100 tons of fuel for the rest of our travels.

Students assisted in securing the barge to our ship and were responsible for monitoring the pumping operation as well as sounding the fuel tanks, ensuring that we kept the ship in trim.

Our Vessel Security Officer Course took some time this afternoon to teach some basics of self-defense after two days of lecture.

After hours, the students played basketball under the NY skyline and took advantage of the good cell phone coverage to make a few phone calls.

DISCLAIMER:  Due to the Training Ship’s limited connectivity to the internet, blog postings are delayed and are not intended for real-time communication. To communicate with your student, please send messages to his or her issued e-mail address.

Students monitoring the fuel manifold while
the barge was pumping.

MIDN Lawn and Jennings practice a new move.

Turnabout is fair play…

Location: N 40 51.3 W 067 02.0 Course: 218 Speed 11.3 kt

Weather: Partly cloudy, Wind SW 12 kt.

The first full day at sea was pretty uneventful. More students have gotten their sea-legs so everyone is feeling better. The 4/C started getting time on the helm now that we no longer have a pilot aboard. In Engine Training the students started working on their fabrication projects, learning about gasket making and valve lapping.

While the Deck students were navigating our way around George’s Bank, the Engineers have had the opportunity to work on the reverse osmosis water purifier, replacing a failing plastic coupling with a new stainless steel fitting and spend the better part of the morning working on the heavy fuel oil purifier.

DISCLAIMER:  Due to the Training Ship’s limited connectivity to the internet, blog postings are delayed and are not intended for real-time communication.  To communicate with your student, please send messages to his or her issued e-mail address.

Keeping the decks clean.

A little fresh air training.

Replacing old light fixtures.

Location: N 43 50.65 W 68 30.91 Course: 130

Weather: Rain with patchy fog. Seas 4-6 feet.

It was a wet day for our departure but everyone’s spirits were high. Even the Adams School turned out to shout chants for their Midshipman mentors. The morning was spent reviewing procedures for line handlers and watch engineers preparing to start answering engine orders. Training and Utility Companies manned the rails to wave goodbye and make a few final phone calls.

By 1115, all hands were ready to depart and we spent another 20 minutes waiting on the current to shift. At 1135, we were cast off and beginning to maneuver into the channel and at 1200 we received the traditional cannon salute from Ft. Madison.

Shortly after lunch, the Coast Guard inspectors initiated the final drills that would complete our certification. It was a simulated fire in the ships laundry and the Emergency Squad responded quickly and effectively, rescuing a simulated survivor and getting the simulated fire put out. It should be noted that the Damage Control crew that responded was made up of nearly all 4/C Midshipmen due to several 2/C being on watch. The Coast Guard was satisfied with the team’s performance and we moved on to the Abandon Ship drill.

Boat crews smoothly launched their lifeboats and motored around the TSSOM, demonstrating the sea-worthiness and competence of the boat crews to the Coast Guard. The weather cooperated in this evolution as the breeze died down and the rain lifted for the time the boats were out.

DISCLAIMER:  Due to the Training Ship’s limited connectivity to the internet, blog postings are delayed and are not intended for real-time communication. To communicate with your student, please send messages to his or her issued e-mail address.

Students review line handling prior to departure.

Preparing to bring the forward spring line aboard.

One last wave good-bye…

Boat crews preparing to launch their boats
and demonstrate their skills to the Coast Guard.