Tuesday 18 January 2011

Picton Castle at sea; Tuesday 18 January 2011 בס"ד

Woke up at 0600, fell asleep, got an 0615 wakeup, woke up again at 0630, then finally got up at 0700. Wrote my log, breakfast, work. Jobs today included:

- coat of buff on main lower topsl sheet cleats

- second coat of white on starboard aft panama chock

- wirebrush, corroseal, and prime focsle shower

- coat of white on starboard breezeway tgallant rail

- two coats corroseal two coats primer on scullery fire axe bracket

- scuff and two coats white axe bracket spot in the scullery

- second coat of primer on bowsprit spots

- sand and penetrol two new Monomoy oars

- remove from Monomoy two out-of-place oars and relocate to Sea Never Dry

- two coats black on capstan welps

- two coats black on sponge hotel center divider slat

- coat of signal green/penetrol mix on both new quarterdeck forward charthouse lights' trims

- clean quarterdeck wire seizings with degreaser

- epoxy and clean cracked emergency water jug

- wirebrush and grease port breezeway international fire hose fitting manifold

- scuff 180 and varnish 60/40 salon doors

- scuff 180 and varnish 50/50 and 60/40 flyrail spindles port C and starboard C

- sand and penetrol flyrail spindle starboard B

- sand, penetrol, and prime mop pinrail holder blocks

- second coat of primer on trash pump frame

- coat of red primer over aluminum primer on trash pump hose manifold

- stencil and paint black PICTON CASTLE on aft thwart of Monomoy

Finished work at 1610. Workshop on servings part II at 1615, and we broke into small groups. In our small group, we had two mini groups for hands-on, and Tammy and I were paired and took turns being the server and the “boy” who passes round the ball of cordage. After, I shaved off my chops due to public outrage and general scandal, then dinner. After dinner, read some of the Odyssey out loud to Megan, who for whatever reason wanted me to do so. It's not a bad way to read, just wears the voice. Worked out on the well deck, then some small chaos at the turn of the watch when the port fore tgallant sheet parted, then as we took in the sail, I was hauling on the port leech, and that parted too! First time I ever hauled on a line and it parted. I could just see Karla saying “Michael, be careful, you don't even know your own strength!” even though it was going to part no matter how lightly I hauled on it. Only about a minute of minor chaos, not a huge deal. Went below, and watched some “Way of the Gun,” then bed. Today we passed the southern tip of Madagascar by about 100nm or so.

Monday 17 January 2011

Picton Castle at sea; Monday 17 January 2011 בס"ד

Woke up at 0630, wrote my log, breakfast, work. Today's jobs included:

- paint chock plugs two coats white

- red primer on trash pump frame

- aluminum primer on trash pump manifold

- second coat of corroseal on trash pump engine

- red primer on starboard aft panama chock

- red primer on corrosealed parts of starboard breezeway tgallant rail

- second coat of red primer on all primed parts of starboard breezeway

- second coat of red primer on main lower topsl sheet cleats

- sand bare wood parts of new sponge hotel and penetrol

- scuff sponge hotel doors and paint stone

- paint latches of sponge hotel stone

- spot paint port fore backstays and shrouds at pinrail level

- spot paint port fore tgallant rail black and white

- sand starboard flyrail spindle C 100-180 and 50/50 varnish

- scuff port flyrail spindles B and C 180 and 50/50 and 80/20 varnish

- paint stenciled letters PICTON CASTLE and AVATIU on the transom of the old skiff on the galleyhouse strongbacks

- paint stenciled letters on started oars

- sand and penetrol two new oars

- remove one side of letters from oar blades (oops)

- stencil big letters PICTON CASTLE on aft thwart in the Monomoy

- red primer on corrosealed parts of bowsprit

- paint white the port focslehead drain pipe

- insert chock plugs on the well deck

- wirebrush and corroseal trash pump filter on tube

- overhaul paint locker door latch, wirebrush, and corroseal

- return PFDs to the scuttle

- overhaul bunts on the fore and the main after bracing

After lunch, something really cool happened when we saw a tanker on the horizon. It turned out to be Siri's last job, the Bow Faith from Bergen, Norway, of Odfjell Tankers company. She had been on the radio with them, and they came by very close on starboard to “speak us.” We each gave each other a three horn salute, and Siri told us all her friends aboard were jealous of our women. They were bound for Durban. Later, when she was hanging out in the forepeak, she asked me if I'd like to work on a ship like that, to which I replied “awww shitchea!” Somebody also asked her how they clean out the tanks, which carry anything from vegetable oil to orange juice to ethanol, and she explained the device, which I told everybody was a Butterworth. When asked how I knew this, I was just like, “Well, I studied the book!” and pulled out my notes and sure enough I had the definition of Butterworth right there. Anyway, that made me feel cool. Today was a hectic workday but busy. Closed shop at 1615 and had a 1630 power shower. Then I shaved my beard into mutton chops to test that out. Pania won't talk to me now, or even look at my face. She hates it a lot. A LOT! Did a heavy workout on the well deck before dinner, then ate. Started reading but quickly passed out in my rack. Woke up at 2000, when the watch changed, and watched the last hour of Apocalypse Now! Redux. Read some Odyssey, and thought about my future, which combined with my nap earlier kept me up a while. Finally to sleep after midnight.

Sunday 16 January 2011

Picton Castle at sea; Sunday 16 January 2011 בס"ד

Woke up at 0745, breakfast at 0800, and did the dishes with Joani. Typed up logs after doing some hard drive backing up and giving Liam photos. At 1030ish, “THAR SHE BLOWS ON THE PORT BEAM!” yelled the Captain from the quarterdeck and I got up in time to see a sperm whale about 75 feet off. Pretty crazy. Typed until 1100 and watched the “Charlie don't surf!” battle scene from Apocalypse Now! Redux with Mitch, Davey, and Clark. Lunch at 1200, washed dishes with Joani again. Typed more, then showed Jan maps of New York. I'm getting closer and closer to catching up with typing, and I ended in January, so I'm less than two weeks behind now. Started reading War and Peace, but was tired and took a nap from 1530 to about 1700. There was a “garden party”-themed marlinespike, and I enjoyed some popcorn and punch. Dinner, did dishes with Ali and the bro galley team, and read a bit of Homer's Odyssey before our first bro-executive meeting in months. Very important. After the meeting, hung out in the forepeak and watched [person] act like a complete jackass. Bed.

Saturday 15 January 2011

Picton Castle at sea; Saturday 15 January 2011 בס"ד

Woke up at 0715, breakfast, work. Jobs this morning included:

- harness freshwater overhaul

- two oars from yesterday have blades scuffed and paint PICTON CASTLE in black

- put remaining hawsers in the chain locker

- downrig the fish tackle and stow in chain locker

- wirebrush and corroseal parts of the bowsprit

- primer on main lower topsl sheet cleats

- primer on section of starboard breezeway tgallant rail

- wirebrush and corroseal other section of starboard breezeway tgallant rail

- wirebrush and corroseal starboard aft Panama chock

- coat of white on starboard midships Panama chock

- scuff up chock plugs

- scrape and oil fore tgallant sheet blocks

- weekly greasings

There had been a miscommunication between WT and me about the Panama chocks... I had had them painted white yesterday, but he wanted the chock plugs painted white, and this was not rectified until I had installed them with Lauren. Not a big deal, just took em out and cleaned them up and scuffed them, and we'll paint them on Monday. Lunch at 1200, then read more War and Peace. I finished Part I, with total comprehension of events, characters, etc, since I read it pretty much three times over and wrote down every character's names and occurrences so that I could cross-reference who the hell was who and what they did. I started into the first several chapters of Part II. It would probably help if I knew more about the Eastern European campaigns of the Napoleonic wars, but I don't yet. A funny thing (or at least I thought so) happened today when Siri's sister Hege (who is sailing with us to Cape Town) came up to me and asked me about shipswork and what I do, since she's on 4-8 and doesn't see so much of it on watch. I told her all about the basics of metal treatment (rustbust, wirebrush, corroseal, primer, paint, etc) and then of wood treatment (scrape, sand, penetrol, scuff, varnish, paint, etc) and she said to me, “I've heard rumors of... 180.” I just thought that was a very funny rumor to hear. While reading, I asked Meredith what “accoucheur” meant (childbirth person, midwife or something like that), and I asked Robert what “Hapskriegwurstschnappsrath” meant (war sausage liquor something or other), since they were in the book and I had no clue. After dinner, a hangout in the forepeak, discussing toothbrushing. Bed.

Friday 14 January 2011

Picton Castle at sea; Friday 14 January 2011 בס"ד

Woke up on my own at 0630, since I forgot to request a courtesy wakeup from the new 4-8s. Wrote my log, breakfast, then set up for work. Jobs today included:

- painting sponge hotel doors stone

- painting Panama chocks on well deck white

- putting second coat of primer on freeing ports

- rustbusting part of the bowsprit, wirebrushing, and corrosealing it

- rustbusting, wirebrushing, and corrosealing the trash pump

- scraping the port foresl sheet block and oiling it

- scraping the fore tgallant sheet blocks and oiling them

- cleaning main lower topsl sheet cleats and corrosealing

- sweeping the aloha deck extra well

- cleaning out excess water from carpenters' workshop, including a very nasty spot under a rotten board

- cleaning out the focsle shower

- removing all caulking in the focsle shower

- scrubbing the shower curtain with bleach water

- sanding two Monomoy oars and penetrolling

- sanding and penetrolling the port center flyrail spindle

- sending down the dry hawsers to the chain locker

Cleaned up by 1600 for a 1610 workshop on serving by the Captain. Finished at 1700, took a nap until dinner. Dinner, then tried to get in my bunk but they were watching South Park, so I watched some. Then continued reading War and Peace, but started over with a notepad to keep track of characters because there are a lot and they often go by any one of many names or titles, which switch quickly and without direct inference. Bed. Shabbat Shalom.