It is 0200 and the Wheelman on watch calls his Tankerman to come up to the wheelhouse to standby.  Not much is going on that time of night, but the Tombigbee is running and the Jackson Railroad Bridge is up ahead.

  

The Tankerman might think his Wheelman is looking for some company to help pass the watch, but there is much more to it than that.  

  

Four eyes are better than two and the Tankerman will quickly become an additional look-out.

  

  

  

A look into the Higman Safety Management System, Volume I will find the Navigation of Locks and Bridges section.  In it are general procedures for most locks, along with specific instructions for the more exacting ones.  In it also are general procedures for Bridge Transits. 

  

Let's look at the Bridge Transit section on Page 1-15:

• "Whenever a tow is transiting any bridge, the Wheelman on watch will alert the deck person on watch and depending on circumstances, station him either on the head of the tow with a radio or in the wheelhouse as a look-out".
• "Whether he is placed on the head of the tow or in the wheelhouse will be at the Wheelman's discretion, taking into considerations prevailing conditions, weather, time of day and difficulty of the bridge transit".

The job seems obvious, but what should you do as look-out?

  

RULE 5 in the "Navigation Rules, International and Inland" states that "Every vessel shall at all times maintain a proper look-out by sight and hearing as well as all available means appropriate in the prevailing circumstances and conditions so as to make full appraisal of the situation and of the risk of collision".

  

As Look-out,  you are assisting the Wheelman in making a "full appraisal of the situation".   Normally while underway, the Wheelman alone can make a "full appraisal" but transiting a bridge, especially in high water can become a challenging situation for one person alone.

  

The Wheelman will be managing the sticks, monitoring the radar, judging approach speed, the current set, all the while trying to line up on a bridge a half mile away. 

  

Your job as Look-out is to assist him as instructed to help make a safe transit.

  The Bridge Transit section on Page 1-16 goes on to say:

• This policy is intended to ensure that two people are up and aware of the transit of any and all bridges.  If the vessel is shorthanded, the deck person off watch is to be awakened.

Acting as a Look-out means working hand in hand with your Wheelman.  Up in the wheelhouse or out on the head of the tow, you become critical in the safe navigation of the tow and the success of the voyage.

Jerry Crooks, Shell Trading Company's Marine Technical Advisor recently commented on a Training Newsletter article written by Higman's Capt Mike Maneely. 

  

In the February 23, 2011 article "From the Pilot House", Capt. Mike talks about the importance of making a good round both in the engine room and on the barge deck.  Jerry makes good points about ensuring the Wheelhouse is well informed by the person making the round.  

  

From Jerry Crooks.....

  

"An important point not mentioned is that no one should undertake any maintenance in the engine room without notifying the wheelhouse.  I would also recommend not performing maintenance while underway, and in some cases not while working alone. 

  

I have experienced a loss of pilothouse control on a CG cutter when my engineer decided to fix something he spotted on a normal round without telling me.  I  have also investigated incidents similar to that, and also a few cases where individuals working alone in an engine room were injured (when the vessel rolled slightly) and no one knew they had been hurt. 

  

In one very tragic case there was a fatality when a second engineer working alone in an engine room in port got trapped in the main engine scavenge air receiver.  After searching for him before departure the master concluded he was not onboard and got underway.  He died a gruesome death and likely suffered terribly.  Although that kind of incident could not happen on a tug, the point is the same - working alone when no one knows what you are doing can be hazardous".

  

As in any operation, communications is key.  Always keep each other informed on what is going on, what you are about to undertake and what is coming up next!

  

The Furuno Navnet vx2 system is installed on about 65% of our vessels.

  

Available for all crews with this system, is the "NAVnet VX2 Wheelhouse Navigation System Operations Course".

  

If your Wheelhouse crew has not yet taken this course, contact Gordie to set up a time and date.  We normally conduct the course on Wednesdays around the mid day when both Wheelmen are up.

  

The course normal takes about 2 hours and covers:

• FURUNO 1964/54 Black Box units.
• FURUNO 1920 Chart Plotters
• Basic components - power supplies, scanners, monitors
• radar operations
• plotter operations
• AIS interface
• SC50 Sat Compass
• interface with the 12 volt system.
• system maintenance.

Here is a trick question I ask all those taking the course...."The Magnetron is a key part to every radar...Where else would you find a Magnetron on your boat?   Any takers?  Send me your answer

We haven't even completed the first quarter training and we have over 1000 CBT certificates completed.

 

This year's 1000's CBT winner is Michael Hazelwood, Captain of the M/V Snipe.  Mike completed Safety Housekeeping on March 10th.  The lucky winner will receive a $150 gift certificate.

 

Thank you all of your hard work.  Keep it up, you might be the next winner.

 

  

The period at high or low tide during which there is no change in the height of the water is called the __________.

A: range of the tide

B: plane of the tide

C: stand of the tide

D: reversing of the tide

  

What does the term "tide" refer to?  

A: Horizontal movement of the water

B: Vertical movement of the water

C: Mixing tendency of the water

D: Salinity content of the water  

 

 

The difference between the heights of low and high tide is the __________.

 

A: period

B: range

C: distance

D: depth

 

 

What is the definition of height of tide?

 

A: The vertical distance from the tidal datum to the level of the water at any time

B: The vertical difference between the heights of low and high water

C: The vertical difference between a datum plane and the ocean bottom

D: The vertical distance from the surface of the water to the

 

 

When the moon is new or full, which type of tides occur?

 

A: Neap

B: Spring

C: Diurnal

D: Apogean

 

 

 

 

One of our boat crews was telling me about some fish they recently caught while waiting for dock space down in Bolivar.  The fish went from the side of the boat to the galley stove and then onto the dinner plate in short order.  Not much fresher than that.

 

For some reason, that reminded me of an encounter I had with a giant squid about thirty years ago. 

 

The Exxon Philadelphia was loaded, sailing from Valdez, AK to San Francisco.  We encountered rough weather on the trip south and the decks were awash for several days.  A day out of San Francisco, the weather cleared and waves subsided enough to allow the crew on deck.

 

Our Pumpman discovered a very large squid trapped in the tangle of pipelines on deck.  It most likely washed aboard with one of the waves and never made it back to the sea. 

 

The galley crew, as on most Exxon tankers at the time, were of Portuguese descent from the Cape Verde Islands.  These guys could cook seafood like no other and when they found out about the giant squid, their excitement levels rose.  They rushed out on deck and collected the squid, promising our crew an amazing feast for dinner that night.

  

Squid is one of the main dishes found in Portuguese cooking.  They are fried, sauteed, stewed and stuffed. We looked forward to a great meal!

  

By dinner time, expectations were great!

 

The only problem was that the squid had the consistency of boiled shoe leather and the flavor was not much better.   Most of us ate something else that night.

 

I guess we learned there is a big difference in the little six inch squid you get in a plate of calamari and the six footer we had that night. 

 

Have a great and very safe week!