Here's the ship in New York. The structure on the right (and another, unseen on the
left) form the side walls of the drydock. The end piece had already been removed.
For one thing, I had been reluctant to try, since I get
seasick/airsick very easily.
However, the new
anti-motion-sickness patches that are stuck behind your ear had
worked for friends -- and they certainly worked for me on this trip. I
recommend them most highly!
The State of Maine had returned from its yearly cruise and gone
immediately into
drydock in New York. I had the opportunity to ride on
the ship when it returned
from New York to its home port of
Castine. It was an enjoyable -- and
exceptionally educational -- trip
for me -- and time well spent, since I understand
more of what my
students are talking about. My thanks and appreciation to
Capt.
Larry Wade and his crew for their hospitality and patience in
answering questions.
Below are some of the photographs I took to remember the occasion:
Here's the ship in New York. The structure on the right (and another,
unseen on the
left) form the side walls of the drydock. The end piece
had already been removed.
Here, a crane removes the gangplank.
Since there now was no gangplank, the captain and mate ride a bucket to reach the ship.
Now the electrical power from the dock is disconnected, and the
ship relies on its
own generators.
After the ship is winched out of the drydock, a tug turns us so that
we're headed out.
This lady looks familiar...
Once we're under the bridge, we're out to sea!
This is what it looked like from the bridge, at sea. To me, it seemed
as though the ship
never moved, the horizon never changed -- but the waves kept rolling
under us.
The last picture looked as if I were all alone -- Of course that's not
true at all. There
were always people -- the captain, the mates -- behind me
on the bridge, making
things happen.
The ship has an amazing (to me, at least) array of high-tech
equipment. Radar allows
you to see
everything around you, even when
you can't see everything around you --
if you get what I mean.
Other equipment, like this computer in the navigation lab, showed
where you were,
where you had been, and where you were going. It was
fun to watch the progress of
the ship across the charts.
Down deep in the ship, others were hard at work. The ship not only
needs a
propulsion engine
working, of course, but also needs
electrical power, fresh water,
plumbing, etc. -- all the things
a first-rate hotel would need. And since it's at sea,
the engineers have
to provide all that
with their own systems.
Engineering upperclassman Jeff Bouffard was especially helpful in
answering all
my questions.
Here's what made the ship go. Its steady thump, thump, thump was very
reassuring.
It didn't seem to be working very hard, yet was providing
thousands of horsepower.
It was reassuring to see Jamie's familiar face, providing good food as always.
And there were, of course, others working in the galley to feed everyone as
well.
Sooner than I expected, we were back in sight of land
Since we had to wait for the tide to be right, time was taken to
check the compasses.
Then the pilot boat arrived,
The pilot climbed up a ladder,
And a flag was hoisted to show a pilot was aboard.
The anchor was readied.
MMA's own tug, the Pentagoet, arrived, along with the Mack Point.
The Mack Point tied on to the starboard side,
While the Pentagoet, looking immaculate, tied onto the stern.
Then we came around to Castine,
Lines were thrown
And we winched to the dock,
The gangplank was lifted into place, and we were home!