Tag: safety drills

NOAA Teacher at Sea
John Schneider
Onboard NOAA Ship Fairweather 
July 7 – August 8, 2009 

Mission: Hydrographic Survey
Geographical Area: Kodiak, AK to Dutch Harbor, AK
Date: July 21-26, 2009

Position
In port, Dutch Harbor, AK

Personal Log 

The days we spent in Dutch Harbor were a combination of 8-hour work days and evenings spent in town at either the Harbor View Sports Bar and Grill or the Grand Aleutian Hotel.  The crew and survey techs put in full days, then go out for a couple of hours using the liberty van.  Everyone’s usually back aboard by midnight or so (the van stops running at 2300, but the town’s only about a 20 minute walk.)  In Dutch and Unalaska, there are houses of worship, museums, a Safeway, a clinic (which I got to visit / after stepping on a nail), a community indoor pool and a post office. There are also a couple of ship supply places that have excellent quality gear at a minimum markup considering how far away we are.

For me, there were four events that were particularly of note.  First, before now I had only ever seen one bald eagle in the lower 48 and a half dozen or so in Kodiak.  In Dutch, they are all over.  These birds get to be about 3 feet tall and the talons on the juvenile pictured are about an inch long!  I took well nigh 100 pictures and had trouble selecting which ones to include.  They are stunning animals.

Second, I knew that Dutch Harbor had been bombed by the Japanese in WWII as part of the diversionary action prior to the Battle of Midway.  What I never realized was WHY they would bomb a remote, nothing, minor outpost and attack and occupy Attu and Kiska farther out in the Aleutians. The answer lies in spheroid geometry!  (OK all you math phobes, this is a cool one that’s not too hard to grasp.) Simply put, the shortest distance between any two points on a sphere (the Earth) is the distance along the surface created by a plane created by three points: the two points in question and the center of the sphere.  In other words, it cuts the planet in half!  (The red line in the illustration.)

On the diagram above, the red line is the great circle route from Tokyo to Seattle.  As you can see it passes right through the Aleutians.  The battle in the Aleutians is sometimes referred to as the “Thousand Mile War” and is largely unknown, However, the Aleutian Islands are the “back door” to attacking North America.  That’s why, after the bombing of Dutch Harbor six months after Pearl Harbor, the United States made a concerted effort to fortify the Aleutians and take back Attu and Kiska. By the way, the landings on Attu and Kiska were the first landings on American soil by an enemy since the War of 1812!  There are reinforced concrete bunkers and Quonset huts all over the Dutch Harbor area and the fortifications atop Mount Ballyhoo are among the most well-preserved and extensively built in the United States.  The fact that our military – both men and women – were stationed in such an inhospitable frontier should be taught to all of our students.

Personally, I am thankful to one of my professors, Jack Lutz, who was stationed on Adak, 350+ miles West of Dutch Harbor.  Freedom isn’t free and we are very lucky.  So, this information about great circles should lend a bit of insight to the questions I posed earlier about the D.E.W. Line (used for radar protection in the event of Soviet missile launch over the North Pole) and why we encountered ships sailing from North America to Asia while passing through Unimak Pass (It’s right in the middle of the great circle route!)

On our last day in Dutch, the CO and 5 others including myself went to the old cemetery in Unalaska. Buried there is Karl Mueller of the U.S. Ship Surveyor. He was one of the earliest Americans to work on surveying the Aleutians and was drowned in 1938 when his survey launch hit a previously uncharted reef. For more information on the NOAA personnel lost in the line of duty, go here. It’s important that we know our history in order to appreciate our present and look forward to the future.  

The last notable event in Dutch was the combined “wetting down” and Sunday Brunch for the new officers. As I pointed out on one of my first logs, CO Doug Baird was promoted to Captain and Mark Andrews was promoted to Lieutenant JG.  LTjg Andrews generously invited me to the wetdown and brunch which was attended by the entire crew. The wetdown was at the Grand Aleutian on Saturday night and Sunday brunch was there also. These two events were really something special and the camaraderie was great to experience.  Thank you, sirs.

NOAA Teacher at Sea
John Schneider
Onboard NOAA Ship Fairweather 
July 7 – August 8, 2009 

Mission: Hydrographic Survey
Geographical Area: Kodiak, AK to Dutch Harbor, AK
Date: July 16-17, 2009

Position
Shumagin Islands

Weather Data from the Bridge 
Weather System: Light fog, clearing through the day
Wind: light and variable
Sea State: <2 feet

Science and Technology Log 

This morning, I went up to the boat deck and took a shot of the FOO in the morning safety briefing on the fantail. Afterwards, while the launches were conducting near-shore and off-shore surveys, the Fairweather ran cross track lines where we had completed a large open-water polygon. Once the large offshore polygons are surveyed by the Fairweather, the ship runs several transects at a 90º angle across the original survey lines. This is to corroborate prior data. When the survey crew finally completes their data analysis, they have checked and re-checked the data a minimum of 4 times before the report leaves the ship. Then, the information goes to NOAA’s charting offices and is reviewed multiple times again before being incorporated and published on charts and in the Coast Pilots.

Personal Log 

Perhaps the three most frightening prospects on board a ship at sea are:

1. Fire
2. Abandoning a sinking vessel
3. Man Overboard 

This afternoon, we ran drills addressing the first two situations.  In the first drill, we simulated a shipboard fire with thick smoke.  Rather than filling the ship with smoke, the crew paired up and practiced escaping from their cabins blindfolded.  Each person took a turn being the eyes so their partner didn’t get injured, but could not give directions. My path was relatively easy: Left out of my cabin, right along the wall, up the ladder, right to the next wall, right again, pass the door to the scullery, go over a coaming and left out to the weather deck. I did fine, and my partner, Engineer Joe Kelly, also did. On the other hand, Andrew Clos, one of the survey techs, made one wrong turn and wandered into the mess. Once he got there, well, on board ship folks tend to enjoy a good laugh – either at their own expense or someone else’s.  Once Andrew got into the mess, other crew members put chairs in his way, opened cabinet doors, blocked the ability for him to go backwards!

Oh, they were merciless!  Finally, someone led him out and we all shared a good laugh.  The XO was, however, quick to point out that Andrew had crawled during the drill – one of the few who had done so.  Remember what they teach even in pre-school, if there’s smoke, the smoke rises, so crawl to safety. So I guess the point was well-made. The abandon ship drill is very simple in concept, but with 45-50 people hustling through passageways with life jackets and Gumby suits (not wearing them, but just carrying them) it can be chaotic. Nonetheless, within less than 4 minutes, every crew member was at their abandon ship stations.

The best aspect of the drills was the seriousness of the personnel. We all realize, even the crewmen who have been to sea for decades, that life on the sea is held by a thin thread and frivolity belongs in its place. While the launches were operating, Survey Tech Tami Beduhn (with help!) put a chicken suit on the CPR mannequin that we have on board and set it up in Ensign Matt Forney’s station in the plot room.  They even put his ball cap on it!

Speaking of Frivolity

Being more than halfway through the leg and getting work done at a really good pace – through crew efforts and cooperation from the weather – the CO (currently Jim Bush who has relieved CAPT Baird while he is on leave for a short while) approved a “beach party” to be held on one of the accessible beaches (Flying Eagle Harbor – 55º10’ N, 159º30’W) of Big Koniuji Island, the second largest island in the Shumagins. The ship arrived in the “harbor” a few hours before the launches returned and anchored. While the launches were conducting survey ops, the stewards (chefs) and the deck crew repeatedly took the skiff (a small utility boat) and set up a HUGE meal on the beach. As you can see, the bonfire was ready to go – collected from the ample supply of driftwood. We even had a Beachparty Internal Temperance Control Honcho – kind of a 2009 version of Women’s Christian Temperance Union of the late 1800’s!  After a while on the ship, it was cool to get ashore. A couple of the crew hiked to the summit of the mountain.

Vocabulary 

• Scullery – the area of the galley (kitchen) where used dishes are rinsed and put into the dishwasher
• Coaming – a raised door sill at a hatch to keep water from flowing inside