Deck Cadet blogspot

This entry is a post dated as I had unfortunately not started writing this blog before commencing with my ordeals.

Prior to sailing, I studied at Warsash Maritime Academy for about 6 months (See link). In the first weeks of joining I learnt how to do knots and splices, (something I wish I could have remembered more vividly during my first trip) short course s in Fire Fighting, First Aid, Personal Survival Techniques.

The next five months were spent learning about cargo operations, law, navigation, mathematics. Quite a lot to take in!  More so than I ever did in my first term at university!

My first ship was P&O’s Aurora. What a beautiful ship she was. I joined her in Sydney (27th Feb) after a long flight (lasting 23hrs). We had to make an emergency stop at Alice Springs due to a passenger suffering from Appendicitis. My initial fears about joining where long forgotten when I arrived at the terminal, Aurora was berthed opposite the Sydney Opera house and behind Sydney harbour bridge! What a place to join! Joining was not so bad- after being introduced to all the deck officers, I tried to familiarise myself with the ship ! This was a task that took about 3 weeks! Aurora is just over 70,ooo tonnes !

Then started the work…

My working hours were from 0800 to 1800. However on a port day I would get a call to tell me stations were in 30 mins time and to get my arse down to the foscle or aft mooring. My duties during daywork were working with the coxswains assisting with all the maintenance tasks.This included working on the lifeboats, checking fire lockers, hydrants and extinguishers, lifejackets and other survival equipment. I learnt a lot in terms of actually doing the work! Other tasks included working with the Pakistani CPO doing chipping and painting, galley uptakes (Horrible task – Removing fatty grease deposits in the galley vents), helping on the pontoons at Tender days. I got to drive a tender – but it was a bit embarrassing when coming into berth with all the passengers watching!I started to do steering of the ship, more challenging than you would first think!

I am just on the 1o hours required  but still need to do a arrival and departure. I’m looking forward to seeing if they will let me steer on the Sapphire. After leaving Darwin, I was put on the Pirate watch. This was due to an increase in the security level to level 2! However trying to readjust to working on a 12 to 4 watch with 8 hours I initially found it very difficult.Aye Aye, No Pirates spotted but I did learn about the point system used in notifying the OOW where other ships are, and recognising lights and shapes of other fishing vessels. Pirate watch ended in Singapore where I was lucky enough to get some time ashore! I went as one does and had a Singapore Sling!

I shall now detail some note able experiences I had in various ports…If you want a full list of the places I have been to check out the link J

Rugby in Hong Kong! After being tasked by the Youth director to play, the day finally arrived after several rounds of serious training. However the home team was short of a player, so I ended up on the home side playing with some large expats who had a fetish for wearing camp rugby gear!

Escorting in San Francisco!!!!In San Fran, I was a tour escort for a tour to Alcatraz! Basically this means you get the tour for free, but you have to assist the passengers and deal with any problems etc and make sure no one gets left behind. Luckily there weren’t many problems – what a crazy day. In the early hours of the morning we sailed under the Golden Gate bridge, seeing SanFran illuminated was a memory I don’t think I will ever forget. As part of my tour I went over the bridge into Sausalito – that is one place I could easy move to..

Panama Canal! Awesome day I saw 3 crocodiles. Transiting the canal made my trip. There are three locks (Gatun Locks, Pedro Miguel Locks , Miraflores Locks) and it is only one of two places in the world where the pilot takes command of the ship. When you go through a lock, the ship is guided through by ‘mules’  powered trains which are attached to the ship by wires. A complex system of culverts and valves controls the level of water required to elevate and lower the ships inside the docks. The canal is approximately 80 Km long, connecting the Atlantic to the Pacific Ocean! The canal opened on the 15 Aug 1914 – incredible engineering when you think about it, someone suggested that if they attempted to build the canal today it would not be possible -too many lives where lost. More than 880,000 vessels have transited the waterway!

Southampton VTS visit. Usually we berthed at the QE2 terminal which is close to Southampton Vessel Traffic Services. I gave them a call and was luckily enough to get a tour around. What amazed me most was their ability to monitor the whole of Southampton port – big brother was really there, the CCTV had very powerful zoom in capabilities. They can actually check that they container ship claiming to have finished loading of cargoes actually has!

St. Petersburg. What an interesting port. The actual port was controlled by the Russian mafia – well this was what I was told by coxswain so I am not inclined to believe it! This port was the only overnight stay that we had, so taking full advantage I decided to visit the aptly named ‘Seaman’s Cultural Centre’ what a eye opener that was. Upon buying and consuming the mandatory Vodka I was approached by some scantily clad women, which after the first opening Hello offered their services for $100, this swiftly went down to $50 until I told them to ‘expletive’ off!

A run in with an old friend in Stavanger;  A friend I learnt French with from  my previous university randomly sent me an email saying she was working in Stavanger in Norway, and by coincidence I was arriving there in 2 days! However I was late leaving the ship to meet her, and it caused a rumour train to start –when the bridge were radioed by security asking if they knew the whereabouts of deck cadet Warren Payne.Everybody including the staff captain was wondering why there was a girl there to meet me!!

 The last cruise was the Norwegian fjords ! If you are reading this and wondering where to visit , the fjords are a must! That week made a big impression on me and I was on the bridge most evenings trying to take in all the scenery! 

On the 8th of June I paid off the Aurora. It was certainly a experience in which I learnt a lot in many ways. What I have wrote is only a small fraction of my experiences but I thought the text is already too long!!! From now on I shall try and keep regular updates in smaller doses!

If you’ve read this far thank-you at least someone thought it was interesting!