CARGO HOLD DAY

This morning we crossed paths with another ship that was heading east. Marty and Mike said it is a car carrier going to Mexico.

Andy and I joined the chief mate, Duncan, today as he inspected the cargo holds. The stuff we were looking for is fuel leaks, excessive rust/damage, and piles of trash (every so often our people have to clean up what shipyard workers leave behind). There was much climbing up and down ladders and sneaking around containers and flat racks. Some of our cargo holds are completely empty right now. The non-empty ones hold flat racks with cars, normal containers, and reefers (containers that require refrigeration). The reefer hold is a little bare right now as not all of our refrigeration is working.

We found a few fuel oil dribbles, some container guides in questionable shape, a lot of trash, and some spiders. (seriously though what do they eat down there?) We have been told much of the Cargo Hold Spiders, such as

-their eyes glow red
-they’re HUGE, like SO HUGE
-and GREEN
-WITH FANGS
-they only go for cadets
-they can jump like 9 FEET
-and they ROAR when they jump

I can now guarantee that at least 2 of these are not true.

In the afternoon, the chief engineer (Howard) asked for our assistance in improving the excel program in which he records the daily readings. It is also supposed to calculate the fuel available from fuel consumed, fuel bunkered, and time elapsed. The problem is that at least 3 chief engineers have been working on this at different times with no particular documentation, and at this point it’s pretty convoluted. However, I think we can fix it, and by fix it I mean we probably will have to rip it all out and start over. I am currently trying to re-learn VBA, which is slow and painful but coming along.