Today we met up with a Webb alum, Kyle Brunelle ’82. He had seen that we were in the area and offered to give us a tour of the Port of Oakland, which he works for. Of course, we thought this was a good idea. He was able to meet us at the gangway and we drove around to observe cargo operations for a little while. The Matsonia had also been moved to the new Matson terminal and there were a couple other ships doing stuff as well. We watched containers being moved on and off ships by different types of cranes as well as smaller vehicles moving containers around the yard. Some of the boxes get put onto railroad cars for their transport around the country and some just go on trucks.
We made our way over to the end of the terminal, which Hanjin just moved out of. There were 3 cranes not being used, making them perfect for our tour. We stopped to pick up a mechanic (Joe) who took us up in the tiny crane elevator to the operator’s cab. It’s a lot like an enclosed ski gondola, but with more glass panels so the operator can watch the crane trolley move around.
Joe showed us how the crane is turned on and how the boom has to be lowered from the stowed position before operations start. (Watching large pieces of steel flex while moving is exciting.) He pointed out the operator’s controls, which are mainly 2 joysticks. Then he said, “OK, who wants to go first?”
YES!! WE DROVE A CRANE!!!!!! They didn’t let us pick anything up (very smart), but we got to drive the cab forward and back and move the trolley around. The trolley actually sends feedback to a PLC somewhere so that when it is over the pavement, even if you are sending it toward the ground at full speed, it will slow down and stop before you hit anything. The same goes for raising it at full speed. However, when over the water, this feedback does not happen, because cranes need to be able to get containers out of the bottom of a ship’s cargo hold, which can be 40 feet below the surface of the water.
Joe: “OK, now do you want to see it go full speed?”
There is an art to driving cranes that we do not have. The controls are very sensitive, so it is very easy to jerk the cab around and difficult to make things operate smoothly, and the trolley can start acting like a pendulum. As Joe showed us, the good crane operators are able to counteract the swing of the trolley or use it to their advantage.
A little while later, we went up a level to the machinery house. All the cable spools are up there, along with auxiliary motors, a reduction gear, and the switchboards. After this, Joe had to leave us. The rest of us decided to go all the way up to the apex of the crane. Mr. Brunelle says that when the weather is not foggy (unlike today), it is the best view of San Francisco. We weren’t able to see past the Bay Bridge, but we could look out over the whole terminal, the park next door, and see Berkeley off to the right.
this is what the cranes looked like when they were shipped from China
they barely fit under the bridge at low tide
that’s us!!!
It was an entirely super cool experience and we’d like to thank Mr. Brunelle again for the opportunity (and for all of the crane photos)!
At that point, we had already used up most of our day, so again we were forced to acknowledge that we would not be able to make it to San Francisco. After meeting Cody and satchel for lunch, we got donuts (tiny donuts) and may have also gotten cake, cupcakes, and/or ice cream. Then we were left on our own and went to do some exploring.
We ended up at a little park thing (Lake Merrit) outside Oakland. We found a lot of birds, including 2 cormorants, 9,999 pigeons, and 99,999 ring-billed gulls.
I didn’t take this picture either.
There was also a big sign that said “CHILDREN’S FAIRYLAND” in rainbow letters, so of course we had to check that out. It’s about as weird as it sounds- an abandoned kid’s fairy tale amusement park. Do not let your children go to this park. You do not want to go to this park.
And then it was time to start heading back to the ship. I mentioned earlier that we have moved from the sketchy part of Oakland to the sketchier part of Oakland. Did you know that it’s so sketchy, cabbies don’t even want to take you there? The companies kept bouncing us around to other companies, occasionally promising someone was on the way, more often insisting they “had no one in the area”. Eventually we had to face the facts: no one was coming to get us.
Yeah, we walked.
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