FTV 2/7/2013 Mooring Stations

When the Kennedy pulled out of its berth in Jamaica  I had the opportunity to stand by at the stern and watch the deckies work their magic at the mooring stations. Mooring stations are located forward, aft, or at the gangway. The lines (or ropes) that you see attached from the ship to the pier keep the ship from floating away. The ship is maneuvered in a particular fashion in order for the lines to come loose just right. Then the gangway is from the pier, and the tiki hut is hoisted off the dock. Mooring stations can take anywhere from 45 minutes to just about an hour. Factors like weather, experience of the deckies, and how wet the line is determine how long this process takes.

I got a quick glimpse of the cadets moving the gangway, then made my way to the stern to watch the aft mooring stations. Captain DeCicco was in charge of this group, giving helpful teaching techniques and supervision; the cadets apply the skills what they learned in the classroom and in previous practice rounds. During a routine Mooring Stations all the lines of the ship are collected from the pier and stored properly. At the aft station, the lines are stored underneath the fantail (at the stern). Once the lines are hoisted from the pier, the deckies heave them into the compartment. With the help of the winch the deckies are able to swiftly and methodically pass the line to each other. The line is then neatly coiled and stowed away until we get to Aruba.

Some fun facts about lines: Today the deckies hoisted 6 lines that are about 8 inches in diameter and 600 feet long. When they are dry their weight is just about 1 pound per foot; when wet their weight can double.  The deckies had one very long morning of preparing lines. We will look into the differences of this process from the entering port process once we make it to Aruba!

Using this info can you calculate calculate the dry and wet weight of the lines that were used to hold the
Kennedy in its berth?

Today Alicia's blog contained many of the terms that sailors use to identify parts of the ship. Use the activity below to apply some of the terms you know.

Read this selection from Moby Dick by Herman Melville. It is from chapter 16, “The Ship,” in which the narrator describes the whaling ship Pequod.

 "She was a boat of the old school, rather small if anything. . . . Long, seasoned and weather-stained in the typhoons and calms of all four oceans, her old hull’s complexion was darkened like a French grenadier’s, who has alike fought in Egypt and Siberia. Her venerable bow looked bearded. Her masts—cut somewhere on the coast of Japan, where her original ones were lost overboard in a gale—her masts stood stiffly up like the spines of the three old kings of Cologne. Her ancient decks were worn and wrinkled".

In this selection, Melville describes four parts of the ship. How does he help you picture

them in your own mind?

Part of ship Description in your own words

1.

2.

3.

4.

• Use this worksheet to Label the parts of the T.S.Kennedy