CAPTAIN'S LOG – 16 JANUARY 2016

Day three of anchor drills in Mayaguez Bay.They are long days for the mates and engineers – I guess maybe the cadets to, but they are stressed to complete the task of anchoring once – we do three or four a day. But the training is so over the top it is crazy. Ask any licensed mate on the ship to see if they ever anchored the ship as a cadet, and they would say, "no, I was second mate before I did it!" We are really fortunate to have this availability in our itinerary for the drills.

Tonight we will remain at anchor in Mayaguez Bay, but the respite will be short lived as we will launch the starboard side boats tomorrow, starting at 0700. This is to satisfy US Coast Guard regulations on the exercising of the lifeboats. Once that is done, maybe at 0900, we'll heave anchor and head west for Ile a Vache Haiti. Once there we'll off-load our humanitarian donations, and host a luncheon for local dignitaries. When we are done we'll heave up the hook once more and head southwest toward the Panama Canal. Adding up so far, we are seven days into the sea term and have done three arrival days and six anchorings. That's keeping busy.

Since we have been hanging around Puerto Rico, I have not mentioned the entry into the Caribbean. This has a certain mystical aurora to it, as Captain Ron once said "Woodoo, voodoo and all kinds of stuff". The Spanish Main; pirate ships, buccaneers and buried treasure! Not really I suppose, but I like the Carib – easterly breeze all the time, occasional rain – but overall very nice weather.