No Ordinary Seaman
Is On The Bridge
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| setting the sextant |
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| see the Bridge with wraparound windows that extend over the side of the ship |
Why did we choose to do this cruise? Mostly, it was to celebrate 50 years together. South America has always been a curiosity; but a cruise? This was yet another type of exploration. And if one is prepared to break the budget, then I highly recommend this with your life partner.
Incidentally, the following photos were taken with a
smartphone because I thought that for reasons of security,
photographs would not be permitted on the bridge. I misinformed myself.
The old seaman in me has always wanted to sail around Cape Horn. Ever since scribing the first few pages of No Ordinary Seaman - A Memoir, a more pressing desire has been to get back on the bridge of a ship. Since publication, I was determined that this be a cruise ship. Guess what? It happened!
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| View of Puerto Arenas from the bridge |
I took a few of my books on the cruise in the hopes of gifting the captain with an autographed copy as an incentive to be invited to the bridge. The first thing I did before we even got to our stateroom, was introduce myself to the concierge as a nautical author who will be doing some writing while on board, and might there be a chance for a tour of the bridge?
"No, not very likely. The Captain is big on security and does not generally do tours."
What a disappointment. But not to be deterred, I had to find a way. I sold two books to some newfound friends with the hopes that they would spread the word so I could sell even more books. I talked up a young ship's officer about a fascinating memoir written by an old seaman, I shamelessly spread small rumours about there being a nautical writer on the ship, and so on.
Much to our surprise, a letter of invitation by the captain was delivered to our cabin on Dec 27 for a private tour the next day at 4 pm.
This would be while we were at the dock in Punta Arenas, Chile.
The chart below shows the landform of Tierra del Fuego with the Argentine Sea on the right, and the Antarctic Sea at the bottom. The thin black vertical line represents the Argentine-Chile border.
 The lower squiggly band of blue is the Beagle Channel through which we sailed from east to west. Ushuaia is situated about halfway along the channel. It is the little black dot with three small magenta circles below it. |
Punta Arenas is in the Strait of Magellan where we are berthed, top left of the screen.
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| the ship's helm |
What a surprise to see the ship's helm. The wheel (for steering with the rudder) used to be mounted on the binnacle which included the wet compass. You know, the dial with the compass points—N, E, W, S— and its graduations embossed in fluorescent paint on a disc that floats around in a glass-domed ball in a pool of alcohol.
Look at the tiny wheel that steers this huge ship. Toggles and real small airplane-like yokes are mini wheels, also used to steer the ship. Levers that operate the bow and stern thrusters are middle left with red and green stripes.
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the main console |
The engine speed levers are middle left too, I think. I'll stop here. I did not want to ask a lot of questions and risk tarnishing my reputation as a seasoned helmsman. (Huh!) We are looking at some very sophisticated technology here. I had the impression that if you are good with video games, you would take to these controls very well.
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| Officer Fergus working with charts |
The bridge is expansive with the best view on board. Who would not want to work in this bright and spacious environment?
Yes, there was Christmas spirit on the bridge too.
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| map storage |
"Do you have a flag for every coastal nation?" I asked the Chief Officer.
"No, only for those countries where we may be sailing to.
Now, for readers who do not know what a sextant is, and few will, a sextant is a tool for celestial navigation that is/was used to measure the angle between the horizon and a visible object or two objects at sea. It was invented in the mid-1700s and was used for a couple of centuries. I believe all ship officers today will have learned how to use a sextant, but clearly, the instrument has become obsolete. In the unlikely event of a complete power failure & electronic meltdown, pull out the sextant.
At the end of the wonderful tour given to us by the very professional, respectful, and friendly chief officer from Croatia, I autographed a copy of No Ordinary Seaman: A Memoir and left it behind as a gift for Captain S., also a Croatian. We did not meet. He was a no-show. His loss. I'd have regaled him with old sea stories and invited him to our table.
"No, only for those countries where we may be sailing to.
Sorry, Mr. Karlsen, no Norwegian flag because we do not sail in those waters. But we have a Canadian flag."
I gave him two thumbs up for that.
Based on the principle that there is no such thing as a silly question, I asked if there was a sextant on the bridge. After scratching his head the first officer went to a mahogany cubby and pulled out a beautiful lacquered box containing a shiny, never-before-used sextant.
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| the old Ordinary Seaman pretending to use the sextant |
At the end of the wonderful tour given to us by the very professional, respectful, and friendly chief officer from Croatia, I autographed a copy of No Ordinary Seaman: A Memoir and left it behind as a gift for Captain S., also a Croatian. We did not meet. He was a no-show. His loss. I'd have regaled him with old sea stories and invited him to our table.
...ooo0ooo...
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