Large quantities of soot build up in the stacks when the ship's engine runs day in and day out. To keep the soot from building up to dangerous levels and creating conditions that make a stack fire possible, they "blow tubes," which is a fancy way of saying the engineers throw coarse walnut shells into the exhaust and then they rev the engine, a by-product of which is ash raining down on the leeward decks. It accumulates on everything and it becomes the problem of the sailors, because- after all- we are the glorified janitors of the sea.
We spent the last week washing the 02 deck, the RO RO ramps, the main deck, the house and all the house decks and ladders. Washing consists of applying either citrisol (degreaser) or RSR (Rust Stain Remover), a mild acid that- duh- removes rust stains, and then pressure-washing it all back off. And pushing piles of ash from blowing tubes with high pressure water towards scuppers and drains, and at the end of the day, off the ship.
Today, halfway through the process, we were halted by the port engineer and the mate then instructed us to finish the job with mops, that all water on decks was to be removed and no more applied. I don't know why... most likely they were worried about the diesel tank that sprung a leak and had to be drained (about two cups of which managed to escape our best containment efforts but were cleaned- thoroughly- with a non-coagulating cleaner).
So yes, today I swabbed the deck with a mop like a pirate sailor of yore. Unlike them, however, the soot from blowing tubes was soon spread out in a thin layer- it didn't take long before the entire ship was a sloppy mess. It truly looked heinous. We were instructed to dump the dirty mop water on the 02 deck (freshly citrisoled and pressure washed) and spread it out.
In other words, I got paid to undo every single bit of work I was paid to do last week.
Which proves my theory- Most work on ships is make-work designed to keep the unlicensed sailors busy so they don't get into more trouble than what they already get into. Other sailors don't understand this and get frustrated, but I clearly get it and find it absolutely hysterical... it's when I start telling everyone "I'm just happy I get to be a part of it all."
And I am. The absurdity of it all is what keeps me going. And laughing at things nobody else seems to find quite as funny. So as I splashed dirty water onto the bright white paint of the house while swabbing decks, and as I dumped dirty water onto the decks I just cleaned, I was laughing. The scowls of some of the other guys just made me laugh that much harder.
The best part of it all? They pay me to do it.
We spent the last week washing the 02 deck, the RO RO ramps, the main deck, the house and all the house decks and ladders. Washing consists of applying either citrisol (degreaser) or RSR (Rust Stain Remover), a mild acid that- duh- removes rust stains, and then pressure-washing it all back off. And pushing piles of ash from blowing tubes with high pressure water towards scuppers and drains, and at the end of the day, off the ship.
Today, halfway through the process, we were halted by the port engineer and the mate then instructed us to finish the job with mops, that all water on decks was to be removed and no more applied. I don't know why... most likely they were worried about the diesel tank that sprung a leak and had to be drained (about two cups of which managed to escape our best containment efforts but were cleaned- thoroughly- with a non-coagulating cleaner).
So yes, today I swabbed the deck with a mop like a pirate sailor of yore. Unlike them, however, the soot from blowing tubes was soon spread out in a thin layer- it didn't take long before the entire ship was a sloppy mess. It truly looked heinous. We were instructed to dump the dirty mop water on the 02 deck (freshly citrisoled and pressure washed) and spread it out.
In other words, I got paid to undo every single bit of work I was paid to do last week.
Which proves my theory- Most work on ships is make-work designed to keep the unlicensed sailors busy so they don't get into more trouble than what they already get into. Other sailors don't understand this and get frustrated, but I clearly get it and find it absolutely hysterical... it's when I start telling everyone "I'm just happy I get to be a part of it all."
And I am. The absurdity of it all is what keeps me going. And laughing at things nobody else seems to find quite as funny. So as I splashed dirty water onto the bright white paint of the house while swabbing decks, and as I dumped dirty water onto the decks I just cleaned, I was laughing. The scowls of some of the other guys just made me laugh that much harder.
The best part of it all? They pay me to do it.
Rumor has it they pay you quite well to do this! :)
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