(Thursday, February 11th, 2016) – and see postscript
I took a trip forward, to the bow. I’d not been there yet. I’m not allowed forward if we are in dock – there are a lot of people scrambling around and cranes are lifting heavy things. I’m also not allowed forward if we are in heavy weather – they don’t want me leaning over as if I am Kate in the “Titanic”, only to get hit by a surprise wave. But today, smooth sailing, sunny skies for the most part, I am allowed forward. I checked in at the bridge (that’s the authority – that’s where I get permission) and went on down.
The upper deck is just below the poop deck. Yep, I find that amusing too. The poop deck is, by definition (I looked it up in Encyclopedia Britannica’s dictionary I have on my laptop), “a partial deck above a ship’s main afterdeck”. The upper deck, on our ship, is the same as the main afterdeck. It is the deck upon which are the winches for all the lines. There is an upper deck in the aft of the ship as well as the fore. And I think that the level of the deck that I see from the Pilot Deck, a few stories up, is at the level of the upper decks. That’s the deck, in the center of the ship, where we find the hatch covers and other heavy stuff.
On the side of the upper deck, on both sides of the ship and extending the length of the ship, one level down, protected from wind by the hull, is a fairly wide walkway extending the length of the ship. So from the aft upper deck I went down some stairs to the walkway and on up to the fore. I took some pictures on my counter-clockwise trip, hope they make sense. Things that looked big from my view way up on the Pilot Deck are in fact huge. Hatch covers, the two middle cranes, all the cleats and lines and winches, even the assorted turnbuckles and other hardware. All super-sized.
I walked on up to the fore, went to the very front where there is a railing, and hung out there for awhile. It is much quieter up there, hardly any engine noise, and the sea noise is also behind you. Just water in front. No land, no ships, some clouds off to starboard with rain coming down from them, but sunny where I was. A nice breeze. Gulls hovering overhead, wondering if I have food or if I am food, a couple of them dive-bombing me for a better look. We were cruising at about 12 or 15 knots but it felt rather serene. You can see the swells but can’t feel them as we consume the distance.
—– Postscript, written after Feb. 11th —–
I’ve been up to the fore a few times now. I’m trying my best to imprint the sense of it, so that later, when I look at a map, I can remember.