User Panel
Posted: 6/10/2009 8:45:18 AM EDT
I thread regarding coffee consumption caught my eye and it made me think for a minute that there are, in a sense, two Piccolos.
One is Pic on the beach, the other is Pic at sea. In many ways, it's a double life. My coffee consumption on the beach is 2 cups in the AM, period; out here it's gallons. My diet changes, my innards change, my sleep patterns change, as I am subject, and generally do work odd hours 24/7. At home, it's in bed around 2300-2359, up at 0730-0800. Here? God only knows. At home, I generally take on a job of some sorts for a couple hours daily. Out here I can, and often do, find myself in a marathon session to get something done, followed by a couple of days of just plain goofing off. It's a different life out here. |
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"We're mopping the deck, which is Navy for floor.
And when we're done mopping, we'll mop it some more. "Swab", means mop. "Deck", means floor." Sorry... it's all I could think of on short notice. |
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I work with a bunch of old Marines. Why can't they make decent coffee? T
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Are they still issuing the white Cracker Jacks? I haven't kept up on that.
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Ever been to mast? If not you're not a real sailor yet QFT I went 3 times in 8 years. |
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how often do you hear semen jokes? From landlubbers, often. My fellow sailors are burned out on them |
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Ever been to mast? If not you're not a real sailor yet If you're talking 'Captain's Mast', I'm the captain There is a possibility that one young lad will face one this afternoon As far as SAILING BEFORE the mast, I've delivered sailboats for a living |
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Ever been to mast? If not you're not a real sailor yet twice |
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I work with a bunch of old Marines. Why can't they make decent coffee? T Define decent coffee. Out here if it floats a horse shoe, it's decent. |
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whens your day in the barrel? 24/7. I'm running this boat. |
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Quoted: Ever been to mast? If not you're not a real sailor yet My first day in the fleet - I reported to the USS Spruance DD963, met my CPO and he told me we mustered by the ASROC launcher at 0800 sharp. When I showed up for roll call, he and I were the only one's there because my entire division was at Captains mast for beating the shit out of pretty much every living soul at the bar in Yorktown Naval Weapons Station. Those guys were awesome - and I knew I was home. |
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Ever been to mast? If not you're not a real sailor yet twice Mast was fun for all... then the following 28/28 was like a vacation. Why 28? Dunno. |
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Boy do I remember those days. Average day at sea was 16-18 in the shop, a little time in the Mess and 4-5 hours sleeping If I was lucky. Coffee was a necessity.
Now as a civilian, I only drink a coupl cups a day. When co-Workers complain that the coffee I make is too strong, I just tell 'em that that is the way Navy Chief's like it. |
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What type of ship do you skipper PIC? What type(s) of freight do you haul?
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How rampant is prostitution on navy ships? Ask someone in the Navy. I'm a merchie. As for headgear, I wear what I want. Mostly a baseball cap, but often some pretty colorful headgear. I used to have a shaggy hat with horns on it years ago that I wore when signing official paperwork (at the request and for the entertainment entertainment of certain dockmen)Back whe the world had a sense of humor, I'd put "Grand Poobah' down as my title. Imagine getting a report for, say, 2.1 MILLION gallons of gasoline and seeing that the guy that signed for it put down "Grand Poobah" instead of 'chief mate' or 'captain'. as his title. Not anymore in this day and age. |
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What type of ship do you skipper PIC? What type(s) of freight do you haul? Oil. Lots and lots of oil. These days diesel. It should be noted that I am a bargeman, and we get hauled around by a tug. I have a license that would enable me to run a tug, but I haven't stood a navigational watch in years, preferring to work the actual cargo. FWIW my license is motor, steam, and SAIL. I know of only one other employee with a sailing endorsement, and she's a Fort Schyler grad, and one hell of a tugboat mate. |
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Have you ever encountered any pirate threats? Do you sail to that part of the world?
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S.I.U. ships? I used to sail SIU until we were bought out by a nonunion outfit. This outfit takes 3X better care of us than SIU ever did, although SIU had a FAR better educational program, with their Piney Point, MD facility. I DO miss being able to go to Piney Point |
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What kind of cargo do you haul and what routes? Or is this OPSEC due to DHS and might cause revocation of your TWIC?
ETA: Asked and answered. I must be getting old. |
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Do you have a girl in every port?
Would you feel safe circumnavigating in a Nordhavn? |
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I know some people that work there is why I was wondering.
S.I.U. seemed to me they take pretty decent care of thier people. |
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How often do you wash the coffee pot when at sea?? The last person that washed MY Joe pot is presently residing off the Jersey coast. He is presently taking a long nap inside a locker that is the property of one Davy Jones. |
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Do you have a girl in every port? Would you feel safe circumnavigating in a Nordhavn? I used to As for the Nordhaven, I don't know the boat off the top of my head. I DID take a Sailstar Corsair across the Gulf of AK a few times. |
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Do you have a girl in every port? Would you feel safe circumnavigating in a Nordhavn? SIU is OK, but I had a huge problem with their health insurance many years ago, and I never felt they'd back me if I filed an honest grievance. Too many sweetheart deals. |
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How did you get started in barges, or the industry in general?
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How did you get started in barges, or the industry in general? I lobster fished as a kid, fished in Kodiak for a while, and when I moved to PGH, I met someone that told me a certain tug outfit was hiring. My timing was perfect. I was sent a ticket to Philly for an interview with instructions to pack for sea, as if I was hired, I'd be going immediately. Upon arrival to Philly, a mirror was shoved under my nose. I clouded it and was handed a letter of intent to hire, taken to Baltimore where I was issued a Z-card and the next morning I was on a tug. 7 months later, there was a class to upgrade. I put in for it, and was told I didn't have enough time. I asked if I could just simply take the test. They humored me and let me. I maxed it. When it was discovered that out of the many guys that took the test, I was the only one that had maxed the test, someone upstairs raised hell as to why the only guy to max the test was ineligible. In short, I embarrassed my way into class. It should also be mentioned that when I sat for my barge ticket, I also tested for my Able Seaman endorsement. I was the only one they knew of that tested for and passed both te AB and tankerman tests in unde 3 hours. I was in and out. |
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I work with a bunch of old Marines. Why can't they make decent coffee? T Define decent coffee. Out here if it floats a horse shoe, it's decent. The stuff these guys made looked like tea. WTF I made coffee for the remainder of the job. |
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Did the Seeing Eye Cat go out to sea with you? No. The risk of him going UA on shore leave was too great. Besides, there is no real place to maintain a litter box, and with the coming and going all the time, he'd have to reside in a cage or he's have been getting underfoot all the time. |
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Ever do any fishing off the barge or screw with pleasure boater idiots that play chicken with barges?
When barges would go by on the Illinois River there was generally a ton of carp to be caught. This was pre asian jumping carp infestation. |
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What's the most dangerous situation you've ever been while underway?
While tied up at the dock? What's the most memorable WTF situation you've ever had on the job? (Here's a sea yarn: A friend of mine was UNREP-ing the Forrestal when she caught on fire. He didn't realize how bad the situation was until he observed a tractor pushing fully-loaded and -fueled F-4s off the deck! |
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Still tossing letters over the side in bottles? It's been a while. If someone want's me to mail them a letter, please remit one bottle of Jameson's to Piccolo Enterprises, who will empty it properly and take it to sea with him to post the letter properly. |
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Ever do any fishing off the barge or screw with pleasure boater idiots that play chicken with barges? When barges would go by on the Illinois River there was generally a ton of carp to be caught. This was pre asian jumping carp infestation. Fishing? Yes. Screwing with pleasure boats? No way in hell! The legal remifications would be incredible. Penalty markers out for sure. Although, several years ago when Louis Farrikan (sp?) was giving a speech the day of the Million Man March, I hooked the PA mike to the TV and on a beautiful, sunny day, with Chesapeake Bay JAMMED with pleasure bosts, we passed through the flotilla with the Million Man March speech BOOMING across the waterways. |
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What's the most dangerous situation you've ever been while underway? While tied up at the dock? What's the most memorable WTF situation you've ever had on the job? (Here's a sea yarn: A friend of mine was UNREP-ing the Forrestal when she caught on fire. He didn't realize how bad the situation was until he observed a tractor pushing fully-loaded and -fueled F-4s off the deck! Underway? Years ago. we had a near collision with a tanker full of VERY volitile crude. We had 1.5 million gallons of MTBE on board. As we passed, I literally touched the hull of the ship with my hand. We were that close from going up like a Roman candle. I've also been over the side twice. Once while fishing, once while delivering a sailboat. Brrrr! It wa cold! At the dock? a refinery fire. We disconnected and left. My WTF is the time we were told to load 80K barrels of gasoline in PHilly and 'head north' . We went north. New york? Head north. Boston? head north. Maine? head south. We wound up pumping off the gas where we loaded it! I later found out that ownership of the cargo had changed seven times between load and discharge. |
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Incidentally, do NOT ask me about the business and routes. I won't answer anything along those lines.
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what is the strangest thing you have ever encountered/seen out there?
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