Arrival in Honolulu! 

 

 A common term to hear when a ship is pulling into port is known as “channel fever”. It describes the feeling of anticipation and excitement as the vessel makes its way to an assigned berth.  

 It is fair to say that some “channel fever” was prevalent for many folks aboard, especially, our cadets that are from Hawaii.  

Mooring operations require a great deal of preparation and coordination. That preparation was obvious this morning as I witnessed a very smooth operation. Division 4D removed the lines from their stored positions and began “faking” them out so they would travel free as they get transferred to the bollards ashore. Mooring lines are heavy and it takes a whole team to heave them and keep them from getting fouled during the operation. 

In the transfer of the mooring lines ashore, smaller lines, known as heaving lines, are used to facilitate the operation. There is a certain set of skills involved in this procedure as explained by deck training officer, Ramsey Ali. He says that you should always coil your own heaving line prior to use rather than relying on someone else to have properly arranged the line.  The next step is to get a couple of the coils from your non dominant hand and transfer them along with the sandbag attached at the end. Key to the operation is making sure you have arranged enough length in the heaving line and attached enough weight for the line to carry ashore when thrown. 

As soon as we were tied to the dock, 4D was assigned to daywork and began moving stores on the ship. A quick study in motivation, the job standing between them and liberty ashore was storing a total of 19 pallets of food. In a blazing yet safe operation, the division worked hard and completed the job in one hour! 

Soon after completion the division joined their peers at the sandy shores of Ala Moana beach.