TSSOM CRUISE UPDATE: May 23, 2014 Location: N 37 34.3 W 010 14.0 Course: 090 Speed 12.7 kt Weather: Partly Cloudy Wind: NW 10 kt Seas: Small W Swell Starting the day, many of the students look more tired than they did before the holiday routine. However, once they got moving, a tremendous amount got accomplished. Last night it was discovered that a component on our main engine known as a blow down air test cock was coming loose from its anchor studs. This needed immediate attention and several of our engineers scrambled to find the correct replacement parts in order to re-secure the component. Diligence paid off and the delay was kept to a minimum. Perhaps it was this thwarting of Murphys Law that prompted it to strike in full force by mid-morning. As work was commencing on the forward sanitation system, a mistake in something called valve line-up caused a bit of a mess. We line-up valves to guide fluids along a desired path, in this case the intent was to divert all waste to the aft sanitation or MSD tank. However, this time the line-up did not go all the way to the aft tank and we had a back-up situation. After the previous 4 days of monotonous utility duty, Charlie Company rallied to the call and aided Delta in implementing a massive decontamination effort under the watchful eye of the Medical Department that will carry on through the next few days. Once again, adversity seems to show the strength of our students. Todays TSSOM Fact of the Day comes from Cadet Relief Engineer 2/C Eliza Pingree: Much to the chagrin of our Ships Plumber, there are 93 toilets aboard the ship. Our toilets use an entirely separate water system for flushing, using seawater instead of fresh. This reduces demand on the fresh water system and also helps with our sewage treatment system. DISCLAIMER: Due to the Training Ship’s limited connectivity to the Internet, blog postings are delayed and are not intended for real-time communication. Students and crew members will be unable to see posted comments and will not be able to respond. To communicate with your student, please send messages to his or her issued e-mail address.
Posted on: Sat, 24 May 2014 14:18:37 +0000