Friday Off

Day off meant…ships!

Tanker Aurora N:

Pi‘ilani assisting:

Kaiyo Maru was at Pier 9, getting ready to depart.

I like the traditional work done for the fenders of this boat:

Use whatever does the job:

A hui hou:

In the afternoon, I was able to go out on Pi‘ilani for the Gener8 Argus arrival.

This was a three tug job. With Mamo:

And Mikioi:

Humpback whale spotting while waiting:

It’s always awesome to see these big girls up close!

Hello to the crew!

Need a new net! The backboard still has the ship’s former name on it:

Go propeller!

Mahalo to Rick Wilson and Michael MacDonald. Special thanks to Captain
Deron Schade.

Mixed Emotions

Mirroring the weather—cloudy with rain then changing to sunshine then back to cloudy—yesterday was a day of mixed emotions.

I went to Pier 9 to get pics of the arrival of the Japan Coast Guard training ship Kojima.

Moana Holo on the move:

Kojima approaching Pier 9:

Cadets standing at attention:

Ready with a heaving line:

Fender ready:

Attaching safety netting to the gangway:

Pilot boat Honolulu arriving to pick up the pilot:

A glance over the harbor from Aloha Tower reveals the changes going on.

New location for Atlantis operations:

Interesting ship of the day was the French cable laying ship, Ile de Sein.

There was a fire on board the vessel a few days ago. She will remain in the harbor until repairs are made.

Detail of equipment on deck:

Ile de Sein by Aloha Tower:

A side note about the ship. She was involved in the effort to recover the flight data recorders from Air France flight 447. The aircraft went down in the Atlantic during a flight from Rio de Janeiro to Paris. Unfortunately, there were no survivors.

More from gCaptain: Cable laying vessel “Ile De Sein” selected to recover Air France flight 447 data recorder

In terms of the mixed emotions…I’ll cover that in my next post.

Plans Go Awry

Despite a forecast of nasty weather (rain, strong wind), I decided to go to the harbor to catch the arrival of the tanker Valrossa.

While waiting, I wandered along Pier 9.

Cunard’s Queen Elizabeth was at Pier 10/11.

Spray from the swells beating against her stern:

Mat protecting the hull of Hokuho Maru:

Hoku Ke‘a:

Honolulu taking the pilot out to Valrossa:

I watched Falls of Clyde rolling at her berth at Pier 7.

Port side of the ship:

Sigh. Poor girl.

Large swell hitting the wall at the end of Pier 7:

Valrossa was approaching the harbor, when I heard a loud “bang” from FOC. Oh-oh. That didn’t sound good. I hurried over to the ship.

Oh great. Problem with the gangway. Again.

Although I haven’t had much to do with the ship (by choice) since I resigned from the organization, I notified the board members and waited until one of them showed up. I could have left then, but I stayed to help.* So much for photos of Valrossa.

The weather improved over the course of the afternoon. I was pleased to get some nice shots of Queen Elizabeth as she left the harbor.

Mikioi assisting:

Blocky stern!

The Star of Honolulu and Navatek I were floating around in the harbor. I assume this was because it was too rough for them to do their normal off-shore dinner cruises?

Star of Honolulu:

With Queen Elizabeth gone, Hokuho Maru was preparing to shift to Pier 10.

Getting ready to remove gangway:

Fender:

Pulling away from Pier 9:

*Big mahalo to Rick Wilson and the crew of Pi‘ilani (Captain Jeff Page, Chris Vincent, and Bruno Fonoti-Ulufale) for answering the call. You guys are awesome!

At Aloha Tower

I had some time to kill, so I went up to the 10th floor observation deck of Aloha Tower…a lonely sentinel in the midst of a maze of construction barricades.

What looks like a nice jacuzzi for two on A:

(Nice job varnish job on the rail.)

Light Maui with some work being done at the stern:

There goes Honolulu:

How long before that decaying corner of the pier falls in?

Back at ground level…the target of the day, Satsumaseiun Maru, along with Honolulu and Maui:

Wild Thing (no pic) is still tied up right at the middle of Pier 9. A bit awkward.

Approaching the pier, the crew at their stations:

Getting a fender ready:

Love the traditional hitching.

Ready with a heaving line:

Captain Anzai (no, I don’t know him, I just read his name tag) and pilot, Captain Tom Collins:

Nice smile!

Job done!

Passing by Robert C. Seamans, saw this fish tail at the end of the bowsprit:

“Mini” Fender

I finished the “mini” fender I was working on for a friend. It evolved a little bit from the original design I had in my head.

Unfortunately, it still isn’t thick enough (end of bolt sticks out).

Back to the drawing board I guess.

Lines

After the unwanted drama of the past two weekends, I was really relieved that today turned out to be quiet and uneventful.

It rained in the morning and was overcast for most of the day.

I decided to do some “sit down” work.

I was going to cut new stoppers, but found some lines that were already cut in useful lengths. All they needed were some whippings. Done.

Next on my list was putting together a “mini” fender to protect the side of a friend’s boat from rather a large and awkward bolt/nut combination that is sticking out of the concrete of the pier at her slip.

I knew this old stuff was good for something:

Why buy something when you can make it with what you have on hand?

Cutting away the unwanted bits:

Not too bad:

All ready for seizing:

Done!

I also made a grommet that can be attached to the front of the fender. I’m not sure if it’s needed for additional protection, but I’ll make it up with canvas padding just in case.

On to bigger stuff…

The cause of last week’s hand wringing, one end of the spring line with part of the chain that failed:

Yup, I had noticed the wear on the links back in 2011. It was only a matter of time…

The other side by the bollard. The chain is not the same chain, but forms an eye that goes around the bollard. Scary but strangely artsy in a way (the combination of textures and colors):

View of the bollard:

Scary…

The bird wing was still on the deck but in a different location. Still no body. Very odd. I guess I should have picked it up and thrown it away. 😦 Wonder if it will still be there next week?

No interesting ships today.

Kokua turning Mauna Loa:

Cargo Ships

I find cargo ships fascinating. I think it’s because of the variety of configurations they come in.

When I arrived at the harbor this morning, Nine Frontier was taking on fuel and getting ready to leave. She is a wood chip carrier.

Instead of heading right over to FOC, I decided to wait in order to take some photos.

My favorite shot of the day! Nine Frontier crew member with rat guard:

A different sight on the pier:

Playing fetch with a monkey fist (appropriate) until it was time for the ship to unmoor:

Pilot ladder and gangway:

Turning after leaving Pier 10/11:

Aomori Maru arrived at Pier 9 as Nine Frontier was leaving.

Crew members getting ready to place fenders between the ship and the pier:

Fender detail:

Unusual to see a Horizon Lines ship at this location:

After getting my fill for the day of sanding and varnishing, I went with a friend for a late lunch/early dinner. We picked up some food and went to sit on one of the hillocks in Kaka‘ako Waterfront Park.

It was nice to see a number of humpback whales off shore:

(The white blot in the photo is a whale spouting.)

Some were in/near the harbor channel. I hope they don’t get hit by any of the ships arriving or departing the harbor.

A nice finish to a fairly good day:

The Barbarians Are Attacking!

I found some new, interesting things on the deck this morning during my visual inspection of the ship.

Paper darts:

After a week of wind and rain, it was nice to see the sun again:

Even with all the rain (runoff), the harbor water was amazingly clear:

I thought the rain was going to keep me in my cabin:

But, I was happy to be able to do some varnishing and other work on deck.

Kagawa Maru was at Pier 8. I posted a pic of the ship’s chafing gear before, but here’s another one because it’s attractive:

The cloth cover on one of the fenders amused me:

If you look carefully, you can see it’s Crayon Shin-chan and Shiro. 😀

Celebrity Century’s rat guards:

Mikioi crew member throwing a line up to Capella:

Capella was fueling Celebrity Century.

Déjà Vu

When I arrive at the ship in the morning, I usually do a visual inspection. Given what happened last week, I paid special attention to the mooring lines yesterday.

While it’s a backup line, it’s still disturbing to see. Reported to Harbor Police.

There was some ship activity in the harbor!

I missed out on getting good photos of Thunder/Lightning, an integrated tug and barge. 😦 The shipping schedule said it/they were supposed to leave on Friday night. I should know by now that the schedule isn’t always right.

Thunder/Lightning just leaving the harbor:

HR Recommendation turning in the basin:

Tiger 11 assisting HR Recommendation:

Screen shot from MarineTraffic.com showing HR Recommendation offshore after leaving the harbor:

Sause Bros. Natoma:

Fender on Satsumaseiun Maru:

On my way home, I passed by the mooring line where my morning started.

What next?

Easy Tasks

Saturday turned out to be a lazy sort of day.

The tide was quite low when I arrived at the ship:

Oops. The location of the white paint mark is not quite right. I’m the one who painted it on the hull, so I can be critical. 🙂 It’s supposed to line up with the vertical double row of rivets. It indicates the location of one of the oil tank bulkheads.

I didn’t feel like doing anything too strenuous, so I decided to do a bunch of whippings…easy, relaxing, and satisfying work. I also cleaned out one scupper that was partially blocked by debris. I need to inspect the rest this coming weekend.

The scuttlebutt is that the upper floor of the Aloha Tower Marketplace is being converted into dorm rooms for HPU students. Lucky sods.

After I left the ship, I went to take a look at Shonan Maru.

Rope mat chafing gear:

More chafing gear:

A fender, I think:

***

The pressure’s on! Slightly less than a month left to get everything ready for the photographic survey of the hull. Eek.