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!

Rainy Days and…Saturdays

Hanging around…but not frowning.

A quick look around the ship before heading to Pier 9 to get pics of USCGC Polar Star:

Earlier in the year, the icebreaker was asked to aid in operations to free the ice-bound ships Akademik Shokalskiy and Xue Long before conditions improved and they managed to free themselves.

U.S. Coast Guard Cutter Polar Star stands down from Antarctic rescue

Satsumaseiun Maru crew looking on:

Mikioi assisting:

Back on the ship, I spent part of the time tidying up the fo’c’sle.

There was dirt and debris from the fo’c’sle head plywood project that hadn’t been cleaned up. 😦

Like the muck in the waterways, it was bothering me.

Soooo…I took care of it:

As usual, there was the temptation to have a closer look at things in the area.

One of the port hawseholes:

Got some different views of things by sticking my fancy phone out through the hawsehole.

Bottom edge of trailboard with the part of the “D” and the “E” in “Clyde”:

Part of the hull and the towing cable:

Draft marks:

After measuring the ullages, I was ready to go, but it started raining. I decided to stay on the pier and wait until the rain abated a bit.

Mokihana was turning off of Pier 7.

Rain water pouring from a scupper:

(The pic looks grainy because of the rain.)

Mokihana’s stern looking rather ghostly as she headed out of the harbor, and a fishing boat, less so:

The rain eventually stopped and it was time to go.

Communing

Rain. 😦

Although it was already 0800, it was dark enough for the Aloha Tower lights to remain on:

I took advantage of the water on deck and did a bit of…er…swabbing. 😉 I also did the usual rainy day drill of checking and moving buckets around.

A bit of news early in the week disturbed me. I still feel uneasy about it, but there’s nothing I can do…except spend time with the ship.

Yes, I talk to the ship and to those who have gone before. My non-ship friends will think it’s crazy, but those of you who love and care about old ships will understand.

Shifting a pile of dirt and rust in the lazarette, I found these old-style square nuts (nod of thanks to my FB friends):

Better lighting from hatch:

One of the things I love about working on the ship is that I am always learning new things. I never really noticed the square nuts before, but there are a lot of them.

In situ on a frame:

Just for the heck of it, I took a look at some of my pics from Balclutha. What do you know…

For attaching the cargo battens, I assume?

Looking up at the deckhead:

And on Balclutha for comparison (with lovely COATS mark):

Frames on the starboard side:

Planking cut away near the aft bulkhead of starboard tank #5:

Ends of planking:

Moving forward, just aft of the mizzen mast:

I’d seen these holes before, of course. However, the lightbulb went on this time.

Were the pumps located on the weather deck above, before the ship was converted into a tanker?

Again, going to a photo taken on board Balclutha:

Something that may be unique to FOC, one of the pipes leading to the mizzen mast:

Forward to the main mast and its spigot:

Quite odd.

Looking aft along the tween deck, with the main mast at left and a water tank at right:

The deck under the water tank is really dodgy. There are holes, through which you can see into port tank #2:

Our lovely ballast water…sediments stirred up a bit.

Forward to the boiler room.

Rivet detail from another water tank:

A peek into the Scotch boiler:

As the day went on, the weather improved.

On the weather deck, I took this photo of what was left of one of the yard arms that had been sawed off:

Okay, back to the world outside…

Lost hardhat floating by:

Hachinohe Maru, the wood chip ship, still at Pier 1:

By coincidence, the home port of Aomori Maru, the Japanese ship that was at Pier 8, is Hachinohe.

I was surprised to see a red pencil urchin in the water at the end of the pier:

New Sailing Star, winner of the unique ship name of the day contest, was leaving the harbor:

The Navatek got stuck behind New Sailing Star:

It was like watching a sporty car following a slow moving truck.

This made me laugh:

I guess the silly skull thing is good for something after all.

My usual stroll around Aloha Tower…

Aomori Maru chafing gear:

Not unexpected, but still a bummer…the sundry store is gone:

Falkor at Pier 11:

American Contender detail:

Almost a Week Late…

Life’s been a bit busy, so I’m only getting to last Saturday’s post now.

Rain means very little work on deck:

So…it was time for dancing around to 80s music on the tween deck.

Ha ha! No.

Found some new leaks and moved buckets around:

It feels like a losing battle sometimes.

It’s been a while since I’ve checked in with Rosie and Joe. Rosie had an injury to her leg. I’m glad to see she’s better.

Here they are inspecting a small leak:

Rivets:

Light from a hole in the deck illuminates a small part of starboard tank #4:

It wasn’t all fun and games. I did do some work. Really.

The zombie pump needed a line attached to it.

Whipping the ends:

Done. Zombie pump (left) and its twin:

Fortunately, the sun came out in the afternoon.

There always seems to be something new at the pier. I think this is some sort of bug trap?

When I arrived in the morning and saw it at a distance, I thought someone had put a lantern up.

Wonder if there will be something new this coming Saturday?

Rain / Mission at Kewalo Basin

The forecast for Saturday: Rain. At the harbor, it looked like a typical sunny day.

The first thing I noticed when I arrived at the pier was that a few things belonging to the ship had been returned:

The plywood cover for the fo’c’sle head is done:

Unhappy cockroach:

We started painting the plywood:

Unfortunately, the rain showed up after all. Bummer.

Since I was returning to the ship on Sunday to help work on the pumping system, I decided to call it a day

Earlier on, a friend had called and asked me if I would go on a recon mission at Kewalo Basin. It was a good opportunity to test out my new toy (camera).

Artwork on the Fisherman’s Wharf building. Old salt at the helm:

The mysterious Berth X:

Fishing boat charter sign:

Female star-eye parrotfish:

Catamaran:

Treasure Seeker returning to Kewalo Basin:

Gloomy skies:

Find the Leaks

A rainy Saturday morning is a good time to find leaks. I walked around the ship and moved buckets around.

By the time the rain stopped, I was feeling a bit under the weather and called it a day.

Work started on plywood cover on deck to keep water out of fo’c’sle area:

This was supposed to be done when the main deck was done, but… 😦

Wet deck:

Not much going on in the harbor.

VOC Rose

Young Brothers tugs Hoku Loa and Moana Holo:

Maintenance with a Twist

Saturday was a quiet day. I like quiet days. I can think about things while doing stuff on the ship.

Based on the severity of the thunderstorm and accompanying rain that hit the island on the previous Sunday, I had expected that I would be lugging around a lot of full rain buckets. To my delight, I found that most of them were empty. (Another board member beat me to it.)

I did find a few with water in them. The one in the lazarette had the most:

Before leaving the area, I took a self-portrait:

Not sure why…I usually try to avoid cameras. Just amusing myself, I guess.

On deck, there were a few new things to deal with.

I found a rock on the starboard side near the ladder up to the poop deck. I don’t remember seeing it there before, so someone must have thrown it aboard recently. It wasn’t a very happy rock, as it had split into two pieces. The smaller piece was a few feet away.

The weed that was growing on the fo’c’sle head was bothering me, so I tried to remove it. It was too tough to pull out, so I just cut it. It will sprout up again, no doubt. The one in the fo’c’sle was easier to handle.

Another day, a new set of measurements. Six points this time—three on each side of the ship.

While looking for good locations to take the measurements from, I noticed that the electrical cable supplying power to the ship, was getting a little chafed where it crossed the top of the bulwark. Note to self: Work on chafing gear if Paul approves.

The view from the fo’c’sle head is great. I saw a bunch of police cars and officers:

My first thought was that they were filming an episode of Hawaii Five-O (they’ve filmed in the area before), but they were the real deal. I don’t know what was going on.

After the police left, I was sitting on the anchor, minding my own business and contemplating life, when I saw a gentleman and a very young girl feeding fish. What’s wrong with that you ask? They were standing in a rather dangerous area between a set of the ship’s mooring lines and a metal barricade (visible in the photo above). There are barricades there for a reason.

I got a chance to use my hailing voice (ha!) and politely asked them not to stand there.

Here’s another view:

They were standing just to the left of the lines, at the edge of the concrete. It wasn’t a rough day, so the lines weren’t moving a whole lot. Still…

The rest of the day was uneventful.

Shonan Maru’s chafing gear and rat guards:

Manoa turning in front of Aloha Tower:

It’s…Alive!

Ooo scary! Explanation to come later on in this post.

I spent Wednesday morning at the ship for a meeting related to the mooring lines. While there, I learned some disturbing news. The guy who was arrested for trespassing and stealing stuff from the ship is out of jail. So soon? What’s up with that?

Needless to say, I was really alert when I went aboard the ship this morning. I kept my eyes open for anything that seemed out of place and my phone at the ready. There was nothing out of the ordinary, as far as I could tell. A relief.

I took a few minutes to watch the arrival of Shinkai Maru:

Nice to see a woman handling the line from the ship:

I found another weed:

And more bird gifts:

Today was spent helping to prep the ship for the arrival of reps from JMS Naval Architects and taking apart a wood ramp that was built for the old gangway.

Ladders ready:

I took a look at the pump room, which I haven’t done in a while. I noticed that a piece of something had fallen from somewhere, but it was good to see that the water level was still below the top of the keelson:

Tween deck above the pump room looking aft:

Speaking of pumps…
[cue spooky music]

The pump that was dead is alive! :O

Paul stopped by give it a final check. He plugged it in and…it worked!

A friend had joked about it coming back to life…seems it is a zombie pump.

Zombie pump (left) and twin:

Thanks to Paul for putting it back together and fixing the cord. Yes, Paul is awesome.

It had been raining on and off during the course of the morning and it looked like it was going to get worse.

I was tired and not feeling 100%, so I decided to call it a day.

Frustration

The day started off with rain, which was fine because I had planned to do work on the tween deck.

When it rains, I always check to see where the leaks are and place buckets where needed.

During a break in the rain, I did my walk around the ship.

I was sad to see that the varnish needs tending to and I guess we (I) also have to do some weeding:

All seemed well, so I went below to start on my project for the day.

The patient (or victim):

Last year, during the photo survey project, we had trouble with one of the submersible pumps…don’t know if it was this one or its twin. I watched Brush open it up, clean it, and get it working again. He stressed being able to take things apart and do basic troubleshooting.

Okay, I think I can do this.

First thing I noticed, there was a crack in the power cord cover, which exposed the wiring within. Worrying. I taped it up with electrical tape for the time being.

I moved the pump on to a workbench, so I could get a better look at the bottom.

Hm. Need socket wrench to loosen the bolts. No problem. We have a bunch, right?

To my chagrin, the sockets were all too large. I found a T-handle wrench, but it was too small. Argh!

Well, so much for taking apart the pump. I dawdled about for a bit, then decided to leave.

Seems there’s a rat problem on the pier. Here’s one of the rat bait stations that have appeared:

Experimenting with an app:

The research vessel Falkor, was at Pier 9:

One of Falkor’s rat guards:

First time I’ve seen a QR code on a ship:

Celebrity Millennium’s rat guards:

Noticed this sign at Pier 10/11, which I think is fairly new:

Tires at Pier 13:

Once I got home, I checked a socket wrench set that belonged to my dad. I think this will do the trick:

Whew! A Relief…

When I arrived at the harbor this morning, I didn’t want to look at the water for fear of finding dead fish floating around the ship. It was a relief to see things pretty much as they normally are. However, that doesn’t mean that the area will not be affected by the Matson molasses spill. So far so good, but I guess we will just have to wait and see.

Business as usual for the (hungry) cleaner wrasse, seen here with a bunch of mamos:

A bit of rain…pretty double rainbow over the harbor:

I helped out on the pier with gangway related stuff, so I didn’t spend much time on the ship today.

I should know by now that taking the ullage readings at mid-day is a pathway to heat stroke. There’s nothing like staring down into a tank and getting hit with a blast of stale, hot air while the sun is beating down on your head.

Thank goodness for the relief of the mizzen mast shadow:

I noticed that the poop deck rail needs work. Must remember to order more Le Tonkinois.

Visible from the deck, this rather interesting contrail:

And, oh look, a balloon stuck on the jigger stay:

The source of the balloon:

Bad for sea life. Being so near to the ocean, they should know better.

Someone lost a lot of fishing line:

Lots of tug movement today. Aside from the usual tug and barge combos, a group of Kirby tugs left the harbor (no pics, camera not handy).

I was surprised to see Mamo in Foss livery:

A bunch of people (looked like members of the press) on board Tira Lani:

Interesting ship of the day, car carrier Splendid Ace:

ETA: Donated a bit to the ship via Foodland’s “Give Aloha” program today. Will probably give more before the month is out. Remember…78512.