Docking is Beautiful, "I'll Teach You, But I'll Have to Shoot You", Pi Day

March 14, 2012

We docked on the Big Island yesterday at 9am to take on more fuel, an unplanned event, like many parts of this trip. It was a beautiful process to watch. We entered the harbor among a group of paddlers at morning practice, then gently maneuvered 600,000 lbs of steel to nestle alongside the docks. Captain Sean called the turns, Hannah obeyed them, Seth was at the throttle, and we were all standing by with dock lines and fenders. We put the gangway after we docked, but I didn’t actually touch American soil until the afternoon. We had to clear customs in the morning, which involves officials coming on board and matching us to our passport photos, which meant I got to look at my passport and the stamps that now keep it company.

            I’ve been playing a lot of hears, euchre, and gin rummy over the past few days, and yesterday was no exception. Marty, who is on my watch, taught us this Italian card game and told us how his dad went through this midlife crisis where he became “fake Italian”, opening up a gelato/coffee bar, playing cards with legit Italians every week, and teaching his kids how to count to ten in Italian. That’s some midlife crisis.

After lunch on deck, we finally stepped onto land and due to the nature of the dock we were at, a commercial shipping dock, we needed an escort to leave the premises. And our state issued picture I.D.s. And we couldn’t take pictures. We briefly discussed scattering in all directions as the escort vehicle followed us, then decided we didn’t want to get shot. It’s interesting the differences in security between the islands we’ve visited. On Kiritimati, we checked our own names off. In Nuku Hiva, there was no check in. America certainly is concerned with keeping its shipping containers safe. Anyway, we visited a temple that’s been restored by the National Park Service. I’m not sure of the name, but it has a cool story behind it. Not sure how much of it is true, but the ranger was animated in telling it. Actually, what we were most captivated by was the giant t.v screen in the visitor’s center. It was like watching bugs attracted to a light. The temple is a ‘peace temple’ because though it was the cause of 19 years of war, it ended 500 years of warfare and finally brought together all the Hawaiian Islands under one ruler (as the ranger told the story). It’s funny watching our class interact in public. The ranger was asking us questions, questions we knew the answer to because lecture had covered them yesterday, but no one was answering. It’s been the same with every outside group of people we interact (or don’t, as it were) with. I asked Jan if that was normal, because we must come across as a group of dumb students, and he said it wasn’t normal, but it was explainable from the amount of time we’ve spent with the same group of people.

            C watch stood dawn watch and it was a busy one, throwing off the dock lines and getting us underway once more, motoring southwest to one of the bays we passed on the way to refuel. We set the stays’ls and the tops’l and watched the coastline go by, witnessing the sun burst over Mauna Loa. Mauna Loa is the site of a very well known observatory that’s produced a lot of data on increasing carbon dioxide levels. The peak it’s located on also happens to be covered in snow. “Oh hey, I’m going skiing for spring break.” “Yeah? Where?” “Hawai’i.” What? I didn’t know they had snow. Actually Hawai’i has almost every type of climate on the island.

             After breakfast, I slept until lunch, played euchre on deck after lunch, and discussed with my fellow players how lucky we are to be sitting on deck in the sun as we motor along the Hawaiian coast. In celebration of pi day, snack was…pie! Surprise. We had a man overboard drill right before we dropped anchor in the bay we’re staying in for the next couple of days.

            Our professors outlined the next 48 hours, which is about all we have left on Mama Seamans, and that really hit home. It was a bit sobering. We’ll dock on Sunday the 18^th, leave the ship, and settle in for our final week together. I’m not trying to think that far ahead right now. Just as it was best not to think past the current watch when we were underway, it’s best not to think past the current hour. I’m currently sitting on deck with some C watchers, listening to them play rummy and argue about hearts, with a slight breeze blowing off Hawai’i bringing smells of fish and green to the boat. It’s a wonderfully calm night.