My father has always taught me the importance of networking and meeting new people. I have tried to meet and make friends with as many people as possible on this trip. It has made this experience so much better by doing so. Friends really enrich our lives. One of my boson friends introduced me to the Chief Navigator of the ship and he took Michelle and I on a tour of the Bridge the night after our Navy concert. I really wanted to see the Bridge as it is behind the “red” lines that we cannot cross. The Bridge is located at the highest point forward on the ship. The view is amazing! The Navigator showed us all the GPS's, maps, steering consoles, and cool computer planning screens. He showed us the course the Mercy had taken around the islands of Indonesia and our projected path to Australia. He showed us charts with sea depths on them, that helped him to keep the Mercy a safe distance from shallow water. Navigating takes a lot of math and time. It is a very complicated job.
The navigators work 4 hour shifts then are off for 8 hours then on for 4. On the starboard side on the deck is this huge, 12 inch in diameter or so, beautiful lit up compass that is checked every 30-60 is checked against fixed points on the shore to make sure the ship is still where it needs to be in the harbor.
He has to calculate where the anchor is and then the length of the anchor and the length of the ship to make sure that when the tide and current moves the ship some that it would not get into shallow water. It was all very interesting to learn and it was amazing of what the navigator job entails. Modern GPS's, paper topical maps, and old time compasses are used just to make sure everything was correct. There is no room for error. Next to the compass is this gigantic pair of binoculars when I looked out them I could see details of houses on the shore. These are used to find the fixed points on the shore to make the calculations needed to anchor the ship and to make sure it stays where it should. Very very fun! Michelle and I were giddy like school girls after our private tour of the Bridge. This was a perfect ending to a totally fun night. It could not have been better!
He has to calculate where the anchor is and then the length of the anchor and the length of the ship to make sure that when the tide and current moves the ship some that it would not get into shallow water. It was all very interesting to learn and it was amazing of what the navigator job entails. Modern GPS's, paper topical maps, and old time compasses are used just to make sure everything was correct. There is no room for error. Next to the compass is this gigantic pair of binoculars when I looked out them I could see details of houses on the shore. These are used to find the fixed points on the shore to make the calculations needed to anchor the ship and to make sure it stays where it should. Very very fun! Michelle and I were giddy like school girls after our private tour of the Bridge. This was a perfect ending to a totally fun night. It could not have been better! 
No comments:
Post a Comment