Yeah every Saturday we were both moored at Aloha Tower piers. That’s when we loaded pax, food and supplies. Most of the crews would go to a bar down at the end of the tower area and stagger back just prior to departure. The engine dept used a side port about midships to load potable water and supplies. They would be taking in the lines and we wouldn’t close up til we were past jumping distance. We took in many stragglers a couple of foot off the dock.
[QUOTE=Fraqrat;140654]I did my wiper time on SS Independence for AHC. The pay sucked and the living conditions were cramped. If you’re young and single it can be a blast.[/QUOTE]
Oh Christ…another one who will admit to sailing on the “Institution”…I was a Fireman/Watertender on her back in the 1980’s, for a loooooong month or so. Got my needed time to upgrade to QMED-Any Rating and learned to hand-fire boilers,(not many of us left who can say that…also hand-fired an SL-7 from Baltimore to Jacksonville, but that’s another story).
Also learned that native Hawaiians have some of the unfriendliest attitudes on the planet and that homosexuals are…violent.
It was not uncommon to walk out of the Deck and Engine mess onto “Times Square” and see Boy A, who had caught Boy B in bed with Boy C, chasing Boys B and C down the passageway with a big honkin’ butcher’s knife and all of them shrieking bloody murder.
IIRC, we called that… “Tuesday”.
The Deck gang got lots of practice mooring and unmooring though.
I know what yous mean about Hawaii as I spent a few months there in my off time. I spent most of my time there on Maui with a week side trip to Molokai so Oahu may be a tad different. Before going there I thought Hawaiians were laid back, liberal types. Nothing could be further from the truth. They may seem laid back at first, but they are fighters, some of the toughest ones I’ve ever seen. My Philly ways meshed really well with Hawaiians and I made some really good friends there, some of which I am still in contact with. If you’re the type who is comfortable in the wrong side of town, then you’ll make friends with Hawaiians. If not, most likely they’ll just ignore you.