Also this gem…
I guess I am old school, or just old.
I rang the bell as a lookout. I actually used a lead line.
My first ship had a radio watch on 2182 and we still carried a Gibson girl aboard.
We were state of the art with a Navsat and two LORAN C receivers. The lorans were the size of a top loading VCR which we also had along with Betamax.
They did other stuff but each was set to a different line and you paused and plotted both numbers every fifteen minutes on a paper chart. The helmsman who was always on hand steering gave a compass check every fifteen minutes. We had a state of the art magnetic compass on the flying bridge that youvread with the periscope.
I actually had a breeches buoy question on my mate 1600 exam. The USCG had not deployed a breeches buoy since the 1930s. They only exist in museums and for reenactors now.
From the exam questions at the time they were pulled from the internet in 2010:
A breeches buoy is being rigged from the shore to a stranded vessel. The initial shot line passed to the vessel is normally made fast to a __________.
Here is 218 questions for deck seaman. How many can you answer?
B.
No, wait C.
No. Definitely B.
Messenger
The other breeches buoy answer is tail block.
There were two questions last time I looked at my Murphy book.
The section about night vision and percerption is still relevant.
FRE 13 still a requirement.
Not updated since the introduction of GMDSS I think, 500kHz was the old morse guard frequency right?
Yup; 500 CW (continuous wave)
Certain flag states are allowing vessels with a redundant setup for their gyro compasses to not carry a magnetic compass. Apart from the initial installation expense it also saves a fair bit of money/lost time not having to adjust it.
Given the requirements for redundant heading sources, normally 3 with two power sources + two UPSs, already in place for DP2/3 vessels they can pretty much get an exemption and take the magnetic compass off without any technical changes to the gyro system.
4.6.14 Carriage of gyro compasses in lieu of magnetic compass on certain ship types
The Bahamas has submitted the following arrangement to IMO (Refer to IMO circular
SLS.14/Circ.412):
All ships flying the flag of the Government of The Bahamas may, instead of complying
with the requirements of SOLAS V/19.2.1.1 and V/19.2.2.1 to carry a magnetic compass,
comply with the following equivalent arrangement:
1. The ship shall be fitted with at least two gyro compasses determining the ships
heading and display this heading, being readable by the helmsman at the main steering
position;
2. At least two of the gyro compasses shall have separate power supplies, which shall be
connected to the main and emergency sources of power;
3. At least two of the gyro compasses shall have an independent uninterruptable power
supply with at least 30 minutes usable power.
One of the above mentioned gyro compasses is also deemed to be suitable to meet the
provisions of SOLAS V/19.2.5.1 for a gyro-compass to be carried on vessels of 500 gross
tonnage and over, providing that it also meets the provisions of SOLAS V/19.2.3.2,
V/19.2.4 and V/19.2.5.5.
Being required to record daily, weekly and monthly checks in a paper GMDSS log book seems like an obsolete requirement.
Many ships have planned maintenance software that are approved by flag and class, yet it is not allowed to only record GMDSS checks in the planned maintenance software, a paper copy is required, seems outdated to require a paper log book when I can’t see anything wrong with just recording it in software that is approved by flag and class.
Some pedantic surveyors love scrutinising GMDSS log books to try and find some trivial information that might be missing.
And they discover it, write a finding, and go collect their paycheck and an “attaboy” from whomever pays that check for a job well done.
There are myriad versions of things like this onboard ship. Worse than that, there are subjective preferences for things that make their way into port state inspections and audits that leave us all spinning our wheels trying to keep it all to the specifications of whomever inspected it last.
Pedantic might as well be the new job description for a ship’s officer because that is exactly what it takes to operate nowadays.
There are may reasons why I am glad that I am no longer a Class Surveyor. . .