Bees.

“The keeping of bees is like the direction of sunbeams.”- Henry David Thoreau

My ship got bees. It was actually incredibly interesting.

Apparently, when a second queen is born the hive splits and some of the bees leave with her. They take lots of wax and honey with them and need to start building a new home immediately or they'll die.

We had a hive split relocate to our ship. On a liferaft nonetheless.

We had to request for a beekeeper attend the vessel to remove said hive.

Beekeeper shows up, vacuums up the large mass of bees, kindly puts them in a cage so I can see them and, departs the vessel.

Can you believe that no one was stung?!

I've always loved bees. Mostly because I love honey but also because bees are cool.

Did you know that most bees are she bees? When they're queen is certainly going to produce offspring the she bees chew off the he bees wings and kick 'em outta the hive.

Did you know that all bees have a job? There are actually mortician bees. They're only job is to pull dead things out of the hive. Like fallen brethren or even invasive critters like geckos.

When you look at it like that they're strangely communist.

Our bee adventure might have been the highlight of my weekend! What was the highlight of yours?

Lightening Up

The blogs been a little dramatic lately. Apologies. Lets remedy that. Yesterday I hit the town. There was some shopping. There was some BBQ. There was some baseball. There was some fun. Fun is good.

When a home run was hit here were fireworks and flame jets. So much fun!

I'm not the biggest baseball fan but, I gotta admit I've never been to a ball park and not had a good time.

I hope you all are having a lovely weekend!

A Really Good Bad Day

Sometimes, things don't go as planned. Reality. Sometimes, you can't plan for events even if you wanted to. Shipping is dynamic and the variables are countless. Sometimes, you're humbled. Shipping is dangerous and bad days can become relative. I mentioned previously that the vessel was preparing for HPC (High Profile Cargo) and that we were in overdrive. This is still true because, during our heavy lift operation one of the cranes suffered a casualty.

I'm not going to go into details (because I actually love my job) but, what I will say is that it shook me up a bit.

Through the years, I've had friends hurt, I've seen gear fail, and I've seen people have close calls. I've had close calls too. It's humbling.

You are suddenly reminded of how dangerous the industry is (statistically the most dangerous industry with fisherman leading the way). You realize how quickly things can take a turn for the worse.

Having a solid plan drastically reduces an error chain however; on a vessel of this type there are so many moving parts, vectors and unseen points of tension that one must be constantly vigilant.

Strangely enough, heavy lift operations are some of the safest evolutions on these types of vessels. There are many eyes watching, all the safety factors have been taken into account, and most importantly the operation is a slow one.

As I've gained experience I've had to assign my own value system to onboard performance. It's easy to get lost in the minutiae. Sending reports into the office - entering crew hours - signing off on stores received. These things will all get done.

There will always be someone willing and ready to critique your performance.

Did anyone get hurt a d are we continuing to work safely? Is the vessel and cargo in a safe condition? Are we operating as efficiently as possible?

If I can say yes to those three things then I am satisfied we're doing our best.

After being shaken with our casualty I had to stop and reassess the situation.

No one was injured. No damage was done to the cargo or the vessel. All available resources were utilized to get back up and running.

And that is called:

A REALLY GOOD BAD DAY

Editors Note: I received several very concerned emails and thought I'd add a note to clear up any confusion. There were no Human Casualties. I was referring to equipment failure of large magnitude. The crew and personnel associated with the heavy lift are all safe!

Mettle Makers :: Nobody Noticed

“When you do something noble and beautiful and nobody noticed, do not be sad. For the sun every morning is a beautiful spectacle and yet most of the audience still sleeps.” - John Lennon

Sometimes I struggle with this. It's okay when no one notices. Thanks John Lennon.

Nautie Tidbits :: We're In Overdrive

The deck gang has been working incredibly long hours. We're in overdrive preparing the deck for a high profile cargo. High profile in the sense that there will be many people here watching - think heavy lifting as a spectator sport. Here are a few Nautie Tidbits as a bit if an apology for my blog silence!

California is beautiful and the weather is phenomenal. Think sail boats, sunshine and palm trees. Seriously, no one onboard has any complaints!

We've been working on framing and cradles for said 'high profile cargo' - which will now be referred to as HPC. The construction of our cargo bedding has officially been underway for three days.

We've also been doing trial runs with the ships gear. Gotta make sure the HPC will actually clear these ginormous frames! Nothing like many minds working towards a common goal! THIS CAN BE DONE!

Don't you love presents from friends?! The sea is ours! I mean wait, I'm not in the navy...but the sea is still MINE!

Clearly a US port means a trip to Whole Foods. Tea, protein shakes, veggie supplements? Check!

Most importantly, a name was drawn and one lucky lady will be getting a scarf! I know I said this yesterday but reading about your travels and your future traveling dreams was MAGIC.

Nautie Friends, I'll be in touch soon! Enjoy your summery weekend!

WE HAVE A WINNER!

Miss Ivy you just scored!!!! Thank you all so much for all the comments and tweets.

I've had so much fun with this and can't wait to share some stories!