The Gould in drydock. You can see the big staircase we had to climb to get
on and off the boat. The props and shafts have already been pulled out, and
you can see the rudder laying on the ground next to the ship. We had to
wear hard hats absolutely all the time we were outside in drydock, and long
pants and steel toed shoes even though it was at least 95 degrees every day. |
August 30, 2004
Just sitting off shore on the pacific side of the
Panama Canal, an
easy zodiac ride away from the local yacht club and cool cervesas.
We're
waiting on repair work for a leaking sonar window that they didn't
install
right in Fouchon. It's costing them 20 grand a day for us to
sit here.
Plus, if divers can't fix it, we get hauled out of the water
again in
Talcahuano, Chile for more drydock work. The schedule is all
shot to hell.
I really have no idea when we'll get back. Anyhow, in this
first pic I'm up on the mast in Drydock, with
lovely Fourchon,
LA in the background. I spent hours up there, baking
in the sun,
rewiring every cable for every instrument. One time I forgot
sun
screen and realized I was being baked alive. To protect myself
I taped 3" foil strips from the
cable insulation over my arms and
the back of my neck. It worked
I guess, but I'm glad no one
could see me.
|
One of the bigger jobs was replacing bent hull plates on the
bottom of the
ship. They could fabricate any hull plate they needed, and then
weld bolt
points onto the ship to hold it into position and weld it in
place.
|
This was the view as we left Fouchon and headed out into the Gulf.
You can
see the oil platforms offshore. The whole gulf for miles around
was filled
up with those platforms. |
The Gould in drydock after they finished the new paint
job. They had tarps
strung to try and contain the sand and the paint spray but it still
got
everywhere.
View of the surrounding port from the Gould mast. At one time I counted
31
cranes visible in just one direction. The port went on for miles and
miles.
This is the 01 deck of Gould in mid drydock. We had
cables running
everywhere, plus they kept stringing up tarps all over the ships so
people
could have some shade. It was upper 90's every day, plus unbelievable
humidity, and the sand from the giant sandblasters got everywhere.
We're
still cleaning it out. The cables were power, high pressure air,
Oxy-Acetylene for the cutting torches, big power lines for the welders,
plus vent lines for the poor guys cleaning out the bilge tanks, plus
shore
power and water lines. They had all plumbing and water cut off most
of the
dry dock. No showers, no toilets, no air conditioning or even ventilation,
no way to wash your hands or anything. We all slept on a boat moored
outside the drydock, and had to carry bottle water everywhere.
Kev, Dave and I inspecting the giant new winch they installed on the
01
deck. This thing is a lot bigger than the old winch, and is built on
a
giant welded steel platform that takes up the whole back end of the
deck.
This is the day we'd all been waiting for when they sank the drydock
and
floated the boat. The drydock was actually this big barge thing called
the
"
7200 Pick Up" for 7200 tons capacity. The Gould sits inside it
when it's
sunk, get's positioned over these big blocks, then they pump the water
out
and raise the whole ship up about 20 feet out of the water.
This is the gang on our two days off in New Orleans on Bourbon
Street. We
never really got out of the French Quarter. The girls are "Tooter
Girls"
who sell you shots of various glow in the dark drinks. We hung
out on that
balcony for hours, then wandered down the street to hear bands
and see the
scenery.
One of the voodoo stores displaying their merchandise. I like
the "Voodoo
unto others before they voodoo unto you" T-shirts.
This is Kev in front of one of the Voodoo Stores on Bourbon street.
The
most famous one is Marie Laveau's which has a shrine to her inside
with
hundreds of precariously balanced candles and trinkets all over
it and a
big sign warning of the absolutely unfathomable level of bad luck
you get
if you knock any of the stuff over. It was kinda funny watching
how
careful all the drunks got when they were walking next to it.
I would of
gotten a picture but hey had a big sign saying photo's of the shrine
were
bad luck too. You don't mess with the most famous witch in New
Orleans history.
This pic was when the Tooter girls convinced
Fred and Joel to buy yet
another round of test tube shots. Those trays hold 40 shots
each and the
six of us split a full tray both nights we were out on Bourbon
Street.
I thought this shot was cool. Note all the
old strings of Mardi Gras beads
on top of the sign.
Two girls we found on the street who gave
us a public bump and grind dance
show. Little scenes like this happened all night long.
|
Some really cool looking building in the French Quarter. Lots of good
wrought iron work everywhere.
|
