Just after dark a large ship anchored near us at CULEBRITA and by morning through the binoculars, she was large and "BOLD" ............. A survey ship of sorts .......... We spoke to them on the VHF radio and were cordially invited to visit this awesome E.P.A vessel ............ She is a former submarine hunter, with full ice-breaking capacity now redesigned for scientific and environmental support duties, with the capacity to take subterranean sediment samples, extensive water analysis, side-scan sonar imaging, deep sea diving and trawl-net capture of fish species .......... The ship has a crew of 17 and accommodation for 19 or so scientists, with workspace, labs, minus 35 degree refrigeration and just about everything to make a Ph.D happy ............ One of last year's scientists even discovered a brand new species of coral ........... How does that grab you ....................Ship's accommodation was great ......... Not saying that the "Queen of Florida" wanted to jump ship, but the A/C, the walk in fridges and a few amenities were "discussed' ................ They even have a gym and a one-bed hospital ........And all the medication within arm's reach for coral cuts, jelly-fish stings, head injuries and probably hangovers ............Notwithstanding that "BOLD" is a 'dry ship' ............Someone needs to look into that ............
All the workspace and computer terminals you could want ............... Obviously they don't have to hang out a wifi antenna over the side ...........
But the 'heart' of the ship is the engineering side of things ............ We were fortunate to have Gary, the Chief Engineer do the honors .......... Everything runs on power produced by four humongous Caterpillar diesel generators .......... And we mean everything ............... Air conditioning, reverse-osmosis water makers, septic and sanitation motors, pumps, hydraulic motors ............ Fridges, stoves, anchor winches and capstans, bow-thruster ........... Light, lots of lights, .........Including all the navigation stuff on the bridge with its radars, GPS positioning systems and plotters ............ AND EVEN THE PROPELLERS ................. Each of the two propellers is coupled to a thrust block and then to an 800 HP electric motor, that can turn so slow as to allow the ship to move at only 1 knot ............. And as for fuel, they have a 'little-bitty' tank that holds 250,000 gallons ........ That's enough to allow the ship to circle the World on one engine ............. No wonder they called her "BOLD" .......
You see those beautiful yellow generators, the prop-shaft thrust block and the electric motors here in the engine room .....................Even the propeller shaft runs in a sealed oil bath ......... No dripping stern gland here ....... This was all designed for 'Silent running' in her former U-boat hunting days ........... Not much point in listening for submarines with sonar detectors, if all you hear is your own engines and gear............
After seeing Gary's engine room, with everything so beautifully 'spick-n-span', you feel like not ever showing him ARITA's engine ............... He's bound to say ... "Where is it?" ..............
The crew and the scientists have a beautiful sundeck for a breath of fresh air .......... A place to get-it-all-together, as they cruise from one location to another..............Certainly a job on this vessel would be the envy of most merchant seamen ................ The envy of anybody .............
Our thanks to Doug Brown, the First Officer and Jerry the Captain, Gary, the Chief Engineer, for giving us this great opportunity to see science at work ....... And to Amanda the Chef, for a wonderfully tasty lunch buffet.............. No one will ever die of starvation on 'BOLD'..............
Ah well............. Just another awesome day in the life of us, cruisers ...........
And if you thought that SCIENTISTS and their assistants don't know how to play ............ Well, you got it wrong............
We were left with the impressions that in the bowels of this BOLD ship, there were so many systems, switches, valves and gauges, that the engineers really have to know what they are doing, even when they are asleep ................. Just the electrical 'switch room' alone, with its A/C to DC rectifiers, for the electric motors are DC motors, was something to behold ..............Row upon row of switches , fuses and gauges ........... So glad to be back on ARITA, where things are archaically simple ...........And maybe just a shade more complex than on John Lison's 'miniyacht' seen here taking his dog Lucy, ashore for a donation ............... He might even catch some lunch ............
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