Saturday, 1/31/2009, nice and sunny. The sea is fairly smooth. Early last night, a sliver of moon was visible. A few stars were visible. Early this morning, many more stars were visible. Today we are halfway between Japan and Panama. Drills began at 1300. General alarm requires reporting ,
to the A Deck muster station, we did the escape-pod life boat drill, followed by training on engine starting and release from the ship. After that, we had more training on the smaller man-over-board rescue boat, starting its motor, hoisting it into the water, and releasing it. Next we were trained on life raft release, and hoisting the life raft into the water. Received instruction on jumping. Finally, we learned three different ways to start the ship's emergency generator, a large diesel. The crew also did a fire fighting drill. In the first picture, I am decked out in my drill gear. The second picture shows me buckled up in the escape pod and ready for the drop. I would be uncomfortable if I had to stay in this position for a long time. I'd be more uncomfortable if I had to be in the North Pacific Ocean for a long time. Tonight, our time advances to the time zone of Alaska, and we are down to 3 hours behind CST.
