Guess what?
As of yesterday we are in the Mountain Time Zone, despite being in the Pacific Ocean! Midday yesterday the MV Explorer passed due south of our home in Golden, but we forgot to wave. Today was a pretty big day for the boys, and few have ever had the opportunity to do what they did: pilot a craft carrying 783 people on board!
Back on November 20, SAS had the Fall ’11 Voyage Auction, benefiting ISE in the interest of supplying grants to students for future voyages. One of the ‘items’ auctioned was a chance to steer the boat, and Reade and Tate were the lucky recipients of the wonderful generosity of Dean and Shelley Galloway, who won that particular auction. What a thrill for them!
The 2nd Officer started with a briefing on the basics of the ship’s rather small steering wheel, and at 1307 MST, Tate took the helm. They allowed him to steer 13 degrees off course, and practice returning the ship to it’s original heading, showing him how you had to ‘oversteer’ the vessel in the opposite direction for a few seconds in order to stop turning, then returning the wheel to midships. Reade then hopped on the controls and practiced a turn or two, but as you might imagine, his deviations from course were much more subtle. :) At 1334, Reade returned the helm, after having piloted the ship 7.7 nautical miles (between the two of them). To give you an idea of where we are right now, if we were driving eastbound on I-70, longitude-wise, Tate took the controls just east of Kansas City Missouri, near Blue Springs.
Such an amazing, once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for Reade and Tate, and a heartfelt thank you to Dean and Shelley for making it possible!
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| Navigational instruments used both to monitor the MV Explorer’s autopilot and drive the ship. |