Thursday, October 16, 2008

roll, roll, roll your boat

It is with great shame that I must report that the old girl did NOT behave herself on the 8-hour ride between South Ambrose Channel and the Delaware Capes. In calm seas (no visible heave), we rolled anywhere between 5-and 18 degrees for most of the southing that we made. The ship was crank as a mad bastard.
Here's the thing: there are certain seas that this vessel just doesn't like when we're in ballast. There are days when we react mildly to an 8-foot beam sea, and days when a less-than-one-foot swell rolls the sticks out of her. Last night was one such night. Without getting into KG, GM and GZ, the watchwords of why this stuff happens, I'll just say this: Friggin' shameful. Some days this old tub is a pleasure to ride, and some days she's a trial.

1 comment:

Ken E Beck said...

I rode a tanker like that a few years back. It had been rebuilt as a double bottom tanker. It had hydraulic winches forward and steam winches aft It also had a lively roll when empty. I was told that it had rode much better before the rebuild.

Be mindful.

K.C.