Communication breakdown at Niagara Falls,
Thursday was a day for me to remember here on Princess Mariana!
On Wednesday evening, I was making preparations for a Thursday morning fire drill.
The main means of escape from the crew corridor down in the bowels of PM, in a disaster is to proceed forward and scale a steep stairway up towards the forward tender garage( a place where mechanics are in-touch with their feminine side)
After the initial stairs is another stair-case that leads through a hydraulic hatch to the open deck. Snore….
There is a hydraulic power pack that you have to start in order to open the hatch. If this is out of action, there is a manual pump that you have to use to open the door. More snoring.
I thought my drill should include the manual operation but as I was not 100% sure on how to do it I was just checking. I fiddled with levers and nobs and pushed solenoids and could not get it going. My checking was pretty much after working hours, so when I approached the engineer he said he would help me in the morning.
After a night of deep sleeping in my fresh cotton sheets and air conditioned climate my brain was wiped of all forward hatch tinkerings of the day before. That morning I had to go into the tender garage to collect some tools and was heading down from outside. Open box, turn key, turn switch to open hatch. Nothing! Repeat process. Still nothing! I then have to travel around to the inside. ( a long way) standing at the foot of the first stairway I am met by a fountain of hydraulic oil cascading beautifully down the stairs towards the very nice carpet. Ooops!
On Wednesday evening, I was making preparations for a Thursday morning fire drill.
The main means of escape from the crew corridor down in the bowels of PM, in a disaster is to proceed forward and scale a steep stairway up towards the forward tender garage( a place where mechanics are in-touch with their feminine side)
After the initial stairs is another stair-case that leads through a hydraulic hatch to the open deck. Snore….
There is a hydraulic power pack that you have to start in order to open the hatch. If this is out of action, there is a manual pump that you have to use to open the door. More snoring.
I thought my drill should include the manual operation but as I was not 100% sure on how to do it I was just checking. I fiddled with levers and nobs and pushed solenoids and could not get it going. My checking was pretty much after working hours, so when I approached the engineer he said he would help me in the morning.
After a night of deep sleeping in my fresh cotton sheets and air conditioned climate my brain was wiped of all forward hatch tinkerings of the day before. That morning I had to go into the tender garage to collect some tools and was heading down from outside. Open box, turn key, turn switch to open hatch. Nothing! Repeat process. Still nothing! I then have to travel around to the inside. ( a long way) standing at the foot of the first stairway I am met by a fountain of hydraulic oil cascading beautifully down the stairs towards the very nice carpet. Ooops!
Deck crew, deck crew, please make your way immediately to the forward emergency escape route. Ah!?
posted by Daren Packham at 10:42 PM
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