I'm jthomas1600, The Sailor Man! Toot Toot!

jthomas1600 · 06-19-2008, 12:25 AM

I've been at work a week now and it's been pretty uneventful. We've made two runs and--on the last run we took 26 offshore workers to the drill rig Marco Polo. I hate taking passengers--they leave the boa a mess and complaine the whole time on the boat. Any way, it's done. We had one man crew change tonight, got our groceries for 2 weeks, and are now waiting for the next run. So, on my 4 week hitch, I have 1 week down and 3 to go. I have been working out every day this hitch--I had taken a few months off, but it is time to get back in shape.

jthomas1600 · 06-22-2008, 06:27 AM

Made another run Fri night/ Sat morning. Went to pick up three small buildings and a few other things. We are at the dock under the crane right now waiting to unload. There is a lightning storm passing over and the crane opperator does not want to be in the crane right now--imagine that. Changed strings on my guitar the other day--man do I wait too long. The last set I had were heavier than I prefer because that's all I could get at the time. After I changed them the sound and feel was so much better. I've been playing about an hour a day--nothing big, but pretty consistant. Started working out again this hitch. I did real good last year and then took a break after Christmas. What should've been a two or three week break turned in to a six month break. I don't have much available on the boat, a stair stepper, some dumb-bells, a place to do pull-ups and push-ups, and we're in the process of making a home-made bench to do dumb-bell presses. Any way it feels good to be working out again.

jthomas1600 · 06-26-2008, 12:54 AM

It was crew change night. Half the crew got off--one captain, one engineer, and one deck hand. Things have been going well on the boat--almost too slow though. We are only making about two runs a week which means a lot of sitting around the dock.

On another note. My 19 year old son who has been staying with his grandparents has moved into a house with some friends of his. So that's good. He's gaining some independance. We will be out to Oregon where he lives in three weeks--I told him I would take him shopping and help him out with some house hold items he needs.

jthomas1600 · 06-30-2008, 04:09 AM

Well, since I've started blogging about my job I've realized it's pretty boring--except when it isn't. We left Fourchon, La. 6/26 and went to Galveston, Tx. -- about a 15 hr. trip by boat. Once in Galveston we stood by for most of a day and loaded cargo Fri. after-noon. When got up for my watch at 2400 we were loaded and ready to go. One of the pieces on deck was a 60 foot long 36 inch diameter 56,000 lb. drilling tool. We left Galveston at 0200. When we made the end of the Galveston jetties the seas were 5-7 feet and fairly steep--the period from peak to peak was about 5 seconds. About 5 miles out to sea the 56,000 lb. drill piece broke loose and started rolling around on deck. Worse case scenerio in this situation is all the cargo gets pushed to one side of the vessel which would result in capsizing. Needless to say it was very stressfull turning around and going back to the dock. Fortunatly no real damage was done--we re-secured the cargo and made the run. Offloading at the rig was also stressfull as I have several crewmen on the deck who have to unchain this piece and hook the crane to it so it can be removed from the vessel. There is a period of time when the chains are coming off and the crane is not yet hooked to the piece when it can break loose. If a piece this big pinched a man against the rail of the boat...let's just say it makes me nerveous. We burned 16,000 gal of fuel on that run--because we pay no "road" tax fuel cost is just under $3.00 per gal--so about $45,000.

jthomas1600 · 07-01-2008, 02:57 AM

I stumbled upon a new (new for me anyway) practice technique while playing my guitar yesterday. I recently heard several George Thorogood and was noticing how many licks he played that were really cool and were only two or three different notes--also in Guitar world there were several articals/interviews that focused on expression and creativity. So I was playing my guitar and played a little 5 note riff. I started playing with it a little and then I thoght "I wonder how long I can play on just these 5 notes and make it interesting". I found myself trying different things -- string bending, muting, different rhythms, pich harmonics etc. in ways I'm not sure I would have thought of with out this technique. Any way it's something I plan on playing with over the next week or two.

Two weeks from today we (my family) will be flying out to the west coast--final destination Astoria Or. It will be the first time my kids have been on a plan. We will prep them for airport security--I don't need one of them saying "what would they do if they found a bomb in your bag dad" as we are going through the security line. We will leave from Houston, have a stop in Seattle, and then to Portland, we will then rent a car and make the two hour drive to Astoria.

jthomas1600 · 07-06-2008, 04:22 AM

Been a little busier lately. We have made several runs. The weather in the Gulf has been perfect. Four more days and I get to go home and see the wife and kids. I can't wait!! Ten more days until we leave for our family vacation to the Oregon coast. Today is Sun so it's safety drill time on the boat--we will do fire, abandon ship, man overboard, and evac of casualty by helicopter.

JerRocks2day · 07-06-2008, 08:41 AM

Were you able to celebrate the 4th of July with or without your family? If so, did you get to see any fireworks?

jthomas1600 · 07-06-2008, 09:03 AM

No fire works but the afternoon crew BBQed. So I woke up to chicken and burgers and pork roast and potato salad and pudding. Since we're on a confined space, that's how we celebrate everything--food.

jthomas1600 · 07-09-2008, 12:49 AM

Well, here's hoping we don't go offshore tonight. We crew change in 23.5 hours and it's my turn to go home. Lately, I don't know why, I've been thinking about things I've learned as a parent. One of them is that kids honestly have no idea why they do some things. When my oldest son was little and did "dumb" things I used to realy push him for a reason--I guess because my parents did and because I thought if we could identify the reason it would be easier to correct the behavior. In hind-sight I wish I would've just let it go some times. A Bible verse that has become key to my life in recent years is Col. 3;21 Fathers provoke not your children to wrath lest they be discouraged. Maybe these things have come to mind because I haven't seen Nick (my oldest son) for a year and a half and will get the chance in a few weeks. On the 15th we will be flying out to the west coast where he lives.

jthomas1600 · 07-10-2008, 09:17 AM

I AM HOME!! Got home 1/2 hour ago. Will be spending the day with my wife and kids. Will post more later. Had some bad news about my oldest son. Will post that later.

JerRocks2day · 07-10-2008, 09:38 AM

Cool that you get to meet your family again.

jthomas1600 · 07-11-2008, 11:56 AM

My 19 year old son was arrested and spent the night in jail earlier this week. He had been involved in some B & Es about a year ago and it didn't seem like they had enough to charge him. Now out of the blue they arrest him. I'm thinking maybe some of his cohorts have roled over on him. For now he is released and his next court date is in Sept. In the town he lives in all criminal defense lawyers take their turn at being public deffenders and I think he lucked into a good lawyer. I'll post more when I know more. For now I will just be praying for him.

**Tallahassee** · 07-11-2008, 04:41 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jthomas1600

My 19 year old son was arrested and spent the night in jail earlier this week. He had been involved in some B & Es about a year ago and it didn't seem like they had enough to charge him. Now out of the blue they arrest him. I'm thinking maybe some of his cohorts have roled over on him. For now he is released and his next court date is in Sept. In the town he lives in all criminal defense lawyers take their turn at being public deffenders and I think he lucked into a good lawyer. I'll post more when I know more. For now I will just be praying for him.

I'm sorry to hear that. I hope everything works out for the best.

jthomas1600 · 07-11-2008, 08:13 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by El Cabong

I'm sorry to hear that. I hope everything works out for the best.

Thanks man. He's real discouraged. I hope when I'm out there next week I can find a way to be helpful to him.

EDGdrums · 07-12-2008, 02:09 AM

Your jobs seems interesting, how did you get into this business? Do you do fishing off of the ships?

Sorry to hear about your son. Hope everything goes well for him.