21 April 2013; Puerto Caldera, Costa Rica.

 Puerto Caldera Port Control is the authority that looks after the port operations. With two ships alongside and 6 at anchor it is not that much of headache to deal with it all as far as I think. Still it seems that each time when we arrive we cause a good deal of confusion and excited conversation on the VHF. This morning they were all in fine form again and in the end the agent called to obtain the necessary answers by means of some simple questions. I think he relayed those answers by phone to Port Control as it remained quiet from that moment onwards. When we came closer we could more or less reconstruct what it was all about. There was a ship alongside that had to leave for us. That meant a pilot and two tugboats; the pilot could not reach us as he was standing with his handheld radio in the steel-hull- lee of the cargo ship and thus Port Control in their mighty tower high aloft had to relay and did not do that very well. With only one pilot on duty, the big question was DID I need a pilot? When the answer was no, it solved a lot of logistical problems as the pilot did not have to split himself in two and could now sail the other ship out. Port Control then had to deal with a Tuna fisher which was also alongside and who also had to leave. He was pulling out, while we were coming in. So he cleared the berth but then dropped anchor, right in our preferred approach line. Fishermen think about safe passing distances on a totally different level than deep sea ships. So it was a bit tighter than normal but that is all part of the equation. By 06.00 we were docked and all was right with the world. Today was Sunday and as it should be it was a very peaceful day and I had a routine day with no unusual things at all. As a matter of fact I was able to catch up with some sleep in the early afternoon. That brings me to another chapter of our “Un-sung heroes”. This time the machinists of the engine dept. When something breaks, we cannot run ashore and get a new part at once. So we carry a fair amount of spare parts with us, but of course we do not have everything double. That means that quite often existing parts have to be repaired and then re-used. For that we have Machinists who can weld, solder and grind with all sorts of metal and sometimes create a complete new part, completely identical and quite often to higher specs than the original part. One of the big headaches on board are the dishwashers.

They run nearly continuously for 24 hours with the constant cleaning of all the cutlery and crockery. Their wear and tear is a lot more than the machines were designed for. –and we have the most professional machines that are on the market-.Plus they have to operate at all times within the parameters set by USPH and consistently for 24 hrs. a day, regardless of whatever weather the ship is in and whatever water (shore side loaded or ship made) goes through the machine. Plus the fact that chlorinated water goes through does not help the pipe work much either.

Asst. Facilities manager Mr. Jorge Gutnitaran and Lampoonist Mr. Eka Marluk. Standing between the two big diswashing machines in our main Galley.  A grop of 12 crew are looking after them when both machines are in operation at the same time. Here a new seal is installed on one of the pumps.

That means that the machines need a lot of TLC, adjustments and repairs. As the whole machine has to be “easy-cleanable” as well, each repair requires the removal of the outer casing before the technical inside can be reached. Hooking up panels with clips is not easy-cleanable so quite often a large number of pop nails have to be removed first before access is gained. After the repair the panels go back and then new sealant might need to be applied to seal off any cracks & gaps between the plates. (Any gap wider than a credit card is considered a crack or crevice and could accumulated soiled food; and needs to sealed)

The weather did not follow the forecast today as the wind never showed up but the rain came in early and produced some spectacular thunderstorms and lighting over the seas and a good rain shower over the port. We sailed on time and that was good as it is a full speed run to Corinto for a 0800 pilot call, as the pilot wants us early for the current.