If I must go to work...

I only assume it could be much worse than this. I'm breaking the rules today and posting two pictures. The first is from a quick walk up to the top of Diamond Head for a view of town and the second is while I was walking off the ship for my second day on the job. I know it's hard to believe, but they actually pay me for this. And they leave me in charge. Both of these almost blow my mind!

276

It's been a busy week and I'm a little late on this one. As tradition has it for the past two years, I have ended my time at sea with a sunset photo. It's one of the moments about a career at sea that will never grow old. With this sunset comes 276 days at sea as a cadet and the completion of my sea time to earn my license as a professional mariner. Next step? Graduation and a job!

Final Trip to Valdez

We are headed into Valdez for the last time with our escort tug, the Crowley Alert, and outbound sister ship, the Polar Discovery in the background. 

On the Hook

We are sitting at anchor in Port Angeles, WA with another beautiful sunset reflecting off the bow. 

Alaskan Legend

I was on the launch boat headed from shore back to the ship at anchor when I saw this beautiful sunset and the tanker Alaskan Legend in the background. 

Sunset in Valdez

Here I am looking over the stern and the stack on a beautiful Alaska sunset as we load 900,000 barrels of crude oil in Valdez. 

Port Bridge Wing

Here is the view from the port bridge wing while we are underway at sea. There are duplicate steering and propulsion controls on each wing for the captain to use while docking the ship. 

Celestial Bearings

While primary navigation now happens by GPS and electronic charts, we still look to celestial sightings to verify that our electronics are correct. Here I am taking an azimuth of the sun to determine compass error. 

Daylight in the Narrows

Today was the first time we have had daylight on our approach to Valdez and it was a breathtakingly beautiful day to enjoy the transit through the Valdez Narrows!