Local Academy Freshman Spends A Semester At Sea

By Laurie Borst

Matt Cole, a freshman at the Massachusetts Maritime Academy in Buzzards Bay, Mass., recently completed a Semester at Sea. Matt, one of more than 400 people on board the USTS Enterprise, spent 50 days at sea. It was a journey of mainly learning and a little leisure.

Matt is a 2006 graduate of Newtown High School.

Students and crew had to report on board on January 7. They spent the next week loading supplies and getting the ship ready for the trip. On January 13, they set sail from Buzzards Bay bound for Fort Lauderdale where they took on fuel, or bunkered. The trip took a day and a half.

From Fort Lauderdale, they headed southeast for a five-day sail to Barbados. They spent four days in port there. Matt was on watch the first night with four other freshmen, two seniors and a comcad. Comcads are commandants, or adult officers, i.e., commander, captains, and lieutenants, who are hired just for Semester At Sea.

Upperclassmen served as cadet officers on board. These officers, called rates, were each in charge of a different area including transportation, safety overseeing fire fighting and lifeboats, and evaporators, which provide water for showers and drinking. Matt reported that during last year’s Semester At Sea, two of the three evaporators broke down, stranding the ship in Norfolk, Va., for a week for repairs.

The ship is equipped with an iris scan that records the comings and goings of people on the ship. Many of the students found the iris scan to be a hassle as the equipment did not always work well, recording the return time incorrectly.

“Making curfew was really important,” Matt explained. Being late for curfew would result in demerits, which equate to extra duty.

The first time he could leave the ship, Matt said he sat on the beach for seven hours. “I was so happy to be off the ship. I went to the Boat Yard Restaurant. For $5, I got a [nonalcoholic] drink and a beach chair.”

The second day on Barbados, Matt walked around a bit. “I saw houses no bigger than this office [roughly 12 feet square] that whole families lived in. It was a sobering day to realize people actually lived like that.”

He found a café for lunch and tried swordfish for the first time. The meal was only $3, and Matt discovered the tasty delight of swordfish.

From Barbados, the Enterprise headed to Miami, a three-day sail, to take on fuel. The first night in Miami, Matt took a shuttle bus to the mall to watch a live band. As they were docked in Miami on February 4, Super Bowl excitement was running high. Some of Matt’s friends were out on the town and happened to meet several Colts and Bears.

While in Miami, Matt met up with Kristen Provost, another Newtown High School alumni, who now attends the University of Miami. Matt’s mother, Sheila, had sent birthday gifts to Kristen so Matt could celebrate his birthday, which took place January 19.

The ship left Miami on February 6, sailing to St Thomas. Ten days later, it docked in Charlotte Amelie, the capital of the US Virgin Islands. Two cruise ships were in port that made the converted cargo ship look very small.

Matt had the opportunity to visit Magen’s Bay on St Thomas, which he said was beautiful.

 

Duties On Board

While there was time to enjoy the sun and the beaches, there was much serious learning on the ship. Students took part in four different activities in three-day rotations. These four activities were watch, training, maintenance, and alternate.

Watch duty entailed standing on deck in their uniforms of white shirt and black pants, called “salt and peppers,” for four hours. For the three days of the rotation, the cadets served four hours on, eight hours off.

Deck watch began in the quarterdeck office. Cadets made rounds, punching Detex clocks to create a paper trail of the shift. Cadets could be assigned to bow or stern lookout posts, reporting any ships, lights, etc, spotted to the bridge.

Bridge watch involved several areas. The lee helmsman got to pilot the boat. Matt was pleased that he was able to pilot for 20 hours during the time at sea. Sophomore cadets would oversee the freshmen at this post. Radar watch was just that, watching the radar screen and reporting all observations. Senior cadets supervised these students.

Maintenance is self-explanatory. Matt drew engine room maintenance duty. “It was awful,” he said. “It was so hot — the coolest temperature in the compartment was 105.”

Depending on one’s assignment, cadets could have the duty to relieve others for meal times. Meal times are set for specific time periods. Sometimes, one’s shift covered the entire meal period, so other students were needed to give breaks.

Training introduced the majors offered by the academy: engineering, marine science and transportation, international maritime business, emergency management and environmental protection. For the freshmen, the alternate activity was the same as training. students selected two majors to investigate. Matt chose international maritime business and his chosen major, emergency management.

Marine transportation introduced the cadets to chart reading, plotting a course, rudimentary skills, and knot tying.

A field day was held that included timed knot tying with points for speed. Cadets also participated in the line toss: throwing heaving line — a rope with ball on end for weight — which had to land in a ring. At the fire station, cadets were required to, and timed on, unrolling a hose, hooking it up, simulating putting out a fire, and rolling the hose back up.

Marine safety and environmental protection were explored through an oil spill simulation. The students were given a variety of things to soak up the oil, seeing what worked the best. An oil spill on the beach was also simulated with a pan containing gravel.

The cadets studied MARPOL, the International Convention for the Prevention of Pollution of Ships, a 1970s Maritime Pollution Convention. They learned about the rules and laws on dumping at sea — what could be dumped, where dumping could occur and amounts of a variety of substances, e.g., oil, toxic chemicals, garbage, food, gray water, and plastic.

Cruise ships get fined for dumping items or leaking oil. The students practiced letter writing to the cruise companies explaining what to expect, fines which may be levied, and cleanup requirements.

Students participated in a disaster simulation — to evacuate New Orleans before Hurricane Katrina. They were provided with the following scenario: 150,000 people in need of evacuation who had no means to escape the hurricane themselves, how many buses, trains, and barges were available, how long it would take to load the people, what safe havens existed and how many people could be sent to each one, and how many sick or elderly were among the 150,000.

Matt proudly related that his group accomplished the task in 63 hours. They were given 72 hours. Other groups took 90 hours to move the people. The activity leader pointed out the cold reality that those people moved in last 18 hours were all dead.

Another activity was a triage exercise, assigning priorities to injured people. A doctor from the University of Massachusetts Hospital gave a lecture and facilitated the activity. Students were given teddy bears with tags attached describing their conditions. Students had to assign priorities based on the description.

All students at the Massachusetts Maritime Academy must take the Semester At Sea once to graduate. Transportation and engineering students do three trips during their freshman, sophomore, and senior years. Matt said he can go again as a senior, for his major, emergency management.

With a degree in emergency management, Matt said he could work for government agencies such as homeland security, FEMA, FBI, or state emergency departments.

From St Thomas, the Enterprise headed home. It was a five-day journey back to Massachusetts.

“We went through a complete season change in two days,” Matt said of the return trip.

In a phone interview, Matt’s mother Sheila, said of her son’s experience, “I know he had all kinds of training. But, if I’d known more about it, I would have worried more. I’m better off in the dark.

“It was a wonderful opportunity for him. It was a great way to find out what different jobs entail. He could switch majors if he felt he needed to,” Mrs Cole added.

US Training Ship

Enterprise

The Enterprise is a converted cargo ship, 540 feet long with a 76-foot beam and 27-foot draft, with nine decks. On this voyage, it housed 378 students, 87 crew members. and several engineers who oversee operations.

 The ship has steam-powered turbines for energy production, an auxiliary diesel generator, air conditioning systems, and marine sanitation devices. The navigation bridge is equipped with modern radio and radar equipment.

For more information about the Massachusetts Maritime Academy and the programs it offers, visit www.maritime.edu.