Stay in Seattle

Stay in Seattle

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On July 23rd we went on the first of the sea trials where they tested out the engines and such. We left early at 6:30AM, but all the temps and the carpenter were allowed to go (and they had work for us, too). Before we left, Casey, John, and I were in cargo hold two putting the hatch back over the drive train (hatch shown here). That hatch is about four feet by four feet and took two of us to lift it. There are four polypropene (rubber like) seals (one for each side) that we had to get aligned along with getting silicone sealant on both sides of the seals.
We rested the hatch on two wood blocks while we got everything lined up (using pins and screw drivers). Then we lowered the hatch and bolted it down. As you can see above, there are also pipes to run refrigerated water through the hold to preserve the catch until they can get to a processing ship or shore. There is also a ladder on the wall (left side of this picture) that leads to one of the hatches, but Carl was working over that hatch, so we had to use a ladder we dropped down. It made a tight fit getting down, but at least we weren't swinging under 1.5 feet to get to the ladder (which is the norm).
We set off on the sea trial while we were putting the hatch back. There was a huge drive train running under it. It was only six and half inches thick, but it sure looked like eight inches to me. In any case, you certainly didn't want to get in its way. Here is the main engine (I think) which is pretty small by current standards. It has twelve cylinders each of which is about eight inches across. Yikes! Only 1,350 horsepower.
This boat was built in about 1973 and newer boats often have engines of 2,000 to even 4,000 horsepower. This is the auxillary engine (I think) though it looks about as large as the main engine in the picture it is about one half the size in each dimension making about one eighth the size overall. When we were on the sea trial there was a constant throbbing from the engine, but it really wasn't all that noisy (though how would I know as I where ear plugs most of the time I am on the boat).
Here is Carl, the carpenter working on the Pacific Viking. He is cutting planks here for the section of deck just behind the 'house' (where the crew stay). He was a teacher for 25 years in Seattle, but was laid off in any case even though he had tenure. He had gotten tired of the politics of it all and so was not so sad to do other things. He has an English accent and does good work. You'll never guess what is under his feet (accessed via that hatch).
The silver bar is lifted and turned to open the hatch.... For a few days I remember noticing that one of the hatches handles was up and turned.... Well Carl stepped on it just so and it fell down into the hold (about twelve feet). Yikes! Carl turned sideways and landed on his side (around his kidney) on the edge rather falling in, thank goodness! He went to the doctor and no problems have resulted. However, we are now ever so careful of open and 'not fully closed' hatches.... Here is the section of deck that is almost done. He got everything off it to clean it and then put down cardboard so it doesn't get ruined when they paint the walls around it.
By the time we got the hatch back in place in the hold, we were already out in Puget Sound. There we prepped the outer railing on the upper deck (used grinders to get the old loose paint and rust off) and then painted it blue. This picture shows the upper deck (along with Orlando, David and Roy). The walls below the upper deck are being prepped and painted by contractors, about four of them went on the trial doing work also. We had to do all the grinding and painting of the upper rails at sea as they are really stringent that nothing can be dropped into Lake Union where the yard is (huge many thousands of dollars fines) so the little grinder dust or paint that blew into the sea was not a problem, but would have been a problem if we were docked in Lake Union ship yard.
I didn't take a break until John (of Labor Works) and I had finished the out rails. Then I wandered around the boat taking pictures. Here is the skipper, John at the helm. He often talks with Roy, the engineer, about what needs to be done, though it is ussually Roy who tells us what to do.
Here is John (of Labor Works). He has been working off and on a Trident for abouyt three months and is often the lead guy just because he knows what needs doing and how to do it. It was a little warm that day and John had been grinding for a bit before painting. As you can see in this picture, you can get really filthy when grinding (produces fine dust) and on a hot day (so that you are sweaty and the dust sticks to you). On hotter days and in an enclosed space, I have gotten much dirtier than this. I am almost completely black by the end of the day. As a result I do my laundry weekly on Saturday morning and pre-wash my work clothes in the sink before washing them. That requires me to go the Lynnwood Splash and Dash as they are the only laundromat that I have found with a sink available for that.
Just after 11AM we got back to the locks which join Salmon Bay (part of Puget Sound and the Pacific) to Union Lake (freshwater lake where the Trident Seafoods shipyard is). My guess is that Lake Union is the new lake that was created when they put locks at the end of the old river that drained Lake Washington into the Pacific. We broke for lunch and I took bunches more pictures. They provided lunch for us (and it was good). Here is Orlando having lunch on the stern. He is from Puerto Rico and helps me practice my Spanish. As I have been there about three weeks, I have been acting as a lead guide and explaining what needs doing to him. He sometimes calls me 'boss' which sometimes makes me a little uncomfortable.
Here is the railroad drawbridge that we passed under to get to Lake Union locks. That is one massive hunk of iron to the left to counter balance the bridge itself. To the left and beneath the bridge is a sort of dock (which you'll see more of later). The draw bridge was up as we approached and it looked to me that we could have made it under the bridge without them lifting it at all.
For some reason water was coming out of the very top of the draw bridge making it sort of rain on the deck as we passed under it. It looked really cool to see the sparkles of rain as we approached, though the picture seems to have missed most of them. What to do? Anyway, it looked like a shower of stars (or diamonds) coming from the top of the bridge.
This is the view just to the right of the locks to Lake Union. If I understand it correctly, the water that is spraying out is to distract the seagulls so that the fry (young salmon) have a chance to make it out to sea. It seems that they go through turbines which don't hurt them, but which leave them disoriented. To the bottom right there seems to be a group of fry right at the surface.

This page was last updated on January 1, 2004