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SubTitle: New Skippers
Posted by: J. Ritter (ritter@interserf.net) on 11/27/1997@16:30hrs:
In Reply to: Re: The Staten Island Ferry posted by: DAN BLAINE on 11/25/1997@23:28hrs:
I had a new skipper on the John R. Pierce. He let us practice and after we passed the manhatten ferry terminal all commands for course changes came from CIC. we established left/right of center of channel, distance to turn, manuvers to regain intended track, time to turn, cacluations for advance and transfer, etc. We had a second team working on surface contacts and used a scope where the ppi sweep centermoved based on the ships motion. This gave the trackers a better picture of what was actually moving. The specialized on what was in or near the channel. On move than one ocasion we got underway when you could not see manhatten from the old Brooklyn Navy Yard all by radar. If you beleive it happens. The CO had built up confidence in our capability in good wx and used it to his advantage when no one else got underway. The only problem we ever hads was when the tracking party detected a large stationary contact in the narrows. The Captain had the team come to the bridge one at a time. The Large contact was the center section of the bridge being put into place! Technology tested under the best conditions will be trusted when needed the most. This is especially so where human nature usually does not want to change. The number of us old guys on the net is an example. My Father-in-Law in his '80s is the exception.
John