I don't remember, was "Kenai" a flush deck or raised foc'sle ship? (If
flush deck, going to the foc'sle in even relatively calm conditions
could be dangerous to ones health.)
In the storm in question, seas were running @60'. The Captain slowed
down to basically "hove too" and headed directly into the seas. On that
ship, the raised foc'sle was @30'-40' above the water when loaded and in
that condition was only taking spray (trust me, we watched for awhile).
If you look at the picture, you'll see that along the center catwalk,
there are a number of places you could go too (deepwell pump houses) for
protection.
I was able to get forward (damn spray and rain STINGS at those wind
speeds) secure the door, check for other damage (there was a good deal
of it), retrieve the ship's bell (it had been broken off and was lodged
in between some piping) and then head back.
About halfway back, the old man blew the whistle to warn me of a "big
one" coming ..... he says that's the fastest he ever saw me move.
Also, if you look at the picture of the foremast, in this storm the
brackets for all the deck lights (near the top of the mast) were bent up
from seas coming aboard. (Ship in question ... Delaware Trader).

otn

Rick wrote:
otnmbrd wrote:

I always get a kick out of seeing that picture, having spent a good
deal of time on that ship in similar conditions,


Spent a week in same conditions one Christmas near the dateline on the
"Kenai" running from Valdez to Tsingtao. Winds over 100kn sustained,
waves over 100 feet. On the crests it was impossible to tell the
difference between the air and the water.

The noise alone was enough to write sea stories about. The sound of the
wind was only drowned out by the sound of books, TV sets, refrigerators,
and the contents of closets and desks crashing from bulkhead to bulkhead
in the room above as the ship rolled.

We lost 5 liferafts, about 200 feet of railing, the ladders on the
kingposts, stove in the overhead above the cross passage and wiped off
most of the strain gauges on the main deck. There was no way in hell any
human could have survived a trip to the foc'sle.

Well, maybe Jax could, and he probably did near the rocks off Cape
Hatteras where the Gulf Stream lurks.

Rick