Tuesday, April 8, 2014

We’ve been working pretty steadily for the past few days with the first stages of boat closedown prep…however, we are still enjoying being here at the docks…well, except for the noise. Our first night here was very peaceful. But of course we sit right next to the container ship docks here, and there is almost always a ship in, loading or unloading. So in addition to the big, bright lights illuminating the ship, and yard, there is an incredible amount of banging, clanging, beeping and rumbling as the cranes unload to the ground, then the hoists swing the containers over on the trucks, and the trucks rumble off to wherever it is they go. And I must say, there seems to be a large amount of driving in reverse, if the back up beeping is any indication. We still love being here at CBM…just wish it was a little quieter, at night.

Oh, and did I mention they work round the clock? So a ship comes in around 4pm, and they start unloading immediately….and keep at it until all the St. Thomas bound containers are off, then they start loading. With the bigger ships this takes HOURS, as they are easily stacked 5-7 containers high, 4 rows deep and 7 or 8 rows long (and that’s what we can see)…We watched one the last time we were in and they can move oh, say 40 or so containers an hour, with 2 cranes. But, as soon as they are all loaded they leave, 3 am, 7am..whatever. It is a rare thing for a ship to be in more than 12 hours…after all time is money.

And this brings me to the point…Sunday night a big ship always comes in late in the afternoon…and the work begins. So, after we finally get to sleep, somewhere near 1:00 in the morning we hear a HUGE (and I mean HUGE) noise. Woke us both up…looked out and around and see one of the ships cranes extended completely down…hmmm, that doesn’t look right, and the other with the magnetic frame still hanging suspended from the other crane, well they never do that. However, the good news is work now completely stops, and while the lights are still on…no more banging and clanging. That was Sunday, or rather early AM Monday...it is now Tuesday and the ship has not moved, nor any further containers removed. I can’t imagine the costs incurred, to say nothing of the supplies and equipment that are stalled.

Yesterday evening we saw sparks flying off the disabled crane. Looked like they were cutting something, maybe the cable? And they brought a crane in from land to do something.. then sometime, in the middle of the night last night they moved the ship off the dock. To where, we don’t know…but it’s gone, and in its place is another big container ship. It’s a crazy life.