The next day during my morning watch, I noticed something was wrong. The gyrocompass was off because the ship was off course, and the radar was sounding an alarm, indicating our deviation. I checked the magnetic compass and saw that the gyrocompass was 15 degrees off. We were near the pilot station when Captain Don Quixote arrived on the bridge, dressed up like an admiral.
I said, "Captain, I was about to call you. There is something wrong with the gyrocompass. It's 15 degrees off."
Captain Don Quixote looked at all the instruments that showed the same values and said, "Cadet! Stop annoying me with your stupidity. Everything is okay. Do you see? Everything is okay. Are you stupid or blind?"
I pointed to the magnetic compass on the ceiling and said, "But Captain, check the data with the magnetic compass."
Captain Don Quixote said, "Cadet! I told you to stop annoying me. You are like a pest. Just get off the bridge."
On the way down, I met 2nd Mate on his way up and told him that the gyro was off by 15 degrees.
2nd Mate asked, "Is the Captain in command?"
I replied, "Yes. He said he is in command."
2nd Mate asked, "Did you put it in writing? You must log this in the ship's logbook."
I said, "No. I didn't know. What am I supposed to write?"
2nd Mate said, "Ok, I'll take care of it. Afterward, I'll show you what to write. Now get your VHF; you will bring the pilot on the bridge."
I picked up the portable VHF radio from my cabin. After some time, 2nd Mate called me on my VHF, "Cadet, the pilot is approaching starboard side."
I said on the portable VHF radio, "OK, the pilot is approaching, going there now."
I went to the starboard side main deck where a gangway[1] was lowered just above the sea. The gangway resembled a metal staircase with foldable handrails. Due to the height of our RO-RO ship, there was also a pilot ladder extending down to the sea. The pilot ladder was made of rope with wooden and rubber steps. The pilot boat arrived with the pilot at the fore end. The boat driver expertly timed the approach between the small waves, allowing the pilot to quickly climb onto the pilot ladder. As soon as the opportunity arose, the pilot climbed as if his life depended on it, and the pilot boat moved away. The pilot made his way up the pilot ladder until he reached the gangway, climbed up, and walked over to me.
The pilot asked me, "Why are you off course? Who is in charge?"
I replied, "I think Captain is in charge, sir."
The pilot said, "Take me quickly up there!"
I escorted the pilot to the bridge, where Captain Don Quixote dismissively waved his hand, signaling for me to leave.
After we moored, I was on the main deck and saw a service team boarding the ship.
2nd Mate walked to me and said, "That is the repair team for the gyro. You should have seen the look on the Captain's face when the pilot came on the bridge and started scolding the Captain, 'What are you doing…the ship is way off the pilot station…I'm in control now, since nobody is.' It was hilarious."
I asked, "Then it was because of the gyro?"
2nd Mate replied, "Yes. Plus, he set a course exactly as it was on the map, but we ended up completely off the pilot station."
The Chief Mate joined us and said, "You remember that the Captain wanted to relieve you two for sailing the ship through the winds and currents. I received a call from the company manager and explained a few things. As a result, the Captain was gently turned down because now is not the best time for the company to change the crew."
2nd Mate laughed and said, "What a douche. Well, at least those guys at the company maybe now have a clue what kind of dumb person they hired."
At that moment, I shared with them what Captain Don Quixote did when we received the Mayday call from a sailing boat. Chief Mate and 2nd Mate didn't seem so shocked, as they told me they saw so much bad stuff on ships. In their eyes, I hadn't even started to scratch the surface of hell.
Captain Don Quixote called me on the portable VHF radio, "Cadet, come to my quarters!"
I made my way to the Captain's quarters. Captain Don Quixote was seated behind his computer.
Captain Don Quixote said, "Cadet, you are banned from the bridge. Your inadequate capability probably led to the malfunction of the gyrocompass. Or if I were to doubt, you sabotaged the ship's gyrocompass out of spite or some personal gain to tarnish my reputation. Get out of my sight forever."
This vilification didn't really sit well with my mind, but to some degree, I was relieved to not see his face for the rest of the journey. I just walked out without saying a word.
As the ship arrived at the next port, I was assigned to Chief Mate's crew in the aft part of the ship. In the front part of the ship, 2nd Mate was in charge. On the approach, Captain Don Quixote said on the portable VHF radio, "Chief, Second, we will use two tugboats[2], one forward, one aft."
2nd Mate on the portable VHF radio, "One tug forward."
Chief Mate pressed the button on his portable VHF radio and said, "One tug aft."
Chief Mate stretched and said, "Two tugboats in calm weather? Look, even the sea is calm like a lake. This will cost the company. A real Captain uses no tugs in this weather, or maybe one aft in bad weather as forward he has a bow thruster[3]."
Everyone from the crew aft chuckled.
Chief Mate turned to me and said, "Cadet, be careful around these winches and ropes. If you see the rope stretching and making a banging noise, it can break and mop you. It will hit you so hard that you can be killed or have multiple bone fractures."
I nodded at Chief Mate.
Able Seaman said, "I saw it once. It swooped a Chief to a pillar and wrapped around him like an anaconda. Broke all the bones in his body."
Chief Mate said, "I saw it cut the head clean off a deckhand once, so it's no joke. When I was a cadet, a Chief moved out of the way, but the rope still flew all over the place and hit him in the back, instantly breaking his spine."
A tugboat emerged from port side[4] and honked. We threw a thin rope where they tied their heavy tug rope made of steel. We pulled it on board using the winch and secured it on a bollard[5].
Chief Mate said, "Move away everyone."
We all gathered at the aft part of the superstructure as the tugboat began to pull the ship. The steel rope ground and screeched against the bollard, creating a grating sound that wasn't pleasant for our ears.
I asked, "Chief, can this break and harm us like the rope?"
Chief Mate replied, "No. It is hard and not flexible. If you are near, it can cut your leg off, but from far away, there is no danger while regular ropes just fly all over the place like a rubber band with deadly force."
The tugboat moved us to the shore and pushed us until we bumped on the dock.
We waited a while, and someone whistled. It was the ordinary seaman from the superstructure who screamed, "Chief, Chief!" and whistled.
Chief Mate got angry and shouted, "Am I a dog, do I look like a dog to you?!"
The ordinary seaman pointed out his portable VHF radio. Chief Mate tried his portable VHF radio, but it didn't work, probably because of a dead battery. Chief Mate removed his battery and gave it to me.
Chief Mate said, "Cadet, bring me another spare battery from my office and put this one to charge."
I ran to his office, swapped the batteries, and ran back as fast as I could. I gave the spare battery to Chief Mate, and he plugged it into his portable VHF radio. As soon as he switched on the portable VHF radio, you could hear, "Chief, this is Captain… Chief Mate, respond!!"
Chief Mate used the portable VHF radio and said, "Chief mate here, my battery died on me."
Captain Don Quixote said on the portable VHF radio, "Don't you know that you have to have your VHF charged? What if there was an emergency? Even now, everyone is waiting on you. Just release the tug if you are capable of doing that."
Chief Mate tightened his grip around the portable VHF radio and said, "Aft, release tugboat."
We released the tug, and Chief Mate said on his portable VHF radio, "Aft tugboat released."
We looked over to the starboard side where we were docked to give our ropes to the mooring men on shore, and there was a big parking lot full of cars as far as the eye could see. Few passages stretched between this endless sea of cars. One passage led to our ship. It was near our loading ramp on the starboard side.
Chief Mate mumbled in his beard, "That fool, you must first have 2 ropes forward and aft before letting the tugboat go."
We gave the spring line[6] to the mooring men on shore, followed by a stern line[7]. The mooring men attached the ropes to the bollards. We tightened the lines using our winches.
Captain Don Quixote said on the portable VHF radio, "Mooring three-plus-one!"
On VHF, Chief Mate and 2nd Mate confirmed the order, so we gave two more stern lines.
Able seaman said, "Three-plus-one, that is overkill for this ship in this port."
Chief Mate said, "Here, we could go with just one-plus-one."
I said, "You mean one spring line and one stern line here on aft, and one spring and headline on forward."
Chief Mate said, "Yes, that is correct, Cadet. Very good."
I lowered the stern line, and the mooring men waved.
The mooring man shouted to me, "No good, no good."
The mooring man below me talked into his portable VHF radio.
I said, "Chief, the guy below said something is no good."
Chief Mate and the able seaman leaned on the ship's rail.
Chief Mate yelled, "What is the problem?"
The mooring man below us pointed at the middle of the ship and shouted, "No good, somebody come!"
Soon, a port authority vehicle came with some local authority and a foreman. The foreman pointed to his portable VHF radio and shouted, "Channel seven!"
Chief Mate changed to channel seven and said on his portable VHF radio, "This is Chief Mate of Motor Vessel Rover on channel seven."
The foreman on the portable VHF radio said, "The ship is in the wrong position. You cannot lower the loading ramp, you must move the ship a few meters forward."
Chief Mate said, "Ok, understood, hold on a second, I will notify the Captain."
Chief Mate changed the frequency to our ship's operating frequency and said, "Captain, this is the Chief Mate."
At that moment, you could see and hear the middle loading ramp starting to lower. Everybody on shore screamed and waved their hands while they ran towards the ramp.
Chief Mate shouted on the portable VHF radio: "Stop! Stop the ramp! Whoever is lowering it, stop! There are cars below or something, we can't lower it."
The ramp slowly but steadily continued to lower.
The port authority man honked the car horn, reached inside for the megaphone, and shouted, "Stop! Stop the ramp! Stop!"
The port authority grabbed a small, powered horn and turned it on. It was loud, almost like the ship's horn. The ramp stopped halfway down. You could see Bosun Brainless' head pop out. The people on the dock shouted and waved at Bosun Brainless. Captain Don Quixote walked out on the upper deck wearing a napkin necklace with some red stains.
Captain Don Quixote said on the portable VHF radio, "What is this racket?"
Chief Mate said on his portable VHF radio, "Captain, we can't lower the ramp. We are not in the correct position, there is a foreman on channel seven."
Captain Don Quixote said on the portable VHF radio, "What position? What are they talking about?"
The foreman from shore took the handheld megaphone from the port authority and said, "Channel seven! Channel seven!"
You could hear the Captain and the foreman speak to each other on the portable VHF radio. 2nd Mate joined us as he waved his portable VHF radio.
2nd Mate said, "Uhh man, we just need some popcorns. This is going to be fun! They are arguing as the Captain wants them to move the cars, but they say they can't due to the policy or something."
The 2nd Mate's portable VHF radio was set to Channel 7, and we could eavesdrop on the conversation. The port authority said, "Captain, you will move the ship. There is a clear marking where the ramp can sit on the dock, and you have a mooring bollard below your ramp, so you CANNOT stay here or lower the ramp."
Captain Don Quixote said on the portable VHF radio, "Ok! Ok!"
Captain Don Quixote looked agitated, and we heard his voice on the Chief Mate's portable VHF radio, "Everyone to their station, we need to move the ship a few meters forward."
2nd Mate chuckled and went forward.
Captain Don Quixote said on the portable VHF radio, "Let loose all headlines and stern lines; we are going to move the ship by spring lines."
2nd Mate said on the portable VHF radio, "Let go headlines, slack spring."
Chief Mate said on the portable VHF radio, "Let go stern lines, pull up spring."
The winches were old and didn't have enough power to move the ship, likely because the ship was leaning on the dock fenders positioned between us and the dock. Typically, dock fenders are large, but these were small square rubber patches. Bosun Brainless stood on the half-opened loading ramp, watching the foreman to see how much more we needed to move. However, no matter how many times we tried, the winches couldn't move much; they would tighten the rope, which made a loud bang from the tension.
Bosun Brainless said on the portable VHF radio, "We are not moving."
Chief Mate said on the portable VHF radio, "Captain, we must be leaning good at these rubber fenders, we have to move away."
Captain Don Quixote said on the portable VHF radio, "We need to wait half an hour because the engine was in the process of shutting down."
Able seaman laughed. We waited for the engine to be at full power. A bit of strong wind picked up. The wind blew from the sea to the shore and pushed the ship onto the dock.
Captain Don Quixote said on the portable VHF radio, "The engine is ready. I will now move us away a little bit from the dock."
The ship quivered and the stern nudged away from the shore, swaying slightly to starboard due to the open side loading ramp. As it drifted a few meters from the coast, the engine was cut off, leaving the vessel vulnerable to the wind. The gusts pushed it back, and with a resounding crash, the ship collided with the shore once more.
Chief Mate said, "You see how this ship has a big superstructure from fore to aft and a low draught? We are like a tin can for the wind to play with."
I said, "Maybe the Captain will see now how the wind affects this tin-can ship."
Chief Mate and Able seaman chuckled and shook their heads. Soon the ship shook and moved again from the shore, only to hit it back again.
Chief Mate asked, "Why is he not using the bow thruster?"
Able seaman smiled and said, "He probably doesn't know how to use it or even that we have it."
Captain Don Quixote said on the portable VHF radio, "Chief mate! Pull the spring, pull when we are away from the shore."
We tried pulling, but nothing happened.
Chief Mate said, "The fore part of the ship is still leaning on the shore. How does he expect to move the ship?"
Captain Don Quixote was stubborn because he tried this maneuver three more times until the ship's plating dented in the shape of the dock fender.
Chief Mate shouted on the portable VHF radio, "Stop, Captain! We have dented the plate. This is not working."
Captain Don Quixote walked to the bridge wing and looked at the stern. He asked on the portable VHF radio, "Why didn't you slow the stern from hitting so hard? How bad is it?"
Able seaman did a facepalm and said, "The guy is nuts. What should we use, our hands? Or maybe throw you, Cadet, in there to soften the hit."
Chief Mate raised his index finger close to his mouth as he looked at the able seaman to be quiet.
Chief Mate said on the portable VHF radio, "Uhh, the dent is not severe."
Port authority on the portable VHF radio said, "We will call the tugs for you, Captain. Just wait, don't do anything more."
Captain Don Quixote leaned back a little bit and scratched his head. Chief Mate smiled and said, "You can guess, Cadet, who will pay for those tugs."
The able seaman remarked, "Yup, the company will be thrilled with the Captain when they realize he's paid for the tugboats twice."
Soon, the tugs arrived, we hooked them up, and they effortlessly moved us to the correct position. During our stay, I caught hints that everyone at the port was mocking our Captain, dubbing him "Don Quixote." Meanwhile, our crew was in a state of silent terror, anxiously pondering what his next move would be and if it would cost us our lives.