My sister Kristina currently lives in Alaska and works on ships. Currently, she’s getting her pilotage, which means that she’s piloting ships around and memorizing the layout of ports and getting tested on that knowledge. When finished, it will make her a good candidate for, well, being a pilot. She might find herself working in a port, piloting big ships in, a cruise ship (all the way up to Captain..?), or a research vessel. She kind of likes the idea of working with scientists so she can hold intelligent conversations on the job. Anyway, I just saw some unsettling news - my sister’s ship ran aground!
The Empress of the North, according to this news story, hit a reef and started taking on water. It is a cute paddle-wheel-decorated ship (with real engines and thrusters hidden underneath), that putters up and down the coast of Alaska. The smaller ships like these are getting increasingly popular, particularly because they can go to ports and up channels that the big mega-ships can’t. Well now the Empress of the North is out of commission for a while. What about my sis?
Hehe, so I fudged it for drama - the Empress used to be my sister’s ship, she moved from that cruise ship company that was limiting her advancement to work on the Alaskan Highway ferryboat ship system. So that’s what they get - lose my sister and run aground from lack of competance! Yeah, I heard some stories about the Empress of the North. Here’s a picture of it from back when she was working on it:
No one was injured, and the ship has stopped taking on water. I ought to tell Kris so she can go poke fun the next time she’s in Juneau!
*UPDATE 5-21-2007 17:00: My sister already knew about it… she was there! I just got off the phone with her, getting her part of the tale. She heard about the accident on the radio, plotted a course, and realized that her ship was the closest to the Empress. She woke up the Captain and they changed course to help in the rescue, and were the first ones there. So she got to rescue her old ship!
We may not get to hear the official story of what really happened, but here’s a little clue. The Empress of the North has a splendidly sophisticated autopilot system - it will keep you on your course no matter what. Except of course, if your course was supposed to change at a turn. The ship overshot it’s turn and ran aground… we wonders what happened there, hmm?
Ok this is too much for me to keep quiet about LoL… I stopped by the site to see if you had the final interview up yet (I am really looking foward to it.) but after the latest post I have to refer you to my website http://madeye92.spaces.live.com I think we have a ton in common, I am sitting here in amazement right now about the similarities… Chances are very good I have traveled the inside passage on the same boat your sister is working on! Anyway hope you can find time to check it out.
Take Care
Hi Chris,
The Universe may be really big, but sometimes it can seem so very small. Glad to hear that you’re waiting on the interview… unfortunately it won’t go up until I get to Madison… so many things left to do. I’ll definitely check out your blog, thanks for listening and reading.