Just because the ship is crawling with civilian workers, doesn’t mean that we’ve got it easy. Shipyard periods are not vacations. Unless our gear is being upgraded, repaired, removed, or replaced… we will still have all the regular preventive maintenance to do, as well as normal training. We are also able, in some cases, to get several schools to increase/refresh our professional working knowledge and skills.
Cleanliness of the ship is always a concern. Though the shipyard workers pick up after themselves (or are supposed to), we still need to continue our normal cleaning duties. Grinding/welding debris and other kinds of small stuff sometimes get overlooked. We know our spaces better than any of the yard workers, so when the work is done for the day, we hold sweepers, and get the trash off the ship.
Sometimes, it seemed as though we’d never get out of the shipyard on time – surely there was too much going on. But, wouldn’t you know it, by the end of the shipyard period, the extra hoses and cables were gone… the plastic and matting (or plywood) removed, bulkheads restored, the last of the shipyard workers step off the ship, and the tugs pull alongside to escort the ship away from the pier and out of the shipyard. But our work is never done… for after every shipyard period, it’s time to go out for sea trials, and shake out the bugs.
As my favorite signature line goes, "Sailors belong on ships, and ships belong at sea - land is just a navigation hazard." – anonymous
