THE BROWN CHRISTMAS
Matt S. Gann
It should have been a White Christmas in Kodiak, Alaska but that year for us it wasn't - Here is the tale of .........................
So
there we were, on Christmas
holiday routine, import in Kodiak,
on the CGC YOCONA.
Another Fireman and myself were on duty and it was time to pump the sewage tank into the shore-tie.
Unbeknownst to us some
thoughtless engineer from the previous day's duty section failed
to "walk out" the sewage line, it being a typical
December night in Kodiak. As a result, we had about 25 feet of
slushy frozen, five-inch sewage line, and no spare hose. Well, we
were intelligent Coasties so we decided to simply flush out the
sewage line with water from the firemain pump.... That ought to
clear out any slush and open up the line. So, with me being the
brains behind the operation, I sent my partner, who has yet to
forgive me, up on
deck to monitor the 'terd-chasing' evolution while I operated the pump. Do you see where
this is going?
About 20 seconds after I activate the pump, I hear shouting, "Shut
it off! Shut it off! For God's sake, turn the damn thing off!!"
And then,
down the ladder comes my faithful companion, drenched from head
to toe in a very smelly, slushy, substance. It would seem that
the pressure ruptured the hose near the fitting on the ship's
side and as a result, my poor friend and partner, who will remain
nameless for the sake of his own dignity, got a little brown shower. Ooooops!!!!!!!!.
After he changed, we decided to use the steam line from the pier
to melt the hose. Actually, that was at the suggestion of the EOW,
who
by the way, found this event very comical. So, that's how and what happened
on our Brown
Christmas.
And that
ain't no sh......t.