The Change Radar – Navigating Safely Through Change

By Damon S. Craig.  published online in 2016 with rights reserved by the Author.

PREAMBLE – The Captain’s Log

FRIDAY

It was rather late on Friday by the time my Lieutenant came to see me with the passage plan for the Cairns trip. It was a good plan, she had taken account of all my usual ‘big rocks’ time distance and fuel figures are a ready check for me to see if the plan has any merit, before I look at the ‘stones’ and later pick at the ‘pebbles’ of the presentation.

SATURDAY

I am not in favour of watching over my heads of department, but when the ship’s crew are working so hard over the weekend I find that it enriches both them and me to pop in. I can clear some of my work and they also understand that I to often have to work a little extra and perhaps this just help our team to function better. I can’t say that I felt the ship getting any lower in the water as we took on fuel, but it certainly was nice to see the boot topping a little closer to the waves after so long in heavy maintenance for my fine ship.  It will be a big change for all of us on this trip. Many have read the paper each day, but will now need to pop on line to view updates and kisses from the loved ones will only appear near the signature line as zeros and ones…

SUNDAY

On the day prior to sailing, I generally always sleep on the ship. Monday morning is a rush and never fun with the traffic. I saw from my porthole, a steady stream of stores arrive, it was only a short trip to Cairns, but we would most probably head out again from there, so at least filling the dry store was a prudent move, I understand that our fresh is just enough for the trip and frozen provisions will nearly double those days. It is a little tough to decide what to take on the journey; we have an expected time plan, but perhaps need to allow for a little slip in the plan. And if we get there too quickly, and then have taken food no-one needs and we will just have to offload on the wharf.

I spend a little more time reviewing the passage plan. We have a few things to do on the way. I want to exercise the crew at flying quarters and ensure that we could embark stores or disembark a member of the crew should we need to. We only have a very small box of water and air in a very tight time frame to try this. I am a little concerned that we not only have to depart on time, but head an hour south to conduct this training. I could skip it and make better time north, but would miss this skill test. For the moment, it is in the plan and will remain.

My navigator has taken on my priority of training our junior staff and will schedule in some navigation training on the way up. She has worked with the engineer to find some deep water fro some of the trip. This allows for some maintenance for the equipment and also cooler water improves the performance of the ship. In return there will be a couple of hours set aside to come in closer for navigational training. This requires a few more hands in the engineering department to be on watch as a safety rule.

Otherwise, the voyage plan is very open to allow the crew to re familiarise themselves with being at sea and for each section to contact training and ship tours as needed.

MONDAY

It is always pleasing to see the crew ready for our departure. I attend the bridge where my Navigator briefs the Heads of Department and essential crew involved of both the passage planned and the evolution of getting the ship safely out of harbour. Those in charge of sections of the ship and crew report in an orderly fashion that we are ready for sea.

We efficiently take to our stations and let go of the lines to the wharf. Tugs are connected and we head away from the harbour as I have seen time and time again. Our tugs are released just near the heads and detach for other tasking soon after we exit into open water.

I assess the weather and wind and we decide to head south for our flying training. I specifically confirm this part of the plan with my Officer on Watch who implements that section of the plan as the Navigator had shown me. I do not concern myself now with the actions of the bridge and head to my cabin to continue with my normal work load.

My Executive Officer has reported to me that the ship appears safe and squared away on the upper decks and I receive similar reports from the other departmental heads that the ship is operational. I now swiftly head to the bridge and regain my awareness of the plan and direct my Navigator to execute a hard turn to port and another hard turn to starboard. The ship leans significantly to each side and shakes the dust off. My reports are received again and other than the officers’ book cabinet; it appears that the ship and crew were in fact quite ready for sea. I do not intent to conduct these checks again unless my opinion of my vessels safety is questioned.

It is logical time now to get on the main broadcast and talk to the crew. I remind them about our mission and the need to get to Cairns on time. At the completion, my Executive Officer obtains reports from each life boat captain that all members have been accounted for and know where to gain access to the lifeboat should it be needed. I have never had need to leave a ship, but it is the most basic and fundamental skill all aboard must have, the ability to get off if I direct them to.

Our flying plan goes well; we are in our box of air and water well before time and safely loiter for our aviation friends. We are in good communication with them from the start and bring them to our position with the minimum of fuss. They are very constrained for fuel usage and any delay, just lowers the time we get to use them for. They winch stores to us, that turn out to be a broken ghetto blaster. Perhaps it was a dig from the pilots at my karaoke skills in my junior officer days? We also safely sling up a test load, equivalent to the heaviest member of our crew.

We detach the aircraft and head north. We maintain though a clean communication link with them until they are in control of the shore airfield.  Our evening transit is uneventful.

TUESDAY

Our morning is spent in rather close to the shore; we are conducting a series of training moves to enable junior officers to navigate from the land masses. We also get to check all our navigation aides from a series of well known markers along the path. I am reminded how skilled my navigator is both in her duties and as an educator of the new generation. My Executive Officer and I remain on the bridge for this period, seated port and starboard to the ‘classroom’ I’d like to say we observed only, but feel that both of us may have either learnt from her, or awoken a skill we have not used for many years.

I take my orders for the transit very much in a formal method from my superiors. But there is much room to move to fit to the plan. Once in my head, I give much tighter framed directives to my teams. This can in some cases lead to only a very narrow set of solutions, or it can widen up to a suite of ideas that I can fit to my plan.

In this case, I have approved a plan, it may not have been the best plan, and it may have been one of 4 or 5 very suitable options. But it is none the less the passage plan I have agreed to and we are on the journey. I am confident in my decision, I am well supported by my team and every mile the ship moves is under the watchful eye of my navigator and those she has both taught and now trusts.

It is not all roses, we have one Junior Officer that is not finding her sea legs, but I doubt that she had her land legs or corporate ladder arms. She is given a suite of opportunities but just does not measure up. The Navigator has tried to hover, help and even harass but no approach works. It is clear that this Officer wants to stay on the journey, but perhaps it is just not going to be that way after Cairns.  I have had staff in other occasions that regardless of performance don’t want to be here. Some of them are perfectly capable, just sadly have made an inappropriate career choice at the time. I offer them every opportunity to progress, but often it is mutually beneficial to let them cross my gangway only once more.

The evening is spent in the deeper shipping channels. This is like a superhighway for ocean traffic where we get greater speeds, but have the added burden of the continual visual and radio communication with the fellow road users. We have very defined series of internationally accepted rules to avoid collisions and for the most part these work. There are though some small boats who just don’t answer radios; there are bigger boats, who just will not alter course or speed from the economical plan forcing smaller craft to yield. It is a game that my Officer on watch plays all night.

The radio chatter keeps me awake so I head to the bridge and find my Navigator, bright as a button working our astral navigational equipment. It is refined to a very simple art of plotting relative high and bearing of known stars, but only true believers take it from a science to an art form. I am not sure if any students were converted that night, but they were certainly inspired.

WEDNESDAY

Only one job today, clear in tray limited success.

THURSDAY

Last night was a long night, we have a small leak around the fuel inlet valve monitor. My engineer was down in the spaces for most of the silent hours assessing the issue. His risk assessment is that the valve is functioning perfectly well, but that it is only the monitor component that is not functioning correctly. The unit is safe, but only because we have dropped spread and are monitoring the unit with a back up fuel analyser. Should this fail, we are then in a serious safety void.

I have chosen on this advice to head to harbour. My navigator has fleshed out a plan to close the shore and head to Mackay. Her exuberance is waning and I need her on deck for the time we are closer in land. Her assistant has been given the task of drafting up the passage plan to MacKay under very strict instructions. I am unsure of who will brief the branch plan to me, but trust that it will be complete when it is needed.

At this stage we are too big for this port, but the stores item we need will be sent out by boat to meet us in the vicinity of the harbour. My Supply Officer is managing a plan to get the item to us and my executive officer is managing the training of all involved in the boats work.

Obviously, our plan to head north now is delayed. The plan has not been disposed, I assume that this sideline will take us a few hours off track and then we will pick up our original passage, delayed or not…

FRIDAY

It was a very early start to close in to the harbour. We launched our boat as it is far more manoeuvrable than we are. It pulled up closer to the stores boat and received our parts. Given the time we had spent in the manoeuvre, we also picked up Daily newspapers, fresh fruit and pastries for the crew. It was an un –planned expense, but insignificant with the cost of the stores pick up so I happily approved it, hoping that it would be appreciated by the crew. It certainly was.

We picked up our plan and proceeded north. We were about a day behind schedule, but it is not a concern for me. We headed safely on.

SATURDAY

Our main challenge today was to head into Cairns Harbour. This area is surrounded by the Great Barrier Reef. We only have a few places we can get around it but this was all well planned by my team. In fact, what was perhaps my biggest risk in the plan was actually the simplest day.

We tied up alongside and briefed the crew before letting them ashore. I asked my Heads of department how the voyage went, and they had many nice things to say, they even told me opinions from the crew. My navigator, as always was last on the bridge. I asked her and she pulled out her note book and confidently told me that she has much to learn. I know that any detail that I missed is in that book, mistakes will not be re made, success will be improved on, but mainly, nothing will be forgotten….