More Mail from the BALDRIGE....
Mrs. Kris French, Langage Arts teacher in Orlando, Florida asked: "What type of training do most of your crew members have? Are most of them scientists?"
Direct mail from the Captain....
I'm only too happy to answer your questions. But I'm not sure that I
can divulge King Neptune's secrets to a mere, mortal pollywog.
First, the straight forward question and answer. Most of the ship's civilian
crew members (who total about 40) do not have a background in the sciences.
The civilian crew make up the various departments on the ship (Deck,
Engineering, Steward, Yeoman, Quartermaster, and Survey) and these people are
vital to running the ship. Without them to feed everyone, keep the engines
and machinery running, make water, do laundry, take care of all of the
administrative minutia, etc., we would not be able to complete our scientific
objectives. Some personnel in the ship's Survey Department do have college
or junior college degrees in the sciences. They are the ones who most
directly assist the scientists during the routine sampling operations that we
conduct everyday. The hard work of the crew and the officers makes my job
reasonably easy.
The 10 commissioned officers that I have aboard ship all have at least a
Bachelor's degree in one of the hard sciences, and several have Master's
degrees, or are working on them. In addition to navigating the ship, and
managing and supervising vessel operations and vessel personnel, we provide
assistance to the scientists, as required to help them conduct their sampling
in more efficient ways, drawing upon our own backgrounds in science and
seamanship.
Of course, the embarked scientists are all from the science community, either
from Federal (usually NOAA) laboratories or from universities.
What does "Crossing the Line" mean? Is this something you do for fun? What else do you do in your spare time?
We are not quite such a "dignified vessel" as you might think. We are, after
all sailors (and scientists) and being such, we follow the traditions of the
sea, such as "don't pitch a bucket of water off the windward side of the
ship" or some such thing.
There are certain traditions that simply are part
of going to sea, and "Crossing the Line" is one of those that is held onto
with a strong grip by the old sea dogs (I guess I fall into that category, as
I first crossed the equator and was duly initiated into the Realm of King
Neptune in 1973).
It's what you might call a "right of passage", that can be
an extremely fun break in an otherwise very long cruise, or it can be a
ceremony that one simply endures. To set your mind at ease, I do not allow
the "bizzare rituals" and "primitive rites" to be carried to the extremes of
hurting or injuring anyone. At the risk of incurring the wrath of King
Neptune, I'll tell you a little bit about "Crossing the Line."
"Crossing the Line" is steeped in tradition and history. If you'll indulge
me a bit, I'll quote from the book Naval Ceremonies, Customs, and
Traditions:
"The boisterous ceremonies of 'crossing the line' are of such ancient vintage
that their derivation is lost; such horseplay took place in the Middle Ages,
and even before that when ships crossed the thirtieth parallel or passed
through the Straits of Gibraltar.... The Vikings are reported to have
practiced similar ceremonies on crossing certain parallels. It is highly
probable that the present-day ceremony was passed on to the Angles, Saxons,
and Normans from the Vikings."
The crossing ceremony is conducted upon crossing the equator. Before
crossing, all new crew members who have not crossed the equator before (and
in fact, any crew member who cannot produce proof (his/her crossing card or
certificate) of having crossed the equator) is a "pollywog" and considered to
be "fair game" until after he/she has been duly initiated and sworn in as a
"Trusty Shellback", worthy to sail in King Neptune's oceans.
If the ship is
fortunate enough to cross the equator and the date-line (180) simultaneously,
then all who are initiated become "Golden Shellbacks". We will be doing that
once we transit into the Pacific later this year. Simply crossing the date-
line only qualifies one to become a member of the Loyal Order of Golden
Dragons. There are other ceremonies for crossing the Arctic Circle
(Bluenose), etc., but you want to know about "Crossing the Line" so I'll get
back on course.
Of course, we are a bit more civilized in this day and age, so rather than
forcing all new crew members to participate as was done in "ancient times",
the choice is up to them. Of course, if they choose not to participate, then
they also don't get initiated and they don't get a card/certificate to
document the equator crossing (we're rather particular about that part of
it). The Crossing Certificate/Card is very valuable - you've heard the
expression "Don't leave home without it!" - well in this case, if you are
already a shellback, and are going to sea, you'd better be carrying your
crossing card.
Those that do cross the line, have a lot of fun (and some misery) in store
for them. We have a talent show, usually a few nights before the crossing
ceremony, during which the pollywogs compete (showing off their best costumes
and talents, or no talent, as the case may be) to be selected as King
Neptune's Queen for the Crossing Ceremony.
The night before the ship
crosses, Davy Jones appears out of nowhere to greet all pollywogs, and to
read the "Charges" against the pollywogs and issue the punishment to each
pollywog (basically what type of costume to wear the following morning, how
to behave in front of King Neptune's Trusty Shellbacks, etc.)
The morning that the ship crosses, many of the pollywogs think that it's the
end of the world. They are awakened at the crack of dawn, required to serve
breakfast to all Shellbacks, and then the ceremony begins. Without divulging
all of our important secrets (King Neptune would have my head - or worse,
turn me back into a pollywog if I told you too much), I'll simply say that
all pollywogs are guilty, by virtue of the fact that they are, of course,
pollywogs. The rest of the ceremony is perhaps a result of that fact.
Each
pollywog is escorted through a "maze" on the ship that takes them to the
"Royal Judge" (jury and executioner), the "Royal Doctor", the "Royal Barber",
the "Royal Water Closet and Plank", the "Whale's Belly", and the "Royal
Dunking Tank", all culminated by a visit to King Neptune's Royal Court, where
the pollywog gets to kiss the "Royal Baby's Belly" (or Royal Twins' or
Triplets' Bellies as the case may be). If the pollywog survives the ordeal
(they all do), he/she is sworn in as a "Trusty Shellback", at which point,
the new shellbacks are usually already scheming about what they are going to
do to the next new batch of pollywogs.
Good thing you're not sailing with us anytime soon, huh?
We had one crossing ceremony during our cruise from Durban, South Africa to
Colombo, Sri Lanka. We will likely only have one other ceremony this year,
as most of the crew and scientists who will sail with us have already been
initiated. We do have fun during the ceremony. The talent show, Davy Jones
night, and crossing ceremony all provide much needed relief during the long
cruise legs that we have been making.
I hope that satisfied your curiosity. If not, I'll tell you more about .....
wonderful old sea-going traditions like "keel-hauling" ... NOT.
By the way, I'm only guessing, but I imagine that your students would have a
lot more fun going through one of our crossing ceremonies than most of the
adults that go through it.
Regards,
Captain Craig Nelson
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