Pierre Vallee - Trois Rivieres, Quebec, Canada - French (Global Lives Project, 2013) -21:30:00 - 21:59:59
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basic equipments.
-- versus cars --
Cars as well, but
ships that are very well developed in terms of technology,
I am talking about new ships carrying passengers,
with a type of propulsion that has changed...
Navigation equipments are all pretty much the same.
If we were talking about a passenger carrier...
We get a lot of them in Fall, and a little bit in Spring. We've started getting
some last week.
It is more glamourous on the gangway.
There is more wood. The final touches are
finer. However, all navigation equipments
are pretty much the same. Radars,
electronic maps,
A.I.S.
Navigation equipements are pretty much
the same. Like I said,
the finish is a bit finer. But,
for...
...routes or...
cargo, such as
what the Federal Kumano is carrying today,
this boat responds perfectly
to cargo
norms
for this kind of ship. --Quebec. Valencia Express.--
--Valencia Express. This is Trafic Quebec. Over. --
Yes Sir???
I copy that. There is a ship coming down from the Battery. The dredger
is in operation at the height of Charlie 33 near the wind passage (?).
Thank you.
If you look over there, there are two small green lights,
they are the alignment lights I was talking about earlier on.
So, the higher light is to the left
of the lower light. This means that we are
on that side of the channel. And,
this is confirmed by the position indicated on the electronic map.
We are slightly to the South of the center.
-- That's a real concentration job! -- That, for example,
is very true! It is a job...
You need to pay attention to what is happening
at all times. And,
today we are quite lucky. This ship runs great.
Last week, I embarked on a ship
at 11.... 11.15pm.
And, from Quebec towards Trois-Rivières.
And at 2.45am,
we lost the power.
So then, we had no more steering, and no more propulsion.
It took a good while before it came back. The ship yawed
greatly. And
of course, it's like.... it is almost like a car accident.
No one sends you a text message 15 minutes beforehand to warn you
that there is going to be a problem with the generator in 15 minutes. Get ready!
It just happens. And you need to react
instantly. That was a ship carrying passengers
on board. So,
the reaction time was very minimal.
Obviously, I enjoy saying that
in these situations,
it really is only 10 per cent of the time that I need
all my pilot's knowledge
and skills. However,
when these situations take place,
if you are not ready, you don't have time
to check your notes
or ask someone's advice, or call
for a reference. So, pilots...
I use the first person singular,
because in this case, it is me. But, the pilots on the Saint-Lawrence River...
for all three sectors,
have a great level
of education, which
guarantees
the public's safety. Because...
the main goal of piloting
on the Saint-Lawrence and in Canada, is
to guarantee the safety of the public
and of the environment.
-- So what do you do in such situations?
--Zero, Four, Three, Sir. -- Can you describe? -- Ok, thank you!
In this specific situation,
first, we couldn't steer anymore.
Once we got the steering back, I
had to alternate movements from left to right with the helm,
in order to reduce the speed, and then be able to anchor.
Because to anchor a ship... In this case, our speed
was about 12 knots, which is too fast
to be able to anchor and bring the ship
to a halt. Zero, Four, Three.
--Zero, Four, Three, Sir.--
So, by doing... Once we managed to steer again,
I started doing some back and forth movements with the helm
in order to reduce the ship's speed.
Once the ship reached a speed of about 6 knots,
I knew we would be able to anchor.
However, at the same moment, I got a call from
the engine room. A fire had just broken out
in the engine room. But,
they got it under control and we were
able to get the propulsion back. And,
we got a better control over
the ship. What you need to understand is that
a ship doesn't have... Once the ship has come to a halt
in the water, we can keep turning the helm from left to right,
but the boat won't turn. A ship will only turn
if water pressure is applied to the helm;
and then, by turning the helm, overpressure
is going to be created on one side and a depression will be created on the other side.
And then, the ship will turn. If there is no propulsion,
there is no or very little steering.
If there is no speed, there is no or almost
no steering. So,
in those cases, once we managed to get the propulsion back,
--Zero, Four, Three, Sir. -- OK, thank you! we were...
The engineers were able to analyze the situation
and know what was working and what wasn't working.
It lasted about five-six minutes et then, the power
went out again. And,
at that moment, the visibility...
It was on a very humid day
last week. We got 2 or 3 days that were very humid,
so that means that when
there are a lot of water droplets
in the air, in the morning, the surface
of the water is cold and the droplets
tend to create condensation and then fog.
We know that this fog is going to
dissipate once the sun rises. Once it gets
a bit warmer, the droplets are going to disperse
-- (?) This is Trafic Quebec. -- in the air.
--(?)22.20 for Nicolas. --
-- Understood. There is no traffic to be reported, Sir...--
-- I copy that. Thanks. -- So I took
the decision to proceed¸
and anchor as close as possible, and
wait until the next morning,
which ended up being an excellent decision.
The ship's captain
obviously agreed with
my decision. Once we anchored,
the visibility was close to zero. We could barely
see 25 meters ahead of us.
Not in front of the boat but just behind de window.
So we had to wait
until the sun warmed up
the atmosphere. Then around 9am, we
weighed anchor and proceeded upstream.
The visibility was excellent and we didn't
have any other mechanical issues. So...
you need to be ready. You always need to be ready for the worst
even if the worst rarely happens.
--Always navigating without instruments,
using your eyes? -- At the moment,
here, we have great visual landmarks.
Look over there, there is a small green light in the branches.
It is going to come out, there. You can see it to the left.
It is coming out now.
When this little green light is
12.5 degrees in front of the side of the ship,
we turn and then,
this is one of the marks to turn
55. So now, it is coming. Zero - Five-Five.
--Zero-Five-Five, Sir.-- I give the order a bit
earlier because the helmsman
is a little slow at answering. So,
to make up for his slowness, I give him
the orders a bit earlier.
A night like today is very clear.
The visual help is great, and
we can see the landmarks.
When training as a pilot,
all the knowledge gets passed on
from one pilot to another one. Training, in our case,
takes two years. But,
all those marks were developed by
former pilots who then shared
them with us. So, we use them and,
they are still very much
appreciated and performant.
Zero-Six-Five. --Zero, Six, Five, Sir --
You need to keep it to the minium because it is
--OK.-- very annoying.
--Trafic Quebec. Océan Charlie.
--Océan Charlie. This is Trafic Quebec.
-- Yes, good evening. We are about to leave
sector 15 for ..(?) --Zero, Six, Five, Sir.--
OK.-- Yes, I copy that. There is no other traffic.
The target went past the catalan bridge.
--Copy that. Thanks.--
Zero-Seven-Five. -- Zero, Seven, Five, Sir.--
--Quebec. Fédéral Nakagawa.--
--Fédéral Nakagawa. This is Trafic Quebec.--
We are at sea. 22:45, if there is anything.
Two, Two, Four, Five. I copy that. Thanks. There is a ship going upstream
towards... the Arctic(?). Back light. Doesn't even manage
to want…(?). Was reported on emergency light.--
Copy that. Thanks.--
-- I think Zero, Seven, Five, Sir -- We are good!
Zero-Eight-Four. --Zero, Eight, Four, Sir.--
--Zero, Eight, Four, Sir.-- Okay, thank you!
Zero-Eight-Three.-- Zero, Eight, Three, Sir.--
--Trafic Québec. Triton Seagull.--
-- Triton Seagull. This is Trafic Québec.-- Zero, Eight, Three, Sir.--
Good. --
-- Copy that. There is no traffic to be reported at this time,
Charlie. Everything is good.--
--Copy that. Thank you.--
There is a container ship on the way.
It just took the turn
around a place called Pointe Citrouille.
When we had the interview together, we met
at my summer home. And
it was right there, at Pointe Citrouille.
It was called like that because
if you look at it from the sky, the headland
looks like a kind of whole made in a pumpkin
for Halloween, in the shape of a tip.
So that's how it was called Pointe Citrouille. Zero, Eight, Four.
--Zero, Eight, Four, Sir.--
The container ship
just turned around the headland. We are going to meet him here
in 3-4 minutes.
I slightly change the direction, like this. Only by one degree.
This may look wrong
but the helmsman
is having trouble to maintain the direction. When I ask him 84,
sometimes, he aims for 86. He goes south too much.
When I ask for 83, he goes to 81. -- Zero, Eight, Four, Sir.--
So, I end up correcting the direction like this to...Thank you!
It is easier for the pilot to adapt to the helmsman than
to ask the helmsman to change, turn faster
or be better.
Helmsmen become good at their job
with experience and
this helmsman's age
makes it easy to understand
why he is unable to maintain
the direction I am asking him.
-- Big winds probably don't help?-- Sorry?
--Big winds probably don't help?--
No, they don't help. However, some ships
are most sensitive to the wind.
A ship like this one isn't exposed very much.
The ship's freeboard, in other words
the part that is not under the water,
and the accommodation section
that are exposed to the wind. On the other hand, the ship we are about to meet,
that's a ship that is much more
sensitive to the wind because he carries
containers on the deck.
It works as a huge sail
and , the wind force
on ships depend directly
on the surface exposed to the wind.
Ships carrying passengers are not deep ships.
Most passenger ships will have
between, let's say, an 8.5 meters to 10.5 meters
draft. Therefore, they are not very deep. On the other hand,.
their surface can reach up to 45,
46 meters high by
300 to 320 meters long. So,
the exposed surface compared to
to the submerged surface is very important,
therefore more sensible to the wind.
As you can see, the surface outside the water
exposed to the wind is very big on a ship like this one
compared to our ship.
--What happens in case of big storm?--
In case of big storm, they
are prevented from going upstream on the Saint-Lawrence
from Quebec. Or they are prevented from leaving
Montreal's harbour.
Once a ship is alongside the quay, a ship with no container remains in dock,
because when there are strong winds, it is better off alongside the quay.
It is the same thing to go beyond Quebec.
If it is too windy, they are requested to anchor
at the bottom of Quebec.
Zero-Six-Five. --Zero, Six, Five, Sir.--
Zero-Four-Five. -- Zero, Four, Five, Sir.--
Hey! Zero-Four-Five. Port.
--I think Zero, Four, Five, Sir.-- Okay, thank you!