First an apology, a correction, and a thank-you. For those of you who struggled with last week’s Life Aboard the NB Palmer - Measurements, I apologize for a typo that might have made your lives miserable.  The paragraph about the knot measurement should have read 47 ft. 3 in. not 47.3 inches. Thank you to Susan Starr for bringing this to my attention.

This week’s entry

Welcome to the Hotel NBP!
(You cannot check-out any time you want.)

The Nathaniel B. Palmer is not a bad home away from home. It’s deluxe if you compare it with the conditions on ships that sailed the Southern Ocean years ago.

Living Quarters: The standard cabin has bunk beds, a desk, chair, and 2 small storage closets on each side of the room. Rooms have a porthole, so you can see if there is any sun that day. These rooms have a bathroom with shower, no walking down the hall to use the facilities as on some ships. The rooms are warm, dry, and well-ventilated, unlike the “old days.” Following is a description of living space for those in the middle ranks on the ship the British Isles in 1905.These quarters were for the apprentices, who were not yet officers, yet not ordinary sailors.

   “(They)…lived in a space called the ‘half deck’ under the forward edge of the raised afterdeck on the starboard side. It was nothing but a twelve-by-twelve steel-walled room containing four bunks in two tiers and a folding table without chairs. Sea chests were used for seating. There was no natural light or ventilation, no stowage space other than the sea chests and no stove. (note: for heat, not cooking). When conditions turned severe down by the Horn, two feet of water would slosh back and forth in the half deck for weeks at a time.”

 

Galley / Mess Hall:
The galley is where all the meals are prepared for the regular 3 meals and the “mid-rats.”  Food is served cafeteria style. You also have the luxury of getting snacks any time you want.

Work-out Room:
If you have overindulged at meals, you can visit the gym to use up extra calories. Maybe you are just missing your usual morning 10k run or bike ride and need to burn off some energy. There’s plenty of equipment to help you out.

Sauna:
Too cold? Go sit in the sauna and pretend you’re in the tropics. (But don’t stay too long.)

Laundry Areas: It’s a little cold for throwing your clothes overboard in order to wash them. On the other hand, if no one did laundry for six weeks, we’d all be abandoning ship. Laundry areas for personal use are located on two decks. It’s a busy place and if you don’t keep your clothes moving in and out of washers and dryers, you’ll likely end up with a heap of wet clothes.  You may also end up with someone else’s runaway sock.

What is this laundry product?

Hospital: The NBP has two EMTs on board and a hospital room that is well equipped to handle emergencies. There are 4 beds in the hospital, a variety of medicines, bandages, etc., everything to make your misery less miserable.

So far this cruise, we have had no emergencies. If we did, surely treatment on board would be much better than that back on the ship the British Isles. Here’s what happened to Jerry the Greek.

Hmmm...cadaver bags?	Mouths, ears, noses, but no legs.

   “These ships were rigged with heavy steel doors in the bulwarks (the sides above the deck) to let the water run off the deck…The door, banging open and closed had smashed Jerry’s leg …to a horrible gory mash.” (Jerry ended up getting gangrene, so the leg had to be cut off.) “Jones was on the deck during the operation, but he knew that it was over when he saw Cronberg come topside carrying the leg, run to the rail, and throw it overboard. Without benefit of anesthesia or medicines of any kind, Barker had amputated the Greek’s leg using the cook’s meat saw, a butcher knife, and a hot poker to cauterize the stump, while ankle-deep water sloshed around the stinking fo’scle. The patient actually survived to return home by steamer. Thomas Shute, owner of the British Isles, put Jerry the Greek on a pension for the rest of his life.”

Be suspicious if ever anyone approaches you with a meat saw, a butcher knife and a hot poker.

Lounge:
Here’s the place to hang out and watch movies, whether on VCR or DVD. One caveat though, if the seas are rough, your movie may stop or suffer from other technical difficulties. You might have to wait for calmer seas. (For the few who might be wondering, there is no television).

Conference Room: The conference room is, of course, the site of many meetings. You can also find lots of paperbacks to read here. If you finish the books you brought, you can donate them to the collection so you can lighten your luggage. There is also a collection of science books in the shelves that might help you understand some of the research taking place.

Work Space:
There are 5 lab spaces for the scientists on board to work in. On this cruise, every lab is the site for one of the research projects. There is also a computer room where people can check their e-mail. The ship has e-mail transmitted by satellite. It does not have internet service.

These are the places and spaces where we spend most of our time (except for the hospital—no leg amputations yet.) Of course there are numerous other areas with limited access; those that house the instruments and machines that keep the ship running. However, if you need to be in the Southern Ocean for approximately 40 days and 40 nights, the NBP is not a bad place to be.