"Oh yeah, he's been using a torch down there, you should really have put someone on fire watch." As I already had the radio, the others left me to it, and I climbed down the hatch to make myself acquainted with the yard worker.
Shipyard is a busy and chaotic time. It's exciting because we get to knock out all the jobs we can't do at sea, but it is hectic and can be a bit scary as the ship gets pulled apart.
Anyways, I got into the hazy engine room and there was the guy torching one of the drive shafts. I regret to say I still don't know the man's name, but we've referred to him before as "the guy with the cigarette" because he always has a smoke hanging out of one side of his mouth, sometimes lit and sometimes not. He noticed me and cut the torch with a bang as I removed the smoke detector on the ceiling.
"Ah yes, annoying things, those. Always going off down here while you're trying to get something done." He shifted the coupling on the end of the prop shaft, "just the other one left to do." With that he turned to the starboard engine, drew a lighter,and lit first his cigarette and then the torch. As he heated the starboard side, he told me a bit about what he was doing, and then a story.
"I once sailed out of Newport Beach in California, they build a lot of boats out there. Yes, plastic fantastic! That's just what this thing was, fantastic and thinner than paper, just ready to break apart. And brand new, fancy. We sailed it all the way to Amsterdam via the Panama Canal. Great trip. It was owned by a rich guy though, and that whole thing gets old after awhile, all the cleaning and keeping the boat pretty. Made great money, better than I do here, but we got to Amsterdam and I said see you later. I'm happy with this job. See, what I have to do next while this is cooling, is assemble those pumps again." He pointed under both the generators.
"Tight spot to work!" I remarked
"Yeah, it really is a pain down here, impossible to get to anything. But I like engines, and ships like this, so I don't mind."
