Maritime Matters

Now that assignments are completed going online to syudy is starting to get easier.
No more ships for present as edublogs will not let me upload.

The Spanish on line continues.
I find it hard to start, I am looking for excuses to do some thing else.
On a positive note the amount of courses available on line that can be undertaken from the comfort of your own home, is staggering.
As this is my last blog until February of next year I will leave you with a little poetry to wet your nautical appetite.
“Sea-Fever”
I must down to the seas again, to the lonely sea and the sky,
And all I ask is a tall ship and a star to steer her by,
And the wheel’s kick and the wind’s song and the white sail’s shaking,
And a grey mist on the sea’s face, and a grey dawn breaking.
I must down to the seas again, for the call of the running tide,
Is a wild call and a clear call that may not be denied;
And all I ask is a windy day with the white clouds flying,
And the flung spray and the blown spume, and the sea-gulls crying.
I must down to the seas again, to the vagrant gypsy life,
To the gull’s way and the whale’s way where the wind’s like a whetted knife;
And all I ask is a merry yarn from a laughing fellow-rover
And quiet sleep and a sweet dream when the long trick’s over.
By John Masefield (1878-1967).
(English Poet Laureate, 1930-1967.)
Don’t let life pass you bye, do some thing nautical.

I am sticking to my regime. I think I would like a bit more grammar explanation and make up. having completed the Vark survey my learning style is very high on read/write. This has been reflected in my weblog, however I like to include a picture to help readers see what I am rattling on about.

Palloff and Pratt: The article makes some assumptions about online learners namely: not every one is comfortable in the online learning environment. Learners attracted to this style of learning are motivated and possess good self discipline characteristics.

Watkins: In Watkin’s article a very pertinent point is raised in as much as just because the learner is good at playing computer games does not guarantee they will be able to master the technology that has to be applied when accessing on line learning. This is because their mastery is at the lower tech end of the computer spectrum.

A little word about tugs. Used by big ships to manoeuvre onto and off the wharfs. The picture above shows two Z pellor tugs of some 60 ton bollard pull. These are very powerful pieces of operational equipment.

Of interest aprt from the picture of the Victory 1805, a bit before my time and the worlds biggest bulk carrier, I have sailed on all the rest including the tug boats.

Now that’s serious nautical………

Time to get serious with Spanish had arrived. To combat the motivation issue I have set out a time table of exactly when I have to sit down and complete an exercise on line. Now that I have a schedule and I am starting to make some progress. Vamos!

Just a little photo of cargo on dck while working at the rig. The special sized containers are landed on deck, quickly un hooked by the crew and moved to the side of the vessel using tugger wires. Note the timber flooring to stop the cargos sliding around the deck as we work.

Lets drill while we remain nautical.

The Spanish on line continues to frustrate me and I am having trouble keeping up the effort. I think it is the realisation that I have to do some work, write things down practice reinforcement. I was hoping for a magical solution where it would enter my head on it’s own, but that does not seem likely. I don’t really expect any support from the providers namely BBC online as they keep requesting my phone number. I will not provide it as I am suspicious as to what exactly they will do with it.

In the mean time the picture displayed is of an offshore supply boat. It’s job is to haul out all the drill equipment and supplies to the rigs when drilling and take back all the drill equipment when the well drilling is complete. When working with an established production platform they haul out supplies spare parts personnel etc. During a busy season one day you are running supplies the next on survey work and the next running drill equipment etc.. One of the features of these types of boats is that they are driven stern first during all maneuvers. That’s what I said for example moving in close to the rig you approach stern first at an angle of about 30 degrees to work cargo. Work is halted only if the speeds get over 40 knots(force per hour. the same goes for tying up in port. Move in stern first to get the job done.

Rigs like ships matter.

The spanish course continues to frustrate me. I am referring to my ability to be able to navigate my way around. I am getting better. I like that it keeps my attention as I have to follow the prompts and this stops my mind wandering.

One small problem I am having trouble remembering the new words. As a solution I will slow down my allocated time frames.

The picture above is of a rig off shore. There are two types of rigs basically a drilling rig and a production rig, better known as a production platform. Rigs tend to deal in oil or gas or both at same time. The one in the picture is a gas production platform. There is a crane to work cargo. There is a riser, sticking up left hand side,  to vent off gas under to much pressure, should things go wrong. There is a helicopter deck for crew transfer. We can also change crew by the offshore supply boat where the exchange crew are lifted up and down in ‘the basket’ by the rigs crane.

Next info will be on the vessels that work the rigs.

Stay nautical deep sea or offshore. New terminology rig work is called offshore.

cargo-hit-the-deck-and-hit-the-hatch.doc

I have just finished my first on line learning session. It took 45 minutes. Prior to starting I read all instructions as to how to navigate the course. As I started the video clips would not work. I had to double click to get anything to happen. There are no instructions as to what to do exactly eg do I click on one of links to do additional sub sections. Re started three times. It looked simpled at the start, but for some reason things are not progressing in an easy manner yet. I wil persevere.

 Access the link above for a wealth of informative pictures displaying variour hatch covers, down below in hatches some with tween decks and some bulk carrier style. Photos of cranes some swing ing derricks. Yes they weld cargo especially steel cargo to the deck to stop it moving.

A change in style, I am moving from talking about elearning to a review of an online learning course. I have picked Spanish, from BBC online, as the subject matter. I will review the fist 4 hours of the learning as I progress my way through the material. The object of the exercise is to see if the online learning course makes learnig a foreign language easier than the more traditional methods of learning a foreign language. I will also review the site and comment if I find it user friendly to navigate and use.

While I prepare to make a start let us not forget about ships. Travel broadens the mind and it also takes you to some very interesting places. Whereas, there is some beautiful sceanery located around this planet, I would place Monument Valley, Utah/Arizona, near the top of the my list.

Hard to get to, snows in over winter but well woth the effort.

Howdy nautical.

Elearning

The concept of “Any time and anywhere” delivery will continue to overshadow all debate on this subject matter. Millions of dollars have been spent to date and millions more dollars will be spent in the very near future. I believe a lot of this money is getting wasted and more time needs to be spent on getting the implementation plan and method of introduction correct. When considering the current state of play my concern is two fold; every one, to a certain degree, is doing their own thing and the ‘boots and all approach’ appears to be the order of the day. As elearning has some very distinct advantages, it might be prudent to slow implementation down to allow for formative assesment and reflection of progress made as the model is developed. Educators should also consider blended learning as part of the elearning route. The reason I suggest this concept is the educators masters may be ready, however I suggest the students are not yet ready to embrace elearning as the only mode of delivery.

Cargo Ship Types

General Cargo Ships usually have derricks or cranes and carry general cargo on pallets or in containers. 

Bulk Carriers are distinct by their long flat length and carry bulk cargo such as grain or iron ore. In other words one cargo in bulk. Up to about 30,000 deadweight they usually have cranes on deck, over that length they rely on shore equipment.

Tankers carry oil cargoes. They can be mistaken for bulk carriers by the novice as they look the same in the distance. They pump their cargo ashore, up to 3000 tone per hour. When loading the shore side operation will pump the cargo on board at the same rate.

Container ships easily recognised by all the containers on deck. These days ships are being built with 7 high on deck. They can have cranes on deck if trading to ports lacking in port infrastructure, however it is more normal for them to be gearless. The shore cranes that work these vessels can work an average of 30 conatines per hour so things are happening fast. These ships tend to be very fast vessels and they are gradually replacing the general cargo ships on more and more routes.

Passanger Ships. Easily recognised with all the passanger accomodation on deck. These days the majority of thes ships are cruise ships. You join and go on a cruise of so many days duration. Originally passanger ships crossed the oceans prior to the plane era and were called ocean liners. The ‘Queens’ still do a number of ocean crossings every year.

LPG Ships carry liquid gas. They can be recognised by their dome shapes along the fore deck.

If you have not undertaken a cruise on a passanger ship or on a cargo ship (yes you can travel of cargo ships), you are missing out on one of life’s great experiences.

Get Nautical,

L

This week nautical component will be more on ships cranes.

But first let me say something about my recent wiki experience. Having just completed a Wiki entry with fellow students (teachers) I can see some advantages of using this technology in the educational context. Definitely, for group class work, there are distinct advantages. As teacher, I can post the task on the wiki. The students can enter the same wiki to write their response. Their reply can be either a collaborative or singular response. More importantly as the students carry out further research they can ammend any part of their response. So they can correct each others work and hopefully, the overall standard of the response should improve. Has the time arrived where the expression ‘it will be a living document’ finally arrived.  Got to be good.

Ships Cranes

Now ship cranes have a additional advantages over using derricks. As you can see in the photo attached each two cranes are mounted on one pedistal. Each crane individually can lift 30 tons safe working load. Now here is where twin crane mountings have a distinct advantage. One driver can control both cranes where they both move around to face in the same direction and can work in tandem. Therefore, one crane driver is controlling 2 cranes and can now lift 60 tons instead of 30 tons. Wait for it, we can also use four cranes, two at each end in tandem and we can now lift 120 tons. No changing gear, maximum versatitily.

Nautical, way to go.

L