The first leg on my SAS voyage were some of the longest, stressful days I’ve ever experienced. Unfortunately I have to say the same goes for my first leg on this TSS voyage – but for completely different reasons. Have no fear – no dramatic, perilous bouts of weather to report. This time around the stress and long days can be attributed to sheer frustration and lack of resources.
When I realized that I would be going on the INAUGURAL voyage of this program I did have some reservations but in the end the timing of this opportunity won out over any hesitations. Now that I am in the thick of it I’m realizing that being one of the pioneers of this huge endeavor is far less exciting and daring but definitely more trying, stressful and frustrating.
If I had hours I would try and share some of these frustrations but I think it’s much too much to get into here. Plus, I’d really like to block out the nightmare and not think about it anymore. Yes, it has been that bad.
There is some hope though – the Port Programs team that meets us in each port is trying to tackle and address some of the big issues and challenges our team had this first time out. Also, some of the challenges simply related to a total time crunch - not enough time to create systems and procedures AND communicate them AND make them all happen in an effective manner. This next leg to Panama is longer and we have already done a lot of the scrambling to create things so hopefully it won’t be paralyzingly crazy.
I’m trying to stay optimistic that things will get better and maybe be a bit easier (15+ hour days for 2 and half weeks straight are killing me). Our leg across the Atlantic will still be hectic and crazy but hopefully some things will be sorted out and things will start to gel.
Enough about my stress and drama. Let me tell you about some of the good things. The Port Programs team that I work with on the ship are fabulous. All three of us are driven, we are totally on the same page about things and our skills, talents and skills compliment each other amazingly well – better than any other team I’ve worked with before. If it wasn’t for Kim and Arthur I probably would have wanted to grab my passport and come running home as soon as we arrived in Portugal.
The students are also great – they have been more understanding and flexible than any group should ever be asked to be. Having so much diversity on the ship has been fun as well. One of the only bright spots all week was when one of the students from the UK taught salsa lessons the night before we arrived in Portugal. It was great fun to watch over 50 students and staff trying to learn to salsa. Unfortunately I was too exhausted and beat down to participate.
For those of you who are looking for some good drama – we did have a little excitement during our jaunt across the Mediterranean. On our 3rd day out we had a student with internal bleeding who’s condition worsened enough that we diverted to Sardinia for a medical evacuation. The ambulance boat came out to pick him up and then we continued on. THEN about 2 or 3 days later during the middle of the day we seemed to quickly change course, speed up and head straight through some pretty choppy waters (boy did that bring back bad memories). It was weird because as we continued it felt like the ship was leaning heavily towards one side.
Turns out we had a student with appendicitis and we were diverting to southern Spain for another medical evacuation. Apparently in old ships like ours they use water in the ballists to keep us stable and balanced. They had to make the course change so quickly that they didn’t have time to shift the water in the ballists ahead of time so we were slightly tilted until we reached the coast of Spain and the ambulance boat came out for the student. Then we were able to restabilize the ship. Both students are fine and one is even back on the ship with us already. Hopefully we’ve had our share of medical emergencies and our trip across the Atlantic will be uneventful.
Ok, well this entry feels dreadfully long so I will sign off for now. Thanks for listening! I'll have my Portugal post up in a couple of days.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
1 comment:
Wow, what are the chances of one person being on a ship that had to change course/speed due to an on-board medical emergency, particularly appendicitis, TWICE?? SAS and TSS have some freakish coincidences between them! I'm glad both of those students are ok. I'll be praying for no more medical emergencies on your next big crossing!
Hang in there with the psychotic craziness, Christy. I know you well enough to know that once you push through this initial period, you're going to come up with the best program TSS will ever see, and that every year from now on, your predecessors will have it easy because of how organized and successful you were!
Post a Comment