It was the unofficial “Take Your Spouse to Work Day” -- or that is what we declared it as I went along with Vince for his eve shift. His work shifts are (1) day, 8:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m., or (2) eve, which is 4:00 p.m. to 11:00 p.m., or (3) mid, which is 11:00 p.m. to 8:00 a.m. He is still working basically a six day week, with two days, two eves and two mids, and it changes every week!
Vince alternates between working “flight dispatch” which is located in a separate building, or in the “tower.” Flight dispatch can be fairly busy during daytime hours and consists of filing flight plans, assisting flight crew, search/rescue coordination in any overdue flights, creating flight schedules for the next day, etc.
It was his night to work in the tower, however, and the first 30 minutes or so was spent in numerous equipment checks to be sure that all communication links between the tower and port control, flight dispatch, aircraft refueling service, fire station, ramp crews, and airport maintenance crews were working correctly.
If you look at this photo of the tower, you will see a catwalk which surrounds the upper third of the building. This is accessed from the door on the right side -- I am not crazy about heights, but I did go out very gingerly on the catwalk and take some photos.
In this photo of Vince working his checklist, you can see to his right a sign that says “fouled deck” -- can anyone guess what that means?
Here is a shot of the ocean (through the hazy tower windows) of what Vince sees most of time from the tower.
We were privy to a beautiful sunset. (thanks to V. for taking the sunset photos -- he went out farther on the catwalk than I would go!)
After all of the scheduled inbound and outbound flights were handled, it was time just to be ready in the event Vince needed to talk to any airplanes. When his relief co-worker (who happened to be our friend, Boomer) arrived, they did their standard exchange of the watch, and then we drove to the ferry. We had a lovely ferry ride over a very calm bay with a nearly full moon shining brightly on the water.
6 comments:
What beautiful photos! The sky is magnificent! I'm not sure what a fouled deck is. My guess is that it means to be careful walking?
Fouled Deck? Something to do with bird poop?
Those pictures are lovely, looks like Cuba can compete with our Nebraska skies.
Hmmm....fouled deck. There are no bathrooms in the tower?? Gorgeous sunset pics -- nice one of Vince, too. By the way, Happy Birthday, Cathy, and Happy Anniversary to you both.
Fouled deck is the Navy way to remind us not to clear an aircraft for takeoff or to land when a vehicle is on the runway (deck). We put the sign over the wind indicator as a memory aid. Everything is treated like a ship here. The reception area at the hospital is the "quarterdeck", the ladies room is the "women"s head"...ad nauseum. I feel odd when visiting someones home asking "may I use your head"?
Vince, it's a VERY good thing that I AM NOT a air-traffice-controller (and other stuff!)
I think that fouled deck is a secret basketball game going on in the tower. That would be scarey with all the controllers trying to make a basket!
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