Wondering where Patrick, Peach's brother and a fixture at the Sandbar, has been lately?
He's on a boat.
He recently took a new job, so he's off on a boat in the ocean most of the time. Here's the first update we got from him about his new nautical lifestyle.
There is a rumor we will be docking in Port Everglades at Ft.
Lauderdale this evening and staying maybe for a while. We have been
taking sand out of the channel and filling the south side beaches here.
There is so much pleasure boat, shipping and cruise ship traffic in the
channel we are constantly moving out of the channel and out to sea to
give everyone room. I don’t think Ft. Lauderdale wants the cruise ship
vacationers to see The Terrapin Island. I don’t know why, because when
people do see our ship they take a million pictures. The ship is a
really cool thing to see.
When we first started, the beach on the southern side of Ft.
Lauderdale was almost non-existent due to Hurricane Sandy. Now it’s
looking really nice. We may hear from the Army Corp of Engineers today
and they might ask us to keep going a little longer.
I understand that this job was originally to be dredging the channel
and not replenishing the beach. That would have taken a very short time
to complete. Generally, I’m told, we dredge and then dump what we put in
the hopper out in the ocean. In Ft. Lauderdale, I’m told, there is a law
that says any sand removed from the area has to be put back on the
beach. After we collected the sand and removed the water, we take the
ship down a channel, added water back to the sand, and pumped the sand
and water across an island area to the beach. There are bulldozers and
other heavy equipment that spread the new sand along the beach. This
work was going on mostly 24 hours a day.
I have been on the ship about 2 weeks now. I have spent this time
mostly on my own reading work logs, identifying electrical circuits, and
getting generally acquainted with the ships layout and systems.. The
ship is huge and has a million circuits. I am getting pretty familiar
with the operation of the ship but have done very little repairs.
I am having a great time and love this work. I love being on the
ocean, smelling the fresh sea air and learning nautical terms and life
style. I spend most of my free time on deck or on the bridge watching
the beaches, the ocean, other ships and pleasure crafts. I eat well, go
to bed early, wake up at 5 a.m. and sleep better than I ever have. This is
very healthy for me.
–Patrick “a pirate says RRRRRRRRRRâ€Â