Real funny story that's not so funny
Camping in Leavenworth, WA. It's Sunday afternoon, we're leaving Tuesday morning, and I decide to empty the black and grey tanks. We'd been there since late Thursday and it seemed like a good idea. ...
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Same type of story but on Ship. The Black water (Sewage) was backed up for 6 decks (six stories). We traced to block to a 10 inch Check Valve at the Hull in the Engine Room. This was back in the days where you could put untreated black water over the side LEGALLY.
So, we drew straws (this included the Chief Engineer down to the lowest Member of the Engine Room Crew) and the loser had to climb up into a very tight area and open the check valve. Now, the poor guy that drew the short straw was dressed with safety in mind and was covered from head to toe plus he had a SCBA (Self-Contained Breathing Apparatus) that also covered his face and eyes.
So, I will never forget to scream that came out of this guy when he pried that check valve open and 6 decked of backed up Black Water came gushing out. We lost sight of him until the flow just about stopped! He put it back together and climbed down and said he was going to shower. We had to make him stop until we could take pictures of him before we hosed him off.
This was almost 30 years ago and whenever we get together we still talk and laugh about it! Just to be clear, out of all of the Engineers that were there any one of us would have or have done the same job at some point in their careers.
So, we drew straws (this included the Chief Engineer down to the lowest Member of the Engine Room Crew) and the loser had to climb up into a very tight area and open the check valve. Now, the poor guy that drew the short straw was dressed with safety in mind and was covered from head to toe plus he had a SCBA (Self-Contained Breathing Apparatus) that also covered his face and eyes.
So, I will never forget to scream that came out of this guy when he pried that check valve open and 6 decked of backed up Black Water came gushing out. We lost sight of him until the flow just about stopped! He put it back together and climbed down and said he was going to shower. We had to make him stop until we could take pictures of him before we hosed him off.
This was almost 30 years ago and whenever we get together we still talk and laugh about it! Just to be clear, out of all of the Engineers that were there any one of us would have or have done the same job at some point in their careers.
