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Hatch Cover Drill
By Jon Halgren
As part of an eight man gang we had just rigged the gear at #4 hatch.
We were getting ready to pull tarps when the Walking Boss yelled, “Take
your lunch buckets to hatch #2, and you will be there the rest of the day. You
will be doing hatch cover drill. Uncover all the way down to the lower hold.”
“Hey, Carl, what is Hatch cover drill” “You are going to find out. Keep
your mouth shut, and do what you are told.”
I looked more closely as to who was in the gang.
Two, Val and Ray started sailing in WWII. Each had over 25 years at sea.
Frank and Joe were sailors with about 18 years sea time. Al had studied
Aeronautical Engineering at the UW but enjoyed working on the waterfront.
Whitey was a part time sailor, part time bar tender and a part time
waterfront worker. Carl and I were
students at college and worked part time.
The Hatch Drill had me somewhat concerned. I had heard stories of men
falling to lower decks as they lifted the hatch boards. First we had to pull
tarps. Val reminded us that we want
to place the tarps so they would be easier to put them back on, when we finished
cargo.
That is something I did not know. We had lots of discussion, port side,
and starboard side or in the midship by the winch controls. Where to put the
tarps?
“What is wrong? Put a line around it and let’s go.”
Blackie was back and let us know work is not play.
We got the tarps stacked nicely and they would not cause injury to anyone
walking by the hatch.
Next,
the hatch boards.
I was wondering how this is done. The boards had handholds on each end.
They were about 8 feet long and 2 feet wide, and made of a very heavy hard wood.
I picked the first one, and realized it was about 3 inches thick.
It was heavy. I mean heavy.
Blackie hollered, “Work together and the weight is less.”
I could see the others were working well. Two by two and none were
strained. Carl and I, the rookies were discussing how to do it. Finally one of the former sailors’ said,
“Get with it. You cannot talk the boards off you have to lift and
walk.”
We got the hatch covers placed on the deck so we would have a walkway
when we landed the beams. We had queen beams and king beams. I did not ask any
questions, I just did what I was told. The
beams were secured so we maintained safe walkways.
Thank goodness for coffee. It was 10:00. The winch driver, Frosty, and
Paul, the hatch tender opened their lunch boxes and brought out a thermos of
coffee and sweat rolls. I rested; I knew we had two more decks to do.
After coffee, it was very noisy. I
had never seen the winch driver place the beams in the wings. What happens, is
that a beam is hooked up to a bridle with two legs and the winch driver, asks,
“Is everyone in the clear?” I
did not know that it meant. It meant everyone should be forward of aft of the
square.
“Hey, Kid, come down here.” It was Whitey. He may have saved my life,
or at least prevented serious injury. After Frosty called to make sure all were
in the clear, he showed us how he operates the winches. He had the weight of the beam on the falls. He went first to
the port side then to the starboard side swing the beam then again and this time
he let it fly into the wing. It was
like a crash, bang, and another bang. A
steel beam on a steel deck does make noise.
We were about to uncover the tween deck when Blackie the Boss, shouted
down to us, “When you get to the lower hold, paper off with waterproof paper.
We are going to fill it up with lentils, in 100 lbs bag.
It is going to take a few days because 38 railroad cars are on the other
side of the pass. This will make a good pay day.”
After lunch, all the beams were secured and the hatch boards were out of
the way. Now it was safe to work to
work below. We started to spread paper on the deck. This was to keep
condensation from spoiling the cargo. This would be a long job as no night gangs
would be working. Of course that could change if the
box cars came in
Five o’clock and it is time to go home. I was starting to count the
money I would earn. First bill to pay would be the pro rata, and then when I get
into the union, I would pay my union dues first.
That was a good job as we never had to hang hatch tents. What is a hatch
tent?
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