Playing Fair and Being Kind

THE LAW OF THE CLUB AND FANG

I was gazing at a photo I took in Rockland a few years back. In the harbor at one of the ship yards there are three vessels tied up to the dock. The afternoon sun pours bright light across the colorful sides of all three. No work appears to be happening; no one is visible in the picture. All the vessels rest quietly against the dock and the sea is calm. The scene is peaceful, comfortable, comforting in its presence. I know better. There is an atmosphere in the ships that cannot be seen or experienced in the setting described thus far. The crew and captain need to be seen to get a true sense of the nature of these vessels.

Never mind the latent turmoil stored in the molecules of sea water gently pushing against the weight of the ships from the depths. Never mind the stillness of air surrounding everything in the scene. Those energies need no explanation when they are active and destructive out on the open sea. I’m speaking of the tension at rest and the rage ready to spill out between the captain of a vessel and the crew when all are aboard. Then one gets the full effect of the absolute power and command of the captain on a vessel. To be sure, the captain has absolute power for good reason. The captain of a vessel has full responsibility for the safety and well being of all persons aboard at all times. The captain of a vessel is ultimately responsible for all that happens and all that is needed for the vessel and crew to operate safely and efficiently. That is a tall order. Let this job description sink in for a few minutes and then picture that ship at sea with all the attendant risks and dangers. When the rubber hits the road is when the captain needs to be prepared at all times to answer to a higher authority in a court of law. When the captain is standing in front of the judge the governing authority wants to hear only what happened in regard to the incident at hand. The authority doesn’t want to be told about anything not relate-able to the case.

When I view these three ships lying up against the sunlit dock in the warmth of Rockland Harbor during the summer season I need to remind myself of Captain Sid and his response to the ship’s cook replacing the garbage can in the galley without first getting permission. This trivial episode is a grand example of the power and the culture of command at sea. It illustrates the readiness of the ship’s captain to apply the authority he or she has in all decisions and manner of attention to detail in the operation of the vessel. Here is how it happened.

The vessel, “Maxine D.”, was being leased by the U. S. Navy for deep sea work with DSV-4 Sea Cliff. Maxine D. and her crew were hired for operations involving launch and recovery of the submersible. We were in port in Nawiliwili Harbor on the island of Kauai. The crew of the Maxine D. consisted of six men; the captain, the leading seaman and one other seaman, a crane operator, an engineer, and a cook. The crane operator acts as a general mechanic to help the engineer or the seamen. The cook handles lines when leaving and entering port. The vessel itself is a hundred feet long with a flat bottom. The beam is about thirty feet. All of the superstructure is forward leaving a large open deck space aft for carrying large equipment or large quantities of supplies for the Gulf oil rigs. In our case that is where the submersible was carried and where it was launched and recovered while at sea.

I got a chance to see Captain Sid in action several times. He was competent at sea while all things were going good. By that I mean if the weather was tolerable and our diving op’s were fairly smooth, Sid was the same way; tolerable and fairly smooth. During more stressful situations Sid became a raging bear. He was unapproachable and nasty. I have never ever been in the company of a captain at sea who displayed such uncontrollable temperament as did Sid. He was displaying this behavior during a stormy situation when the Maxine D. had to be taken into the closest harbor which happened to be Hanapepe Bay on the south side of Kauai. We entered the harbor and tied up starboard side-to the one pier. There were no other large vessels. Sid ordered lines over and made taut. That was a major mistake. The sea was heaving greatly and the Maxine D. was being held close to the pier with no slack. The vertical movement of the vessel was too much of a strain on the nylon inch and half lines that were holding her. We snapped several lines and replaced each one a couple of times before Sid was convinced to let the ship lay off the pier with longer lines. He was totally beside himself during the operation. We Navy guys were bearing a hand to assist his small crew and we pretty much knew what the problem was but Sid would not let anyone tell him how to change our predicament.

In the case of the cook and the garbage can it was similar but Sid displayed his most cruelty for this. He came into the galley to get a cup of coffee and stopped to chat with Cook. Sid’s eyes were roaming around checking things out because Cook was new and Sid was not yet used to him. Sid’s eyes came to rest on the puka where the garbage can was stowed and that’s when things shifted. Sid pulled the garbage can out of the puka and asked Cook where it came from. Apparently the can was different and Sid was not familiar with it.

Cook proudly informed Sid that he’d obtained it because it was square shaped and fit the puka perfectly where as the old one was round and caused problems with trash ending up outside and around the can. Cook was please with himself and eager to see what Sid thought of Cook’s innovation. Sid turned into the Hulk in less than the time it takes to tell this. Who the fuck told you to change the shit can?, he roared. Cook was taken aback. His mouth dropped open and his hands hung by his sides palms slightly upturned. I just thought it was a better situation, Skipper, said Cook. Sid grabbed the garbage can and jerked it out of the puka all the while growling and glaring at Cook. Poor Cook. He was trying to disappear in plain sight.

Sid continued to yell nonsensically and he carried the garbage can out of the galley and up the companionway ladder. When he got topside he heaved the square garbage can overboard and called Cook to come on deck. Poor Cook. He scrambled after Sid and stumbled up the companionway ladder into the blast furnace of Sid. Sid fairly screamed at him to, Find the old shit can and put it in the fucking puka, you cocksucker! Sid didn’t hold back at all.

Well Cook had to go find the old garbage can and clean it up and straighten out a few dents and put the thing back in the puka where it was previously. He was on Sid’s shit list for the next few days until someone else performed badly and replaced him.

That was Sid though. He took the position of captain to the limits and made many of those around him very uncomfortable including us Navy guys. We didn’t have to take any guff from him but the shared responsibility of the operations made us encumbered to get along with him. We learned tact and anger management by the boat load with Sid.

So the photo of the ships in Rockland got me to thinking about those days way back when. That is the story of the law of the club and fang. Many of you will recognize Jack London’s line from the novel he wrote, The Call of the Wild. The dog, Buck, gets a lesson in obedience from a man who uses a club.

G. M. Goodwin

19 April 2017