Monday, April 3, 2017

'Red Hot or Blue Cold'



Long ago I worked on the ship and had the last watch of the duty section. We were at sea in the Persian Gulf!

The evening before, the Watch Officer ensured that I knew my main job on that watch was to keep the big coffee pot full of fresh hot coffee at all times! He gave me specific instructions on how to make the coffee and how not to wash out the pot as it was well seasoned!! He showed me where the deep sink was down the passageway so I would know where to get the water!!!

At nearly 0520 Hours, I realized that I hadn't started the coffee! I rushed down the passage way with the pot to get the water!! Inside the deep sink area we had blue and red spigots!! I was late so I decided to get hot water for the coffee so as to make it perk quicker!! I got the pot back into the office and plugged it in, just a few minutes later the aroma of fresh coffee permeated the office and all seemed good!!!

That was until exactly 0600 Hours when the red light lit on the pot! At that moment the Watch Officer showed up for his coffee!! He seemed pleased that I had gotten the coffee done on time as he pulled out his cup, filled it, took a sip and spit it on the deck!!!

“SON… Where did you get this water?”

“The deep sink where you showed me, why Sir?”

“What spigot did you use?”

“The red one, I was a little late and used the hot water!”

“SON… That isn't hot water, it's salt water for swabbing the deck!”

I never stood that watch again! I also never made that mistake again!!

RED = Salt water
Blue = Fresh water

Pretty standard stuff on a ship!!!

1 comment:

  1. Salt water is green. Fireman is red, but it wouldn't be piped to a deepsink.

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