My Arabian Adventure - Part 1
- Pipeline
- In Search Of Oil
- My Arabian Adventure
Author: Wallie Ballor
Released 8 November 2004
Wallie Ballor
Photograph Contributed by Jean Posell
We pulled away from our berth at 6:45 this morning. I got up in time to see us backing out from the New Jersey side of the Hudson (North River).
A tug towed us around in the channel until our compass was set, then we dropped the pilot (have to have a pilot as these waters are heavily mined) and the tug left us on our own.
It was raining and there was a stiff off-shore breeze. The visibility was so limited that I was unable to get a good view of either the harbor or the skyline.
We are sailing south toward the Virginias, or perhaps Florida, in sight of land.
I can count eight ships ahead and four astern. We expect to meet a convoy later.
There is a ground swell which makes the ship roll far too much for this band of "landlubbers", especially on the first day out! Every once in a while, the wind will pick up a white cap and spray it all over the deck.
This is a Liberty ship, which means that it is too short for smooth sailing.
Well, there are getting to be too many sick men around here, so I'm going up on deck for some fresh air.
We had a bad wind storm last night and the main deck was awash most of the time. The doors between the main deck and the hold have two latches on them and the bottom ones weren't battened down tightly enough, so suddenly about three or four barrels of sea water came down the ladder and spread out all over the floor. Needless to say, everything got soaked.
There are about eighty-four of us down here in these quarters, which are new and fairly comfortable, but leave much to be desired as far as elbow room is concerned.
The meals are good and we have a nice dining room where, after the dishes are cleared away, we write, play cards or just sit and talk.
I've counted up to twenty-eight ships now, including the escorts. Many more are over the horizon, I'm sure.
We just had a fire drill -- put on our Mae Wests and stood by the life boats.
The rest of the ships are joining us now. I can count sixty-four. A P. B. Y. (sea plane) is hovering near and a couple of blimps are on patrol. One destroyer is dashing in and out among the ships like a Greyhound playing among a herd of elephants.
We were traveling south all day until we stopped for formation. Now, we are barely moving.
Someone said that there was a flat-top up forward, but it was nearly dark when we finished the drill and we couldn't be sure.
If you go out after dark, you have to close the blackout drops before opening the doors. No smoking is allowed on deck at night. There are scores of ships all around us (we are center forward) and not a spark of light showing. Eerie and quiet.
The sea is calmer now, and the ship has changed her course to almost due east.
The ships that are close by can be seen to move a bit and change position as the sea changes, and you can see the white water fall away from their bows. But, the ships that are farther out seem to be standing still. You can look at them in the morning and again the same evening and everything is just the same as it was.
We are becoming used to the continuous roll of the ship and hardly even notice it. Only the most unexpected waves catch me off balance. A month of this and I suppose I'll roll down the street like a sailor.
We are somewhere near Bermuda, but won't see it. In fact, the first land we'll see will be the Rock of Gibraltar.