Day 7- Kevin
Today was the day we carried out our excursion to meet the T.S. Kennedy for supply offload. After the meeting yesterday, we were given the green light to move on the delivery of supplies. The group has been split into three crews in order to ensure the day would go with as few complications as possible. Group one, the ashore team, included Douglas Aldrich, AJ Ortiz, Laura Marin and Shannon Koechel. Group two, in charge of operations afloat, included Captain Lennon, Michael Neil and Emily Behen. Group three, in charge of cargo on load/offload, included Christopher Affannato and I. The day had an eerie feel to it as we all prepared to carry out our duties for the day.
Each team was designated to carry out certain objectives throughout the offload process. The team ashore was assigned with receiving and managing all cargo coming back to Vacation Village, our “home” port. After the boats were loaded with cargo from the T.S. Kennedy, they were to report back to Vacation Village where the cargo would be offloaded onto the beach. Here, the cargo would be sorted and checked off in accordance with the ship’s manifest to ensure that all cargo is received. The main objective for the operations team afloat was to coordinate with the T.S. Kennedy and the small boats being loaded. It was their responsibility to ensure the safest procedures are followed and to maintain constant radio contact between the ship and the seven other small boats. Chris and I were to be aboard the small boats to assist in receiving the cargo and transporting back to Ile-A-Vache.
At anchor until 1300 We had an early start to the morning at 0530 in order to do last minute gear check and plan review. After a small breakfast, we left to board the small boats docked off of Vacation Village at 0700 and embarked on our six mile trek to rendezvous with the T.S. Kennedy. Captain Lennon and group two departed shortly after us. The ride out was rough as we encountered eight to ten foot rollers, testing our nerves. Group two’s small boat was faster and ended up beating much of the flotilla to our rendezvous. As we arrived, we were contacted by Michael Neil of group two telling us that due to rough seas, we would not be able to offload and would be returning to shore. The return trip to Ile-A-Vache was quiet as we thought the T.S. Kennedy would soon be departing with the relief supplies still aboard. We returned to Vacation Village around 1100 to deliver the disheartening news to the shore crew. Captain Lennon, along with Emily Behen and Michael Neil, continued on to Port Morgan to discuss all options available in order to plan a second attempt. After hours of emails and phone calls, they were able to secure a barge for the tomorrow morning. Captain Lennon was also able to make contact with the Master of the T.S. Kennedy, Captain Bushy who assured us that the ship would be tomorrow. With the news of a second attempt, the group began to prepare for the long day to follow.
