Coincidence - Alan May [25]
They held hands walking to the ship and said a teary good night. Carol had told herself sternly that she was not going to cry, that it would be quite unkind of her to put a damper on her daughter’s enthusiasm with any selfish displays of bawling. But as soon as she saw Melissa’s eyes begin to fill with tears, she couldn’t hold any back of her own.
As for Craig, his eyes were half covered by his hat, which he had inexplicably put on even though there was no need for it now that the sun had gone down. He stood with his hands thrust deep in his pockets and said a hoarse, almost inaudible, “ ’Night, Baby.”
“It’s okay,” Melissa said. “We’re still going to see each other tomorrow.”
The gate to the floating dock was locked. The sign on the gate, which Melissa had never noticed, said it would be locked at ten-thirty every night. Melissa climbed the fence and boarded the ship. She moved to the bow, keeping her eyes on her parents as they walked back to the hotel. When they disappeared through the front entrance, she sat down on the bow and stared up at the eleventh floor. She spent most of the night sitting there, tears rolling down her cheeks.
The next afternoon, the day of departure, the crew held a reception onboard for the families. It was primarily a chance for the parents to get acquainted with the crew and the other students with whom their kids would be spending the next few months. It was also an opportunity for Captain Marzynski, Anika Johnson, and Edward Flynn, the founder of Blue Water Academy, to point out the elaborate safety mechanisms in place on the Inspiration.
“Lloyd’s Register, one of the top ship-surveying companies in the world, performs an annual check of every single component of every single system aboard the ship,” Mr. Flynn told them. “Every five years, Lloyd’s requires an even more thorough examination to reclass the vessel.
“For this, the inspectors walk through the door as if they’ve never seen the vessel before.”
He waved his hands in the direction of the engine room.
“They tear down the main engines and generators—all of the pumps and sea valves, the electronic systems, the navigation systems—and examine everything under a microscope.”
Craig couldn’t help noticing that the man who was assuring them of the safeguards for their beloved children was missing three fingers from his right hand.
“Since the Inspiration is registered in the Bahamas, the Bahamian Maritime Authority appoints a surveyor to accompany the Lloyd’s surveyors; together, they go through a rigorous checklist of items that literally number into the thousands. It takes more than two weeks to complete the survey. An imposing level of redundancy is required. If anything, no matter how minor, needs repair, the vessel is down until it is repaired. Blue Water Academy cannot operate the vessel until the certificate is issued.
“Furthermore, although the Lloyd’s requirement is that a vessel must go through two such surveys every three years, on the Inspiration we do it every other year.
“Bahamian registration requires that there be six licensed personnel onboard the ship in order to move the vessel. The captain must be certified as unlimited oceangoing and sail-endorsed. The Inspiration carries three people who are licensed at this level. First mate Dr. Elliott Williams and second mate Henry Mattox are our fully qualified backups. In the unlikely event the captain is injured or ill, they are eminently capable of taking over.”
Henry beamed. He had received his sail endorsement just six weeks before.
Dr. Williams gave a barely perceptible nod.
“And, in the