Typical Day
Judd Cutter wakes, as usual, to the sound of a gigantic wrench clanging against a gigantic piece of metal. "All right, you jerks. Rise and shine!"
Dredge Master Ron Harper wakes his minions this way every morning. He always seems to be smiling while he does it, which is much different from everyone else's expression upon hearing it.
"Never gets old," Judd mumbles as he slowly rolls out of bed. It's 5:00AM, time to start another day of excitement and intrigue aboard the hopper dredge Mull Dunner. Their current job aboard the Dunner is to deepen the Port of Portland harbor. To do so, they suction silt off the harbor floor, feed it into a hopper bin, and dump it out at sea, usually on some very surprised fish.
The men live, eat, and sleep aboard the ship for two weeks at a time, and Judd is glad his week on the night shift is behind him. Even so, getting readjusted to daytime working hours will require plenty of coffee.
"No time for your daily ablutions," Ron bellows as he walks back through the passageway. "Chow time waits for no one."
That gets the guys moving. Mealtimes are the best parts of the day, so long as you don't dawdle. The small size of the chow room requires the crew to eat in shifts, and Judd learned early that it's best to get there promptly or else he won't get to finish his meal before Cookie, the cook (go figure), throws them out to get ready for the next bunch.
Judd puts on a fresh t-shirt and a well-worn heavy plaid shirt—it can get breezy up on deck. Springtime in the Pacific Northwest is no pleasure cruise. Next he slides on his jeans, socks, and work boots, and he's first out the door at 5:15AM.
Breakfast is a hearty helping of bacon and scrambled eggs, his favorite. By the time he clears his plate and finishes his second cup of coffee at 5:31AM, Judd begins to feel the energy returning to his tired body, and he actually sort of looks forward to the day ahead.
The Mud Dumper, as the ship is affectionately known to its crew, isn't the biggest hopper dredger in the world, but at 200 feet long it still looked plenty impressive to Judd when he first saw it. The hopper, a huge bin that holds the sand that they dredge up, dominates most of the middle of the ship.
At 6:00AM, Judd makes his way to his locker to grab his work gloves and hard hat, then goes up on deck. Currently the dredger is in the harbor, trudging along at the blazing speed of nearly three knots as it collects silt.
Judd walks over to the winches that control the depth of the suction arm on the port side. The Mud Dumper uses two suction arms to dredge, extending from each side of the ship and trailing behind. At the other end of the arms, the dragheads drag along the bottom and loosen silt for the suction pump to pull it up into the hopper.
For the moment, there's not much for Judd to do. At this time of day, Hal, the ship's lever operator, is the man of the hour. From his perch high in the pilot house, he monitors and controls the progress of the dragheads. Judd's job is mostly to maintain the suction arm equipment and help with pipe-fitting where necessary, something he can't do when the suction arms are forty feet below the surface. So when those arms are below surface, Judd is mostly just on call for any issues that may arise.
Ron likes to keep the crew occupied, so Judd knows it probably won't be long before the boss man will come over and have him do something "fun" like scrape grime off a pump or paint railings that don't really need painting. So far today, though, he's managed to dodge that kind of busywork.
Judd's good luck continues; the hopper fills up before Ron gives him any extra orders. His job now is to make sure the portside suction arm is secure before the dredger sails out to sea to dump its payload. He also has to inspect all the equipment for wear and tear.
Next comes the part that Judd likes the best: hitting the open water. In the harbor, the air is still—almost stagnant—and everything seems closed in. He much prefers chugging out to sea and feeling the strong ocean breeze while he works. It only takes about an hour and a half to fill the hopper, meaning he'll get to make five or six round trips out on the water during his shift.
The time at sea gives him plenty of opportunities to just soak it all in. Judd loves the water; he enjoys standing at the rail, looking over the vastness of the ocean, and thinking of his wife, Nancy. She's a patient lady—Judd's been on this job for two weeks straight and still has one more to go.
Soon they'll have ten days together. Nancy loves the water too, and they'll spend plenty of time on and around it before he has to go back to work.
Back in the harbor for the hopper reload, Judd panics as he sees Ron approaching with that certain I-have-a-job-for-you look on his face. Judd says the first thing he can think of to try and head off the assignment to come. "Hey boss," he calls. "You happen to know what's on the menu for lunch? Tell me it's the meatloaf."
Ron rolls his eyes. "It's not even 9:00AM and you're thinking about lunch?"
"I love that meatloaf," answers Judd.
"Good," says Ron. "But I have a cure for your loafing. Get down to the engine room. We had an oil spray and the place is a mess. Help wipe it down."
"You're a sweetheart, Ron," Judd says. "Thanks for thinking of me."
"Any time," says Ron. "Put some gloves on if you're worried about ruining your manicure."
"He has a million of 'em," Judd thinks to himself as he shakes his head. He slips on some gloves and ducks into the engine room to help wipe up the mess. By 11:30AM, Judd and crew have the oil all cleaned up, though Judd himself is fairly slick.
He's covered in a mixture of sweat, cleaning fluid, and whatever oil didn't quite get mopped up. After cleaning himself up just a bit, he hears Cookie's first lunch call at 12:00PM and rushes down to the mess hall to get a slice of that delicious meatloaf.
Returning to the deck around 12:35PM, Judd sees that the hopper is full and goes to secure the portside suction arm. Just as he locks the arm into place, he feels the ship's anchor pull up again and the old rusty vessel begins its lurch toward the open sea.
Once a safe distance offshore, he and the crew release the hopper, pouring nearly a ton of silt back into the deep ocean. This is dump number two for the day; there will still be three or four more before the Mud Dumper finally comes back to harbor for the night at around 10:30PM.
Once they're docked at the end of the night, Judd's body aches from the work and his brain feels a bit fuzzy from all the sun. He's content, though, as he really feels like he's put in a solid day's work. He heads back down to the bunk room, where he strips off his boots, his beat-up jeans, and his flannel. He loves the routine.
Finally settling down to sleep, he thinks happy thoughts as he drifts off, ready for another satisfying but grueling day on the Mud Dumper.