One night we were sitting up on steel beach having a few beers. We did this most nights. We would grab a bucket, throw some beers in it and top it off with ice from the machine in the main lab. Usually we would try to convince the cute girls in the science party to join us. The weather was fairly overcast but dry. After a bit it got full dark and the thunder and lightning started. What a show it was. It sounded like we were in the middle of a cloud but there was no rain.
I don’t think I
have ever been closer to the origin of a thunder clap. The lightning
and the boom of thunder were simultaneous. There were about a half
dozen of us sitting up there when our hair started to stand on end
and my skin was itching and tingling at the same time. All of a
sudden the loudest thunder clap of all began with that great bass
tearing sound. At the same time lightning struck the water about 100
yards to port.
It didn’t take a
rocket scientist to figure that maybe this was a good time to go
inside and see what the 8 o’clock movie was. It’s not a good idea
to sit on top of the only piece of steel for 300 miles in a lightning
storm. We were out of there in an instant.
Other evenings on
steel beach were much more pleasant. In a locker on steel beach we
kept sheets of packing foam to lie on while sunbathing. Sometimes we
would bring a blanket and pillow and spend the night up there on one
of those foam sheets while we were under weigh. It was very pleasant
to wake up with the dawn up there and there were never any bugs so
far from shore.
I do remember being
sound asleep up there one night as the ship passed through a rain
squall so quick and violent that I couldn’t see my hand at the end
of my arm. Drenched in seconds, it was down to my room for the rest
of the night.
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