The next day during my morning watch, I noticed something was wrong. The gyrocompass was off because the ship was off course, and the radar was sounding an alarm, indicating our deviation. I checked the magnetic compass and saw that the gyrocompass was 15 degrees off. We were near the pilot station when Captain Don Quixote arrived on the bridge, dressed up like an admiral.

I said, “Captain, I was about to call you. There is something wrong with the gyrocompass. It’s 15 degrees off.”

Captain Don Quixote looked at all the instruments that showed the same values and said, “Cadet! Stop annoying me with your stupidity. Everything is okay. Do you see? Everything is okay. Are you stupid or blind?”

I pointed to the magnetic compass on the ceiling and said, “But Captain, check the data with the magnetic compass.”

Captain Don Quixote said, “Cadet! I told you to stop annoying me. You are like a pest. Just get off the bridge.”

On the way down, I met 2nd Mate on his way up and told him that the gyro was off by 15 degrees.

2nd Mate asked, “Is the Captain in command?”

I replied, “Yes. He said he is in command.”

2nd Mate asked, “Did you put it in writing? You must log this in the ship's logbook.”

I said, “No. I didn’t know. What am I supposed to write?”

2nd Mate said, “Ok, I’ll take care of it. Afterward, I’ll show you what to write. Now get your VHF; you will bring the pilot on the bridge.”

I picked up the portable VHF radio from my cabin. After some time, 2nd Mate called me on my VHF, “Cadet, the pilot is approaching starboard side.”

I said on the portable VHF radio, “OK, the pilot is approaching, going there now.”

I went to the starboard side main deck where a gangway[1] was lowered just above the sea. The gangway resembled a metal staircase with foldable handrails. Due to the height of our RO-RO ship, there was also a pilot ladder extending down to the sea. The pilot ladder was made of rope with wooden and rubber steps. The pilot boat arrived with the pilot at the fore end. The boat driver expertly timed the approach between the small waves, allowing the pilot to quickly climb onto the pilot ladder. As soon as the opportunity arose, the pilot climbed as if his life depended on it, and the pilot boat moved away. The pilot made his way up the pilot ladder until he reached the gangway, climbed up, and walked over to me.

The pilot asked me, “Why are you off course? Who is in charge?”

I replied, “I think Captain is in charge, sir.”

The pilot said, “Take me quickly up there!”

I escorted the pilot to the bridge, where Captain Don Quixote dismissively waved his hand, signaling for me to leave.

After we moored, I was on the main deck and saw a service team boarding the ship.

2nd Mate walked to me and said, “That is the repair team for the gyro. You should have seen the look on the Captain’s face when the pilot came on the bridge and started scolding the Captain, ‘What are you doing…the ship is way off the pilot station…I’m in control now, since nobody is.’ It was hilarious.”

I asked, “Then it was because of the gyro?”

2nd Mate replied, “Yes. Plus, he set a course exactly as it was on the map, but we ended up completely off the pilot station.”

The Chief Mate joined us and said, “You remember that the Captain wanted to relieve you two for sailing the ship through the winds and currents. I received a call from the company manager and explained a few things. As a result, the Captain was gently turned down because now is not the best time for the company to change the crew.”

2nd Mate laughed and said, “What a douche. Well, at least those guys at the company maybe now have a clue what kind of dumb person they hired.”

At that moment, I shared with them what Captain Don Quixote did when we received the Mayday call from a sailing boat. Chief Mate and 2nd Mate didn’t seem so shocked, as they told me they saw so much bad stuff on ships. In their eyes, I hadn’t even started to scratch the surface of hell.

Captain Don Quixote called me on the portable VHF radio, “Cadet, come to my quarters!”

I made my way to the Captain’s quarters. Captain Don Quixote was seated behind his computer.

Captain Don Quixote said, “Cadet, you are banned from the bridge. Your inadequate capability probably led to the malfunction of the gyrocompass. Or if I were to doubt, you sabotaged the ship's gyrocompass out of spite or some personal gain to tarnish my reputation. Get out of my sight forever.”

This vilification didn’t really sit well with my mind, but to some degree, I was relieved to not see his face for the rest of the journey. I just walked out without saying a word.

As the ship arrived at the next port, I was assigned to Chief Mate’s crew in the aft part of the ship. In the front part of the ship, 2nd Mate was in charge. On the approach, Captain Don Quixote said on the portable VHF radio, “Chief, Second, we will use two tugboats[2], one forward, one aft.”

2nd Mate on the portable VHF radio, “One tug forward.”

Chief Mate pressed the button on his portable VHF radio and said, “One tug aft.”

Chief Mate stretched and said, “Two tugboats in calm weather? Look, even the sea is calm like a lake. This will cost the company. A real Captain uses no tugs in this weather, or maybe one aft in bad weather as forward he has a bow thruster[3].”

Everyone from the crew aft chuckled.

Chief Mate turned to me and said, “Cadet, be careful around these winches and ropes. If you see the rope stretching and making a banging noise, it can break and mop you. It will hit you so hard that you can be killed or have multiple bone fractures.”

I nodded at Chief Mate.

Able Seaman said, “I saw it once. It swooped a Chief to a pillar and wrapped around him like an anaconda. Broke all the bones in his body.”

Chief Mate said, “I saw it cut the head clean off a deckhand once, so it’s no joke. When I was a cadet, a Chief moved out of the way, but the rope still flew all over the place and hit him in the back, instantly breaking his spine.”

A tugboat emerged from port side[4] and honked. We threw a thin rope where they tied their heavy tug rope made of steel. We pulled it on board using the winch and secured it on a bollard[5].

Chief Mate said, “Move away everyone.”

We all gathered at the aft part of the superstructure as the tugboat began to pull the ship. The steel rope ground and screeched against the bollard, creating a grating sound that wasn't pleasant for our ears.

I asked, “Chief, can this break and harm us like the rope?”

Chief Mate replied, “No. It is hard and not flexible. If you are near, it can cut your leg off, but from far away, there is no danger while regular ropes just fly all over the place like a rubber band with deadly force.”

The tugboat moved us to the shore and pushed us until we bumped on the dock.