A few friends and I scored big and was invited by a crew member for a personal tour of the tanker. Built in 1985 it is the namesake of Paul Buck, the captain of the Stephen Hopkins which heroically took down a German warship in WWII, but in the meantime he himself did not survive.
Color coded fuel lines traverse the tanker. Diesel. The smell brought me back to a place I haven't visited for many years. A place of fond memories with Nonno John who was a mechanic on the tug boats that commanded the NYC harbour. I was a young girl again. A young girl sitting on the stoop with her Grandfather.
The heart of the ship extends down 3 levels. The engines at work were deafening and simply amazing. The maze of stairs and narrow walkways not only took us further into the core of the ship but it also took me to Nonno John. All brought on by the lovely smell of diesel.
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