In relation to coffee/tea while underway and waking the skipper.
Since I am currently underway I thought I would share a conversation I head with my Russian Chief Officer shortly before we left St. Petersburg. We where going over what I expect and when during my slumber period he would like me to be awakened. My response was short, "if there is doubt, wake me". He then persisted and wanted to know if he could request that I come and check out a developing situation, to which my response "was of course".
3 days after we left Gibraltar on the second leg of this trip at around 2 am (ships time) I was awakened to the sound of the ships emergency alarm. I sprinted to the bridge in my skivies with coverall's in hand.
I arrived to find my young third mate red faced with a wheelsman and Chief Officer red faced when they told me that they had accidently tripped the alarm and they then made a pipe. The Chief said, Captain I didn't call you, if it was a real emergency I would have called you. Imagine, the ships master, the man of authority standing on his bridge in his skivies. Well, it has happened before and I am sure it will happen again.
In the old days my stomach could handle coffee, that isn't the case anymore, but I can recall a trip from Honolulu to South Korea when I was but a young deck officer and I came on the mid watch to find what I thought was a fresh pot of coffee. I attempted to pour it in a cup but the sludge wouldn't move, I then took the pot over to the bridge wing in a attempt to fling the sludge out, that didn't work either. So I looked around and tried one more time, "unfortunatly" the pot came loose from the not so tight grip I had and over the side it went. So, I had to call down to the night cook and get a new one. The next night I arrived on the bridge to find that there was no coffee pot, with a note from the skipper that said (and I still have the note), "Mr. Wood your coffee privlages have been suspended, I hope you take better care of my ship then you do the coffee pot" signed Captain Berrows. To which I waited until about 0330 and woke him asking what he would like me to do about a certain contact. When he asked what it was, I told him "a coffee pot that some a@* hole threw over the side". To which all I heard was the sound powered phone hanging up. The next night I had my coffee privlages back.
Now back to your regular topic.