The Russian tanker Renda fuels at the Delta Western Fuel Dock in Unalaska on Jan. 3 before leaving for Nome, accompanied by the U.S. Coast Guard polar icebreaker Healy. Reporter Jim Paulin was on board the Renda for several hours before being informed he would have to leave to comply with federal law. - Photo BY Jim Paulin / for Alaska Newspapers

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Almost aboard the Renda: Alaska writer has time for tea, breakfast before getting booted

January 13th 1:51 am | Jim Paulin

I thought for sure I'd be riding the Renda to Nome to report on the historic mission to deliver fuel to the ice-bound community. Instead I 'walked the plank' in the Aleutian Islands.

I boarded the Russian tanker just before 6 p.m. Jan. 3 at the Delta Western Fuel Dock in Unalaska. I took my bags into my comfortable little stateroom; say about 8 feet wide by 20 feet long, with a bed, couch, desk, closet and sink.

The Renda was loading gasoline, and was expected to be finished around midnight with the vessel sailing soon afterwards. But the vessel didn't leave until a few minutes before ten in the morning, while I watched from the dock.

About 45 minutes earlier I was notified by vessel agent Michail Shestakov that I had to get off the boat at the request of a federal agency, U.S. Customs and Border Protection.

CBP had ruled that the Jones Act waiver only applied to the cargo of fuel, not passengers.

So, with the vessel agent and crew standing by, I threw my unpacked stuff into bags in a big hurry, and walked onto the dock on the portable stairs known nautically as a gangway or gangplank.

I have to admit it felt a bit like "walking the plank" in the Hollywood sense, even though I was headed onto land, not overboard, not going swimming for the last time in my life. The few hours I actually spent on the Renda were very pleasant and a nice Russian cultural experience.

I was treated to several servings of blintzes, thin folded little pancakes with sweet cream, a new culinary experience. I drank a lot of tea, Gold Bond-brand teabags heated with water from a big shiny samovar. There were no big coffeepots like on a U.S. vessel. Coffee was available, but only instant coffee.

Of the four scheduled meal breaks, one was an afternoon tea. I'd long known the British were big tea drinkers, but I hadn't known that about Russians. The steward, a middle-aged Russian lady said she was working hard to learn English a little at a time. I'd looked for my Russian phrase book without luck at home, and it would have been useful and educational, especially if I'd spent a week on board with mostly non-English speakers.

The meals were served in Vladivostok time, four hours earlier. When my watch said 6 p.m., the Renda's clocks said 2 p.m., according to the correct time in the ship's homeport. Sadly, bureaucracy cut my story short.

I would love to have been on board motoring through the Bering Sea ice pack, watching the Coast Guard cutter Healy break ice. But the most important thing is the fuel delivery. The Jones Act waiver allowed the Renda to transport gasoline from Unalaska/Dutch Harbor to Nome.