An OOW and his watchman were on night duty inside the bridge in an open sea. No traffic was sighted and everything was very peaceful.
At around 2115H, the duty watchman suddenly felt very sleepy. You can’t blame him, he had a very rough job that day with full overtime. Before the OOW noticed him, the Captain slowly came and made a “Ssshhhhh” gesture (maybe he’s a Ninja too).
The Captain went to the wheelhouse and saw the watchman standing but with his forehead firmly touching the windshield and eyes closed. The Captain immediately knew that his watchman was asleep. He intentionally bumped his shoulder to wake him up.
Meanwhile, the OOW feared the next scenario. He went inside the chartroom not wanting to see the event starting to unfold. He was expecting a barrage of nasty words thrown to the watchman. His Captain was known for his strict and stiff conduct.
Inspire him!
But the situation turned out the opposite! He suddenly heard his Captain pleaded “Sorry” to the watchman. Surprised, he went to the wheelhouse to check what’s happening.
“Please forgive me. I do not mean to disturb you. I’m really sorry for what I did. Please continue what you’re doing.”
The OOW was shocked of what he’s hearing! The Captain whom he regarded as a Tiger suddenly became a kitten! He was even heard saying sorry to the watchman who was red handedly caught sleeping on duty. It was incomprehensible. He was expecting him to get angry but the opposite happened.
Bewildered, the OOW approached his watchman after the Captain went to his cabin. He asked,
“How on earth did you tame the tiger to the point of being so ashamed of disturbing you on your sleep while on duty?”
The watchman replied,
“I woke up when the Captain bumped my shoulder but I just continue closing my eyes without moving. Then as soon as he started speaking, I slowly whispered ‘Amen’ soft enough for him to hear and made a sign of the cross. You do know that he is very religious, right? After that, I looked at him seriously and with a firm voice said, ‘What, you have no religion?’ You know what happened next.”
