Very informative post, fascinating stuff, but forgive a minor quibble
:
Despite this I find the shiphandling a lot more of a challenge than flying, although granted I have only flown light aircraft. Trying to handle a large ship with a strong tide, in strong winds, into an awkward berth is very exhilarating. Every port is different with different challenges and it is a lot less prescriptive than flying. I find there is more going on in berthing a ship than flying an approach procedure 'by the numbers'.
To be fair you can get similar in aviation - whilst a lot of approaches are "by numbers" these days there are still some that definitely exercise the skills and for example I'd suggest successfully landing a heavy off a "Canarsi" at JFK in marginal weather will leave you with a grin on your face that's still there when you get to the bar, and I'm sure those flying into smaller airports around Europe in their 737/A320s will tell you many of their approaches are anything but routine.
As for
If you want to stay in the warm and dry all day and not get dirty, then the flight deck is probably more your cup of tea than the weather deck;
...I feel you may get some feedback from those who do more walkrounds in a day than I generally do in a month.
