Deck Department, Crew Journal

November 12, 2009
Today were the DC Olympics. I will try to not make this entry to long, but I do want to go over some of the fun events that we partook in. As with any Olympics games it started with the passing of the torch. All the teams filed into the hangar where the torch was passed from one to another and then finally to Penguin Pete who lit the large torch, made of lights and a piece of cloth fluttering in the breeze. Each team then chose a letter from a bowl for which station they would be doing first. Since there were so many teams, not everyone was involved at a station all the time.
Briefly the stations included: hose handling - where you practiced advancing and aiming with the fire hose to shoot a cherry fender up a line to a knot tied at the top; indirect fire fighting - where you had to demonstrate a complete drill including energizing the plug and an attack leader giving commands in order to fill a bucket with as much water as you could in 5 minutes, the nozzle man was blindfolded; shipmate rescue - using a NFTI, Naval Firefighter's Thermal Imager, to locate as many hand warmers and Petty Officer Oscar in a smoke filled room; compound fracture splinting, plugging and patching, and fire hose rolling while dressed in an FFE. The last two were taking to long so after lunch they secured those stations.
There was some good competition and points were taken off for any safety violations or improper use of equipment. The bronze medal went to the “Millstrippers,” the silver medal went to the “Totally Totally Totallies,” and the gold went to “Team Nitro.” Each team received a bag of goodies and first place also received a day of liberty. The “Moxy Polarnaters” also got a special prize for coming in absolutely dead last. The very end of the ceremony consisted of a FN using an H2O extinguisher to ‘put out’ the large torch at the front of the hangar.
After the closing ceremonies liberty was granted and shipmates headed out into the rain to wait for the van into town for another fun evening on land. We are staying a few extra days due to bad weather and high seas. Hopefully they will calm down soon and we can make a safe and smooth journey to our next port call.

November 11, 2009
Another day of fueling and an exciting evening of liberty. After doing so well yesterday with no incidents to speak of, liberty was moved to 0100 instead of 0000. I myself enjoyed a quick hike on the hill behind the ship, as the light was almost gone. There were lots of interesting collapsing buildings, and some bunkers up on the hill. The ground was fun to walk on as it was comprised of moss, grass, and what could have been ground cranberries, all adding up to soft sinking ground that was a little like walking on memory foam.

November 10, 2009
LAND HO! Today was an early morning as deck force mustered at 0545 to start brining out heaving lines, and mooring lines in anticipation for pulling into port at 0801. After so long on board I really started to feel the excitement as the hills of land loomed in the dark. It grew even more as we slowly came closer and suddenly there was texture on the hills and they were more than just shapes. Soon we could see the lights of the port and town. BM2 Nesse called the attention of all deck force on the fan tail. “I just want to inform you that those moving lights you see are what we call cars, vehicles, not boats” And indeed it was strange to see cars again. It was a successful mooring evolution, no one got hurt and we managed to not damage any property either. Line 2 and 3 did a good job line handling and acted as the brakes for the ship.
Then came a short break before fueling started. At 1120, two people were assigned per sounding tube and a long day of waiting and sounding commenced. However it was delightfully, at least to some, cut short due to complications. Quarters were called around 1700 and the happiness of the crew was definitely tangible. Everyone was laughing a little more with excitement for the first day on land after over 56 days out to sea. Cinderella liberty was granted from 1800-0000. Everyone did well, and thankfully there were no incidents. I enjoyed getting to take pictures of the beautiful hills and water, and even saw a bright red starfish on the beach. I hope some of my shipmates got some good eagle pictures, I myself didn’t. There are said to be more eagles than seagulls here, and I have certainly seen quite a few of the majestic birds. Shipmates came back loaded with goodies from Safeway, as well as souvenirs from several places around the small town.

November 9, 2009
DC Olympics were cancelled due to bad weather. The seas were tossing quite a bit, and we hit a few 30 degree rolls. I don’t think we went much further than that, but there were some really big ones that may have been more. Although I had heard about the florescence in the water I had never been able to experience it, I was able to tonight. It was gorgeous! I was looking out over the Foc’sle when I thought I saw several blue lights moving around the deck. They soon vanished and I thought it may have been my imagination. I soon learned it wasn’t as I watched and after a large wave splashed more would appear. It was like there were fireflies dancing around the deck. When the waves would come up the sides even if they didn’t crash on deck, you could still see the glow of lights from within the wave. It was definitely as spectacular as I had been told. Another wonderful sight that thanks to my Coast Guard experience I was able to see. The winds were also high again; the BMOW nearly lost her cover and watch cap overboard. She quickly chased after it when it blew off, and managed to catch it just in time. Her break in thankfully also caught her watch cap before it also almost jumped ship.

~SN Klineburger