The following writing is directly from my onboard journal and I tried to include as much detail as possible. Some of the writing may not be up to "publishing standards" but I wanted to keep much of the wording the same since the thoughts and feelings I had during the voyage were often made with a tired mind. I sincerely hope that with this writing I can help prepare others who are lucky enough to sail on a future voyage onboard the USCG Eagle.
I can't believe I was selected among the eighteen slots to join the USCG Eagle and their officer cadet school (OCS) training cruise. The cruise was to be from New London Connecticut to Savannah Georgia but a couple of days before we were to leave, we received notice that they changed the ending port to Charleston South Carolina. Because of the government sequester, they cancelled our attendance to the sailing event we were joining in Georgia. This caused problems for many as we either had to rebook our flight or drive two hours or more to the Savannah airport. It cost me another $200 to rebook another flight so it cost just as much to rebook as it was to book another flight...sigh...
USCG Eagle in New London CT Day One Thursday Night
After spending some time in New Haven checking out some travel channel restaurants with my friend Tony, I arrived early at the Eagle docked at Fort Trumbull State Park. The sky was dark and the wind was starting to kick up. The crewman at the guard shack in front of the ship directed me aboard. When I arrived on the waist deck, the officer of the deck (OOD) Mr. Thomas brought me to my berth where I met one of my many bunkmates, Doug.
Mr. Thomas then explained that I could choose any bunk that wasn't made yet. If it was made, it was occupied. I chose a top bunk even though the crew recommends a middle bunk to make it easier to hold on in heavy seas. But the top bunks always have more room and that suits me fine. Besides, it was bunk "M" and that made it easy to remember.
After spending some time in New Haven checking out some travel channel restaurants with my friend Tony, I arrived early at the Eagle docked at Fort Trumbull State Park. The sky was dark and the wind was starting to kick up. The crewman at the guard shack in front of the ship directed me aboard. When I arrived on the waist deck, the officer of the deck (OOD) Mr. Thomas brought me to my berth where I met one of my many bunkmates, Doug.
Mr. Thomas then explained that I could choose any bunk that wasn't made yet. If it was made, it was occupied. I chose a top bunk even though the crew recommends a middle bunk to make it easier to hold on in heavy seas. But the top bunks always have more room and that suits me fine. Besides, it was bunk "M" and that made it easy to remember.
You are assigned a "half locker" in your berth but luckily you also get storage under your bunk as I later found out I tremendously over packed. Although the official paperwork we received says laundry is rare, it's actually done M-W-F for just about anyone who needs it. To complicate matters, because of a coastal storm I had to pack warm gear and foul weather gear. I can't afford the $700+ for the gear that would cover both. That means layers of clothes and a lot to carry. My duffle bag was about 4 feet tall and 80% full.
I introduced myself to Doug. Doug was a former crewman of the Bounty that came to be known to us as "Day Glo Doug" due to the incredibly bright fluorescent yellow gear he always wore. A cadet came by and introduced himself and when Doug found out he was going to become a rescue swimmer, Doug described in detail rescue from the Bounty. He did this because he wanted to thank the cadet for training to become a rescue diver as he had first hand experience with being rescued by one.
I suddenly met another berth mate as he slid out from his bunk. I hadn't even seen him as he chose a corner bottom bunk. He introduced himself as Orion and he has a lot of experience with different types of schooners but nothing of the Eagles caliper. I was proud to be able to say I sail the Friendship of Salem as it's a large full rigged ship and I have done everything on her they'd let me do. Here on the Eagle, very little of that matters. They do everything differently so we might as well all be starting from square one.
Orion and I listened to Doug as he described the Bounty's trouble out at sea.
I introduced myself to Doug. Doug was a former crewman of the Bounty that came to be known to us as "Day Glo Doug" due to the incredibly bright fluorescent yellow gear he always wore. A cadet came by and introduced himself and when Doug found out he was going to become a rescue swimmer, Doug described in detail rescue from the Bounty. He did this because he wanted to thank the cadet for training to become a rescue diver as he had first hand experience with being rescued by one.
I suddenly met another berth mate as he slid out from his bunk. I hadn't even seen him as he chose a corner bottom bunk. He introduced himself as Orion and he has a lot of experience with different types of schooners but nothing of the Eagles caliper. I was proud to be able to say I sail the Friendship of Salem as it's a large full rigged ship and I have done everything on her they'd let me do. Here on the Eagle, very little of that matters. They do everything differently so we might as well all be starting from square one.
Orion and I listened to Doug as he described the Bounty's trouble out at sea.
“Anyway our rescue swimmer stuck his head in (the raft)…Our rafts had been doing this (slamming into each other) because there was only 6 of us in it. He stuck his head in the door and the raft went like that (slammed into him) and he said “Well that sucked”. He wanted to know who was probably the weakest swimmer. Since everyone had been worried about me because I had taken in a lot of salt water. He got me out first. But yeah, the rescue swimmers getting as many people out as he did was just insanely wonderful. The flight mechanic…I don’t know if anyone has seen but one of the flight mechanics who was handling the wire, dislocated his shoulder and there’s video somewhere around of him banging his shoulder against the chopper door to get it back into place. I was in the Navy back in the dark ages -’65-’69 and I was in the helicopter squadron for a bit so I flew in helicopters and so when I was sitting there I could see the right seat of the guy flying the plane…and I had the vaguest idea of what he was doing but it was unf__ken amazing because here we were about 60 feet above probably mean water level and there were about 30-40 foot seas. That was crazed.” The coast guard swimmer than asked him “…How was the time line of events…did it all happen so fast?” Doug replied “No it happened slow enough and and we were all so exhausted everybody sort of like ‘ug’ and I don’t know how long it was so I’m not sure whether that happened before or after that. Everybody has slightly different time lines and fuzziness about what happened. I know I went to sleep in the raft and I went to sleep on deck. I just nodded out…and I nodded out in the helicopter but that that was no surprise at all. Even when I wasn’t exhausted and tired and cold and stuff, you know…I used to have to work to stay awake. I did a cross country in a 34 to Pensacola/Key West Cross Country/cross water and I swear to god I got two hours sleep on the flight. Anyways that was back in the 60’s when I was young and didn’t need a lot of sleep. But yeah, you want to be a rescue swimmer, you have my absolute f__ken respect.”
USCG Rescue swimmer trainee “I’ve been swimming for twelve years and swimming for the academy and I was actually as a cadet they send you out to experience what the real Coast Guard is like after your first year at the academy. It’s called your third class summer. I got sent to station Miami Beach in Florida. Did you ever see that show Coast Guard Florida? It was on the Weather Channel right after the whole Bounty... I got down there and they started filming the show. They found out that I wanted to be a rescue swimmer so what they did is sent me up for air station Miami and I got to work with the rescue swimmers for a week. They put me through some stuff and we went off shore and got hoisted and practiced you know what they do for real things. Doing that and having that feeling of like going out and saving someone. Doing that - that’s what makes me want to do it.”
Doug “Oh yeah absolutely. I’ve gotta say, it’s just f__king amazing. He came to the door and I jumped in.the water and he dragged me around for a bit trying to catch the basket and put me in the basket…”
Rescue Swimmer trainee “What was the first thing he said to you when he saw you? Was he like ‘Hi, my name is…’”
Doug “No, no, no. This was the guy who said ‘Well that sucked’ because the thing crashed on him. It was Dan…Dan was the guy from the other chopper. He was the swimmer from the other chopper who got in there and got the thing. But he picked what 5-7 people out of that raft and then went and got three more out of our raft because the bird had to bingo. So they picked John up an they picked four…me, Mark…they picked four of us because they picked up Jessica and Anna as well as Mark and myself and they picked up John out of the water. So there were three more in our raft and then there were six people in the other raft. He did it for nine people and that’s just f__king amazing the amount of work involved in getting everybody out. So I’ve seen you guys in action and I seriously appreciate it. I will tell you something, that when we got in the raft. First off when the C130 was overhead, it was like ok…whatever happens we’re in good shape now that we have communication and other things which hadn’t been happening before pretty well. And then I knew they knew where we were. As soon as they knew where we were we were in much better shape. When we actually got in…when I got into the raft it was hanging on to the raft. I thought it was inverted because I couldn’t see the canopy from where I was, it was so low in the water and I thought it was inverted. There was no way in hell I was going to flip that sucker over. Then Jessica turned up and she was next to me…we end up getting the in raft and I’ll tell you something, getting into the raft with 2 gallons to water in each foot of your gumby suit is a pretty difficult thing to do. But in fact I suggested to people if they were religious…because I knew there were two people who were church goers in the raft and told them…suggested they may want to pray. And I told them I didn’t pray but I had faith in GMDSS and the Coast Guard. And the one had already done it’s job and the Coast Guard was there so as far as I was concerned, they’re gods. Thank you, angels from heaven! “
Rescue Swimmer trainee “That’s an amazing story. “
Doug “Anyway I can’t say enough good things about you guys.”
Rescue swimmer trainee” It’s such a pleasure having you guys on board.”
Doug “We got three more Bountry Crew…”
Rescue Swimmer “We got two other rescue swimmers…”
They finished talking while I finished stowing my gear. It had been an amazing story to hear on my first night on the Eagle. Later Doug related another funnier story that I’ll try to relate as best I can.
When Doug had hit the water, in the process of the whole rescue he had “soiled” his gumby suit. So when he had got pulled into the chopper, the USCG rescuer had told him to pull off his gumby suit. Doug said he’d rather not and told him why. The rescuer told him it was ok as they would just hose out the bay anyway as it was designed for it. So Doug pulled off his gumby suit and I believe it was the Chief Mate of the Bounty had watched this happen, asked Doug if it was ok to pee in his suit as he had to go. Doug said “go for it” so the guy relieved himself in his suit on deck. Whether it was the smell or the rough flight, the Chief Mate ended up puking in the suit as well! We all laughed at this and asked Doug what had happened to the suit after but he didn’t know.
When Doug had hit the water, in the process of the whole rescue he had “soiled” his gumby suit. So when he had got pulled into the chopper, the USCG rescuer had told him to pull off his gumby suit. Doug said he’d rather not and told him why. The rescuer told him it was ok as they would just hose out the bay anyway as it was designed for it. So Doug pulled off his gumby suit and I believe it was the Chief Mate of the Bounty had watched this happen, asked Doug if it was ok to pee in his suit as he had to go. Doug said “go for it” so the guy relieved himself in his suit on deck. Whether it was the smell or the rough flight, the Chief Mate ended up puking in the suit as well! We all laughed at this and asked Doug what had happened to the suit after but he didn’t know.
Here only a couple hours and this is the stories I'm already hearing? This will be an amazing week...
After taking care of some last minute emails in case we sailed and got out of range, I met Doug and Orion on the Mess deck for dinner. I was still full from eating in New Haven so I settled for some juice. Orion and I talked with Mr. Thomas who had first applied to get stationed on a massive ice breaker but was just as excited to be stationed on the Eagle.
We met some other TSA members coming on and enjoyed comparing sailing notes. Whitney, Jen, Daniel. This was a nice diverse group of sailors with different experience but all excited to be aboard the Eagle.
After taking care of some last minute emails in case we sailed and got out of range, I met Doug and Orion on the Mess deck for dinner. I was still full from eating in New Haven so I settled for some juice. Orion and I talked with Mr. Thomas who had first applied to get stationed on a massive ice breaker but was just as excited to be stationed on the Eagle.
We met some other TSA members coming on and enjoyed comparing sailing notes. Whitney, Jen, Daniel. This was a nice diverse group of sailors with different experience but all excited to be aboard the Eagle.
I excused myself and decided to find the WC or die trying since the directions I got from Orion were pretty complicated. The male WC's are located fairly far aft, away from the berths and I missed them on my first try. Travelling the length of the Eagle is always an experience as you would often be getting tossed around by the waves. You also have to get used to stopping by each bulkhead door, knocking and carefully opening it so that it doesn’t hit anyone on the other side.
At one point I had swung back around and found myself on the mess desk again. I tried again and ended up on a higher deck in the fore which is the officers section. I hesitated at first because I know I wasn't really supposed to be there but the plush brown rugs and nice furniture beckoned me forward. I was lucky as no officers were present so I made it all the way to the executive room where only officers can hang. Beautiful couches and furniture adorned the rooms. I made my way back and found the Wardroom that is for standard crew and was also really nice. Flat screen TV's, conference tables and lounging area. Here I met SoPo officer Ramirez who welcomed me. A ships alarm started going off and I asked if I should be worried. With a smile she replied to not worry about it and someone would take care of it. She then directed me to a WC just down the hall.
Thursday/Friday POD At one point I had swung back around and found myself on the mess desk again. I tried again and ended up on a higher deck in the fore which is the officers section. I hesitated at first because I know I wasn't really supposed to be there but the plush brown rugs and nice furniture beckoned me forward. I was lucky as no officers were present so I made it all the way to the executive room where only officers can hang. Beautiful couches and furniture adorned the rooms. I made my way back and found the Wardroom that is for standard crew and was also really nice. Flat screen TV's, conference tables and lounging area. Here I met SoPo officer Ramirez who welcomed me. A ships alarm started going off and I asked if I should be worried. With a smile she replied to not worry about it and someone would take care of it. She then directed me to a WC just down the hall.
I made my way back down to the mess again and socialized. I met Whitney and a few other girls here and found out there was due to be a briefing at 18:30 though I had been told 19:00 by Mr. Thomas. Both times came and went but at 19:15, we were suddenly invaded by at least 30 OC trainees. Fifteen minutes later, we had our MA briefing which went over the daily posting of the POD(Plan of the Day) that is posted at 19:00 on the Mess deck daily.
The XO did a safety brief of watertight bulkhead hatches (always have a hand on it and always knock) and the respirators in case of a fire and then introduced Chief Willard. The Chief then took us through a thorough and slightly humorous briefing of ships operation and safety that included stories of crewmen losing their lunch in many various areas of the ship. He asked for a show of hands for anyone that is prone to motion sickness and quite a few hands went up. The Chief said, “Anyone who raised your hand, report to the M.O. (Medical Officer) right after this briefing”. All bunks are to be kept neat and orderly, nothing of yours to be left out or it would be confiscated on the daily inspection and sold at the end of the voyage. SoPo Ramirez then took us through our assignments and schedule that was incredibly confusing. She showed us multiple charts that had each of us classified with a watch and group that was then cross referenced with another chart that showed you your watch and duty schedules.
Training Schedule The XO did a safety brief of watertight bulkhead hatches (always have a hand on it and always knock) and the respirators in case of a fire and then introduced Chief Willard. The Chief then took us through a thorough and slightly humorous briefing of ships operation and safety that included stories of crewmen losing their lunch in many various areas of the ship. He asked for a show of hands for anyone that is prone to motion sickness and quite a few hands went up. The Chief said, “Anyone who raised your hand, report to the M.O. (Medical Officer) right after this briefing”. All bunks are to be kept neat and orderly, nothing of yours to be left out or it would be confiscated on the daily inspection and sold at the end of the voyage. SoPo Ramirez then took us through our assignments and schedule that was incredibly confusing. She showed us multiple charts that had each of us classified with a watch and group that was then cross referenced with another chart that showed you your watch and duty schedules.
I went to the charts and schedules and took photos of them with my phone so I could study them at my leisure. Many other crewman quickly followed suit. I found my assignment and that I was assigned to Mizzen 2 that puts me in section 3 and it shows we're classified as TSA crew. Orion helped me translate that means I was in 3-Z2 (Section 3 - Mizzen group 2) and from there we were able to figure out where we were on the daily schedule. It helped that Orion asked Ramirez a bunch of questions and that he was also in my mast and section. We were not looking forward to the midnight to 4 AM shift while having another watch on the same day from 4 to 8 PM.
After the briefing, I made some calls from the weather deck to my family and found Captain Mike of the Fame in our berth when I returned. He had just missed the briefing but seeing as there was no paperwork we had ever received that said we were getting the briefing, he didn't feel too bad. I briefly went over our orientation with him and introduced him to the other crew that had been gathering. We had 12 guys in our berth though we were all having problems keeping the names straight. I can at least remember now the names of Steve and Harris, hopefully I'll be able to get down the rest of their names as the days go on.
Some went on to keep exploring the ship while some of us went to our bunks for the night.
After the briefing, I made some calls from the weather deck to my family and found Captain Mike of the Fame in our berth when I returned. He had just missed the briefing but seeing as there was no paperwork we had ever received that said we were getting the briefing, he didn't feel too bad. I briefly went over our orientation with him and introduced him to the other crew that had been gathering. We had 12 guys in our berth though we were all having problems keeping the names straight. I can at least remember now the names of Steve and Harris, hopefully I'll be able to get down the rest of their names as the days go on.
Some went on to keep exploring the ship while some of us went to our bunks for the night.
I got my headphones on and started my sleep fan app as the noises from other crew kept waking me up....I woke up as a crewman came in to get us up for the morning. I looked at my lit up digital watch which showed 5:45 AM and we all scrambled to get ready and figured out where we needed to go and start our work details. My alarm went off and I noted it was 5:45 AM on my digital watch...wait...I wasn't wearing my digital watch! I figured out in my grogginess that I had dreamed about waking up and going to work on the ship. I figured this happened at least six more times as the resonant snoring from an unknown bunkmate pierced through my headphones.