I returned to Seattle last week after 56 days in Hawaii. I left in late June and first 22 days in Honolulu were spent in port. A week of it was the annual fleet inspection and the rest was inport time. It was no nine to five routine as weekends were filled with work as well as catch up on projects. When the time came to go home I welcomed the opportunity as there was much mental and physical exhaustion. The 30-day cruise that followed the long inport made the thirty days feel like sixty or ninety.
Last cruise consisted of going to the monument with a stop at Midway. There was not much to write about as it was identical to the trip last year. The five day stop at Midway was busted up by a night out at sea and an early departure so to conduct conductivity, temperature and density sampling around Midway. The gooney birds were gone with the exception of a few stragglers whose unfortunate destiny would be determined by Darwin’s survival of the fittest.
During the cruise the United Nations designated the Papahanaumokuakea National Monument a World Heritage Site. I applaud its significance but never gave it much thought after hearing it because I have sailed through it many times and for me it is part of my “office” of which, I will never take for granted. In addition, I never see what is below the surface of the ocean. The scientists share their photos with us and many of them are quoted in the press upon our return when the media is there to greet them for an event. Read: Sea temperature rise prompts coral watch as this article quotes the chief scientist from the last cruise.
On a personal side, the cruise was one of those that are nightmarish for mariners with loved ones waiting back home whose patience has run short. Events happen at home where you have no control over the situation while you are literally thousands of miles away feeling helpless. It happens in the Navy quite a bit but there are support systems in place that aid the sailors and their families. No such infrastructure exists in NOAA, especially for civilian personnel. Employee Assistance Programs are usually geared towards those in the mainstream nine to five environment while most of the counselors lack the insight on this way of life. With help from family members whose network was from Hawaii, mainland US, Western Samoa and New Zealand issues were somewhat resolved but the homecoming and physical reunion was the answer to this problem.
When the shipped passed Kauai, home of Jurassic Park, it was the first place of mobile phone coverage. I made a call home to let the family know we were less than one day sailing time from Oahu. The trade winds smashed the swells onto the ship as it howled into the microphone of the cell phone. In the background my son and wife could hear the winds and splashing of the swells. Whitecaps stretching to Kauai and beyond seen from the weatherdeck as the ship rolled through the headwinds and waves. For me after the horrid personal experience of the past month, the speed (ten knots) wasn’t fast enough as I talked to “L” on the phone!
I did lose some weight thanks to the workouts on board the ship as well as discipline in eating. The true test is the temptation of shore life, along with keeping up motivation to continue to work out. I would love to return to the days when running seven and a half miles was effortless along with lifting over one hundred pounds. “L” goes and “I” go to the gym with me to help keep up the effort.
Books galore are what I look forward to when sailing and this cruise had no shortage of good books. Pearl Buck’s The Good Earth, The Bin Ladens: An Arabian Family in the American Century by Steve Coll, classical Machiavelli piece The Prince, and The Coldest Winter: America and the Korean War by David Halberstam. I started and currently reading A Different Mirror, a History of Multicultural America by Ronald Takagi. So far I believe my count is eight or nine books read for the year. The television is never on when I am at sea. A fellow ET loaned me a DVD and critiqued the movie as awful so I had to see it for myself as my pragmatism got to me. He was precise and after ten minutes the TV went off and the DVD withdrawn from the player and it was back to books.
It is good to be home and it will be November before I return to Hawaii for winter in port maintenance. Meanwhile I am going to take pleasure in being home and enjoy every minute of it!
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