Thoughts on the life of a sailor ...

[Cloud Cover]

I considered posting this in the Military Literature forum, but I decided instead to post in the Navy Forum as I am hoping to stimulate a bit of discussion about how serving at sea can affect ones outlook on life. So I begin by quoting perhaps the 'greatest historical naval novelist of all time", the late Patrick O'Brian in his novel Mauritius Command:

"Were we to speak generally, we might say that upon the whole sailors after many years of their unnatural cloistered life, tend to regard the land as Fiddler's Green, a perpetual holiday; and their experiences cannot be attempted to be fulfilled. What the ordinary landsman accepts as the common lot, the daily round of domestic ills, children, responsibilities, the ordinary seaman is apt to look upon as a dissapointment of his hopes, an altogether exceptional trial, and an invasion of his liberty."

Mauritius Command is the 4th volume in a 20 volume set which includes the now famous novel The Far Side of the World- the book upon which the movie Master and Commander was based.

What of the relentless, monstrous, beautiful oceans of the world and those who ply her currents, winds and routes. Has making the sea a part of your life actually changed your perspective on living? I know it did for me, but it took a while to get used to the routine of sea, especially the routine aboard a warship with it's many daily evolutions.

There is a saying along the lines that "once you are upon the sea, then shall forever be the sea within you." To a large degree I find I must agree with this saying .... I never saw the ocean until I was twenty years of age .... now twenty years on I cannot take my mind off it for than a day or two.

Cheers.
Anybody else have similar perspectives?            

 

[CallOfDuty]

  Great post Whiskey..............I really look forward to hearing some replies to your question!  Hopefully soon I will be able to contribute

 

[Ex-Dragoon]

Sailing has given me a better apprecation to nature and the beauty that this planet still can give us. Where else can you see dolphins play in the wake of your ship underneath constellations you never see here at home.

 

[Torlyn]

Well boys...  You've certainly got me itching for January...  I can't count how many times I've watched Master and Commander in the last 6 months. 

T

 

[Cloud Cover]

One of my fondest memories is one very early morning out in the Northern Pacific- we were steaming east just as the sun was rising- in fact we were just closing in with Provider for a RAS. The ocean was eerily flat calm, and while everybody was busy working away, hardly a word was said aloud other than what was necessary. The beauty of a well worked up crew working together.

It was feezing cold, and a patchy fog about was rollling over the sea. I was standing on the port wing doing lookout, stomping my feet in my non regulation Sorels and store bought winter jacket and lined snowmobile gloves, trying to keep warm. I felt somebody tug at my shoulder and I turned around to see the CO [wearing a white fisherman's knit- he looked liked Captain Ahab] and he pointed his hand out to about 5 points- maybe 200 feet away there was a huge pod of whales coming to the surface- the sonar types were tracking them for a few minutes before they surfaced.

Absolutely gorgeous morning. There really was no life like it, on that day anyway.

 

[Cloud Cover]

  Great post Whiskey..............I really look forward to hearing some replies to your question!   Hopefully soon I will be able to contribute

I hope you can too!! Good luck!

 

[Cloud Cover]

Well boys...   You've certainly got me itching for January...   I can't count how many times I've watched Master and Commander in the last 6 months.  

T

Are you off to Naden?

 

[Roy Harding]

One of my fondest memories is one very early morning out in the Northern Pacific- we were steaming east just as the sun was rising- in fact we were just closing in with Provider for a RAS. The ocean was eerily flat calm, and while everybody was busy working away, hardly a word was said aloud other than what was necessary. The beauty of a well worked up crew working together.

It was feezing cold, and a patchy fog about was rollling over the sea. I was standing on the port wing doing lookout, stomping my feet in my non regulation Sorels and store bought winter jacket and lined snowmobile gloves, trying to keep warm. I felt somebody tug at my shoulder and I turned around to see the CO [wearing a white fisherman's knit- he looked liked Captain Ahab] and he pointed his hand out to about 5 points- maybe 200 feet away there was a huge pod of whales coming to the surface- the sonar types were tracking them for a few minutes before they surfaced.

Absolutely gorgeous morning. There really was no life like it, on that day anyway.

Damn, whiskey601, you ALMOST make me wish I'd been Navy, instead of Army!

Nice story, beautifully written - thanks.

 

[Torlyn]

Are you off to Naden?

Hehe...  Not quite.  BOTC in Sept, Esquimalt in Jan.  There's about 40-ish MARS-y type people getting ready to start basic on September 12th...  And I know a few of them are lurking here. 

T

 

[nfg341]

Hehe...  Not quite.  BOTC in Sept, Esquimalt in Jan.  There's about 40-ish MARS-y type people getting ready to start basic on September 12th...  And I know a few of them are lurking here. 

T

Ok, so you finally caught me... Thanks for the post whiskey601. The more I hear about the Navy, the more impatient I become about starting basic. I'm sure the eagerness will wear off after I get to MARS training and a couple days of seasickness though

NFG

 

[NavyShooter]

When I sailed on the Gatineau, in about 1995, we did a rush trip up the St Lawrence, and on the way back, I was standing lookout.  It was a beautiful spring day (almost early summer) and I was observing some sea life as we bobbed our way home.  Enjoying the distinctive "Wheeze" of a steamer that you don't here nowadays.

As I looked off the bow, I noted something bobbing low in the water, looked an aweful lot like a head.  As we got closer, I noted it to be a seal.

As the ship sailed on, I kept watching the head bobbing.  The seal ended up passing about 10 feet off the port side of the ship, and I looked straight down at it, it looked straight up at me and did the "OOORK OOORK!" that seals are famous for....looking me straight in the eye.

That was....one of those moments.

NS

 

[Ex-Dragoon]

Not to mention the sight of the rising over the horizon of the North Atlantic with an iceberg back drop. Always a beautiful view.

 

[NavyShooter]

Oh,

Yeah, none of us can ever forget the night before arrival in Halifax, where you're bobbing around off-shore, you can see the lights of Halifax on the horizon, and the glow of the city on the clouds.  The ocean terminals are visible from a long ways off.

That's one of those memorable sights too...eh? 

And the knowledge that you're bobbing around 15 miles out, waiting for morning so you can go in....well....it's a shame cell-phones aren't allowed on ship, right?  :-X   

NS

 

[Navalsnpr]

There are many great sceneries to see while at sea. I remember the Norwegian Fjords on a few occasions, while performing a RAS and watching the northern lights do their stuff. What a sight.

Cell phones or any unauthorized transmissions will never be allowed onboard HMC Ships. Curious though, do the Army or Air Force allow their soldiers and airmen to use personal cell phones while deployed?

 

[jimmy742]

On Oriole in 1984, sailing up the West Coast of Latin America...

- The mist over jungle covered volcanoes in Costa Rica in the morning

- The quaint fishing village of Golfito. A true paradise on earth...something right out of Hollywood

-  Sea turtles, dolphin races  and whales off the Baja

- Standing watch on the bowsprit when a big warm greenie suddenly swamps you..turning around soaked to the skin and watching the wave travel the length of the ship soaking everyone else. Man, you felt alive.

- sleeping in the cats' whiskers or in the shade under the zodiac on a beautiful sunny day

To name just a few..

 

[RMC Sqn NCO]

Sailed the West coast for 4 years on board the mighty chuck wagon... my most memorable moment must have been the deployment to East Timor in 2000... hot as hell. This is where I've seen the best sunset ever.
Also my 22 times in Hawaii cannot be forgotten.

How about a war story.. In San Diego, in 1997, we're tied up at the naval station miles from the city. One of the briefing before going ashore was to stay away from the black neighborhood just up the street from the PX. Of course, being my first trip, young and stupid, I ended up downtown, for a few drinkssssss. After realizing that I had to make it back to the ship, I jumped on the train going towards the naval station... however, did not noticed that I took the wrong one. You see, there's 2 trains going the same way. One is right by the water and the other one, 15 blocks higher, and you guessed it, in the black neighborhood. Just to make it shorter, I ended up running for about 45 minutes, drunk as a skunk, all the way to the ship, and finally made is same and sound.

I could tell you about the time in Tokyo, trying to walk back to the ship from downtown.. but that will be another story.

Cheers 

 

[CallOfDuty]

  Tell the Tokyo story!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[RMC Sqn NCO]

1998 during Westploy, we visited Tokyo with HMCS Vancouver. A few of us were invited to the Canadian Embassy for a reception. To get there, we had a few guides escorting us in the subway since it's so confusing. 20 minutes in the subway, which was filled to capacity, we ended up at the embassy. The reception lasted until around midnight. So, like a good sailor, the night was just starting. We could see the city from where we were and decided to walk until we found a street loaded with bars. We ended up drinking until about 3 in the morning... again, drunk as a skunk, I had the great idea to walk back to the ship. This time I was not alone so myself and a friend of mine started walking... and walking... and walking and we were lost. Good thing that before leaving the ship, we grabbed a save my bum card. On the card, the location of the ship was written in Chinese or Cantonese...however, the cards were from their last visit, 2 or 3 years prior, and at this time, the ship was in a totally different location. Anyhow, going back to us being lost, we found a cab, and of course cabby couldn't speak a work of English, so I gave him the save my butt card, and ended up nowhere close to the ship...

We finally made it back, a few hours later, and I'll probably never forget this adventure.

Cheers

 

[Ex-Dragoon]

Good thing that before leaving the ship, we grabbed a save my bum card. On the card, the location of the ship was written in Chinese or Cantonese...however, the cards were from their last visit, 2 or 3 years prior, and at this time, the ship was in a totally different location. Anyhow, going back to us being lost, we found a cab, and of course cabby couldn't speak a work of English, so I gave him the save my butt card, and ended up nowhere close to the ship...

;D considering you were in Japan its no wonder the cabbie could not read Chinese/Cantonese.

 

[RMC Sqn NCO]

Hey, we did go to China, Korea and Russia during the same trip...
Should have stop drinking before...

cheers