The Navy Phoenix: Monday

We started the day at 0730 by picking up all the food for the trip and loading it onto the boat. The scheduled departure time was set for 1000 hrs. The other deck hand (Jeff Sheerer) and myself made sure the zodiac boat (small motor boat with inflatable sides) was ready to go and that the outboard motor was in working order. We left Esquimalt harbor at 1000 hrs as scheduled. Shortly after leaving we performed a “man overboard” drill in which we launched the zodiac into the water and used it to retrieve the floating flag which represented the “man overboard”. I then was given the opportunity to take the helm. The helm involves the steering and speed of the boat. I do not make the decisions as to direction or speed, but am told by the OOW (Officer of the Watch). When you are doing this, you do not even see where the boat is headed as there is a large console in front of you. You are given a bearing (ie 260 degrees) and you use the wheel to maintain that bearing as best you can within 10 degrees either way. One of the best parts was when I received the order to take the boat to 19 knots, which is full speed ahead. The actual speed of the boat was greater than that. I just grabbed the controls and pushed them all the way forward. It was as if the OOW had said “Punch it Chewie!” I did this twice today. The second time was easier. One of the hard parts is the voice procedures that you have to use, called Conning Orders. The OOW will say something like “Starboard 15” and I repeat it back to him while I turn the wheel to the right until the needle on the instrument is pointing at 15 at which time I have to say “15 of Starboard wheel on, Sir”. There are other orders when changing speed as well. By the end of the week, I think I will be pretty good at it.

We were going to dock at Ganges on Saltspring Island, but needed people on the jetty to assist with tying up the boat. So Jeff and I got in the zodiac and went on ahead of the boat to be the “berthing party”. Once the boat was tied up and secured, we had supper. We have our own cook (non-military) on board for this trip. He had lasagna (pre-made) and home made bread and carrot cake for dessert. He is going to be making a lot of the meals from scratch and is supposed to be an excellent cook; so I am looking forward to those meals.

There are 4 of us to a room. Myself, Jeff, the cook and a Leading Seaman who is an engineer. There are only 2 lockers and 2 drawers under the beds; so there is very, very little room to put your stuff, but we are managing. Everyone seems to be pretty cool so far and I think that this week will be a great experience.

I am on duty tonight (actually tomorrow morning from 0400 to 0800 hrs). I spend 4 hours on the bridge manning it and making sure that nothing happens that shouldn’t. I am going to be going to bed very early to get some sleep as it looks like another long day tomorrow. Overall, it was a Great Navy Day!