The best shots V

The will be the last of the Navy Days shots, and although I usually just post three pictures, since it’s the last in the series, there are a few more.

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There were some things I really liked about the Navy.  Going to sea was an interesting experience, because from the main deck of the ship, or even from the 02 and 03 levels (decks above the main deck) the farthest one could see was 7 miles.  The oceans are HUGE, and I felt the total insignificance of my existance out at sea.  You cannot see anything but water, water all around.  My ship, which was small by Navy standards, was my home, and felt large to me, but out at sea, we were less than a fly speck on the canvas of the sea.

Looking over the bow of the ship, cutting through the Caribbean:

This was a placid day on the sea.  It was mostly flat and calm and the ship sailed on with little rocking.  We were home ported out of Charleston, South Carolina, and once, a hurricane passed by, making landfall in our area. 

The safest place for a ship in a storm is at sea, not tied up to the pier, and we were sent out to ride out the storm.  We sailed around Cape Hatteras, the "graveyard of the Atlantic" because so many ships have been lost there.  I remember standing on the fantail, at the back of the flight deck and smoking and looking UP at the waves above the ship.  The tops of the waves were taller than the mast of my ship, and it rolled through a 60 degree arc.  There were times when walking down the passageways meant that you were walking on the walls, which were now the floor. 

 THAT was a humbling experience too. 

I never got seasick, but that time, well, it was a close thing.

Here, I’m looking aft from the right, or starboard side of the ship and you can gain a hint of what it was like – there was nothing to see but water and sky.

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Here’s the view from the Port side of the ship, looking forward, also showing nothing but sea and sky.

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Here’s a shot from the 02 level, looking aft, and this was no dead calm day; see how the ship rolled?

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Looking aft on another day:

A calm day, our wake spreading behind us for miles.

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Here ends our Navy Days presentation, but there are still tales to tell and pictures to see, and I’ll post those another time.

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