My Busy Life with the US Coast Guard...
I am doing a crappy job of keeping up with this, my humble blog. I entreat my gentle readers to give me a bit of understanding, given these busy days...
I never finished a discussion of Dutch Harbor, my stay at Charlie's new house, my tour of the crabbers and docks, and my foggy foray into the WWII ruins above the cloudline on Mt. Ballyhoo. I took some good pictures, and I will get to those... soon. Just as I still promise to write about my "Alaska is bigger than your butt, and doesn't care a wit about you" adventure earlier this summer when Chief Garcia and I rented a truck in Nome and attempted to drive to the "Train to Nowhere" one afternoon. All the makings of an epic start, without the clear disaster ('cause we were smart, and a man's got to know his limitations...).
So, as I make these feeble excuses, I am riding onboard the CGC MUNRO in the Gulf of Alaska, somewhere south and west of Kodiak Island, enroute the Unimak Pass and the promise of boardings of Bering Sea Red King Crabbers. It's what we do on ALPATs...
The weather has been pleasant thus far, and the seas very moderate for mid-October. We were promised 10 to 14 footers by the weather guys, but have only seen a 3 to 4 ft chop. It has us uneasy, waiting for the other shoe to drop. It is nice now, but we all know that the weather made famous by the Deadliest Catch can catch us at any time.
The bandwidth on the internet connection really sucks, so there will be no pictures until I get home.
The crew is out of San Diego, although next summer the MUNRO's homeport will change to Kodiak, and then they will be blessed to be Alaskans. They are professionals, serious, and ready to get to the law enforcement tasks in front of them. I am here to do some training with them, to help them get up to speed on enforcing the safety regs, and for my own education. I hope to get out on a few crabbers before I leave the ship later this week. I could tell you more, but then I'd have to kill y'all (wait for the after-action report...).
Julie is sad and lonely with me gone to sea, but we trade e-mails and that makes things a bit better. I think of her often, and it always takes me back to the conflict raging in my heart and soul: do I stay at home safe, or do I obey the lizard-brain longing to go to sea, just as I imagine my ancestors torn between the thrill of the hunt and new adventure, or staying close to the tribe and gathering instead. I suspect I will never resolve this dilemma... but I thank God that I have the opportunities available to me to have this conflict. A desk job with no prospect of new sights, new perspectives, a measured amount of danger... that would kill my spirit.
Or at least that's the crap I tell myself as I hold steady on this desk with my knees as I type, so that I don't move around too much.
Enough for now. Hug a serviceman for their sacrifice, especially a sailor.
KML
I never finished a discussion of Dutch Harbor, my stay at Charlie's new house, my tour of the crabbers and docks, and my foggy foray into the WWII ruins above the cloudline on Mt. Ballyhoo. I took some good pictures, and I will get to those... soon. Just as I still promise to write about my "Alaska is bigger than your butt, and doesn't care a wit about you" adventure earlier this summer when Chief Garcia and I rented a truck in Nome and attempted to drive to the "Train to Nowhere" one afternoon. All the makings of an epic start, without the clear disaster ('cause we were smart, and a man's got to know his limitations...).
So, as I make these feeble excuses, I am riding onboard the CGC MUNRO in the Gulf of Alaska, somewhere south and west of Kodiak Island, enroute the Unimak Pass and the promise of boardings of Bering Sea Red King Crabbers. It's what we do on ALPATs...
The weather has been pleasant thus far, and the seas very moderate for mid-October. We were promised 10 to 14 footers by the weather guys, but have only seen a 3 to 4 ft chop. It has us uneasy, waiting for the other shoe to drop. It is nice now, but we all know that the weather made famous by the Deadliest Catch can catch us at any time.
The bandwidth on the internet connection really sucks, so there will be no pictures until I get home.
The crew is out of San Diego, although next summer the MUNRO's homeport will change to Kodiak, and then they will be blessed to be Alaskans. They are professionals, serious, and ready to get to the law enforcement tasks in front of them. I am here to do some training with them, to help them get up to speed on enforcing the safety regs, and for my own education. I hope to get out on a few crabbers before I leave the ship later this week. I could tell you more, but then I'd have to kill y'all (wait for the after-action report...).
Julie is sad and lonely with me gone to sea, but we trade e-mails and that makes things a bit better. I think of her often, and it always takes me back to the conflict raging in my heart and soul: do I stay at home safe, or do I obey the lizard-brain longing to go to sea, just as I imagine my ancestors torn between the thrill of the hunt and new adventure, or staying close to the tribe and gathering instead. I suspect I will never resolve this dilemma... but I thank God that I have the opportunities available to me to have this conflict. A desk job with no prospect of new sights, new perspectives, a measured amount of danger... that would kill my spirit.
Or at least that's the crap I tell myself as I hold steady on this desk with my knees as I type, so that I don't move around too much.
Enough for now. Hug a serviceman for their sacrifice, especially a sailor.
KML
posted by Ken at 3:52 PM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home