Alaskan Voyage

Being in the Coast Guard stationed on a ship has led me to travel to some pretty awesome places in the Pacific ocean. One place that I won't forget was the Aleutian Islands of Alaska. Not only was it one of the coldest places I have been to but it was also one of the most beautiful, breathtaking sights that I have ever seen. When I went to the Bering sea it was during winter. The sun didn't come up til 10 and didn't set until 10 at night. My sleeping habits were off for 3 months. I got to visit the islands of Kodiak and Dutch Harbor. We also sailed past St. Paul and several smaller, uninhabited islands including some with volcanoes. Having to stand watch outside in the middle of the night in the freezing rain and wind. It was absolutely miserable. There were times that I just cried and wanted to jump into the water because I  couldn't take it anymore. Yes, I am a wimp when it comes to cold, but you would be to when the wind chill made it -11 degrees out. Yea, I don't miss those late nights and early mornings. The morning we first pulled into Kodiak I remember the darkness as the sun began to rise, lighting the way exposing the beautiful snow covered mountains that lie ahead. It was a truly majestic sight as we sailed through sea ice and fog. For those of you that have never been and never will go to Kodiak, I will say that you are not missing out on anything. While the Coast Guard base does have a bowling alley and a movie theater  there is not a whole lot to do on the rest of the island if you are not an outdoorsy type of person. There's a Walmart, a McDonalds and a KFC/Taco Bell. There are some bars and restaurants and a lot of outdoor/sporting stores. The terrain is very rugged and beautiful though. Driving through the winding mountains is very scenic and enjoyable. On the other hand you have Dutch Harbor home to Discovery channels Deadliest Catch. I actually got to see the Time Bandit boat from the show. Now Dutch Harbor has snow covered mountains and lots of hiking trails. One thing to do there, besides go to the bar and drink, is to hike to the old WWII bunkers that were used to fight off the Japanese. There is also a World War II museum that explains the role that the Aleutian islands played during the war. Mostly all I did was drink at the bar though, there is one grocery store, and Alaska Ship Supply store, a hotel, a small restaurant and then some other shops. Not much going on there, I don't know who would ever want to live there. The storm that came through was crazy, our ship was thrashing back and forth. My experience in Dutch Harbor was good, but I don't want to go back. While out in the Bering Sea my Captain decided that we should sail past the International Dateline the 180 Meridan. After we sailed past, on our way back to California, I participated in the Golden Dragon ceremony. For all those that have crossed the 180th Meridan you are called a Golden Dragon, if you pass the initiation ceremony. It was some pretty embarrassing and gross stuff that I can not say in case someone crosses the line. I will say it involved week old nasty food. Anyways on our way back to America we stopped off in Victoria, B.C. That place was beautiful, and the people were so nice and pretty. Great place to visit. So all in all my experience to Alaska was... well just that, and experience that I will never forget and do not wish to repeat.

Boot Camp Funnies

So after my first post  I am going to start with what it was like to go to boot camp in the Coast Guard. There are certain things and names that I can not reveal but I can share some experiences and funny stories.

To start off, boot camp is never easy. Being that you are not suppose to laugh or smile for the next 8 weeks, it can be quite hard to hold it in. By the time you get out you are laughing at the slightest things, everything that is said or done becomes funny to you. If you look at it from the company Commander's or Drill instructor's perspective then it's even more funny, because the things that recruits say and do can be hilarious. And a CC's job is to make them look and feel even more ridiculous. 

I remember this one time when my company was running around the Quarterdeck(central gathering place for information) and one kid picked a weggie. Well the Company commander saw him and made the kid direct traffic around the Quaterdeck by saying "shipmate, don't pick your weggie, shipmate" Repeatedly. It's a lot more funny when that kid has to say it seriously and no one can laugh. 

I think the most funny thing was when someone would ask an already stupid question and the CC's would just tear them up for asking stupid questions. Yelling at them and making them feel even stupider. It is kind of sad to say that is funny, it really is, because the CC's just go all out and make a show of it. 

One hard thing to do at boot camp was to stand still for hours at a time. If you had bugs landing on you, you could not swat at them or move at all. This one time, we were standing in line waiting to go into our Hall of residence for the night, when a girl up front swatted at a bug on her face and the CC caught her. It wasn't her fault, we were all doing it she just happened to be the one to get caught. Mind you, I went to boot camp in New Jersey during the summer. Bugs everywhere! Well, she ended up getting all 70 of us in trouble.

So it's night time and my CC decides to make us go into the grass field, lay on the ground and roll around. He said "Let them feast on you, it's just the food chain they need to eat too. Do not swat at them, just let them feast!" So next morning we all had about 30 bug bites all over our bodies. That was fun. NOT!

Oh yea, the one thing my company was known for is when we had 18 girls marching around all holding onto a piece of rope with our heads down. My company had gotten into trouble and we had to march around with our heads down and tape covering the "US Coast Guard" name tag on our uniforms.

The next day, some girls were caught fighting in the bathroom after the 10pm curfew. And this was the 2nd to last week of boot camp so we should have known better than to get into trouble. Well our punishment was to march behind the boys all linked together by short ropes in between our hands. It was very hard to walk around for 3 days linked together, especially going through the lunch line.

The guys didn't really like the girls in the company. We were mostly the reason for getting in trouble. I don't blame them, we were a mess. Oh well.

Towards the end the CC's start to lighten up and joked around with us more. The last week of boot camp, the girls were up past 10, which is bed time, and right when one of the girls told another girl(jokingly) to "kiss her ass", our CC comes walking through and everyone goes silent. He just shakes his head, keeps walking and says, "Really? Is that how you girls talk to one another... Night ladies." and walked out. That was pretty funny. We all just burst out laughing. 

Some good memories come out of boot camp but I would not say it was fun. Rolling around in the beach sand at 4 in the morning was not fun but the challenge we had to accomplish was. I will say that boot camp is a good experience but only if you can handle it, otherwise don't do it.

First Time Blogger

So as the title suggests this is my first time publishing a blog. I'd figure I would go with everyone else and finally start one. I spend a lot of time being angry and venting to my friends so I feel that I should express my frustration and tell my stories here, in case anyone has anything good to take away from it. 

 I have decided that this blog is going to be about my stories and accomplishments from having served in the U.S. Coast Guard. I have had a lot of great experiences while being stationed on a ship.

Next blog I'll talk about boot camp and my first few months on the boat. Quick preview, it involves 18 girls linked together by rope, and a major search and rescue mission of a cruise ship.

Thanks everyone for reading this and I hope that you enjoy my blog(s). Please feel free to give me any feedback.