It's really hard to wrap my mind around the fact that MAy 25th might have been my last day at sea. It's hard enough to know that it was my last day at sea on a Destroyer. I've been a Destroyer Sailor since 1996 and now there may or may not be another ship in my future. I won't find out for a few years, though I admit the odds are actually pretty good for me. Some of my peers see the end of the Command tour as a relief, and while I admit that my last few days were nerve-wracking, it was more because of the weather than anything else. The prior was probably the best week at sea I'd ever had - we shot just about every weapon on the ship, completed all our major warfare area qualifications and rocked them. It was amazing to see my already great Sailors walking around with their heads held high and gigantic grins on their faces. Heck, even the assessors we had onboard were visibly enjoying themselves. We had a great weekend, topped with a steel beach picnic and a flight deck movie on Sunday.
The weather turned on Tuesday, leading me to make the only decision in my entire career that I will regret for the rest of my life - I took the ship alongside an oiler when the weather, winds and seas made every instinct I had say "No." I ignored my gut, and I was wrong. Nobody got hurt, nothing was broken, but when I think about it too closely it still freaks me out. Once again, my guys were spectacular and they did everything the way they were supposed to do exactly when they were supposed to do it. Nobody could ask for more - but weather will always make me think twice now. Or maybe three times. The next day we went back alongside after reaching the shelter of the bit of CA that turns sharply southeast and were successful. Then we headed back into the wind and seas.
Thursday was an incredibly rough day, producing the seas you see in the picture I posted earlier. We buried the bow regularly over the course of 24 hours on the trip to San Francisco, causing a small amount of damage. Not too expensive to fix, but impressive to those who hadn't been in big seas before. I was just happy that Friday was clear and the winds had died enough that we could go out and wash down the ship before we entered port. We were looking pretty bedraggled on the whole, both ship and crew, so some music and splashing around was good.
Also helping lift spirits was the release of the advancement results for some of our Sailors. I was really happy that I was able to do that on my final day at sea. I even advanced one young man who had already completed his leadership and other courses once before (long story, but the entire crew was pretty happy to see this moment.)
Then it was time to shift into our shite uniforms and spiff outrselves up to match the ship. We had an 1130 appointment under...
The Golden Gate Bridge. We went under about 30 second early, but I don't there there was anyone who noticed other than me and the Navigator. Our arrival was times to coincide with the dedication of a pavilion on the south side of the bridge. My Mom, my successor and a bunch of other people were there. We steamed along the city waterfront slowly before turning further south into the bay. From the bridge through our mooring we were accompanied by one of the SFFD's fire boats, Pheonix.
I think they were supposed to meet us before we went under the Golden Gate, but that's a little tiny boat and those seas, even having calmed from the day before, were way too much for her to handle. We enjoyed the fuss though. So there you have it...my last day at sea, from rough seas to shelter under the Bay Bridge.
Really enjoyed reading this entry... What a week!!!
Posted by: LauraRN | June 03, 2012 at 09:49 PM
This last line meant so much to me . . . "my last day at sea, from rough seas to shelter under the Bay Bridge." How poetic and profound . . . when we reach the end of our tour, we go from rough seas to shelter . . . Thank you Shanti for sharing with us all a glimpse of life and adventure at sea through you eyes. And welcome home to calm seas and shelter. I can't wait to see what adventures still await you . . .
Posted by: Lisa | June 04, 2012 at 05:59 PM
I don't get it, you are young, strong and healthy......have trained and studied for years and have "a shipload" of experience, not to mention, it would seem, you do your job very well and now you won't be going to sea ???
You love your work and lead your crew to function to your high expectations.
"If it ain't broke, don't fix it!"
I know you will go on to bigger and better things and advance your career,but there is heaps of time in the future for that.
It is like pulling a gold medal swimmer out of competition at 21, and saying "you can now be an ambassador for the sport or a trainer or administrator, but you are done swimming"
So sorry you will miss being at sea and with your "guys"
Posted by: Margaret | June 05, 2012 at 07:09 PM