Had it not been for good fortune, I wouldn’t be here today. Planned attacks on our ship didn’t come through and we never floundered in high seas. By high seas I mean seas that were running 25 feet which meant that a few waves stacked up could reach easily over 30 feet. If you’ve never felt a ships hull shudder from being smashed into by twenty tons of water consider yourself lucky. Even then I never got seasick. But sleep was a bit difficult when your compartment is twenty feet beneath the water line. You’re not going to get out if something leaks badly.
This is a huge part of what I have grown old remembering. Having to walk the decks sometimes with one foot on the wall as the ship rolled to port or starboard. Talk about sea legs!
This is something I miss even now. I loved being at sea and out of sight of land for months at at time. I recall sitting on the bollards just staring at the sun going down over the horizon and wondering where in the heck we were on whatever ocean we were sailing. Pacific, Indian, Antarctic Sea.
We went to Vietnam and once we were through our missions of combat we headed on a circuitous route home which took us to Australia, New Zealand, Tasmania and a stop at Pago-Pago before heading to Hawaii and then home to San Diego. Three weeks of extra steaming through waters so azure they were breath taking and horizon to horizon and teaming with Dolphins. They would run along side our ship and use the wake to play in by diving first into one then the next.
I’d do it again at the drop of a hat.
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