Welcome Aboard The CG Barque Eagle
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May 14, 2005
60 miles off St. John's, Newfoundland
46o35.0'N 52o51.0'W
The first days at sea are filled with drills and
instructions to ensure the crew is well trained and prepared for any emergencies that may occur.
The winds and sea are always testing each crew member. Semper Paratus is
more than a motto for any Coastie.
Barque Eagle experiences their first equipment casualty and personal
injuries. Many are learning what being a sailor is all about.
All photos are credited: U.S. Coast Guard photograph by Petty Officer Second Class Andrea Rask.
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The Coast Guard Barque Eagle, homeported in New London, Conn.
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Captain's Log by 2/c Morgan Roy for Capt. E. J. Shaw
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Since our last update, Eagle has experienced nothing but non-stop action, both good and bad. On the positive note, cadets are starting to get a hang of the daily routine of standing a four-hour watch, attending training sessions, and spending their free time soaking up knowledge from the experienced crew members. 4/c cadets are expected to know all of the lines for their mast by our port call in St. John’s. This is about 70 lines for the mainmast alone. By the time we reach Bremerhaven, the cadets will know all of the lines on Eagle, aiding in their understanding of exactly what makes Eagle operate. The environment on board is one of teaching and learning, with cadets and crew alike happily participating. Several wildlife spottings have occurred in the past few days, including a pod of Atlantic pilot whales, some Atlantic bottlenose dolphin, and some other various whale sightings. Although the winds have not quite participated with Eagle, we were able to set most of the sails to test Eagle’s sailing ability.
Unfortunately, Eagle experienced an equipment casualty on Wednesday [Ed. note: The term "casualty" is used when something is broken, injured, or out of operation for the time being]. During sail stations, the main upper yardarm was being raised to set the upper topsail. Even though standard procedure was followed, the upper yardarm was bent on the port side. This same yardarm has been bent twice in the past, once on either side of the latest bend. These past two bends were suspected in aiding with the third, as the material properties of the steel were not as strong as they were before the initial bend. “Avast” was quickly called by the Bos'n and sail stations were secured until the damage was investigated and an initial plan was formed. No one was injured in this evolution.
After the yardarm incident, sail stations continued but the main upper sail was not set. Later, members of the deck department climbed up and removed the sail from its yardarm, to prepare the piece for repair. The current plan for repairs is to leave St. John's a day early, putting Eagle into Bremerhaven a day or two early, leaving three to four days to effect the repair on the yardarm while in port there.
On Thursday, cadets had the opportunity to participate in damage control drills. A selected group of cadets learned from the expert crewmembers how to put out an Alpha-class fire out below decks, attend to injured personnel, and keep others out of harm's way. Others took their mast pinrail tests, showing how much have already learned on their small time underway.
On Thursday night, Eagle motorsailed in the trough en route to St. John's, rolling from port to starboard continuously, making the amount of sleep all aboard experienced very minimal. Friday morning brought angry seas and cold weather. A mix between snow and sleet was falling from the sky. Only a few cadets and crew braved the cold to check out the huge ocean swells. The 8 a.m. to noon watch-on-deck was properly outfitted in their foul weather gear and safety harnesses. As they sat prepared on the port side of Eagle's waist (the middle part of the ship), a wave broke over the port side and swept them off the bench, sending them flying into the port foul weather life line, which parted with the force of 10 flying cadets. The cadets continued to slide from port to starboard, where they finally ended up on top of each other. Five cadets suffered injuries, and were promptly attended to by Lt. Stehn (our medical officer), HS1 Anderson, HS2 Morgan, as well as several crew members and cadets. The medical training from the day before during damage control drills proved to be worthwhile for the cadets, as some of these cadets were first on scene. All injured personnel were brought to the wardroom to further treatment. After analyzing the situation, Captain Shaw decided that given the stable conditions of the injured cadets and the sea state, a helicopter evacuation was not feasible nor warranted. After consulting the U.S. Navy experts, the fasted route to a port with appropriate medical care was St. John's. Thus, Eagle is currently on its way to St., John’s, where it is expected by Saturday night. Currently, all injured cadets are feeling fine and are watching a movie in the wardroom. All efforts are being made to keep them comfortable and quickly moved to shore.
On a lighter note, about 20 cups of milk are spilled each meal due to rolls and unexpecting hungry personnel consuming their food in lieu of watching their beverage. However, with all that has happened in the past few days, now is more the time than ever not to cry over spilled milk!
Never a dull day on the Barque...
10 May 05 by 4/c Gartland
Eagle encounters the harsh seas of the North Atlantic.
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Ended up setting staysails yesterday, just to help the seemingly ever-increasing roll (side-to-side motion) of the vessel. Wind has been intense, so squaresails remain “squared away” (pardon the pun…I couldn’t help myself ;-). Today was bleak and chilly (46 degrees F) day, with swells ranging from 7-10 feet for most of the morning. No surprise that many - even some of the crew - became ill as a result. Crackers and cups of ice are often seen here and there about the waist, accompanying unfortunate, PFD-clad, strapped-in cadets who feed the fishes off the side of the ship. My stomach has been surprisingly settled thus far; the slow, steady rolling is quite soothing, as a matter of fact. The only difficulties I have experienced have been trying to stay awake during the 90-minute training sessions (these seasick meds are ridiculously tiring). Pretty cool training, by the way. Learned so much within only two days. Never thought I’d be spouting off nomenclature such as “main royal halyard” or “fore course brace” and really understand what they were and what they did. Pretty sweet stuff.
10 May 05 by 4/c Kotowitz
Today was better in some ways. It was good to be underway and to see how everything played out again, but was it cold. Today we had duty from 12 to 4 p.m., and I learned many things that I had to get signed off. It was much better
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4/c Katie Ustler steers Eagle on helm/lookout watch towards St. John's
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than the deck watch we had the day before. Just for the record, my lower back is still killing me, which is making it hard to the trainings but I will manage. Surprisingly we didn't have sail stations today which is kind of good; it will give my back a rest. The helm and lookout were kind of easy to get signed off after this, and it made me read through out whole cadet training manual to see what other cool things we need to accomplish as we have our five week sail across the Atlantic. As I read the manual I ended up falling asleep. I don't know what it is, but the rock of the ship plus reading just puts me right to sleep. Now I didn't feel like working out so I watched the movie they played on the mess deck. After this I finally got my act together and starting writing my journal entries, finished reading my manual, and studied my pin rail, which I did pretty well on for the pre-quiz. I like it that we actually have things to do during the down time, if we didn't I don't know what I would do with myself, see how reading just puts me to sleep. Working out is way too weird. I experienced that yesterday. Riding a stationary bike is like riding a bike on a roller coaster losing your stomach every so often. I guess you could say we hit some pretty rough seas during that time. Well it is getting later and watch tomorrow is at 8 a.m., so I am going to go get claustrophobic in my rack. Can't wait for the adventures of tomorrow, that is the best thing about being underway, each day is different...From somewhere in the Atlantic.
11 May 05 by EM3 Robert Kinman
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Brandon Aten climbs the rigging to set sails.
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“REVEILLE, REVEILLE, REVEILLE”, I hear over the intercom. It's time to wake up! Strap on my boots and brush my teeth to yet another day on the Barque. Walking the passageways filled with fourth class cadets eager to learn and give a helping hand. Today is going to be a great day. "Why," do you ask? Well, I'll tell you why. IT’S A SAILING DAY! Finally we get to set sail and turn off that noisy engine for the first time.
“SAIL STATIONS” I hear in a loud announcement over the intercom. Could it be? Could it be that the exciting moment has finally arrived? Yes it is. It’s the time we do what the ship was meant to do--sail. “MAIN MAST MANNED AND READY” I hear the mast captain scream to the bridge. This is it! We are now manned to haul on the lines we were assigned to. I was assigned to the staysail. Shouting up to the tops to Seaman May, “Lower the sheet for the main royal staysail.” “Aye,” I hear her respond. She lowers it slowly and it gets stuck. She lowers it again and it gets stuck again. Struggling with all her might she swings the sheet around the backstays. All looks well and we run
are line through it and tighten, only to find out to all our surprise she wrapped the sheet around a backstay accidentally. “Seaman May!” I shout. She was no where to be found. Not a single shipmate on the tops to give a lively hand to untangle this sheet we so desperately have been trying to have for 15 minutes. “Can anything else go crazy on this perfect day?” I say to myself. Of course not, it was just a simple mistake.
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A stopper (coiled line) rests on the rail after a hard day of work.
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“ON THE FORE, ON THE MAIN, WALK AWAY WITH THE UPPER HALYARD!” Commanded the bridge. It was time to pull two, one-ton yardarms to their sailing positions. Thirty men and women to each upper yardarm halyard. Every person pulling vigorously to get those yardarms up. "AVAST!" I hear all around. Everyone freezes what he or she is doing. “It must be a line caught up or something. We will be on our way anytime now,” I hear behind me.
“LADIES AND GENTLEMEN, THIS IS YOUR CAPTAIN SPEAKING,” I heard loudly over the intercom system. “THE UPPER YARDARM ON THE MAIN HAS BENT.” Oh no! We bent the upper yardarm. “SAIL
STATIONS WILL BE DELAYED UNTIL WE CAN FURTHER INVESTIGATE THE PROBLEM." "That’s a crazy thing to happen,” I overhear someone else say. In disbelief, I agree.
There never is a perfect day on the Barque. But there are always days you will remember. Like today--the day the ship bent the yardarm. Being a crewmember on the Barque Eagle is a dream and a memory instilled in every crewmember and cadet. It’s a ship that instills training beyond a textbook. Real day-to-day problems and scavenger hunts required to fix those problems. And to look back at all the teamwork it took to get everyone to the next day. For those who sit at the pier and say "Wow! That is a pretty good looking ship you got there." We can all look back at them and say, "Yes it is!" And here are its stories.
12 May 05 by 4/c Gartland
Saw dolphins yesterday! Not your stereotypical bottlenose, but rather small, round, brown-backed ones. Not sure of the type. They came right up to the side of the ship, leaping and swimming in a pod of four. Followed about two minutes and left. Been hearing talk about whale sightings as well, but haven’t seen any for myself.
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Cadets don climbing belts before going aloft.
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Did up-and-overs on the rigging yesterday for the school of ship training I missed last Saturday. Climbing’s getting better, but the fear of heights still lingers. I climb any chance I get, just for the opportunity to work on conquering it…
3:45 p.m. - Just came back from a whale sighting! They even made a “marine mammal watch” pipe, haha. It was a pod of about 10 or so, swimming along, their entire upper body breaking the surface often enough for everyone to get a clear view of them. So really, who needs to spend buckets of money just to maybe catch a faint glimpse of a dorsal fin or two? We’ve got the real thing!
9:30 - Got a weather brief at 4:30 p.m. today, predicting gale-force winds with 7-14 foot seas for the next two days. It was hard to believe, looking out and seeing the lake we were sitting in early this afternoon. Didn’t take long for things to pick up, though. Temperature has now dropped significantly, winds are as high as 25 knots, and we are rocking and rolling. Had sail stations at 6:15 p.m. as usual this evening to douse all sails (with the exception of some staysails). Now that was a chore. Fingers quickly grew numb while climbing several feet into the air on slippery rigging which was, all the while, shuddering under the mounting wind. Sea furling the stiff, brand-new course sail was nothing less than exasperating - but in retrospect, I wouldn’t have traded it for the world. I’m feelin’ saltier by the minute…arrrrrgh. ;-)
13 May 05 by 4/c Johnson
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4/c Walter Evans carefully watches the compass while steering the ship.
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Today Eagle continued to motor onward toward St. John, Newfoundland, and in the process ran into some very rough weather. Although we did know that Eagle was going to experience this weather, none of the 4/c cadets or crew could expect what the situation would encompass. Throughout the early morning hours we were buffeted by high winds and 8-14 foot waves which continuously rocked us in our berthing areas and racks (beds). Following breakfast, we began to hear from the cadets on duty during the night, telling about rain, hail, and rolling seas that Eagle went through.
Shortly after breakfast, the situation continued to worsen. Five cadets that were on duty around 8 a.m. were injured when a wave broke over Eagle, and washed them across the deck. Fortunately, none of the cadets were too seriously injured, due to the quick response of Eagle’s medical staff and crew. Following this incident, all of the cadets became very concerned for well-being of the injured cadets, although this was partially alleviated by the response of the officers and crew.
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Fireman Keely Dobbs carefully monitors Eagle's reverse osmosis water makers during her rounds.
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Due to the incident, all cadets were told to stay below decks, and the daily training scheduled for the morning and afternoon was cancelled. Because of the cancellation of training, many of the cadets were able to catch up on the sleep missed from the rough weather during the night. Luckily, no other serious injuries occurred throughout the day, although through a culmination of different incidents, it led one crew member to say, “Wow, you guys really do not have any sea legs whatsoever, do you?” However, after seeing how we could spill 7 drinks in 10 minutes at one meal, and the staggering number of cadets from one handhold to the next, it was not possible to disagree, since many of us, myself included, have never experienced any seas as rough as today, yet we are excited for the other weather we will run into throughout our voyage. With the continuous rocking of Eagle, I am confident that we will become used to the continued rolling of the seas. To everyone reading my account of today’s events, I wish fair winds and following seas.
13 May 05 by 4/c O’Meara
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Electrician's mate 3rd class Robert Kinman checks the engine oil leve.
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Today was one of those days that you just won’t forget. Everything went right and therefore went wrong. The seas increased from choppy last night to Captain Ahab salty this morning. At 3:30 a.m., I was almost launched out of my top rack as Eagle was tossed about. After breakfast I put on my foul weather gear and went to the bridge for 8 a.m. to noon watch.
Topside was very choppy with seas over 12 feet. A few waves came up and over the foc’sle and waste. It made for a very difficult crossing to reach the bridge. We had already had one casualty from the waist when we bent the main upper topsail yardarm on Wednesday. From the helm I could see the wave come over the gunwale on the port side and sweep the watch on deck off of their feet. They slid, grabbing the storm lines on the way. It snapped. After crashing into the starboard pinrail, the watch on deck was washed up against the port pinrail. The majority were injured, and the casualty list now included a sore back, several sprained ankles, an injured patella and ankle.
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4/c Jesse Harms leads division Fore 5 in sheeting in the headsails.
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The rest of the day revolved around the weather and the injured cadets. Initially they thought to medevac them to shore, but the sea-state made it too risky for non-life threatening injuries. Capt. Shaw decided that it would be best to steam straight to St. John’s and get medical help there. We got our salty seas, but we got so much more. In one morning I saw the casualty list triple, topside activities got secured, rain, snow, and hail, the wardroom converted to a hospital, and the mess deck portals become submerged every starboard roll. A sailor’s life for me, indeed.
13 May 05 by 4/c Sowers
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4/c Jeff Matejka (L)and Seaman Robert Yates(R) slice watermelon for lunch.
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The superstitions of Friday the 13th were in full effect today. A petty officer the other day told me that every good sea story starts with a “So there we were”, so that’s where I’ll start. So there we were sitting up on the waist of Eagle. When I woke up in the morning my stomach was in knots and I was feeling a little sea sick. They told us yesterday that the seas were going to get rough, and they were right. So I went up to the waist so I could get some fresh air. I sat down by the main mast as the ship rolled wildly from side to side. Several other cadets who were feeling sick and also those who were on duty were sitting on the waist as well. Two “life lines” had been stretched across the waist so people could catch themselves as they slid around the ship. Around 8 a.m. they piped first call to morning muster (which was to be held at foul weather parade) so I stood up and started to head inside. When I was about five feet from the door, the ship rolled tremendously to the port side. Water rushed over the side. Then Eagle went rolling hard to the starboard side. I was thrown right into the engine room vent that was directly to my side. As I went crashing into the vent I heard several screams and a snap behind me. When I got turned around everyone who was sitting with me on the port side had been knocked over and had slid across the waist to the starboard side. The snap I heard was the life line breaking as about 10 people hit it at once. Everyone slammed in the bulkhead of the ship.
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Eagle's main upper yardarm is bent during sail stations and is not safely usable until repairs in Bremerhaven, Germany.
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Then Eagle rolled even harder back to the port side. I was able to get a hold of a railing near me, but I watched as everyone, along with about six to eight inches of water, rushed across the waist and into the opposite bulkhead again with tremendous force. Once again the ship rolled back. Everyone again went sliding into the starboard bulkhead. I had to wait to run out to help everyone because if I let go of the railing I would have got taken out by the running water and would have joined everyone in the sliding. As soon as the third roll finished myself, along with XO and others who came on deck were able to get to our injured shipmates. Four people were unable to get up. The medical staff did an outstanding job taking control of the situation and getting everything under control. The injured cadets were brought into the wardroom where they would be safe and able to recover. After everything had calmed down, Captain ordered the ship to flank speed and set us on a direct course to get to St. John’s as soon as possible. Flank speed is the fastest the engine can be set at and the order for flank speed can only come from the Captain himself. For the rest of the day the deck was off limits to everyone except for those on duty. So there is it my first “sea story” which just so happened to come on Friday the 13th aboard Eagle!
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