Welcome Aboard The CG Barque Eagle
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Click on chart for Eagle's current position
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99 miles Northwest of Bremerhaven, Germany
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Sunday ... holiday routine aboard the Barque. Cadets emerged from their berthing areas late in the morning and continued to lounge, watching movies and catching up on their reading.
All photos are credited: U.S. Coast Guard photograph by Petty Officer Second Class Andrea Rask.
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May 31, 2005
The Coast Guard Barque Eagle, homeported in New London, Conn.
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Captain's Log by 1/c Eric Majeska for Capt. E. J. Shaw
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Another day begins, but this one is different from most in that it is calm, serene and still on the water. Eagle has finally entered the North Sea and is surrounded by a variety of fire-breathing oilrigs, fishing vessels, and supertankers. The radio, which was filled with only static before is now bustling and busy with a cultural blend of Scottish, English, German, and many more languages and accents. The sails are set through the courses with the exception of the main upper, and the cadets are getting some long-awaited sailing experience.
While the seas have been calmer during the day, the Barque has been lively at night with more morale events led by 1/c Lee and 1/c Makowski. These two cadets work closely together, so much so that like another less stable pairing they're known aboard the Barque by the concatenation of their first names: "Bennifer." The belated karaoke night was finally able to be held with the calmer weather. Cadets and crew from the cooking staff and even an entire cadet berthing area took the stage on the mess deck. The officers also performed a rendition of “Only Sixteen” to Bos'n Sisk’s daughter, Hilary, who is on board Eagle for the transit across the Atlantic. Cadets and crew also enjoyed “Seinfeld Sunday” on the mess deck, consisting of grilled cheese sandwiches and a wide variety of soups, none of which were “for you.”
Sunday was also another holiday routine day aboard the Barque. Cadets emerged from their berthing areas late in the morning and continued to lounge, watching movies and catching up on reading their books. Memorial Day was yesterday. Cadets and crew are planning a ceremony in honor of our fellow service members, with a ceremony and honors rendered at 3 p.m. today. A wreath was created of spare line and will be put to sea during the ceremony. Everyone has been invited to add pieces of paper with names of family members or loved ones in the Armed Services.
Only a few days remain until Germany and our trans-Atlantic crossing is complete. After 15 days underway, everyone's looking forward eagerly for the port call. Some have dreams of German chocolate, others, a tour of the Beck’s beer brewery.
Sailing weather has been so good in the North Sea that Eagle has had to douse some sails to ensure the ship doesn’t arrive early. With only tens of miles remaining, cadets stand by the rail wide eyed, admiring the spots of land and the many signs of civilization that they have been without for two weeks. Amidst all the commotion of the North Sea, Eagle sails slowly and serenely towards her destination.
29 May 2005 by 3/c Zachary Robertson
1/c Ryan Maca, the conning officer during the noon to 4 p.m. watch, gives commands from the bridge wing during sail stations.
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The weather was great this morning. We all woke up at our own pace, as today was holiday routine. I had duty this morning from midnight until 4 a.m. It was warm out all night, and the morning ended up being the same way. The sun came out and, if you were out of the wind, it felt really nice. I was able to wear a light t-shirt and ODU bottoms pants all day long. It stayed this way most of the day and cooled off a little bit later in the evening.
Seaman Marshall Douglas lowers the aft line of the motor life boat as boat crew members hold their monkey lines.
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Sundays are nice on the Barque. Everyone seems to be in a great mood. You have a chance to catch up on some of the ever-precious sleep. Today was "Seinfield Soup" day. For dinner, "Seinfield," was played on the mess deck television, and we all enjoyed grilled cheese and soup for dinner. I think everyone had a good time and the food tasted exceptionally good.
This evening, I have the 8 p.m. to midnight operations watch. So, I will likely be helping to navigate for the ship. It should be a good watch. We are so far north; darkness isn’t much of an issue at night. It is basically light for 20 to 21 hours per day. I’m originally from Alaska, so I feel right at home with the drastic light hours. Also, now that we are closer to land, we may actually see some ships/aircraft. Last night we saw a bunch of large oil platforms off our starboard side. Contacts and lots of light will hopefully make for a good watch. And, hopefully the nice weather will carry through until tomorrow.
28 May 2005 by 3/c Stephen Bondira
A boatswain's mate must always be prepared with all the necessary tools.
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We were up at midnight for deck watch last night but because the wind continues to blow off our bow, we were not needed to put up staysails. Without anything to do, our watch got secured sometime after 1 a.m. The early excusal offered us a few more hours of sleep with out guaranteed late rack.
Yesterday was "Fishy Friday." This meant fish for lunch and substituting the proper salute with a fish face. Also, in the evening, all hands were welcome to go fishing off the fantail of Eagle. From our success rate, we found out why they call it fishing and not catching. It’s hard to believe that we have crossed the Atlantic. The days all run together. While an individual day may seem long, the week passes by quickly. I look forward to our port calls to see some sights, enjoy some fine dining, and maybe even get a good run in.
As for tonight, my division, Main 1, has duty from 8 p.m. to midnight deck watch; should be interesting. The seas have picked up a bit.
28 May 2005 by 3/c Kelley Black
Boat crew members go to recover Oscar, the "man overboard," during a man overboard drill.
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For my division, the day started off with a midnight to 4 a.m. operations watch, where we navigated and stood helm and lookout. I saw my first full sunrise at 3:12 a.m. over the Scottish isles. It was absolutely breathtaking.
After standing watch and almost freezing to death on lookout, it was quite a relief to curl up in my nice warm rack. Being underway for this amount of time really teaches you to appreciate the small things. When I wake up, the weather had taken a turn for the worse and Captain Shaw secured the weather decks and cancelled training for the day. So, I continued on with the day below decks watching movies and sleeping.
28 May 2005 by 3/c Christopher O’Meara
(L to R) 3/c Parga, McCormack, and Thomas stand lookout watch on the bow.
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I can’t believe that it’s almost June. Another five days and we’ll be in Germany. We sailed past a cluster of islands off of the northern tip of Scotland yesterday. It was very refreshing to see land. The past several days have been jam-packed and long…three late rack days in a row. I had scullery and mid rats (midnight rations) the first two days, and then watch on deck last night. Last night was the first time I’ve seen it get dark in a while; night doesn’t seem to venture this far north. About ten minutes of “night” is about all we get; and to think that last week I thought a 2:30 a.m. sunrise was bizarre. We have been seeing a bunch of contacts the past few days. Coupled with the islands yesterday, we’re all anxious to get ashore. We’ve only sailed a few days in the last ten days; the winds were just not favorable. The weather, though, has been desirable otherwise. I think it was coldest sailing to St. John’s. Crossing the pond has been fairly warm (meaning it’s comfortable to be on the waist during the day). They re-opened the laundry yesterday after being secured for the day before. We use over 900 gallons in a typical morning without laundry and the RO (reverse osmosis water maker) only makes a little over 400 gallons. Water, water everywhere and not a drop to do laundry with…
27 May 2005 by 3/c Brandon Aten
Crew members set the re-flash watch during a shipboard damage control drill involving a fire.
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I was awakened by my berthing mates getting ready for their mess cook duties. It was 4:50 a.m. in the morning. I followed the dim red lights to the mess deck and prepared myself a cup of hot cocoa. At first, I was oblivious to my location, but was soon reminded after a moderate sized swell hugged and rocked Eagle back and forth. After finishing my cup of hot cocoa, I began another day on Eagle’s Atlantic journey.
As soon as morning muster was finished, sail stations began. At 8 a.m. in the morning, I usually am still attempting to become alert and maintained. During sail stations though, many risks can be present, so I have to be alert for my shipmate's and my own safety. We only set the staysails on the fore, which allowed us to secure with enough time to stay on schedule.
Auxiliarist Jim Stachelek scans the horizon as lookout, keeping a watchful eye for other vessels and hazards.
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Morning training commenced and my division and I were heading towards the wardroom for damage control communications training. During training, we were taught various signals of communication for certain hazards. After training was finished, I headed to my berthing area to organize some things before lunch. The main dish at lunch was salmon and it was a great meal. The FS (food specialist) staff on Eagle work very hard and provide good food each time. After lunch, we were informed that we would be partaking in a sail stations instead of going right to training. During this evolution, we would wear the ship, then brace it back and finally sea furl the sails. The fore did an excellent job as everything went smoothly. 1/c Maca, my division officer, and I had to sea furl the topgallant staysail. This requires standing on a thin line while hauling in a large square sail. The rest of the time at sail stations was spent hauling on lines and making up lines.
After sail stations, my division had weapons training. BM1 Lanier helped familiarize us with the Berretta 9mm semi-automatic pistol and went over basic law enforcement and safety procedures. When training was finished, I caught some rest before my watch later that night. At my watch that night, I stood QMOW (quarter master of the watch) with 3/c Adam Merritt. We would assist with the navigation and keep an eye on the weather throughout the night. Since we are at higher latitude, the sun rises much earlier. We were told to calculate the time of sunrise, so we decided to give it a shot. We calculated that it would rise at 3:12:30 a.m. Amazingly, at that time, the sun poked its head from the horizon. We were shocked. The combination of a great watch, an amazing sunrise, and an accomplished day led to another amazing day on America’s Tall Ship.
25 May 2005 by 3/c Hayley Moffatt
(L to R) 3/c Smith and Evans practice their navigating skills on the bridge.
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This trip has been going quite well for me. And, I must say, I am a big fan of the ocean. I could talk about all the events of these past few weeks, and explain why I’m enjoying myself so much, but I think my story from one day will be a sufficient glimpse into the happy life I am now leading. Hopefully my story from just one day will also be sufficient for my mother, who is probably reading this, to realize I have not fallen overboard, and I am perfectly healthy and content.
My morning began by missing breakfast, but that was okay, because I knew that once morning formation was over, I could run to the mess deck and grab some juice and fruit to keep me alive until lunch. So, that’s what I did on my way to fire fighting fundamentals and basic damage control training. The training was a most productive and informative time, especially in how it showed that the Coast Guard has an incredibly skilled damage control force working for them, and even if I have no idea how to deal with fires or flooding on board, there are plenty of competent people who do know how to deal with such things.
Dry suits used in the man overboard drill air out on the shrouds.
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After the morning training period, I had a little bit of time to kill before lunch, and because we cadets are supposed to be productive during the workday, I got out my information regarding the angle of the sun that I had derived the other day with a sextant. Using the celestial navigation computer program called STELLA, I determined that the angle I had shot reduced to the exact latitude for the time at which I made my observation. Unfortunately, when I did the calculations by hand, it didn’t come out that way at all. So, I wanted to try to fix my math, and preserve the perfection.
Lunch finally happened, and that was a good time. My afternoon training was an overview of all the information we need to know for getting qualified as lookouts and helmsmen. I’m pretty much set as far as knowing my stuff; I just need to get some signatures and stand a few more watches before I can go before the board and become fully qualified.
A 1938 chart of a Horst Wessel, now USCGC Eagle, sailing voyage.
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When training was done, my division, Main 5, stood the ops watch on the bridge from 4 to 8 p.m. I ate dinner somewhere in there, but spent most of the time calculating tides and currents. It was a rather productive four hours.
That night, the ship was supposed to have karaoke. It was postponed due to weather. So, at about 9 p.m., I took a shower, and as usual, almost killed myself because of the innate difficulty of staying upright on a slippery surface that keeps tilting at random intervals.
I went to sleep after my shower. It was a good day.
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