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Welcome Aboard The CG Barque Eagle
21 June 2005 Moored in Edinburgh, Scotland Excitment exculates as "Land ho!" is shouted by the watch as Scotland apears on the horizon. Every sailor awaits the next best announcement, "Liberty is hereby granted" as Eagle ties up in Edinburgh, Scotland. All photos are credited: U.S. Coast Guard photograph by Petty Officer Second Class Andrea Rask.	The Coast Guard Barque Eagle, homeported in New London, Conn.

Captain's Log by 1/c Eric Majeska for Capt. E. J. Shaw

“Land ho!” shouted the watch on deck division as our first sight of Scotland appeared over the horizon. Cadets' excitement has doubled with their recent hearing of the liberty and planned morale events that lie ahead in Scotland. While the yard is being reattached, it is unsafe for any crew not involved in the process to be wandering about the decks. So, one can only imagine their disappointment when the third class cadets heard that, rather than staying on the ship, they would have to go into one of Scotland’s parks for a day of food, sports, and playing in the sun. Other upcoming morale events include, “yardarm" wrestling to celebrate the return of the main upper yard, and trivial pursuit night on the mess deck.

The weather has drastically improved to the point that there were even rumors of a swim call yesterday. However, while the cadets are finally feeling the warmth of the sun on their skin, it is easy to forget how cold the water still is. There will be no swim call, but cadets are still enjoying feeling their first signs of summer, even if that involves a sun burnt neck and nose.

Today also marks the Summer solstice. At this time, the sun will reach its highest point and we will observe the longest day of the year, or the day that has the most amount of daylight. Solstice is a Latin word translated as “sol” meaning sun and “stitium” meaning stop. This was part of the nautical trivia section of the POD (plan of the day). This is posted everyday and, along with the day’s schedule, there is a trivia question or fun fact posted to expand the cadets' nautical knowledge.

Sailing has still been significantly better than first phase, as the winds have been much more favorable. The cadets and crew are having sail stations multiple times a day and honing their skills for the upcoming Class A Tall Ships race between Waterford, Ireland, and Cherbourg, France. During this period, we will not be allowed to motor and will in turn be holding sail stations multiple times a day. The race will be five days long and Eagle hopes to repeat the successes it experienced in last year's tall ships races. With a little more cadet training and a strong work ethic, Captain Shaw will surely lead Eagle to success.

20 June 2005 by Cmdr. Andrea Marcille, XO

The drain stopper on this sink in the flag cabin is one of the few original German pieces left on board, and reads "Zu" and "Auf" on its two sides.

So...there I was. On the top of the pilothouse, the best view from the Barque, coaching Ensign Bobbie-Jean Felix through the transit into Scapa Flow. EAGLE would anchor so we could take advantage of a protected harbor that has so much history associated with it. We knew we needed to take on a harbor pilot, someone who was intimately familiar with the strange and strong currents in the area. We all thought this was a good idea since some of the recorded currents were up to nine knots. Although our engine is most times good enough, it would be difficult to overcome the effects of a nine-knot current. As we began our transit in, we immediately felt the push of the currents, as our engine was turning for 11 knots and we were going over 14 knots. Luckily, the pilot was aboard soon and was able to give us some good information on where to go to avoid the extreme currents. From the top of the pilothouse, you could see the swirling eddies and the current lines as we were approaching, but the helmsman, who was steering the ship, could not.

3/c David Zukowski archives old Eagle photos, books and gifts in the flag cabin.

So we would yell back to the helm, "Stand by for a push to port." Or, as the pilot in his Scottish brogue would say, "You may get knocked a wee skoche ta port." And boy, did we, as the bow sheered off 30 degrees to port. Talk about the perfect training opportunity for cadets to learn about crab angles . . . is 35 degrees sufficient? But once we had a system down of anticipating the skoches, and alerting our helm, it went quite smoothly. Ms. Felix anchored EAGLE within 30 yards of our intended anchorage, in a beautiful bay surrounded by rolling hills, and lost souls of the past upon whom we all took time to reflect on. But my personal highlight was being awakened the next morning to the reveille pipe, which includes the temperature, which was above 60 degrees for the first time this trip. I didn't think we would ever be warm again, but 60 degrees as we approach the summer solstice and the longest day of the year, is not bad a' tall. Not even a wee skoche.(L to R) 3/c Seaton and 3/c Briggs assemble a P-100 pump during morning training.

20 June 2005 by Seaman Becky May

The fore mast sets full sail in the favorable sailing weather.

I think that my almost two years onboard the famous Eagle has changed my way of thinking. I have learned that each day can present new challenges and rewards. Growing up, all I wanted to do was sail on a ship and climb up the shrouds to the top of the mast. I never thought it would ever happen, but here I am. On watch this morning, I could just stand back and feel that I was part of something amazing--and in Europe of all places. I am now just trying to soak it up, the sights and smells and sounds. The sound of the waves along the hull as you work out on the bow, hanging out on the little netting of the bowsprit. And talk about a great perspective with all sails set. Knowing that most of those sails I helped to fix and remembering the

Cadets practice their knot-tying skills on the safety rail during the training day.

little quirks in every sail. That is taking pride in your work, when you can see it and watch it work. My favorite thing to do when I need thinking time is to climb to the top of the mast and let everything go [Ed note: Seaman May is speaking euphemistically. We always keep three points of contact while aloft!] and just enjoy the moment up at 147 ft. Living onboard for so long, it is almost like you become part of the ship, you know how she moves. I know now partly why sailors used to call ships "she," because even though they are inanimate objects, they take on a certain character that you grow to know very well. Once in a lifetime opportunity, you bet, and most definitely worth it.

20 June 2005 by 3/c Elizabeth Stevick

Eagle fathers celebrate a rainy Father's Day with a bar-be-que and some civilian attire.

After setting the fore topgallant and fore royal sails, my division (Main 3) went aloft to the main royal. With only a few clouds in the sky, we watched the deck work on Eagle. Some of our classmates were dumping biodegradables over the side and we could see that the trash did not float away. We had most of our sails up and we were going so slowly! Tomorrow we pull back into Scotland to get our

(L to R) Seamen Holly Cordero, Jacob Latour, and Hannah Amos are Eagle's rescue swimmers.

yardarm put back on. There has been rumor going around that cadets are going to have a “ day in the park” on Wednesday while the yardarm is being reconnected. It’s going to be a fun day full of food and sports. Last night was the first time we saw the sun set. Even though it was at 10:04 p.m., the sunset was enjoyed by those of us on watch. Today all of the people on the main mast are going to compute a line of position at local apparent noon (LAN) by shooting the sun with a sextant. It is one of the many requirements we are trying to finish as quickly as we can. There is so much to learn here; it’s almost like school except now we can learn aloft. And who knows, maybe we will see a whale or something.

Eagle anchors in historical Scapa Flow overnight.

Right now we are on a continuous quest for peanut butter. The ship ran out of peanut butter, as it is as rare as hen's teeth in Europe. And when you find it, peanut bitter is budget-bustingly expensive. All food has become more and more expensive in our northern ports. The Academy made us all addicted to PB&J and now they take it away from us. It’s like a cruel joke to break our addiction. Hopefully we can pull through and finish our awesome adventure on Eagle!

19 June 2005 by 3/c Brittany Curran

All hands on Eagle pause for several minutes in salute and silence to honor those lost on the HMS Royal Oak.

A week has passed since we left our main upper topmast yardarm in Edinburgh, Scotland. Much has happened in these past seven days, but what seems to stick out the most in my head is the awesome sunsets that we have gotten to see, last night’s being the best. Unfortunately I did not have a camera on me because I was on helm and lookout duty, but I am sure that there will be plenty more to come. I am hoping we will get to see the illusive “green flash” at some point in time during these next five weeks. Today we had a man overboard drill and luckily Oscar was retrieved in less than 11 minutes, which is the maximum amount of time that is allotted for small boats to

All hands on Eagle pause for several minutes in salute and silence to honor those lost on the HMS Royal Oak.

complete man overboard pickups. Luckily, Oscar made it out alright despite a “shark bite” to his right arm!

The consensus is that the highlight of today was the awesome dessert we had at dinner tonight. As my fellow division mates and I were waiting at the end of the chow line, we were anxious about getting our share of what several of the crew and our classmates were talking about.

So tomorrow we will be pulling into Edinburgh, Scotland, to get our yardarm back. We will get an opportunity to get out and play some sports games. Until then…

19 June 2005 by 3/c Casey Gillikin

Food Service Specialist 3rd Class Crystal Hood prepares meals in the Captain's galley.

This morning, shortly after muster, a certain 1/c cadre member politely asked me to write a journal for the acclaimed Eagle website. I hesitated at first because I had been up since 3 a.m. this same morning minding the helm of Eagle while we sailed through the North Sea at a brisk 1.5 knots. However, after morning training about

"This marks the wreck of H.M.S. Royal Oak and the grave of her crew. Respect their resting place," reads the buoy.

how widely read (globally!) the website truly is, I jumped at the opportunity to be a part of it. This 1/c cadre proceeded to tell me that my last name alone would be grounds to be part of the web site. For those of you who don’t know, my last name is Gillikin, I live on an island, I wear boat shoes, and I enjoy being around water. The irony is razor sharp. Once the day started, I realized I had plenty of quality material to pull from.

For some reason there is something about cleaning the head that just gets the creative juices flowing. I was part of the daily clean-up division. So right after muster I headed to the male head with a few friends, rubber gloves donned, and a toilet scrubber in hand. I say this not to complain, because I feel it builds character. Instead I mention this to my friends back home who think I am on a six week European vacation. We are being given an amazing opportunity to see foreign ports and places. Over the weekend we anchored in the bay of Scapa Flow, which was used extensively by the British Royal Navy in World War I and World War II. In Edinburgh we saw the HMS Britannia, the previous royal yacht for the queen. These have all have been great experiences and I know there are more to come, but like the Academy itself, they come with a price.

19 June 2005 by 3/c Lisa DePace

Entering into Scapa Flow from Pentland Firth and Hoxa Sound, Eagle faced six-knot currents and large rotary eddies, making for a trying approach.

A bright, sunny warm day on the North Sea--almost no wind, going about 1 knot all day in flat seas. What better thing to do then go swimming? So after an exciting 4 to 8 a.m. watch with the fog horn blaring, and cleanups, I set out to achieve my goal. First I had to ask the XO. Then by XO, I was tasked with finding out the water temperature and how long humans could survive in it. At a warm 54 degrees,

Eagle sets sail from its anchorage in Scapa Flow and heads for Scotland.

one could survive in it for one to six hours, more than enough time to have a swim call, I thought to myself. Sadly, according to the ships regulations, that was not case. It says the water has to be at least 71 degrees. Disappointed, my quest continued. With the aid of 1/c London, I was able to come up with a plan to have Gumby suit training and then practice the cross and cover. After finding that one can survive upwards of 12 hours in this suit in these temperatures, and that the Commandant’s regulations require that all permanent party crew enter the water in a Gumby, I decided that my plan was a sound one. Through my inquisitiveness, I found out that some of the permanent party had not. This is when I went to OPS. She saw right through the “training” slant and realized it was a poor excuse for a swim call. I had one more pitch to make to the XO and Bos’n. I thought I had them… but then Bos’n rationalized that the Gumby suits take too long to dry and therefore no training or swim call was to be had.

1/c Brenna White passes a stopper during sail stations.

Hopefully when we get further south we will have a swim call. I view today as a mere obstacle in a phase-long quest to jump overboard!

After all of the excitement of the morning, salt was thrown in my emotional wounds by having a man overboard drill. Oscar, Eagle’s dummy, got to take a swim--hardly fair, seeing as he did not enjoy it nearly as much as I would have. But I can report we recovered him in time and he was successfully treated after his “shark encounter.” The whole time we were conducting the drill, the British Royal Navy's Nimrod anti-submarine warfare aircraft circled overhead taking pictures of our majestic Barque.

Tomorrow we will pull into Edinburgh to get our main upper yard. Then hopefully we will be able to set all the sails through the royal. I cannot wait!

19 June 2005 by 3/c Linden Dahlkemper

Yeoman 1st Class Mark Knapp and the other 1st class petty officers cook for pizza morale night.

Boatswain's Mate 3rd Class Chris Summers is coxswain during small boat ops in Scapa Flow.

Today when I stepped outside, the sun was shining and the air was warm enough for short sleeves! I could tell it was going to be a beautiful day aboard the Barque. After sail stations and an excellent lunch, we all got to witness a Captain’s Mast, a non-judicial proceeding in lieu of a trial on a warship. It was the first mast many of us had ever witnessed and was definitely a learning experience. After that, my division got a run-down of the history of Trafalgar by CG Auxiliarist Asaro. Our speaker knew more than perhaps all my classmates and I combined, so I was very interested. We are now back at sea heading toward Edinburgh again for a short stop to pick up our main upper yardarm, which was left there for repair. It will be nice to see that lovely city again!

(L to R) Seamen Holly Cordero, Jacob Latour, and Hannah Amos are Eagle's rescue swimmers.