Fred's Place - The Place To Meet Old Coast Guard Shipmates

Welcome Aboard The CG Barque Eagle
19 August 2005 650 miles southwest of Tenerife, Canary Islands "The trip across the Atlantic continues with the officer candidates onboard. As time passes, the OC’s are getting more acclimated to shipboard life. Those who were initially getting seasick have not been in the past couple of days." 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 OC Dan McQuate for Capt. E. J. Shaw

The trip across the Atlantic continues with the officer candidates onboard. As time passes, the OC’s are getting more acclimated to shipboard life. Those who were initially getting seasick have not been in the past couple of days.

With time underway also comes watch. While many OC’s are learning a lot of new things on their watches, some who have not been stationed onboard a cutter in the past are slightly fatigued because they have not fully adjusted to standing four-hour watches, especially in the middle of the night.

One thing that has been helping is the wind that continues to blow in the right direction, which has, for the most part, allowed us to keep the sails set with very little alterations necessary. On Wednesday morning, sail stations were set to square the square sails on the foremast. Other than that, the watch on deck and a couple of volunteers who are nearby have been able to take care of the necessary changes.

The plan of the day has been followed the past two days with the exception of canceling sail stations. This allows everyone time to work on personal qualification standards, attend training, or just relax in the evening. During the free time in the evening, some OC’s study their "Eagle Seamanship" books to become more familiar with the Barque while others converse on the waist or work out. Some of the OC’s have requested to climb the masts for pleasure or for a workout, while other OC’s use the gym onboard or do sit ups and pushups on the waist.

The crew continues to do preventive maintenance on the rig and equipment and does drills to ensure Eagle remains as safe a training environment as possible. This morning, a damage control drill was held for the permanent crew where it was simulated that Eagle struck a submerged object and crew had to respond to the subsequent flooding. Drills such as this are commonplace on all Coast Guard cutters. Onboard Eagle, a training team composed of the more senior people onboard observes the crew's response to the damage and provides feedback afterwards.

Although the officer candidates didn’t participate in today’s drill, they will soon be immersed into damage control when they receive training later this week, followed by a drill in which they will participate.

The seas and weather have been cooperating as Eagle continues the journey towards Bermuda with wind filling her sails..

18 August 2005 by OC Kristen DiRoma

Officer Candidate Craig Dente (left) gives all he has while helping brace the main mast.

Hi John, mom, dad, Karen, John, Tom, and Jess. We have been on board for five days now and it is awesome! I was sick the second and third day, but I worked through it. The sky is beautiful at night and the water is so blue. I'm going to try to climb to the royal tonight, but I doubt I will make it. It's almost 140 feet off the water! The weather is perfect; I'll never forget the trip.

18 August 2005 by OC Yamares Barril

A crate of hanks, the device used to connect the staysail to the stay, sit in storage in the Bos'n Hole.

Today was a productive day. My day started at midnight with the ops (operations) watch. After that, I went back to sleep and woke up at 9:30 a.m. Following that, I had lunch with the executive officer (XO) in the wardroom, where I had the opportunity to talk with him and get to know him. In the afternoon, I took part in several training sessions for damage control and got several items in my qualifications book signed off. The training included: How to swing and properly read a lead line, how to throw a heaving line properly, and how to rig and start a P-100 dewatering pump. In the evening, several officer candidates decided to climb to the royal yardarm and I was asked to take pictures. It is a challenge to make it up to the top, but it is quite an accomplishment when you finally do it. My favorite experience so far on the Eagle has been talking with my shipmates and the crew and getting to know all these wonderful people better.

18 August 2005 by OC Gerrard Wenk

(L to R)Officer Candidates Chris Rue, Erick Neussl, Phil Nail, and Ryan Baxter heave around on lines with their shipmates as they brace the fore mast.

Being a prior service boatswain mate with 10 years on active duty, I was very hesitant to come aboard. I did not think that there was much for me to learn here. Within the first six hours of being underway, though, we doused sails and the sight of the crew and the officer candidates heaving on the lines to have a successful sail stations was unbelievable. It not only was the crew, but also the engineering officer, the operations officer, and the XO heaving on the lines.

(L to R) Damage Controlman 1st Class William Workman gives Officer Candidates Bill Suitor and Wes Geyer a hand on the fore topgallant brace.

Later in the evening, I climbed to the course and manned the yardarm. This may seem like an easy task, until you are up there. I am afraid of heights and a little older than some of the other OC's. I realized that this was a dangerous task with serious consequences if you fall. For most of us, this is an amazing experience to cross the Atlantic in a 295-foot sailing vessel. We just hope that the quality of the food remains the same and we don't run out of food before we reach Bermuda. Final thoughts: The ship is sailing with the wind, the crew is standing a diligent watch, and the OC's are trying to get a few moments sleep when the officers are not looking. [Ed. note: We're always looking.]

16 August 2005 by OC Clifton Harrison

A group of officer candidates haul on the fore royal sheet.

I began my second day afloat with some trepidation. I have never been out to sea before, much less sailing across the Atlantic. Thus far this trip has been all about first experiences. Little did I know that one such event would alter my vision of the Coast Guard forever. At about 9 p.m. tonight, after I had completed a five-hour watch as the conning officer, a distress signal was sighted from a fishing vessel off of our starboard bow. After several failed attempts to hail the craft on the radio, Eagle began preparations to send out a small boat to investigate the nature of the vessel's distress. Due to our close proximity to the Canary Islands, the Captain wanted a Spanish-speaking interpreter onboard. I volunteered to translate and soon found myself in a helmet and personal floatation device being lowered down into four- to six-foot seas. As we came up on the distressed vessel, we found that it wasn’t a fishing vessel, but a boat stacked with approximately 100 African migrants requesting assistance. I was on the small surfboat for about three hours before we were instructed to return to the Eagle. The Eagle maintained a close watch over the migrant vessel until the Spanish authorities arrived. After my time on the small boat, I have a new level of respect for coxswains and boat crew and all the Coasties who put themselves in danger's way to help others they do not know. A day that began in trepidation, ended in celebration. We helped those in need and at least 100 people are better off due to our efforts. It feels good to be in the US Coast Guard.

16 August 2005 by OC Stephen Bor

Officer Candidate Ryan Seymour shows his muscles as he heaves around.

We are finally out of sight of land. Everybody was exhausted beyond belief from yesterday's events. Last night was insane. We had sail stations starting at 6 p.m., but it lasted until about 8:30 p.m., because when we braced the sails to starboard, the winds shifted and we ended up bracing back again. I stayed up on the top for most of the time while the conn (the one making decisions and commands on the bridge) figured out what to do. Finally, we secured from sail stations, not before I got some time out on the yardarm overhauling lines and setting sails.

Officer Candidate Erick Neussl hones his skills with the sextant while shooting a sun line.

After about 30 minutes, emergency sail stations was set because a fishing vessel off our starboard bow shot off emergency flares. OC Cliff Harrison was the conning officer at the time. The sail stations alarm was sounded, prompting the entire crew to action, and the ship boxed the yards and all sails were immediately doused. OC Harrison went with a small boat crew to assist the ship while everyone else manned the sails. It takes up to 40 or 50 people to take the sails down. The feeling set in among all of us that this is what we were trained for. Everyone put in everything. What an adrenaline rush. We did not feel our leathered hands. Two cooks were double timing and pumping out food to get to the migrants. The boatswain's mate of the watch started asking officer candidates with prior enlisted experience to help in whatever way possible. Everyone was watching the boat crew load up. We wondered who the skinny guy on the boat crew was, then I realized that it was OC Harrison. He was assigned to the crew as an interpreter. On the yardarm, I imagined that there is nothing more exhilarating than being part of a crew that controls these lung-like sheets to catch the wind's breath. Underway is really the only way.

Seaman James Dodd stands a vigilant watch as the lookout.

Officer Candidate Mark Dukti is all smiles on his way to the royal, some 140 feet up, for the first time.

A school of dolphins swim under Eagle's figurehead.

(L to R) Third Class Boatswain's Mate Christopher Summers and Seaman Hannah Amos stand on the tops platform during sail stations.

Commanding Officer Captain Eric Shaw (top) and Boatswain's Mate 1st Class Thomas Sullivan (just below Captain) give pointers to officer candidates as they climb the mast for the first time.

Lt. Amy Florentino of the Officer Candidate School staff, and former crewmember of the Eagle, helps to make up lines.

The view from the bridge shows the main mast sails full of wind.

A view from the bowsprit shows the beauty of the Barque under full sail.

Officer Candidates heave around on lines on the foc'sle during sail stations.

A group of officer candidates take a break from ship's work.

Traditional seamanship and technology play an equal role in the training of future Coast Guard officers, as evident by the clinometer and GPS system mounted together on the bridge.