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Big week up here on HEALY. It started with a 2-day personnel and cargo transfer. The ship took station 3 miles off the Barrow airport and our helicopters flew steadily for 2 days. Thousands of pounds of equipment and baggage from the departing science party were moved ashore in sling loads (large nets hung from a cable beneath the copter) and the whole process was reversed for the incoming group. The air transfer featured an interesting “first” for HEALY; the North Borough Search & Rescue Helicopter (a large Bell 411) from Barrow helped out with some heavy lift pieces that were beyond the capacity of our Coast Guard Dolphin helicopters. One of these lifts included bringing aboard a “ROV” (remotely operated vehicle.) The ROV is an unmanned submarine used by the science party to take video and collect samples. Our Operations Officer, LCDR Jim Dalitsch, seized the opportunity to get ashore for a few hours in Barrow and meet our “helpers” in the community, including the folks who work at the Barrow Arctic Science Center. BASC does great logistics work for the ship and for the science parties who use Barrow as a transit point. LCDR Dalitsch also took our offgoing mail ashore and helped to get our arriving mail onboard. For most of us, however, Barrow was a port seen through binoculars. Eyeball liberty. We said goodbye to a few shipmates this week, including LT Matt Weller (pilot), FS2 Vanessa Agosto, BM3 Meredith Hitchcock, and SN (now Airman) Amanda Wingrove, who is off to Air Station Port Angeles for a few months before she learns her petty officer trade at the Coast Guard aviation training center in North Carolina. We welcomed some new shipmates, too. LT Brian Erickson will serve in our aviation detachment for the rest of the cruise. ENS Erin Biemiller and ENS Nathan Selavka reported to HEALY for their first tour of duty after graduation from the Coast Guard Academy in May. FS1 Arrene Zitting will help lead our hard working cooks in the best galley in the Coast Guard, and SK1 Stephen Selph will be procuring the supplies that keep HEALY running. Fireman Eric Whitlock reported from basic training at Cape May, and Seaman Brittany Rasmussen joins our crew after serving onboard the icebreaker POLAR STAR. HEALY reached the first 3 science stations of this mission early this week. At each station the science party and our crew performed dive ops (including scuba diving under the ice) and we used high-tech gear to collect samples from the water column and the seabed. The crew was treated to some great video from the ROV, which was shown in real-time on the ship’s entertainment system. It was fascinating to see the fish that were on the bottom, 5000 feet beneath our keel. There weren’t many of them, but they were interesting, if not appetizing. On Thursday, Captain Oliver marked his 30th year in the Coast Guard; it was June 30, 1975 when he and the rest of the Academy Class of 1979 reported to New London, Connecticut. Ed Note: Congrats Cap'n Two crewmembers marked this week with significant professional achievements. ET1 Shane Hyde was qualified as an Underway Engineer of the Watch, and BM1 Thomas Hines was qualified as an Underway Officer of the Deck. On Saturday evening our Doc, Ensign Carr, called out bingo numbers. This week’s big winners were:
On Monday we’ll celebrate the 4th of July with ice liberty and fireworks (in the traditional manner of ships at sea – we’ll shoot off some expired flares.) Given that it’s always bright daylight up here I don’t think we’ll get many ooohs and aaahs from the display, but it’s the spirit that counts. Below you’ll see some photos of our non-rated crewmembers, the seamen and firemen who do some of the hardest work on HEALY. We give them tremendous responsibility early in their careers; on any given day they’ll be monitoring a complex engineering plant or standing junior officer of the deck watches on the bridge, including navigation and logkeeping. Then, for 2 weeks each month throughout their tour on HEALY, they’ll have to “mess cook” (do all of our dishes and keep the galley clean). Despite this schedule their attitudes are always upbeat, even though nobody joins the Coast Guard to do dishes. These shipmates are a critical part of our crew, and they’re a pleasure to work with. For Captain Dan Oliver, Command Master Chief Pete Perron and myself, thanks for all your support. You’ll hear from us again next week.
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The Coast Guard Cutter Healy, homeported in Seattle, Washington.
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