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In 1829 the steamship Victory became trapped in the Arctic ice pack and was stuck fast for 4 years before breaking free and making her way south with 16 of her original crew of 19 still alive. Captain John Ross and his crew had established cordial relations with the Inuit tribes they encountered, and adopted the native’s hunting practices to survive. Our luck with the ice has proven significantly better. This week was marked by the seasonal deterioration of the Arctic ice pack. While we are still in “nine-tenths” or “ten-tenths” ice coverage, the ice is markedly thinner and more rotten, sometimes crumbling at the first touch of our hull. We traveled several hundred miles between science stations this week using just a fraction of our available horsepower. This was a far cry from June, when we were trapped for four days and 30,000 horsepower wouldn’t budge the hull an inch. We’re still heavily engaged with the second of our three science crews, but we have started anticipating our upcoming 5-day port call in Dutch Harbor which begins on the last day of July. That date will mark the first time in 61 days that the crew will get ashore. Dutch Harbor is not a glamorous, exotic port call by most measures, but it will be mid-summer, with long days and warm(ish) weather, so we’re looking forward to exploring the town and surrounding Unalaska Island. For now, though, we’re all sticking to our personal underway routines, which vary depending on your job or watch schedule. The inevitable linchpins of a shipboard routine are eating, sleeping, and exercise. I’ve already told you how great the food is here – a bit too good if you’re fighting middle-age horizontal expansion like me. Sleeping depends on your watch schedule: Because we run 24-hour science support and some of the crew are on 12-hour watch schedules, sleep routines vary widely. Exercise onboard HEALY comes in 3 basic flavors: the gym, running on deck, and the inherent exercise one gets from living on a vertically-oriented ship where there are as many as 68 stairs from stateroom to coffee. Our gym is the best I’ve seen on a Coast Guard cutter. Unlike most ships, which have to cram exercise gear into any available space, HEALY has a dedicated gym that accommodates the latest stairmasters, climbing & rowing machines, free weights and universal machines. We owe special thanks to the US Navy League (Lake Washington Council), which generously funded our new motorized treadmill. At any hour of the day you’ll find our crew making use of this equipment as they try to stay healthy, sane and one step ahead of the Coast Guard weight program. This week marked a special event; the selection and announcement of our Sailor of the Quarter. Our Chief’s Mess selected Storekeeper Second Class Christopher Sison as the most deserving nominee. Petty Officer Sison is a true shipmate who always lends a hand, brings his skills to bear on tough logistical problems, and played a key role in preparing HEALY for this deployment. Congratulations SK2 Sison! Other crewmembers also marked significant professional achievements this week: On Saturday evening our scientists took over the galley and turned out a great Thai buffet. Given that they’ve spent that past 3 weeks collecting netfulls of rather homely sea creatures, the chicken dish proved especially popular. This week’s Bingo Tournament finally saw the 20” color television loosen its grip on our collective imagination after it was finally won – not just once but twice. The first winner was a member of our science party, Mette Nielson, who generously offered it back to the crew for another round. The next and final winner of the set turned out to be AMT1 Johnny Charles from our Aviation Detachment. Rumors that Petty Officer Charles influenced Ms. Nielson’s decision, by commenting that the TV might be “too heavy” to be flown ashore with the science party, could not be disproved at press time. Other bingo winners were: Shown below are the folks we rely on to do everything from saving the ship from fire & flooding to keeping the sewage system running. HEALY’s Damage Control team includes Chief Pete Schaffner (soon leaving us for a shore billet in St. Louis), Chief Phil Smelser, DC1 James Pentecost, and DC3 Cory Hunter (on temporary assignment from Marine Safety Office Valdez, AK.) For their most important function – saving the ship in the event of damage – this small group of experts’ biggest job is to train the crew to fight fires and control flooding. HEALY, a large ship with a small crew, relies on everyone aboard to know their ship and to know how to respond to emergencies. The Damage Control team holds nightly training sessions and they also evaluate our weekly drills. Among their many technical skills, our DC’s are also expert welders; this week they fashioned a replacement frame for a damaged flight deck net. Without these experts on board, HEALY would not be a safe and effective ship. 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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