Week three of Northland's Out of Hemisphere Patrol began with our departure from Madeira, Portugal. From Madeira we headed south into warmer waters off the coast of West Africa to Mindelo, Cape Verde.

The five day transit was spent honing our navigation, seamanship, damage control, engineering casualty control, and naval war fighting skills. We also spent some time making sure the NORTHLAND was clean and free of running rust in anticipation of visitors during our visit to Cape Verde.

Our arrival in Cape Verde was delayed by several hours due to the offload of a U.S. merchant vessel carrying wheat, so we took advantage of the extra time to observe holiday routine and catch up on sleep, reading, watching movies, and working on our tans. Just after sunset on Saturday we moored in Mindelo, Cape Verde across the basin from one of the Coast Guard Barque EAGLE's sister ships, the Portuguese sailing vessel SAGRES II. We quickly found out that NATO is conducting an exercise on the islands of Cape Verde when several soldiers from various countries came by to visit. We were also able to show some good old fashioned hospitality to several U.S. Navy personnel involved in the exercise by serving them breakfast and opening up the ship's store so they could buy essentials such as Pringles and baby wipes (if you don't have access to water to wash, baby wipes are the next best thing!).

On Monday, NORTHLAND hosted a visit by the U.S. Ambassador to Cape Verde, the Honorable Roger D. Pierce. Ambassador Pierce joined the wardroom for lunch, toured the ship and held an all hands meeting to discuss the importance of NORTHLAND's mission. NORTHLAND will embark three Cape Verde Coast Guard officers and will participate in the first ever combined patrol of Cape Verde's archipelagic waters and territorial sea. A planning conference with representatives from the U.S. Embassy, the Cape Verde Coast Guard, Commander Task Force 65 and NORTHLAND shaped the patrol plan and we were off and running early Tuesday morning. LTJG Weist, ENS Alex, DC1 Hoyt and DC2 Matousek remained behind to provide a three day maritime law enforcement course that will provide 10 Cape Verde Coast Guard personnel with a foundation in international law, use of force, and boarding practices and procedures. Damage control training for fourteen additional Cape Verde Coasties is planned upon our return to Mindelo.

We look forward to a productive combined operation and will keep you posted on our progress.

Photos

SK1 Ball prepares for Special Sea and Anchor Detail as a phone talker

ENS Seniuk, BM3 Bryant and 1/c Rice on the bridge

CAPT Giglio studies the shipping lanes for any vessel traffic while entering port.

ENS Seniuk and ENS Alex love their jobs

Sunset on another day

ET2 Edwards is excited about finally entering port.

LCDR Lane makes sure that all lines are properly adjusted after mooring

Ambassador Pierce (American Ambassador to Cape Verde) meets with CAPT Giglio, LCDR Lane and LT Skiles

BM3 Daniels, SK2 Seeger, SN Bush, MK3 Moore, SN Musica, OS3 Rivera, and ET1 Deocampo act as side buoys for the Ambassador's visit.

CAPT Giglio and Ambassador Pierce address the crew at Quarters.

SN Degner and SN Session cleaning the side of the flight deck

DC2 Hall makes repairs

BM2 Montejano drives as BM1 Seyler-Schmidt, SN McLendon, and SN Roach clean the hull.

ENS Tillman on the bridge wing during an inport AT/FP watch.

1/c Rice and 1/c Winland meet members of NATO while giving tours of NORTHLAND.

BM1 Gervais standing sentry watch on the fantail.

SAGRES II, the Portuguese sister ship of our beloved EAGLE

Members of the Cape Verde Coast Guard (Lt Tavares, Capt Santana, Lt Lopes)