Hester's Head

A few people told me I should have a blog during my deployment because it would be interesting to read about where we've been and what we've been up to. I had some doubts that I would keep it up to date, but I'll try.

As of today, it's been one month since we left. Feels more like three, and we have five more to go. We have left Pearl Harbour a couple weeks behind us and we will be in Singapore in a couple days. It's taken us this long to cross the Pacific - with some stops and exercises thrown in as well. We are still enroute to the 'box' where we will be deployed and are still training and preparing for when we arrive in theatre, so other than that I can talk to you about life on board. I won't bore you and drive you insane with the lingo - such as "I usually do my dobey on Fridays and I try to avoid duff - usually unsuccessfully." Dobey is laundry and duff is dessert. Blah, blah, blah.
I didn't get to spend any time in Hawaii, other than the airports, but Hawaii is one of my favourite ports. Either take the bus or rent a car and get out of Honolulu/Waikiki. Honolulu is another big American city, so get out and see the rest of the island; it's a beautiful place. I'm not sure how many times I've been here - I would guess 16-20 times. Same as San Diego, it's easy to lose track of the number of times I've visited. If you can get to Maui or Kauai you should because they are even better than Oahu.
Crossing the Pacific means crossing the International Date Line. It's not like flying where you just set your watch for the correct time at your destination. The Pacific is huge; your destination might be two weeks away. When you travel west across the Pacific you set your watch back one hour every couple days. Crossing the International Date Line is a little mind-boggling though. For example when it's noon on Monday on the east side (Western Hemisphere) it is noon on Tuesday on the west side (Eastern Hemisphere). When you're sailing west you completely lose a day. For HMCS Ottawa Saturday 30 September did not exist this year. Friday night at midnight we set our watches ahead 24 hours. Blink! It's Sunday! The exact opposite happens when you sail back east. I'll give you a few months to try to figure that one out.
We attempted to circle around some weather east of the Philippines. It was rough, but not really bad. Imagine a roller coaster ride that goes on for hours and hours and then days and days. A roller coaster you have to work on, sleep on, eat on, shower on. On and on. Here's some things you might have never thought of. Some of the more challenging things to do in rough weather (or on a roller coaster) is to put on underwear and socks. That requires the use of both hands and lifting a foot off the deck. It becomes almost innate, but you take a second to plant yourself, leaning hard against something, and then do it. A sudden roll means dropping what you're doing and reaching for something to stop yourself from running into it. It might leave you handicapped with your shorts around your ankles or a sock hanging from your toes. You get more skilled at it and used to it, but you never get to like it, it will always be annoying. Sleeping becomes a chore as you are rolled back and forth. The best is waking up as you are throwing your arms out to stop yourself from being thrown out of your rack. Try showering. If it's not too bad you can wash your hair with one elbow braced against the bulkhead. It's to help you keep track of where the walls are, as I do not want to touch a cold wet metal bulkhead. The shower curtain is swinging around too and I do not want that to touch me either. Cleaning stations are done twice a day but that does not mean I would like a cold shower curtain stuck to my leg. If the weather gets worse you only use one hand to wash your hair - the other hand is holding onto to something secure to keep yourself in the shower. Shower floors, flip-flops and soap all add up to very slippery. I've been driven out of my flip-flops a couple times. Bare feet touching the floors in the heads horrifies me. Try drying yourself, even putting on anti-perspirant, while using one hand to hang onto the sink. It gets very tiring. I know I'm tired. Most people have their sea legs a day or two after first sailing but you still might get queasy if it's rough. You hope to ride it out and hope that the weather witch's report in the morning will have some good news. On this trip the task group turned south to avoid a typhoon building to the north and ended up in the middle of one of two that had developed during the night.
When we go to sea it ends up like Groundhog Day. I've been on the back watches - on watch from 12:30 to 17:30 and from 00:30 to 07:30- since leaving Pearl Harbour, and this is day 16 of that. I have my watch set to the 24-hour clock because when you get up at 12:00 sometimes you just can't figure out if it's noon or midnight. "It's dark out? Damn." Working 12-hours days like this really makes the time fly though. The worst part about the back watches is the midnight meal before your watch. It's leftovers from dinner so I usually have a bowl of cereal and then another bowl of cereal or some toast halfway through the watch. So I get two breakfasts a day and lunch before the afternoon watch.
We have had some banyans and there is another later today. The ship had its 10th birthday recently - a week ago? I can't seem to remember. September 26th, something like that. A banyan is dinner served on the flight deck. It's usually something BBQ'd and includes all the fixings, salads, desserts, and things like that - even two free beer or pop. You are allowed to drink 6 hours before you go on watch. If you are standing 1 in 2 (like me) that leaves you one one-hour window each day to have a drink - the first hour of your seven hours off. Pirate rig is often authorized so you can wear civvie clothes for an afternoon. Some ships have a band - Ottawa does - but there will always be music playing. It's a good time.
We receive lots of info about the port before we come into a port. I'm really looking forward to the Indian and Chinese food in Singapore. My plan for the first day is to find some chilli crab or some black-pepper crab and maybe find a hotel room for the second night. I'm looking forward to silence, a comfy bed, long hot shower, silence, and more silence. Singapore has severe punishments for many relatively minor things. Jaywalking and spitting can get you a caning - which is "excruciating, takes weeks to heal and scars for life." Possession of two joints will get you the death penalty. Grabbing a woman's hand to take her to the dance floor will get you arrested. I hope I don't jaywalk. I’ll end up jayrunning.
I think that's all for now. I keep getting asked, "Are you really writing a book?" It's almost 4:00 AM so I'm going for breakfast. I'd get you a coffee but you wouldn't want ours. That's another thing I'm looking forward to. A grande long Americano. Though the guides recommend a local coffee instead. The standard Singapore breakfast is a sweet coffee (kaypa?) runny eggs and... And something else I can't remember. Maybe toast. I'll let you know in a couple days. I'll let you know about our upcoming visit from King Neptune and the crossing the line ceremony too.