Comments on: "I liked standing on the bridge wing at sunrise with salt spray in my face" http://www.chaoticsynapticactivity.com/2008/02/09/i-liked-standing-on-the-bridge-wing-at-sunrise-with-salt-spray-in-my-face/ It's not random, it's CHAOS! Thu, 11 Mar 2010 03:11:37 -0500 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.9.2 hourly 1 By: Jim Collins http://www.chaoticsynapticactivity.com/2008/02/09/i-liked-standing-on-the-bridge-wing-at-sunrise-with-salt-spray-in-my-face/comment-page-1/#comment-14834 Jim Collins Fri, 25 Apr 2008 15:00:46 +0000 http://www.chaoticsynapticactivity.com/2008/02/09/i-liked-standing-on-the-bridge-wing-at-sunrise-with-salt-spray-in-my-face/#comment-14834 At least they let that guy finish his writing before they put the straightjacket on him. At least they let that guy finish his writing before they put the straightjacket on him.

]]> By: SJBill http://www.chaoticsynapticactivity.com/2008/02/09/i-liked-standing-on-the-bridge-wing-at-sunrise-with-salt-spray-in-my-face/comment-page-1/#comment-13862 SJBill Mon, 11 Feb 2008 01:18:15 +0000 http://www.chaoticsynapticactivity.com/2008/02/09/i-liked-standing-on-the-bridge-wing-at-sunrise-with-salt-spray-in-my-face/#comment-13862 As a fresh RD striker in OI Division (I later became an airdale), I always look back to two watches and cannot decide which was better for the soul: Fog watches up on the front round-down of 900 feet of 27A flight deck. Our "headway" was 2, mebbe 3 kts, the fog was thick enough to see flowing by you. We had trouble seeing the island behind us. And there was the sound of that magnificent fog horn. During really rough weather, with breakers over the bow, we headed up to the O-10 level foul weather lookout. THere were times when the old "E" boat had water over most of the pointy end, expansion joints slamming closed, salt spray streaming by at 50 Kts. A mast broke loose a cuppla years before I reached Essex and crashed onto and then partially through the teak flight deck. The Essex at the close of her history was in pretty rough shape: the all the foc'sle and officers' country decks were badly distorted. Go aboard Hornet, almost entirely Pacific based, and you'll see she still looks like right out of the wrapper up forward. The North Atlantic left her mark on your ship and your soul. Nothing like it. As a fresh RD striker in OI Division (I later became an airdale), I always look back to two watches and cannot decide which was better for the soul:

Fog watches up on the front round-down of 900 feet of 27A flight deck. Our “headway” was 2, mebbe 3 kts, the fog was thick enough to see flowing by you. We had trouble seeing the island behind us. And there was the sound of that magnificent fog horn.

During really rough weather, with breakers over the bow, we headed up to the O-10 level foul weather lookout. THere were times when the old “E” boat had water over most of the pointy end, expansion joints slamming closed, salt spray streaming by at 50 Kts. A mast broke loose a cuppla years before I reached Essex and crashed onto and then partially through the teak flight deck.

The Essex at the close of her history was in pretty rough shape: the all the foc’sle and officers’ country decks were badly distorted.

Go aboard Hornet, almost entirely Pacific based, and you’ll see she still looks like right out of the wrapper up forward.

The North Atlantic left her mark on your ship and your soul. Nothing like it.

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