Well it's a couple hours away from being July 4th, 2008. I am drifting in an undisclosed area in the middle of the ocean, and I wish I was home. The days have been increasingly busy, which I find surprising since we just got out new Supply Officer on board a couple days ago. I think many of my duties will fade away as she gets acclimated, but for the time being, I am teaching her what her job entails while still standing watch and completing my own tasks. Additionally, we got 5 new Ensigns here, so the confusion level has gone up significantly. It means a lot of training opportunity for me. They seem like an OK bunch with a lot of potential. Today I witnessed a unique sight after a rather unusual diaglogue...
Lookout: Sir, there is a large school of fish bearing 345, range 2,000 yds.
Me: Very well [I look through the binoculars]
Lookout: It looks like a school of sailfish.
Me: I didn't think sailfish traveled in schools.
Lookout: Nope, they are dolphins.
Helmsman: Maybe the dolphins are eating the sailfish...
Lookout: Do you know how big a sailfish is?
[Pause for long silence while we all stare at him]
Helmsman: Maybe they are baby sailfish...?
Once my brain started hurting I looked through the binoculars again to see about 300 dolphins doing the tricks that you see at Sea World. They were jumping out of the water and doing flips, spins, and walking across the surface with their tails still in the water. Many of them would swim and jump together. Members of the crew were actually outside applauding the spectacular show. One of the guys got a short video clip, which I will share once I get home.
While I would like to talk about what I have been doing with the rest of my days out here, I cannot yet, but the ship's newsletter should be coming out soon. Speaking of which, I have to write an article for it. I'm writing about the PACAREA change of command that happened right before we sailed and what our involvement was.
I am lucky to be on a ship with good cooks on board. I haven't had a bad meal yet, and the variety has been fantastic. I was walking through the messdeck after watch the other night, and the night baker was awake and had just making some fresh rolls. I was luck enough to score one right out of the oven. I'm sure that if I had a tail, I would look just like Bruno when we fill his food bowl.
Anyway, I have a message that needs to go out before the end of the night, so I should start working on that. I hope everyone has a happy 4th of July. More to follow soon.
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