Twins and Indians are in Puerto Rico for another game tonight. They finally get to play in warm weather.

 

night shift checkin in.... brought the truck in tonight. 75 and sunny out, but supposed to be in the low 30s when I walk out in the morning. Beginning to think this is the year or perpetual winter

 

Thank you for that I had other things that tied me up. We took her out in a November gale to look for the Fitzgerald the night it sank. Weasel,( Dan Jayne) and I were proud that the Skipper picked us for the first helm watch and because of the outside ladders and 30 to 40 foot waves, we didn't get a relief untill the next early in the next morning and the guys who lclimbed those outside ladders wer e white faced when they made it up We rolled her a little to protect them and the skipper said "Well Done". We were responsible for the 20 or so guys below decks trying to keep her bow on to the rollers which seemed to come in sets of 11 as I recall out of the NorthWest. every now and again we'd ram into the freak waves that were over 40 feet. Our deck on the 02 deck was 32 feet above the water, and when we were coasting down the backs of the last wave, hissing, and smashing into the face of the freaks we couldn't see the tops and the bow would fall to starboard so by the time we chugged up the face and it teeter tottered utnder us and we fell 30 or so feet into the next trough, we had to go full port rudder to straighten us or turn turtle. After one freak wave it slammed us perpendicular and Weasel and I were both on the wheel fighting the weight of the rudder but we ended up cresting at a 45 degree angle. The skipper was quoting poetry ( He grasped me with a withered hand "There was a ship quoth he!" Avast! Unhand me grey beard loon! Eftsoons his hand dropped he!"), from the rhyme of the ancient mariner and we would have puked we laughed so hard if we hadn't all puked our guts and some blood much earlier)and cracking jokes but many times I felt him behind me steading me us as we fought the waves forces on the helm. The freak waves and almost got us, and I later logged a 47 degree roll in the ships logso they would know we died fighting when and if they recovered our log..... I hate Lake Michigan and Superior to this day, I don't even perch fish off piers there anymore. If it wasn't for Weasel and Captain Daugherty's courage, all would have been lost. The only thanks we got that mattered was when we got limped into port in Milwaukee, the Chief engineman hugged us both and thanked us. He never mentioed the fact or complained about the fact that he and his men endured a dark engine room with water sloshing and hot oil spraying from the two GM671 diesel locomotive engines running flat out while rolling wildly back and forth all night sweet Jesus if we sank they never would have seen it coming.... The Captain told us he loved us like his sons but didn't think we were going to makeit at one point. We all said prayers, no atheists in the Coast Guard. I was a salty 19 years old. Weasel might have been 23 or so. The Skipper was 48. He was irradiated at the Bikini Atol nuclear bomb tests at the end of world war two. This is why I absolutely have a murderous hatred for anyone who doesn't love our country or respect our flag. Athletes are not heroes to me. The skipper told me to tell any crew menber when I recalled the crew (As I was on watch that night) that any one with kids should stay home and pray for us, we probably wouldn't make it. Every man showed up and saluted the flag at the top of the gangplank regardless of their family background, or color, or religion. We all loved one another and all of us were willing to pay any price to protect one another. I turned 62 in January. It was almost 43 years ago. God bless the Raritan and her crew. Only a few of us remain to pray for the dead.

 

Great tale Coastie, that boat had a brave crew that night. Lot of people just hear the "lake" in Great Lakes and don't understand how nasty it can get out there. Lot of men found out the hard way it can get nastier than mere man can cope with.

 

not many know what the term 3 sisters means, coastie I know you do!!
I named 3 hills on 84 (3 sisters} between miford and mt cobb......

 

Thanks Rocket. When the call came from Ensign Perkins, we were discussing what had happened to the Grand Haven light, about a mile down river from the corep of engineers basin. The light was being intermittantly blocked out by the waves smashing into it. We wre eating coffee ice cream one minute and actually were talking about how sorry we felt for any poor suckers out their on the lake that night. About a half hour later after we were frantically lashing stuff down, Weasel, my more experienced sea Daddy, grabbed me and said we needed to empty our stomach s over the rail. He looked at me and said My ice cream is still cold coming up! Ya better enjoy it, it's the last ice cream we'll ever have! 40 years later I think about him every time I see or taste the stuff...His daughter, Holly is battling breast cancer with the same guts and determination her father had. Hope you all say a prayer for her, she has his wild smile and I love her like I loved him...

 

dunno if I wnna touch any coffee now...would like to fall back asleep....may not be in the cards........only had 'bout 3 mebbe 4 hours rack time

 

Mornin all. Got rain & snow showers here....grrrrrrrrr!!!!

 

rain an chilly.....least it's thursday closer to the weekend.