Monday, 01 February 1999
Alongside in Oranjestad, Aruba. As of 0800, the Empire State was making final preparations for getting underway. The air temperature is 75 degrees this morning, with a forecasted high of 82. Water temperature is 82 degrees. The sky is partly cloudy with a strong breeze out of the east at 15 knots. Barometric pressure is 1015 millibars and steady.
CAPTAIN'S LOG:
Well, the Super Bowl is over, as is our stay in beautiful Aruba. The pregame excitement and wagering has been replaced by the anticipation of returning to sea and our next stop; Saint John. This time we will do something different. Rather than have the ship go into the harbor and tie up next to the dock, we will anchor out in Ganeel Bay, on the west side of the small island of St. John in the U.S. Virgin Islands. This activity will give the Deck Cadets valuable experience in piloting ( fixing the ship's position using references on land) and show them the safe way to "drop the hook ". Engine Cadets get a chance to operate the throttles as the big ship maneuvers and tries to stop on a dime in the middle of the assigned anchorage. Once the ship is riding at anchor in the anchorage, we will give the cadets some practical experience in small boat handling. All of the liberty parties going to the beach must, of course, travel via small boat. We are planning beach cookouts and beach volleyball contests but this stop will not be a full fledged liberty port. It is designed as a training evolution, but as long as we are in one of the most beautiful natural harbors in the Caribbean, it seemed a shame not to sit on the beach and enjoy the scenery. Half of the cadets and crew will have Saturday off, half will have Sunday off. Please do not expect a call from your loved one this port as the phones are difficult to access from where the boats put ashore.
It is always busy when getting underway and that helps to take one's mind off the excitement of the port. Cadets in Division 2 had Watch yesterday and they were the ones assigned to take the ship out of Oranjestad this morning. The Cadets in Division 3 are in class all day while Division 1 goes back to the never-ending task of Shipboard Maintenance: chipping and painting, swabbing and sweeping. The pace of the busy routine will soon clear everyone's head and focus their mind and energy to our task: safe training.
Another positive by-product of being busy is the time passes quickly. By now, the novelty of beautiful weather, suntans in January, and warm tropical breezes has begun to fade. Sending post cards to all of your friends with pictures of scantily clad figures frolicking on a beach on one side and on the other side big letters that scream "WISH YOU WERE HERE!" has lost its thrill. Now, many young people aboard are wishing they were home with their loved ones. The memory of Mom's great cooking is heightened when you are 5,000 miles from home. People all about the ship have begun talking about what they plan to do when they get home. The real monotony of life at sea has begun to show its face around the decks and spaces of the good ship Empire State.
To combat the effects of homesickness, we celebrate "Hump Day" today. We are exactly halfway through our training cycle. Twenty two days and a wake-up or three Saturdays to go until arrival in B-Bay. Hump day is actually an old U.S. Naval tradition where the crew of a warship on an extended deployment would celebrate the day when one could begin to count down the days until the ship was due back in home port. You would say you were "Over the hump" and on the "Homeward or downhill slide." Somehow 44 days at sea punctuated by interludes in Barbados, Aruba, St John and Miami doesn't compare to the deprivations of a military deployment, but for the many aboard who are marking their first extended absence from home... it can be a hardship never-the-less. From now on, the ship heads inexorably north and we draw closer to home.