Journey of the Sea Traveller

My life moves incredibly fast. It is amazing that, on December 20th, I have been in the military for one year. At first, I was passively resisting the idea of the rigid structure of the military life regretting and lamenting my decision. Much has changed.

My rack is no bigger, perhaps smaller, than a coffin. I can sleep peacefully as the turbines beneath the deck boom loudly and, imaginably, endlessly shake the entire compartment and its occupants. The air reeks of jet fuel and is so dusty, the air filter must be changed daily. It also a daily chore for us to clean the berthing, to dust and sweep and swab and strip and buff.

Life can be monotonous, but we are all bright and relatively good friends to keep ourselves happy. We all have our things to keep our peace. I often wander alone to the fantail to find solitude and peaceful respite. Sometimes, I lean over the rail at the fantail, slowly dragging a smoke as I watch the ships sail through the bay and the sun set. At night, I can see the entire shore lit up by tiny lights and see on the bridge tinier fast moving lights as they descend into the horizon. And I enjoy it when the fog rolls in and engulfs the ship that I can no longer see the buoys or nets, and I imagine the ship is in its own world sailing forever.

The ship never sleeps, manned at all times, always, with ever watchful eyes dutifully standing at posts catching drunk sailors and finding smuggled booze. Hope that should be the biggest of our worries for any sentry, or for the crew.

Many people work shifts and many work nights or evenings, but I'm always working from 0630 to 1700 - actually, the work hours will get longer - browsing through tons of papers, helping others, running for the officers throughout the p-ways, and finding a quick minute to go topside and catch fresh air. Would it not be for my good friends and the friendly faces I see everyday, I'd probably go madly insane at the boredom of continuously looking over papers.

It the upcoming months, our ship will be fully and ceremoniously commissioned as a ship of the United States Navy. Many have worked, gone and stayed and gone and passed, to see this very moment. My family is going to travel by vehicle from Indiana, through the West Virginia mountains, to the east coast to see this grand event. It would only be a good gesture to relax afterwards to happily spend time with my family, but knowing the Navy, we will go back to work continuing to make the ship the finest seaworthy vessel man has ever crafted.

I am not a patriot or a nationalist, but I am thankful to be here a part of this and enjoy what America has to offer. I live on a city on the sea, soon to be sailing to every corner of the world, and take in what the world has to offer and give back my most humblest of respect.

I thoroughly enjoyed reading this. While I don't think I have the discipline or the desire to go into the military myself, you're the second member of the Navy I've ever known (the first is probably my closest friend on the planet), and both of you have made it sound infinitely interesting (beneath the monotony, of course).

Thanks for posting this.