Once again October brought about a long separation from home for me. I missed the trees changing here in Maine as the boat left on the first for a three week trip. Our first stop was New London, CT, home of the Coast Guard Academy, on Tuesday the 2nd. We pulled into the city pier right next to the downtown train station.
After getting most of Wednesday off, our mission was to spend time with the cadets, showing them buoy tender life while gaining perspective on their training. This consisted of long days at work waiting around to give tours, or in my case, cooking a lot. We wrapped this up on Friday afternoon, and a good number of us headed to the campus to watch the Academy Bears football team take on the Fitchburg State Falcons. The game was an absolute treat as 8 of our crewmembers ran the chain gang, and the Bears set the school and conference records for total offensive yards (684). You can read more here http://www.uscgasports.com/content/view/689/76/
On Saturday the 6th we made the 12 hour transit to New York City and its surrounding waterways. We stopped in the East River to decommission a buoy in the shadows of the Chrysler and Empire State Buildings. After snagging the buoy we made our way to Bayonne, NJ – our homeport for the remaining time of this trip, moored up outboard of the Katherine Walker.
Although it’s right around the corner from the Statue of Liberty, the Coast Guard moorings in Bayonne are not all that fascinating. The water looks funny, it’s surrounded by cargo facilities, and there are landfills everywhere (including one cleverly disguised as a links style golf course). However …no, that’s pretty much it for Bayonne.
After an eventfully uneventful week (lots of stuff I’d rather forget, including a 5am tour of Chinatown and a hospital emergency room), we pulled into Manhattan on the 12th, a Friday. We stayed at a cruise ship pier near 12th Ave & W 52nd St. I stood duty that night, and it was a ghost ship. Nearly everyone was off the boat, and no one returned until well after my 8pm-12am watch ended.
On Saturday I wanted to get out and stretch my legs (but not so much spend my money). After cooking breakfast I set out with John and Justin. We wanted to see the World Trade Center and Ground Zero. What an incredible walk! I was floored at how much I enjoyed every aspect of it. We passed a huge post office, portions of Times Square, a street fair, Madison Square Garden, a zillion people and pets, 6 zillion pizza places, Greenwich Village, The Bull, and of course Ground Zero, which was heartbreaking.
Five miles we totaled as we arrived at the Staten Island ferry terminal and Battery Park. We rode the subway back. John and I got off at Canal Street for a proper tour of China Town – the not-5am version. Justin was tired and rode back alone, only to make a wrong turn and walk all the way to the East Side and back. After Canal Street John and I went to the boat for free food, and then I went off to Times Square.
Times Square was a let down of sorts. Too many people were gawking at everything like I was. The highlight was seeing the video of Geoffrey the Giraffe outside of Toys R Us. I had a discussion with some of the shortest of our crewmembers the previous week about how they thought he resembled me. They said it was the eyes; I was convinced it was my relative towering stature. They were right – he’s not that tall for a giraffe.
Our day wrapped up nicely. I had walked over eight miles and spent a whopping $24 thanks to the subway and three of Geoffrey cross-dressing as the Statue of Liberty for the girls. The next morning we needed to be out of the way, so we got underway at 0530. We went back to Bayonne for fire school after a stop to see the real Statue. I got lost in Staten Island with a group from the boat. We found a bar though. On Saturday the 20th we started the 36-hour trip home, arriving after 1am on Monday. And that was our trip, minus the anchoring, the fans, the imploding A/C, the floating vinegar, the holding position, the spilled fruit punch, the missing fuel sheet, the free t-shirts, the Mexican, Asian, couple of white guys, and the molester, and the HD PS3.
I took a couple of pics, but I left the camera at work. So here’s something I missed: costume tryouts -
After getting most of Wednesday off, our mission was to spend time with the cadets, showing them buoy tender life while gaining perspective on their training. This consisted of long days at work waiting around to give tours, or in my case, cooking a lot. We wrapped this up on Friday afternoon, and a good number of us headed to the campus to watch the Academy Bears football team take on the Fitchburg State Falcons. The game was an absolute treat as 8 of our crewmembers ran the chain gang, and the Bears set the school and conference records for total offensive yards (684). You can read more here http://www.uscgasports.com/content/view/689/76/
On Saturday the 6th we made the 12 hour transit to New York City and its surrounding waterways. We stopped in the East River to decommission a buoy in the shadows of the Chrysler and Empire State Buildings. After snagging the buoy we made our way to Bayonne, NJ – our homeport for the remaining time of this trip, moored up outboard of the Katherine Walker.
Although it’s right around the corner from the Statue of Liberty, the Coast Guard moorings in Bayonne are not all that fascinating. The water looks funny, it’s surrounded by cargo facilities, and there are landfills everywhere (including one cleverly disguised as a links style golf course). However …no, that’s pretty much it for Bayonne.
After an eventfully uneventful week (lots of stuff I’d rather forget, including a 5am tour of Chinatown and a hospital emergency room), we pulled into Manhattan on the 12th, a Friday. We stayed at a cruise ship pier near 12th Ave & W 52nd St. I stood duty that night, and it was a ghost ship. Nearly everyone was off the boat, and no one returned until well after my 8pm-12am watch ended.
On Saturday I wanted to get out and stretch my legs (but not so much spend my money). After cooking breakfast I set out with John and Justin. We wanted to see the World Trade Center and Ground Zero. What an incredible walk! I was floored at how much I enjoyed every aspect of it. We passed a huge post office, portions of Times Square, a street fair, Madison Square Garden, a zillion people and pets, 6 zillion pizza places, Greenwich Village, The Bull, and of course Ground Zero, which was heartbreaking.
Five miles we totaled as we arrived at the Staten Island ferry terminal and Battery Park. We rode the subway back. John and I got off at Canal Street for a proper tour of China Town – the not-5am version. Justin was tired and rode back alone, only to make a wrong turn and walk all the way to the East Side and back. After Canal Street John and I went to the boat for free food, and then I went off to Times Square.
Times Square was a let down of sorts. Too many people were gawking at everything like I was. The highlight was seeing the video of Geoffrey the Giraffe outside of Toys R Us. I had a discussion with some of the shortest of our crewmembers the previous week about how they thought he resembled me. They said it was the eyes; I was convinced it was my relative towering stature. They were right – he’s not that tall for a giraffe.
Our day wrapped up nicely. I had walked over eight miles and spent a whopping $24 thanks to the subway and three of Geoffrey cross-dressing as the Statue of Liberty for the girls. The next morning we needed to be out of the way, so we got underway at 0530. We went back to Bayonne for fire school after a stop to see the real Statue. I got lost in Staten Island with a group from the boat. We found a bar though. On Saturday the 20th we started the 36-hour trip home, arriving after 1am on Monday. And that was our trip, minus the anchoring, the fans, the imploding A/C, the floating vinegar, the holding position, the spilled fruit punch, the missing fuel sheet, the free t-shirts, the Mexican, Asian, couple of white guys, and the molester, and the HD PS3.
I took a couple of pics, but I left the camera at work. So here’s something I missed: costume tryouts -
