rsn48
Guru
- Joined
- Feb 18, 2019
- Messages
- 2,019
- Location
- Canada
- Vessel Name
- Capricorn
- Vessel Make
- Mariner 30 - Sedan Cruiser 1969
Okay, I lied in the title, not really a ship [Canadian Navy definition of a ship is two or more continuous decks]. The ship (boat) in the picture is the same class of boat I trained on in the Canadian Navy as a young "subbie" out of Fleet School in Esquimalt. This is where you were "indoctrinated" into large boat management at the helm and in command of the bridge. In fact it is very possible it is the boat you see in the image.
I know it doesn't look that big but trust me, the first time on the bridge, it felt like the Queen Mary.
And something I have never understood, I think a form of military humour, why have the young lad train in comfort when we can make their life miserable, there was no helm beneath the open bridge, you were open to the rain, snow, blazing heat, etc. If you read me ranting against anything open on a boat in the Pacific Northwest, BC, etc, this is where it all began in 1974 for me. And after sitting in sailboat cockpits in drenching rains as my group of alcoholic friends would cruise out of season in BC and Washington back in the day.
True story, I was there. When I trained in Officer basic and Fleet School, there were candidates from many parts of the world as part of international agreements with other countries. And a friend of mine was Bahamian, in training with me.
I don't recall the rank of the skipper of the minesweeper we were on but I can tell you he was old school and a screamer. So at one point my Bahamian friend is on the bridge "in charge." The old school screamer takes off his forage cap and throws in on the deck and yells - "it's a bomb, its a bomb. What are you going to do?" My Bahamian friends grabs the forage cap and tosses it over the side and said: "Take it easy man, you are going to give yourself a heart attack." You can imagine the scene that followed. But our training officer supported the Bahamian saying he had successfully dealt with the problem.
https://www.facebook.com/wendyelliottphotog/photos/a.133789067375679/656689181752329/?type=3&theater
I know it doesn't look that big but trust me, the first time on the bridge, it felt like the Queen Mary.
And something I have never understood, I think a form of military humour, why have the young lad train in comfort when we can make their life miserable, there was no helm beneath the open bridge, you were open to the rain, snow, blazing heat, etc. If you read me ranting against anything open on a boat in the Pacific Northwest, BC, etc, this is where it all began in 1974 for me. And after sitting in sailboat cockpits in drenching rains as my group of alcoholic friends would cruise out of season in BC and Washington back in the day.
True story, I was there. When I trained in Officer basic and Fleet School, there were candidates from many parts of the world as part of international agreements with other countries. And a friend of mine was Bahamian, in training with me.
I don't recall the rank of the skipper of the minesweeper we were on but I can tell you he was old school and a screamer. So at one point my Bahamian friend is on the bridge "in charge." The old school screamer takes off his forage cap and throws in on the deck and yells - "it's a bomb, its a bomb. What are you going to do?" My Bahamian friends grabs the forage cap and tosses it over the side and said: "Take it easy man, you are going to give yourself a heart attack." You can imagine the scene that followed. But our training officer supported the Bahamian saying he had successfully dealt with the problem.
https://www.facebook.com/wendyelliottphotog/photos/a.133789067375679/656689181752329/?type=3&theater
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