Fear is being 19 years old on the main deck, in our shop,32 feet above the water line looking STRAIGHT UP at waves topping the 05 level. Ready for typhoon but can still hear things breaking loose.
FEAR turns to TERROR when 2 of our Chiefs, WWII vets come into the shop wearing LIFE JACKETS.
When your pitching to where your antennas are in the water and your helmsman is strapped in the chair its rough.
HAHA, I know that fear well. Was on a 180’ buoy tender off the coast of Miami in a hurricane, on 23’ bridge wing looking up at the crest of the wave hitting us directly from our port side. I too had my life jacket on and napped on the bridge. We took a 53 degree roll, time stood still for a moment and I thank God that it rolled back.:)
“When suppertime came, the old cook came on deck sayin’
Fellas, it’s too rough to feed ya.
At Seven P. M. a main hatchway caved in, he said
Fellas, it’s been good t’know ya.”
-Gordon Lightfoot
I was on aboard the Saratoga in ‘64 and ‘65. I reported for duty at Mayport just as hurricane Dora hit the base. The ship was naturally out at sea but I nearly drowned before ever getting on board. We rode out another storm later on that had waves breaking inside the hangar deck and spray raking the flight deck. We had eleven degree rolls to each side for a total of 22 degrees. I stood on deck and watched a destroyer go out of sight time and time again and I was very glad not to be on it. It was finally ordered to come in behind the wake of the carrier for shelter until the storm ended. There were people throwing up for hours and hours but I never had the slightest bit of seasickness. A lot of those guys were furious because they were so miserable and I was feeling great. They asked why I didn’t get sick and I told them that it might be because I grew up in the sticks with very little entertainment and when a strong wind came up my older brother and I would go and find a tall, skinny tree to climb and ride it back and forth in the wind.