First General Update From the Aspen
So it’s been two and a half weeks. I should probably give you guys an update as to what I’ve been doing here on the Aspen. The very short answer is not very much. I arrived at a very unusual time. Within 24 hours of my arrival, the entire crew was set free for ten days of holiday liberty and everyone scattered. This meant I saw a bunch of faces the day I arrived, but didn’t actually get to know anyone until they came in one at a time for their day of watch duty. Some personnel were on leave through the entire break and I only met them for the first time a couple days ago. Overall, during my first week and a half here, I had the place almost to myself. It was very strange at first, but turned out to be a good thing. With this being both my place of residence and my place of work, I didn’t really have many reasons to leave. If I wanted to go out for a drink or to the store, I could. A shipmate left me his car to use while he went home to Boston. But I don’t know this town at all and getting on and off the island is a pain, so usually just stayed in.
That’s right, I live on an island. Yerba Buena Island, for those who are curious. It’s the middle point of the Bay Bridge between Oakland and San Francisco. The only thing on this island is a few private residences and a small Coast Guard base. We have a small boat station, a buoy repair depot, a few temporary barracks, and the Aspen, but nothing else. No store. No food or drink dispensaries, aside from the galleys. No gas station. No nothing. Just a terrifying, winding little road that dumps directly off the freeway and ultimately ends at my dock. It’s a bit frustrating and like I said before, a pain, so usually I just stay in. Hopefully in the next few weeks I will get a housing assignment in the military housing 20 minutes away in Alameda. That is where most of my shipmates live. I will have to commute every day to the boat when we are working in port, but getting to the grocery store won’t be an epic undertaking anymore.
My entire first week was taken up in Christmas and getting to know the ship. Upon arriving I was given two packets to complete promptly. The 14-Day is a list of personnel I must meet with who welcome me to the ship and tell me how things work around here. Everything from getting a bunk assignment to how I can get firearms stored (if I choose to own any) to the details of the crew workout program is covered on this list. The 21-Day is a list of equipment around the boat I need to find and learn about. Most of it is emergency systems and Oh-Shit stuff. For example, I need to know how each of the three fire systems work, where all of the hoses and valves are, and show someone that I can put on a full firefighting ensemble. The 21-Day packet is often not completed by new crewmembers within the 21-day time frame because there are just so many items to complete. But with no one around to distract me or get in my way, I finished it in the first week, even with taking a couple days off for Christmas. On the other hand, my 14-Day is already overdue because none of the people I need to talk to have been around. And that is fine. My command understands that it isn’t my fault that my yeoman is in Florida until January 5th. Within this next week I should have the rest of that packet complete and turned in.
This last week, we actually did a little work. The in-port workday is usually from 0650 to 1300. Yes, we only work six hours a day and have the entire afternoon off. That’s because we can get called in to duty at any time and when we go out to sea, we work very long hours, day after day. It’s an odd schedule that sometimes makes it difficult to have a life and make plans, but on average not that bad at all. So on Monday I spent most of my day hunting people on the 14-Day, or as I like to call it, my Hit List. When everyone present was taken care of, I was handed a pair of coveralls and a respirator and asked if I knew how to operate a grinder. Not yet, but I’m about to learn! Did some sanding and grinding. Got a smidge dirty. It felt good. On Tuesday, I knocked off a few more on the Hit List and spent the rest of the day doing crane operations. We were loading up on some new laundry machines, food stores, and buoys for an upcoming trip. I just jumped in with my hardhat and life vest on and went for it. No one is really instructing me or giving me much of an introduction to anything and that is awesome. I love it. If I don’t have any idea what I’m doing, I will say so, but otherwise I’m figuring it out as I go. They can see I’m smart enough to do so and they are letting me. I’m not a seamless part of the team yet, but I don’t think I look like a bumbling new idiot out there.
We were originally given liberty at 1300 Tuesday to enjoy the holiday, expiring on Sunday, but those plans changed 2130 Tuesday night. The entire crew was recalled to go out and work Wednesday, New Year’s Eve morning. A freighter had hit the boundary buoy and sunk it. It is a very important marker directing the merging of three major traffic channels into the one point that enters the Bay. It needed to be replaced pronto. So Wednesday morning, we loaded up a replacement buoy and cast off by 0900. Apparently, this was a very unusual occurrence. Ships do not collide with buoys often. Coincidentally, it happened on my first job. I will not likely see this situation again in my career. The entire day was spent dredging for the destroyed hulk of the old buoy, pulling it up, and swapping it out with the replacement. I helped wherever I could, but mainly stayed out of the way while they figured out how to manage the job. The regular gig of setting out new buoys or cleaning existing ones has a preset script and the crew clicks along like clockwork, but this was so strange that there wasn’t a set protocol and the deck supervisor was making it up as he went along. Eventually, we got everything setup and squared away and came back into port. By 1730, we were tied up again and liberty was again piped through the ship. We all got to go out and enjoy the town and ring in the New Year among friends and family.
I have been quietly learning the routine of the ship, getting comfy here, and doing a lot of sleeping and working out. Its odd to think that I really didn’t do any work today, but I still got paid for it. Starting tomorrow, we are going to finally leave the holiday schedule behind and stat working in earnest. I will work my first real buoy this week. I get to start standing watch on the quarterdeck and up in the bridge. I have a bunch of things I need to get qualified in immediately to become a useful member of the crew- In-Port Watchstander, Helmsman, Lookout, Anchor Watch, Rigger, Basic Damage Controlman. All these jobs need to be learned in the next month. I am also already looking at what I need to learn and complete to become a Boatswain’s Mate. It is going to be a crazy time and I don’t expect I’ll be getting a lot of sleep from here on out. I have had it really chill so far, but that is over. I should have a bunch to write about and now that I am finally online, I will be posting when possible. Right now, I will post all the updates that I've written so far. Enjoy!
That’s right, I live on an island. Yerba Buena Island, for those who are curious. It’s the middle point of the Bay Bridge between Oakland and San Francisco. The only thing on this island is a few private residences and a small Coast Guard base. We have a small boat station, a buoy repair depot, a few temporary barracks, and the Aspen, but nothing else. No store. No food or drink dispensaries, aside from the galleys. No gas station. No nothing. Just a terrifying, winding little road that dumps directly off the freeway and ultimately ends at my dock. It’s a bit frustrating and like I said before, a pain, so usually I just stay in. Hopefully in the next few weeks I will get a housing assignment in the military housing 20 minutes away in Alameda. That is where most of my shipmates live. I will have to commute every day to the boat when we are working in port, but getting to the grocery store won’t be an epic undertaking anymore.
My entire first week was taken up in Christmas and getting to know the ship. Upon arriving I was given two packets to complete promptly. The 14-Day is a list of personnel I must meet with who welcome me to the ship and tell me how things work around here. Everything from getting a bunk assignment to how I can get firearms stored (if I choose to own any) to the details of the crew workout program is covered on this list. The 21-Day is a list of equipment around the boat I need to find and learn about. Most of it is emergency systems and Oh-Shit stuff. For example, I need to know how each of the three fire systems work, where all of the hoses and valves are, and show someone that I can put on a full firefighting ensemble. The 21-Day packet is often not completed by new crewmembers within the 21-day time frame because there are just so many items to complete. But with no one around to distract me or get in my way, I finished it in the first week, even with taking a couple days off for Christmas. On the other hand, my 14-Day is already overdue because none of the people I need to talk to have been around. And that is fine. My command understands that it isn’t my fault that my yeoman is in Florida until January 5th. Within this next week I should have the rest of that packet complete and turned in.
This last week, we actually did a little work. The in-port workday is usually from 0650 to 1300. Yes, we only work six hours a day and have the entire afternoon off. That’s because we can get called in to duty at any time and when we go out to sea, we work very long hours, day after day. It’s an odd schedule that sometimes makes it difficult to have a life and make plans, but on average not that bad at all. So on Monday I spent most of my day hunting people on the 14-Day, or as I like to call it, my Hit List. When everyone present was taken care of, I was handed a pair of coveralls and a respirator and asked if I knew how to operate a grinder. Not yet, but I’m about to learn! Did some sanding and grinding. Got a smidge dirty. It felt good. On Tuesday, I knocked off a few more on the Hit List and spent the rest of the day doing crane operations. We were loading up on some new laundry machines, food stores, and buoys for an upcoming trip. I just jumped in with my hardhat and life vest on and went for it. No one is really instructing me or giving me much of an introduction to anything and that is awesome. I love it. If I don’t have any idea what I’m doing, I will say so, but otherwise I’m figuring it out as I go. They can see I’m smart enough to do so and they are letting me. I’m not a seamless part of the team yet, but I don’t think I look like a bumbling new idiot out there.
We were originally given liberty at 1300 Tuesday to enjoy the holiday, expiring on Sunday, but those plans changed 2130 Tuesday night. The entire crew was recalled to go out and work Wednesday, New Year’s Eve morning. A freighter had hit the boundary buoy and sunk it. It is a very important marker directing the merging of three major traffic channels into the one point that enters the Bay. It needed to be replaced pronto. So Wednesday morning, we loaded up a replacement buoy and cast off by 0900. Apparently, this was a very unusual occurrence. Ships do not collide with buoys often. Coincidentally, it happened on my first job. I will not likely see this situation again in my career. The entire day was spent dredging for the destroyed hulk of the old buoy, pulling it up, and swapping it out with the replacement. I helped wherever I could, but mainly stayed out of the way while they figured out how to manage the job. The regular gig of setting out new buoys or cleaning existing ones has a preset script and the crew clicks along like clockwork, but this was so strange that there wasn’t a set protocol and the deck supervisor was making it up as he went along. Eventually, we got everything setup and squared away and came back into port. By 1730, we were tied up again and liberty was again piped through the ship. We all got to go out and enjoy the town and ring in the New Year among friends and family.
I have been quietly learning the routine of the ship, getting comfy here, and doing a lot of sleeping and working out. Its odd to think that I really didn’t do any work today, but I still got paid for it. Starting tomorrow, we are going to finally leave the holiday schedule behind and stat working in earnest. I will work my first real buoy this week. I get to start standing watch on the quarterdeck and up in the bridge. I have a bunch of things I need to get qualified in immediately to become a useful member of the crew- In-Port Watchstander, Helmsman, Lookout, Anchor Watch, Rigger, Basic Damage Controlman. All these jobs need to be learned in the next month. I am also already looking at what I need to learn and complete to become a Boatswain’s Mate. It is going to be a crazy time and I don’t expect I’ll be getting a lot of sleep from here on out. I have had it really chill so far, but that is over. I should have a bunch to write about and now that I am finally online, I will be posting when possible. Right now, I will post all the updates that I've written so far. Enjoy!