Abe's Misadventures 10
Riding the Trough
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The most efficient course from Hawaii to San Diego was three days of riding the trough, waves striking one side of the ship, day and night. Some evenings were comical escapades of the constantly rolling ship, sometimes giving Abe a fright at how far it could lean to one side. The importance bootcamp gave to proper stowing suddenly made all the sense in the world.
Very few of the crew got visibly seasick, to Abe's surprise. He was the only one in his family not afflicted by motion sickness as they discovered on a fishing tour in his preteen years. The weather turned on them during the last half of the trip and all but Abe ended up feeding the fish.
This was the ship's third trip on the route, and by far the roughest, so Abe was both physically accustomed and busy in his mind still contemplating the connections he made during the supplies restocking work.
He learned there were many takes on the term "snipe", as the Boatswain's Mate had referred to him during the tacking of supplies. The snipes of the deep south were an imaginary bird species used in practical jokes. Getting a dupe to go on a "snipe hunt" meant sending them somewhere in the swamp with a sack to catch the birds allegedly to be chased their direction, then left alone until they gave up. The Navy's version of snipes were engineers, like Abe, who worked below decks, particularly in and around engine rooms. Some of his shipmates converged the two myths, inferring engineers seemed imaginary because they were never seen despite evidence of their existence.
There were snipe birds that weren't imaginary, making the fanciful form and snipe hunt prank all the more ridiculous, ruining the stories. No one was interested in such knowledge, the myths were more fun.
The ship returned to its usual operations on arrival at San Diego. Maintenance that could only be done conveniently in port took up much of the working days, interwoven with rotating watches on duty days, and time off ship on non-duty evenings. While some spent time with their families, Abe put home out of his mind and focused on studying for an upcoming chance at an advancement test. He spent less and less time with Derrick as their duty and watches fell on different days.
Abe had about three years of active duty remaining. Derrick a little less. Neither planned to reenlist, both had university in their sights. Still, the Navy had more allure to lay before them before they would decide. Some exotic port visits, a promotion and an easy duty assignment guarantee changed many minds. Any cushy duty would end before the reenlistment period expired so on the far side they would rotate back to a similar assignment as they had now. But it had become familiar and comfortable despite the constant drilling and long days at sea.
Conversely, the attack on the U.S.S. Stark by an Iraqi pilot that year was a reminder of the gravity of their missions. Few were intimidated outwardly, the confidence in their cutting-edge systems ran deep, a belief that it couldn’t happen to the Machias.
The crew would be tested sooner than they expected.
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