Treasure Hunts

This past weekend, I got together with Jake, one of my classmates (also ex-Navy) and we went on a quick whirlwind of a mission to locate some of the more iconic Seattle spots. My friend Joe, who used to live up in these parts, sent me a list of things to check out, so we did our best to scratch them off the list.

Waterfall Park

The "Gumwall"

The mission went something like this: The Gumwall, Pioneer Square, Waterfall Park, the Locks, Gasworks Park, Freemont and the Freemont Troll. We managed to hit a few other places and grab a good burger, Bloody Mary and beer along the way, and those were not in any particular order either. What it did, was force us to get out and navigate the city a little. We saw some other cool things that forced us to stop and look around.

Fisherman's Terminal

The Fremont Troll

Gasworks Park

 

Bacon Bloody Mary

Sunday, I reconnected with my friend Patrick from the USS Enterprise ('89-90) and we grabbed dinner and a movie. It was nice to talk about the "ol days" and Navy adventures that we encountered. He works at the Pink Door in Seattle, which has AMAZING Italian cuisine. If you're in the area, do stop in there for dinner and if you see a good looking chap names Patrick, tell him I sent you!

Yesterday was Monday, and we began our weeklong "AB" class (Able Bodied Seaman) which is a compilation of all the true nitty-gritty mariner duties and tasks. We are studying rules of the road, navigation lights, braiding and knot tying, cargo loading, breaking strengths and safe working loads of lines, pollution control, helmsman duties, fire extinguishers, survival equipment, line handling, rescue at sea, etc, etc, etc.... Tons of information thrown into one week, with two tests on Friday and multiple quizzes in between. We are in class from about 7:30-5 every day, and yet it's still somewhat fun. I guess I just like boats. :-)

The navigation aspect of this week is one of the hardest since we have to memorize all the flashing lights, navigation lights for vessels towing, fishing, working, dredging, "not under command", anchoring, yadda yadda yadda... But again, I must like boats because I enjoy learning this stuff.

Next week is "Basic Safety Training" and we get a more hands-on approach to the curriculim. We will be putting on exposure suits and jumping into the water, doing first aid, basic firefighting, abandon ship procedures and more. It should be a bit more engaging to say the least. After that, classes are out until June and I will be boarding a boat for up to a month, most likely heading into Alaska. At some point in there, I'm hoping to squeeze home for a few days to see the family, but I'm afraid that it might not happen until May. FaceTime has been awesome for getting to see and talk with the family, but its still tough being away from them. We all know that this is a short term sacrifice for a long term gain and so far things are going pretty well despite being away.

I'd best get back to my studies if I'm going to nail Fridays tests..

-M

 

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