Former Coastie Reporting Aboard

Sleepy Doc · Post by **Sleepy Doc** » July 28th, 2008, 11:54 am

Jibtrim wrote:
The Sleepy Doc wrote:I was watching a show about it and realized that Governor's Island had to be one of the best duty assignments in the military while it was open. Damn, that musta been rough on a guy..
(I'm being jealous, of course...
I am not sure that I would put GI on par with Lake Tahoe or Islamorada in the Keys (there were 12 women on GI and most of them were, well you know). GI was pretty cool. It was kind of it's own city and came with the problems that many "small cities" have. As far as easy access to probably the world class city, that was indeed a plus. Of course, you never realize this when you are 18 years old. You have The City at your door step and what do you do, you head to the piece of crap enlisted men's club and get tanked on subsidized beer.

Ok, you have an excellent point. I'm from an hour from the NYC though, and it would be like getting stationed at home. Plus, in the summer there are smoking hot scantily dressed women everywhere..

Jibtrim · Post by **Jibtrim** » July 28th, 2008, 2:14 pm

The Sleepy Doc wrote:
Jibtrim wrote:
The Sleepy Doc wrote:I was watching a show about it and realized that Governor's Island had to be one of the best duty assignments in the military while it was open. Damn, that musta been rough on a guy..
(I'm being jealous, of course...
I am not sure that I would put GI on par with Lake Tahoe or Islamorada in the Keys (there were 12 women on GI and most of them were, well you know). GI was pretty cool. It was kind of it's own city and came with the problems that many "small cities" have. As far as easy access to probably the world class city, that was indeed a plus. Of course, you never realize this when you are 18 years old. You have The City at your door step and what do you do, you head to the piece of crap enlisted men's club and get tanked on subsidized beer.
Ok, you have an excellent point. I'm from an hour from the NYC though, and it would be like getting stationed at home. Plus, in the summer there are smoking hot scantily dressed women everywhere..

Indeed there were. But pullin' E-2 pay, I was outta their league. Seriously out of their league.

Jibtrim · Post by **Jibtrim** » July 28th, 2008, 2:23 pm

rangertough wrote:Jib-

My wife is a SK2 with a Port Security Unit (small patrol boats with big guns, and a ground combat mission). I had worked with USCG on a JTF-6 mission in Corpus Christie, then my wife joined. I went to Cape May for the wife's graduation and have spent a ton of time training her unit's boaties and security types. Welcome aboard!!!!

Tough

I understand that PSUs are the new wave of the CG mission. When I was a boarding officer, they tried to teach some of that as a collateral duty. I remember one time we were with a Navy team out of Coronado and when one of their guys hit in the water, we went into full SAR mode. We didn't realize that it was part of the drill. That one left a mark.

Post by **rangertough** » July 28th, 2008, 3:59 pm

Yep they are the new deal that and MSST's, it's all part of the DOG (Deployment Operations Group). The problem is the USCG has had a Law Enforcement (boarding operations etc.) bend for so long they have a problem wrapping their heads around the fact that the waters and ports in the middle east are totally different than what they are used to, especially in regards to their "Ground Mount" mission. Couple that with the fact that most of the Security cats are cops in the real world. They resist change.

I have not great things to say about most of the idiots in Security. Good news is their new Ensign was an EM at 2/75. The Boaties however are a great crew and they square me away with rides all the time.

Tough

Jibtrim · Post by **Jibtrim** » July 29th, 2008, 2:04 pm

Tough,

Security types, I know them well. God bless 'em, but they usually get the mission confused. When I got out of AD, I went Active Reserve at STA Fort Point on the SF Bay. Great spot, we ran 44" Motor Life Boats that were self-righting and self-bailing. The surf off of SF is ridiculous. We also picked up the jumpers from the Golden Gate Bridge -- we were unofficially called the "Body Snatchers." Most of us were guys that ran motor life boats, did lots of SAR, and alot of MLE - TACLET stuff when we were on AD, so we transitioned well. Unfortunately, we had a few reservists that were never AD and were reserve cops in the world. All they wanted to do was bay patrol and try and seize somebody's boat. They sat around the squad bay all day shining their piece and making their Sam Brown leather gear look good. They didn't stick around long.

K.Ingraham · Post by **K.Ingraham** » July 30th, 2008, 6:16 am

Jibtrim wrote:Tough,

44" Motor Life Boats

Those things are absolutely the nuts, especially if you're crewing them where you were, or up in Portland.
When I was actively looking at returning to AD in the mid-80s, that was one of the few alternatives to my previous career field that I considered.

Jibtrim · Post by **Jibtrim** » July 30th, 2008, 10:04 am

K.Ingraham wrote:
Jibtrim wrote:Tough,

44" Motor Life Boats
Those things are absolutely the nuts

Indeed. I spent a little bit of time in OR and WA, but most of my time on 44's was off the San Francisco coast. It is insane there, as well. One of our coxswains (go ahead and laugh) spun one a few times in the surf off of Ocean Beach. I get a bit nostalgic since they decommissioned the boats a while back. However, they were replaced with 47 footers. Now these are the shit. Here are is a link from the National Motor Lifeboat School in Cape Disappointment, WA via youtube

Surfs Up

Keep your eye on the coxswain in the middle seat. You'll notice how he throttles through the waves and troughs. The spotter on the port side of the wheel station is calling out the next set of swells. These cats are actually surfing the waves. At about the two minute mark, you'll notice that they drop down the face and come back hard to port on hit the crest and surf back down the face. Fucking amazing. Gives me a stiffy watching it. I believe all of the boats now have cameras docked in the same position as on this boat. I'll bet that HQ has about 20 miles of excellent footage. I'll have to search their site and see what I can find.

Jibtrim

Rock Island Ranger · Post by **Rock Island Ranger** » July 30th, 2008, 10:10 am

Link doesnt work.

Jibtrim · Post by **Jibtrim** » July 30th, 2008, 1:07 pm

Rock Island Ranger wrote:Link doesnt work.

Ah yes, the link to nowhere. I've been there before.

This should work.

Jibtrim · Post by **Jibtrim** » July 30th, 2008, 1:30 pm

Jibtrim wrote:
Rock Island Ranger wrote:Link doesnt work.
Ah yes, the link to nowhere. I've been there before.

This should work.

Here's the video I was really looking for. It is an extended play version of the previous post. Pay attention at the 4:00 mark -- two boats playing in the surf. I think this may be a distant view of the previous footage. The soundtrack rocks' as well.

Jibtrim · Post by **Jibtrim** » July 30th, 2008, 1:34 pm

I'm a fucking retard who hasn't figured out how to edit a post. I better break out the user's guide.

Surf's Up

Post by **rangertough** » July 30th, 2008, 9:19 pm

I've wanted one of the new SAR boats (the one they are retireing) of my very own for a long time. They are the heat.

Tough

Chiron · Post by **Chiron** » July 31st, 2008, 4:37 am

Jibtrim wrote:I'm a fucking retard who hasn't figured out how to edit a post. I better break out the user's guide.

Surf's Up

Welcome. Good video! Bring one over here when there is 11 beaufort! I go out with my brother in-law and his "Predator" 8.5 meters with a Merc 300 engine! we have only taken it out up to 6 beaufort but the babies in the video are cool!!!

Jibtrim · Post by **Jibtrim** » July 31st, 2008, 9:22 am

Chiron wrote:
Welcome. Good video! Bring one over here when there is 11 beaufort! I go out with my brother in-law and his "Predator" 8.5 meters with a Merc 300 engine! we have only taken it out up to 6 beaufort but the babies in the video are cool!!!

Chiron,

Thank you for the welcome and for making my day. Beaufort! I love it. Some days I walk around muttering nav / maritime terms and my wife thinks I'm nuts. Bowditch, which in addition to being my nav bible, has great Beaufort images. This NOAA link has updated imagery. I remember being in the Bering and thinking, yep, that an 8. Hey, were up to 9.

Thanks again for making me smile.