As a sailor I have spent my fair share of time at sea on various vessels and warships of the Royal Canadian Navy. There is nothing like being at sea, it can be described as “hours of boredom followed by moments of shear excitement”, and these words certainly hold true. You could spend hours on watch on the bridge doing routine tasks, and all of the sudden the General Alarm would sound. Whether for a real emergency or a drill a little feeling of excitement would spark inside, and everyone would jump to action rushing to their stations. At night, most of the crew would be in their “racks” fast asleep, there is nothing quite like a night at sea; whether on the bridge keeping watch in the dark or lying in bed, the sound of a quite calm and mild hum of the engines can be heard, and the gentle splashing of waves against the hull. It is all so peaceful and calming.
I was so excited for my first posting to a ship that I didn’t care that I was going to sea for work ups training, a generally despised period of increased fire, flood, casualty, hazmat and a whole host of other drills. Work Ups just made everything all the more exciting. I did my job and did it well, but it was not terribly difficult as I just had to listen and do what I was told. That is the beauty of the military; you get to build up your responsibility overtime. I took every opportunity to learn new skills and enhance my leadership achieving promotions very quickly.
The last time I went to sea it was a vastly different experience. I have slowly moved up in rank and responsibility; my most recent seagoing experience was as the Chief Quarter Master and Chief Boatswain Mate Trainee. The Chief Quarter Master is the 2nd in command of the Deck department, and subordinate to the Chief Boatswains Mate who is the Senior Boatswain on the Ship.
Boatswains are responsible for all ships evolutions including towing, anchor work, replenishments at sea, boat operations, launching and recovering ship’s boats and weapons maintenance and operations. Many of these evolutions can be extremely dangerous as there are many simultaneous activities involving heavy and moving equipment. As you move up the Boatswain ranks there is an ever increasing emphasis on safety. Prior to evolutions it was my responsibility to ensure equipment is in safe working order and supervise a subordinate Boatswain in the safe setup, and then stand back during the evolutions and observe safety of all individuals. It took a little getting used to stepping back and observing rather than participating in evolutions, but you do get the satisfaction of seeing the whole picture rather than fragments.
Now that my training as a Boatswain is complete, there is little need to return to sea, but I do look forward to a few short refresher sails to keep acquainted with the few pleasures of sailing.
