The Mighty "D"

What do you say we update this blog?

I've been home for two weeks now after two months aboard the CGC Dependable and what a long two months they were. It's good to be home, to see Micaiah grow as fast as he does and to be with my wife who is in her second trimester.

I went on another temorary duty assignment aboard the Dependable from March to May. We hit up the east coast and did what the Coast Guard asked of us to do.

This photo here is our second of four stops along the trip. Kind of a kick to the shins really. I mean, it's one thing to stop in Rhode Island or North Carolina, at least it feels far enoguh away from home not to be home sick, but to spend three days in Philly, well...I'm just glad Dianna was in PEI so that I didn't have to see her and my son, only to say good bye for another five weeks. I had a good time at every place we stopped.
I smoked a cigar at every city or tow, took lots of pictures, stayed out till early morning, and probably drank way more than I intended to. All in all a great time.

Our mission was to respond to search and rescue calls, make sure all the fisherman were doing the right thing as far as paper work in order, catching the kind of fish they were supposed to and not catching more than what they were allowed.

We ran all sorts of practice scenarios. Whether damage to the ship or bad guys shooting at us, we ran drills to stay sharp and pass the time.

This one here on the left is a practice run we did. During a drill, everyone has their places to be and because I was not assigned to the boat I didn't have a place. Though you could say the flying bridge (lookout) was mine, for that's where I spent many a drills just observing. Like this one, where they were firing off the 50cals and 25mm's. It was exciting to watch.

I had email on the boat so I wrote home every day and called Dianna every time we hit land.

As I mentioned above, Dianna was in Canada for several weeks while I was underway. It eased the missing home part a lot knowing she was with family. A few weeks before the Boat pulled back into Cape May, my Mom came to visit. They certainly did a lot around the house. There were some minor and major changes, all of which were a great surprise and joy to see.

I think I missed home more this time around because of Micaiah. I knew he would not be a baby for ever, but I didn't think he would mature this quickly. I wanted to miss nothing and be there for everything. He doesn't speak so much as he mimicks what we say, though it does seem there is less jibberish and more words every day.

Now that I am home and only have another year here in Cape May, I am really appreciating every day with my family.

Every day not underway.

If you would like to view more photos of the trip, or any other photos I have, please visit me at my facebook accound. Thank you. Till later...