The Year of Yes

If I look over the past year, I could tell you that I've broaded my horizons. Not so much through international work travel, since that was already happening, but through journeys undertaken in the United States. What was the reason for doing it now? There was the fear of turning 30 and entering middle age (by some peoples' definition). It felt like the right time to complete items off the bucket list. There is also the fact that the quality of travel and accomodation services are returning to pre-COVID norms; more hospitality, and less travail. Supplementing my actual vacation time, this year I also received weeklong interludes of basket leave - or administrative leave- while awaiting training classes and travel to and from the 5 ships I have spent time onboard this year. In April, I submitted my package for a Chief Engineer's License, issued by the US Coast Guard in Baltimore. In May, I hiked the first 100 miles of the Chesapeake and Ohio Canal in Maryland, with an interesting 5-day Turbo Activation of a reserve ship in-between the two hiking trips. In June, I learned how to dig holes with an excavator. I was surprised the construction equipment company rented it to me without proof of training. In July, I visited Tijuana, as my ship was in San Diego. In August, I drove an electric car long-distance to see the giant rubber duck in Crisfield, MD. This is where I boarded the ferry to Tangier Island, a historic community in the middle of the Chesapeake Bay. In November, I attended a family Thanksgiving in Seattle. This was the first large reunion since 2019. And I am writing this blog post from Amtrak's southbound Crescent Train, an overnight trip from Washington, DC to New Orleans.

Signing Off the Ship

There I was, standing awkwardly on the MacArthur Promenade at Naval Base Sasebo, six hours before my bus was due to depart for the airport. I'd forgotten that most ships, especially those overseas, are in a continous state of motion. While I was packing to leave, the ship was preparing to go to sea for underway replenishment. You're with the mission, or you're left behind at the pier. For the past year, I'd ridden the edge cases: the ship that had a 50% crew turnover leaving the Singapore shipyard in January; two based in Norfolk that rotated officers every month; and another that shed most of its crew as it headed into the Portland, Oregon shipyard. But the shock was getting to me; there was no time to unwind while still onboard- I had to demonstrate equipment, evaluate crewmembers, and replicate or delete computer files. I'd be away from the ships until after the New Year; and I was unlikely to return to Japan - or to those characters on the USNS Yukon- in 2024. While no day onboard was the same, there was a particular routine. Be in the engine room at 0530 to check people in for overtime, come back at 0800 to handle urgent issues, and then attack the monthly preventative maintenance worklist. There was also the guilt of bounty: while the deck officers were counting their days overdue for relief (43! 90!), I was getting off early, as one of the other engineers onboard was promoted into my position as First Engineer, allowing one of us to leave. Although all the officers are US citizens, many grew up overseas, so there was confusion over why I wanted to sign off the ship before a red letter day (as seen on government calenders) called Thanksgiving. Red letter days were overtime days, after all. Then I remembered what I wanted to do, if I ever had the time in Sasebo. This was the best opportunity to take the train to Nagasaki; those in less senior positions, with time to spare on weekends, had often talked well of the city marked in history. The train station had baggage lockers; due to security concerns little need, there really is no public place to keep unattended baggage on military bases. Once my train was outside of Sasebo, I relized that I was a tourist on a paid vacation in Japan.