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Yarrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr.
#1
Someone (sexy) told me I should write down some of my stories (Sea Tales); here's one:

Well off the coast of Newfoundland to the east is the Grand Banks which you probably know is famous for its fishing. At the furthest east tip of the Grand Banks is what is known as the Flemish Cap. You can be hundreds of sea miles away from land and the Cap is shallow enough for you to anchor your ship. The fish like it for the same reason the shallowness and the water fed up from the Gulf Stream make it a smorgasbord of sea life. At the furthest east end of the Flemish Cap just before the shelf of the continent drops off to the abyss is the Virgin Rocks.


The charts have the Virgin Rocks as being 49 feet below chart level but they are a great danger when the waves get big and your ship is deep. A couple days east of that towards Iceland is where I found myself in the summer of 1996, about the same time you were fleeing Moscow I guess?


There are further away places one could be but you wouldn’t know it. It was close in fact to where the Titanic was lost. Every morning like clockwork the silence was broken by a loud boom. It was the Concorde jet on it’s way from NY to London, somewhat following the same path, amazingly enough as the Titanic along what is called a Great Circle course which is the shortest path between two point on a sphere. Ships are noisy but after a day or so the background noises get assimilated and you become very aware of different sounds and the boom was always noticed and anticipated for.

I was in the Navy at the time but we were on a Coast Guard ship and I had a gaggle of fresh recruits to train. We had been a few days out but hadn’t had any real weather yet.

One night we did...........

.......... as you tend to do in that part of the world.

It was during the 8-12 watch in the evening and on the bridge was the Captain, myself and one of the recruits. The Captain was nothing like you would imagine mid thirties, clean shaven, fit, British sports car and a trophy wife. He was actually my inspiration for leaving the Navy and pursuing a career in the world of merchant (civilian) shipping. Coast Guard and merchant mariners make more much more money and I had probably reached the ceiling in the Navy or close to it. As it turns out it was an excellent choice but that is another story.

So the Captain, myself and this young trainee are on the bridge the wind and seas were up waves are hitting the bridge just like in the films. Nothing for the seasoned ones but a bit disconcerting for someone new to it and finally the young fellow asked: “Cap, how far away from land are we?”. The Captain not missing a beat said:” oh about two miles”.

The young trainee was perplexed because he had done all his academic training ashore and could take a position on a chart and make sense of the radar to a certain extent; he promptly did both, not once but twice.

Finally still worried but confident in his navigating ability he spoke up again: “Cap, I’ve looked at both the radar and the chart and we’re at least a couple hundred miles from any land”

To which the Captain replied: “When I said two miles……………......................................................




..I meant straight down”.


Yarrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr.
2001 Focus ZTS 2004 WRX
"I'm just here for the camping"
http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=687620231
TEAM P.I.T.A. FTW!
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#2
Nice
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#3
good story, keep them coming.
'03 Focus SVT
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#4
Talk like a pirate day already?

Avast!
Silver '05 Saabaru 9-2X Aero
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#5
Self portrait, same voyage (day before the blow I mentioned), in Navy uniform, on a Coast Guard Ship (CCGS ALERT) & Ray Bans "pimping" while changing the masthead steamin light bulb 110' above the deck:

[Image: scan0002.jpg]

Same year, Anconna Itlay:

[Image: scan0003.jpg]
2001 Focus ZTS 2004 WRX
"I'm just here for the camping"
http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=687620231
TEAM P.I.T.A. FTW!
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#6
man that must be a blast
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#7
If you're expecting the same reaction from me as the lady friends, it ain't gonna happen. I refuse to giggle and bat my eyelashes until after you buy me dinner.

amusing tho...
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#8
2001 ZTS,Mar 31 2006, 01:06 AM Wrote:Self portrait, same voyage (day before the blow I mentioned), in Navy uniform, on a Coast Guard Ship (CCGS ALERT) & Ray Bans "pimping" while changing the masthead steamin light bulb 110' above the deck:

[Image: scan0002.jpg]

Same year, Anconna Itlay:

[Image: scan0003.jpg]
[right][snapback]178168[/snapback][/right]


^^^fu ckin' brokeback indeed sailor^^^

[Image: salty.jpg]
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#9
:unsure: :unsure: :unsure: :unsure: :unsure:

umm......
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#10
laidman,Mar 31 2006, 11:00 AM Wrote::unsure:  :unsure:  :unsure:  :unsure:  :unsure:

umm......
[right][snapback]178234[/snapback][/right]

It's one of those things where "you had to be there", you're right, best not to ask either.
2001 Focus ZTS 2004 WRX
"I'm just here for the camping"
http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=687620231
TEAM P.I.T.A. FTW!
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#11
2001 ZTS,Mar 31 2006, 11:23 AM Wrote:
laidman,Mar 31 2006, 11:00 AM Wrote::unsure:  :unsure:  :unsure:  :unsure:  :unsure:

umm......
[right][snapback]178234[/snapback][/right]

It's one of those things where "you had to be there", you're right, best not to ask either.
[right][snapback]178240[/snapback][/right]

what happens at the camp, stays at the camp...

shall we call it a draw?

p.s. I'm meeting Anthony for wings at noon-ish, you around afterwards? he's gotta be home in time to vacuum the living room and make dinner, but if you're free for a pint, give my drunk ass a call, I have the day off.
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#12
thats phacking sweet!
I wish my grass was Emo, so it would cut itself...
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