WTFO

Surface, Surface, Surface

2008-10-17T21:48:00.003-08:00

Here I am.
I have been pretty busy over the course of ten months. I've lurked around a bit and dropped a few comments here and there, but haven't been inclined to put up any of my own posts. The summer was too short and not a particularly warm one. I didn't accomplish all the projects I had planned. The other half and I have both gone back to school in addition to our other duties. I've finally gotten the motorcycle I almost bought thirteen years ago in Norfolk and I love riding it, although the snow has been here for a few weeks and I won't be able to ride it again for seven or eight months. I caught up with an old Navy buddy last week who I have not seen in over ten years and it was good. I'm also keeping my hopes up for the Fourth of November that this country will not elect a socialist for President. We'll see when I have a chance to post again.

Who ya gonna call?

2008-01-18T08:11:00.000-09:00

It's really strange what inspires me to put stuff up on this blog. The build team from the show Mythbusters is here in town doing research for a few Alaska based myths. I like the show but my wife has never seen it (we don't have cable) so she didn't understand my geeky excitedness at hearing about their presence in town. Apparently they'll be figuring out whether there is any truth to the myth that you should speed up when about to hit a moose (I doubt it, your car is gonna be totaled and you'll be hurting if not dead. That's why I drive a truck.) and also a myth or two about cabin fever related things. I heard that from a local TV station. It seems the team was surprised to find that they wouldn't be going out into the bush to find a specimen for their research. They found a moose downtown as is usual during the winter months here in Anchor-town. I hear it was this one again.

So yeah, it's 2008 now and much time has passed since I last updated this page. I've been lurking around the blogosphere though; perusing other people's handiwork and have occasionally left a comment or two behind. I've given a few stories away to be posted about by others but nothing I think they wouldn't have found anyway.
So a belated Happy New Year to all. I'll put something else up, eventually.

Summer

2007-07-30T09:36:00.000-08:00

I've been so busy this summer that I have had little time for reading other blogs let alone posting to this one. Not that the picture below is any reflection of the type of thing that has kept me so busy. It's just an example of what we caught for dinner one night last week.

Leviathan

2007-06-13T09:13:00.000-08:00

Who knew whales could be this old?

Score

2007-05-22T20:39:00.000-08:00

A hat tip to RM1/SS over at The Old Coot where I found the link to this quiz. I wonder if my wife will agree.

Your Score: Pure Nerd

65 % Nerd, 39% Geek, 13% Dork

For The Record:

A Nerd is someone who is passionate about learning/being smart/academia.
A Geek is someone who is passionate about some particular area or subject, often an obscure or difficult one.
A Dork is someone who has difficulty with common social expectations/interactions.
You scored better than half in Nerd, earning you the title of: Pure Nerd.

THE NERD? GEEK? OR DORK? TEST

Road Trip

2007-05-22T19:32:00.000-08:00

When I travel Outside I look for submarine related items and places. I found a memorial to 52 boats outside Las Vegas while visiting my wife’s grandfather’s final resting place in a national cemetery. I also found a few things on my last trip down south.
I went down to Seattle to attend a conference for work. I headed down a day early to see some family in the area. On my way back to Seattle I took the scenic route from Mount Vernon through Whidbey Island to the ferry. It’s the first time I’ve been to sea in awhile. It’s a short ferry ride from Keystone to Port Townsend, around 30 minutes dock to dock. While underway I did get the chance to see a boat pulling back into the area from somewhere. Escorted by two USCG patrol boats the Ohio class boat was crossing our intended course and we got surprisingly close.

I snapped a few pictures and listened to the kids around me chatter excitedly about seeing a real live submarine. That got me thinking about a place I’d heard about for years but being an east coast sailor I had never had the opportunity to visit.
So making my way from PT south I meandered through the area towards my intended destination until I found the Naval Undersea Museum near Keyport.

I didn’t know it existed but when I saw the signs for it, I had to take the detour. Luckily for me they were still open and I had an hour to roam about on a self guided tour. Admission is free but they’ll still take a donation if you’re so minded. They’re closed on Tuesdays if you plan to go. The museum is pretty nice. Outside the facility they have the sail from the USS Sturgeon SSN 637 as well as the entire research vessel Deep Quest and DSV-1 Trieste II. Inside, the ladies who were running the show are very friendly and if you have any questions, don’t hesitate to ask them. They’ll guide you to the start of the exhibits by passing through a door into a room with a timeline on the wall that begins with the myth of Gilgamesh and ends in our modern times. A section dedicated to the ~~boomer fags~~ SSBN sailors who patrol the seas is next. Sections on oceanography, torpedoes and mines, propulsion, navigation, WWII, diving and others await the intrepid explorer. Interestingly they have the major components of the control room of the USS Greenling SSN 614 in a mockup that visitors can fiddle with. Youngsters can sit at either of the Helmsman/planesman stations, dive & drive and look up at the SCP that is curiously missing a couple of gauges to those who know to look for them. The BCP is there enclosed in plexiglass as well as a few FC consoles, a chart plotter, and two periscopes through which a visitor may view a camera feed from the roof of the building. A fathometer and a MK 27 gyro are there too. It looked like they were working on a few other items for the control room as well though I don’t recall what they were.

There is a Japanese Kaiten midget submarine there as well as a variety of torpedoes and mines from throughout history. In the diving section there are diving suits and bells from early hard hats to current hard suits. There is also a section devoted to women divers and their accomplishments and contributions. A Vietnam era SDV hangs from the ceiling as well. There is also a few displays that honor the sub community’s greatest heroes, those bubbleheads from WWII.
Winding up my time in the museum, I stopped in the gift shop and bought a t-shirt and headed down the road.
Before long I arrived at my next destination.
Here.

I'd heard about this place from guys who came to the boat from the west coast and thought I'd go there if I was ever in California. But circumstances being what they were I never made it and the bar moved to Washington not far outside the base at Bangor.
I had a burger and a brew. Bought a t-shirt there as well and looked at the memorabilia lining the bulkheads and overhead. It almost felt like home.
I had to run though and continued on my way to Seattle for the rest of the week.
If I go back I’ll have to bring the family, at least to the museum.

I’ll just bring the wife to the bar.

Sunshine

2007-03-01T15:47:00.000-09:00

After returning to work from a six weeks of leave to welcome my newest addition to the family home(and do as much for my better half as possible before leaving her alone with three kids), I find myself in the place I was when I started this blog. Cold Bay, Alaska. It's a gorgeous day here and seeing bothenook's pic of a glacier on his page inspired me to attempt to photograph myself enjoying the sunshine. It was a little difficult to take a self portrait with the wind steadily blowing 25 knots with higher gusts knocking the camera over. After a few faulty starts I came up with this.
Enjoy.

The final countdown...

2006-12-15T14:09:00.000-09:00

I've been pretty busy lately, what with work, school, the holidays and the upcoming arrival of V2.3 .
Not much time for other things such as posting to this blog or even reading my favorites, although I have managed to peek at a few.

So keeping this short, I'll just say Merry Christmas to all and have a Happy New Year!

WRONG!!!!

2006-09-20T21:18:00.000-08:00

Yeah, I was wrong.
The real amount of the 2006 PFD is $1106.96, not the aforementioned amount. But what's $53.55 anyway.
Yay for us, still.

PFD

2006-09-15T21:33:00.000-08:00

According to my calculations, I believe that the amount of the 2006 Alaska Permanent Fund Dividend that the Governor will announce on September 20th will be $1160.51.
This is the subject of much speculation in AK right now but I think I have it right.
Yay for us.

What is it?

2006-08-13T11:06:00.000-08:00

Here's one for the masses. Can you identify this picture? I'll post the correct answer in the comments after a brief amount of time.

AWOL

2006-08-13T10:36:00.000-08:00

So here I am back in the Aleutians and what do I find? The M/V Cougar Ace still listing and moored for salvage operations in Wide Bay across from Dutch Harbor/Unalaska, so I took this picture.

I added an old shipmate to my blogroll. Visit him here.

Not much else going on now. I've been really busy this summer and not had much time to post. That's what summer in Alaska is all about for those fortunate enough to live here. A mad rush to complete as many projects outside before the cold sets back in as well as trying to find time to get out and fish while the salmon are running and enjoy the midnight sun.

Commissioned

2006-05-16T12:26:00.000-08:00

Today in submarine history...
On this date in 1981 my old boat, the USS Jacksonville SSN 699 was comissioned.

I had a plan for a more detailed post on this subject but like most things associated with this blog, I just haven't had the time.

Maybe I'll post some pics tomorrow, on the anniversary of her collision in 1996.

Don't hold your breath though.
Ho Ho Ho, as it were.

Birthplace of the Winds...

2006-02-17T23:25:00.000-09:00

I am in, of all places, Adak right now. The connection I have access to now is… very… slow….
Various Chiefs had, at various times, threatened my junior ass with a tour out here during my time on active duty. I didn’t make it out here for the first time until a few years ago though, many years after I had left the boat.
It is a sad sight out here. The infrastructure is rotting away. Imagine Norfolk or San Diego or any other large base deserted, a ghost town blowing away in the wind and rusting from lack of care. There are only about 80 or so full time residents out here at my last count, well down from a heyday population around 6000; but the caribou population has exploded due to lack of hunting pressure. More when I come home to a faster connection.

What team would you play for?

2006-02-15T08:42:00.000-09:00

You scored as Deep Space Nine (Star Trek). You have entered the dark side of the Star Trek universe. The paradise of Earth is far from you and you must survive despite having enemies on all fronts. But you wouldn't have it any other way because you thrive in conflict and will know what needs to be done to take care of those around you. Now if only the Founders would quit trying to take over the galaxy.

SG-1 (Stargate)

81%

Deep Space Nine (Star Trek)

81%

Nebuchadnezzar (The Matrix)

69%

Serenity (Firefly)

69%

Galactica (Battlestar: Galactica)

63%

Babylon 5 (Babylon 5)

63%

Moya (Farscape)

63%

Bebop (Cowboy Bebop)

56%

Millennium Falcon (Star Wars)

56%

FBI's X-Files Division (The X-Files)

50%

Andromeda Ascendant (Andromeda)

44%

Enterprise D (Star Trek)

44%

Your Ultimate Sci-Fi Profile II: which sci-fi crew would you best fit in? (pics)
created with QuizFarm.com

I found the link to this quiz on Rontini's BBS.
The quiz writer seems to have left out the crew from Futurama though.

Touring, Touring, it's never boring....

2006-02-07T16:58:00.000-09:00

So there I was in Dutch Harbor, where I found on my answering machine a message from the United States Coast Guard. They wanted to speak to us regarding frequency management in the Dutch Harbor area. The message was from an LT on the USCGC Alex Haley (WMEC-39) stationed in Kodiak. No one having been on site for some weeks, I was sure that his question had not yet been answered. I tried to return the call to the number that was left but to no avail. Then, lo and behold, the next day they pulled into Dutch Harbor for a port call (they called it a patrol break). So, being the type of guy I am, I went right down to the dock and made my presence known to their quarterdeck watch and asked for the LT who had left the message. As it turns out, the person who left the message was the Operations officer and he wanted to know if the ship would be able to rotate and radiate on their newly installed radar whilst in port without interfering with our facilities. So while I was there I got a tour from the Ops and a little history lesson on this ship. I learned a bunch there and not just that you really don’t have to be six feet tall to be a Coasty (in case you fall overboard you can then stand up in the water).
Here’s some of what I learned on that tour as well as a little more I found out afterwards when my curiosity had been piqued.

The USCGC Alex Haley (WMEC-39) was originally commissioned in 1971 as the USS Edenton (ATS-1). A U.S. Navy diving and salvage ship built for the Navy by a British shipbuilder.
While in the Navy she had a few connections with the submarine force.
In 1983 she towed the decommissioned submarine tender USS Bushnell (AS-15) to the site of her final resting spot some 175 miles out to sea where she was sunk by two Mk-48 torpedoes fired by USS Atlanta (SSN 712), with the USS Finback (SSN 670) standing by. A more complete description may be found at the bottom of this page and a video of the SINKEX can be found here.
In 1995 the USS Edenton participated in attempting to recover the screw from the Civil War ironclad USS Monitor.
In 1996 the USS Edenton was decommissioned. In 1997 she was transferred to the Coast Guard and stricken from the Naval register.
After completing an 18 month yard period where the diving and salvage equipment was removed, a flight deck installed and many navigation, engineering, combat system and habitability upgrades were performed, the ship was recommissioned in 1999 as the USCGC Alex Haley (WMEC-39). A basic before and after drawing may be seen here.
Yes, that Alex Haley. In addition to being a prolific and famous writer, the author of Roots was also a Chief Petty Officer in the U.S. Coast Guard. Haley originally enlisted as a mess attendant just prior to WWII. During the war he served aboard ship in the Pacific as a cook but his writing abilities garnered him much attention. After serving aboard cutters for much of his career, the Coast Guard created the Journalist rating for him in 1952. He wrote and edited stories for the Coast Guard in official publications as well as promoting the Coast Guard in the media until he retired in 1959.
The cutter itself is home ported out of Kodiak, AK but ranges all over the Gulf of Alaska, North Pacific and Bering Sea providing fisheries enforcement and SAR capabilities. It has a coed crew of about 10 officers and 90 enlisted not counting any embarked air detachment. The cutter can carry a helicopter in the hanger installed after the conversion. As the hull configuration is not a normal built-to-be-a-cutter design, the ship is a lot more stable in the large seas frequently experienced up here.
The warp cutter installed aboard was an interesting piece of equipment. This device looks like a large grappling hook with blades on the inner part of the hooks and is used to cut fishing nets or cables by towing it behind the ship.
My tour guide and I got to chat about the differences in watch standing in the various departments on a submarine and the cutter. I was amazed to see their in port duty section was so small. Of course it only took a trip to the engine room to remind myself of why. They’ve got diesels, so all they have to do is hook up shore power, turn off the systems, change over to a below decks roving watch and a quarterdeck watch (in a nice heated shack), and make sure they’ve got enough bodies to fill those two watchstation’s for the day. The duty officer was a first class so you can imagine how many duty sections they must have. I wish I could’ve spent more time learning about their systems but it was just a tour.
So I’ll leave you with that and thanks again to the OPS and the duty section onboard for the tour and their hospitality.

Westbound

2006-01-09T10:22:00.000-09:00

Well it's a new year (has been for nine days now) and this is my first post of 2006.
I'm on my way to Dutch Harbor, AK today. I haven't been there since July but I'm looking forward to going. It'll be good to get out of the office. I've been here behind a desk for the better part of two months with the last three weeks playing supervisor. But now the boss is back and I can go back to being a regular field tech again.
Dutch is a great place to go in the summer but can be a little nasty sometimes in the winter. If you ever go there be sure to go to the Grand Aleutian Hotel on Wednesday for their all you can eat seafood buffet. It's tops and you get everything from king crab to salmon served six ways from Sunday and every kind of seafood in between.
There's a lot of naval history in Dutch. We had quite a few soldiers and sailors stationed there during WWII. Ships, submarines and aircraft all made the place their home. It is one of the few places on U.S. soil that the Japanese bombed after Pearl Harbor. I think I may have linked here before but I hope you'll still visit and learn more about submarines in the Aleutians during WWII. More about the war in the Aleutians here.

Whoa!

2005-12-27T13:25:00.000-09:00

Did you know that Costco sold these?

Aurora

2005-12-27T07:53:00.000-09:00

As an Alaskan I tend to take for granted the fact that we see the Northern Lights all the time. While those in the Lower 48 see them only during severe solar storms, I can't imagine living here and not seeing them except on those rare occasions as this article suggests may happen.

Leaving the Last Frontier....

2005-12-23T16:16:00.000-09:00

A sad day today for Alaskans as well as the rest of America as we mourn the passing of a great man.
Col. Norman Vaughan left for new frontiers today at the age of 100.
Please read more about this legendary explorer here.

Surfin'

2005-12-18T23:31:00.000-09:00

I was surfing last night and found this page about certain job comparisons when I queried Google for submarine humor. The author of that page credits this one for the list. I must warn you though, the language is a little rough in a few places but the humor is undeniable at least to those who’ve been there done that.
I also found this page that I’d forgotten about. Its author is a former COB of mine and current senior enlisted member of USN.

St. Augustine Volcano

2005-12-15T09:28:00.000-09:00

Go here for the latest on our little steamer. What's really neat is this page with the seismograph on the web. An explanation of the seismograph is here.

Narwhal news

2005-12-15T09:26:00.000-09:00

Looks like scientists have discovered a few things about the Narwhal.

Ein

2005-12-14T12:07:00.000-09:00

I am number one, according to Google and MSN at least. Yahoo says 45 but when you search for WTFO on the other two the first result is this blog. Pretty nifty.
I also got my 600th visitor as well, unfortunately it was me checking myself out. So the award for 600th place will actually go to number 601 who happens to be from Virginia Beach,VA and came here by way of The Stupid Shall Be Punished and didn't stay long. Congratulations on your meaningless award whoever you are.

Anniversary

2005-12-13T12:03:00.000-09:00

Well today is the 11th anniversary of me getting my fish. In transit back to NOB Norfolk, somewhere in the North Atlantic following an eye opening run to the north on my first deployment, I got pinned in crews mess. Months of learning systems, procedures, TAB's and drawings, locations, qualifying watchstations, practicing damage control, attending SOB, checkouts and interviews, lots of lookups and oolies, walkthroughs, scoring cookies from the night baker to bring to my board and of course my board itself, finally culminated that day eleven years ago when the CO pinned my fish on.
Happy anniversary to me.

Photogenic

2005-12-05T19:52:00.000-09:00

Just a change to my profile pic today. Wadda ya think? An original ala me. Saved from the TDU a collision alarm handle that'd been stripped out by some overzealous lower level watches.

Advance and Transfer

2005-12-03T17:08:00.000-09:00

Just a shout out to my cousin Justin who according to the list in the latest Navy Times is going to be advanced to AO2. I also heard he'll be home in a few days from his deployment that started back in April. Congratulations and welcome home!!!

Whale of a time

2005-12-01T10:53:00.000-09:00

I wouldn't expect middle schoolers anywhere down south getting an opportunity like this.

Finally.... something.

2005-11-30T09:04:00.000-09:00

I haven’t been lazy, honest. I’ve just been getting around.

After my last post I’ve been to Cold Bay twice, St George Island twice and Kodiak once.

Starting with St George, the people out there are nice but I can’t understand why they would want to live on such a barren rock in the middle of the Bering Sea. I got invited to a little get-together on that trip and ended up getting my first taste of seal. That’s right, Northern Fur Seal, a young’un not yet away from its mother. The Aleuts call it Lakudax` pretty tasty too boiled up in seawater with some onions and potatoes and served on a bed of putchkii (wild celery)
I spent some time in Cold Bay again. After work I was fortunate enough to get some hunting in on those two trips, a number of ptarmigan and a nice red fox. The caribou weren’t in season at the time and were nowhere to be found anyway. I did see this guy though while I was out and about. He wasn’t much interested in me but did seem interested in whatever he was digging for. I was on top of a small hill on the other side of this pond where we sat and watched each other for about twenty minutes before I moved on.
After that trip I spent some time in Kodiak hunting with my father and a good family friend. I ended up getting some nice deer including one on a nice 150-yard neck shot uphill and a nice big buck who’d seen some fighting. At least a three point but maybe a four but I can’t tell since the antlers have both been symmetrically broken off at some point. (get it?)

Since that trip I’ve been back to St George for a four day trip and will end up out there again in a few weeks for more fun.

It’s gotten colder here and finally got a decent dump of snow here in town. Of course the snowblower I went through and got cleaned up and running in September has choked on the crappy gas I poured into the tank. So I’ve cleaned crud out of the carb twice now, cleaned out the fuel tank and lines, added fresh gas, searched the Internet for tips and she still isn’t running. No A-ganger I, so I took the thing to a small engine shop and am awaiting its return.

It’s after Thanksgiving and after the insanity that follows it in the form of crazy shoppers. My wife dragged me from my sleep at a little after 4am to participate in the insanity. No really great deals this year though, just a bunch of loony people with money to burn. Everyone we met though was pretty good natured and polite, no stampedes or pregnant women getting trampled and up here, just long lines.

We’ve got our Christmas tree already. It’s drinking its water and looks pretty good in our house. In past years we’ve had to return the tree after it wouldn’t drink but this year we did all right from the get go.

My cousin is back from Kuwait. He was over there in the Army retrieving and repairing vehicles from Iraq. I only got to talk with him a little on Thanksgiving but he sounds well and I’m glad he’s back. He re-upped over there and is expecting to be redeployed in six months or so.
My other cousin is somewhere in Southeast Asia with the Navy as an AO. He ought to be back soon as well. I went to his graduation at Great Lakes a few years ago. I was still in the reserves then so I wore my uniform. It was very different going there as a submarine qualified petty officer than it was as a recruit.
Thanks for your service, cousins.

Back....and forth.

2005-09-14T08:39:00.000-08:00

Well I've been back for a few weeks now but I haven't caught up on everything I need to. The light blogging mentioned in the previous post seems to have been limited to a couple of assorted comments left on other people's blogs. In between traveling for work in the last two weeks I've had a few ideas for some posts and in the next week I hope to see them through. Pending weather and flight changes of course.
So stay tuned or at least check back every day or three.

Deployment

2005-08-13T07:47:00.000-08:00

The conspicuous lack of blogging around here is due to the fact I'm currently on a family vacation. There's so little time to get on the 'net with all the stuff the "cruise director" (my wife) has planned for us. So until I get a chance to peruse the latest out there, blogging will be light and sporadic.

Love me Tender?

2005-08-06T23:46:00.000-08:00

BZ to those who helped raise the stuck Russian sub.
I am very glad that the seven crewmen of the Russian bathyscaphe have made it to the surface and are presumably warm, dry and full of the wet stuff by now.

That being said, I thought the designation for their vessel quite interesting, AS-28. To an American submariner this would’ve bespoke a Submarine Tender (AS). I was inspired to see which one it may have been. Yet as my research has found there never was a U.S. Navy submarine tender with that hull number. Apparently the ship originally destined to be an AS with that number( USS Grand Canyon) was in fact converted to be an AD (destroyer tender). I have found a treasure trove of information on the AS at this website dedicated to the men and women who served on our submarine tenders.

Now we have all gotten a few things from our welded-to-the-pier friends time and again. Important items and services that were required to get underway. I myself had the opportunity to go into the IC shops on four different tenders during my time on the pond. Of those, only one still serves on active duty, the USS Emory S. Land AS 39. It is currently med-moored in LaMaddalena, Sardinia, Italy. Ah, LaMad…. Had some good times there.

But back to what was to be my point. Why are there only two sub tenders out there still working? Even through the drawdown of our submarine force we should still have more than two tenders, shouldn’t we? I know we got a lot of support from them on the piers in Norfolk let alone when forward deployed in the Med. Is there any plan to build another class anytime in the next few years? The two on active duty have over 25 years of service each. We’ve decommissioned nuke boats with less service than that! I wonder if this aspect of our current submarine force structure has had any attention paid to it at all. An article here suggests that if needed tenders in the Reserve Fleet could be recalled to active duty but that they may not be fully capable of doing things for the newer classes of submarines. I gather this mainly comes into play when using the tender’s cranes to load and offload weapons, everything else on the boat can just about be handled by an all-hands-not-actually-on-watch stores load. I wonder if anyone has thought of a replacement for these aging ships that will be able to carry out the services required by our current sub force as well as what may come in the future.

Russian Sub Stuck

2005-08-04T23:18:00.000-08:00

I hope this doesn't turn into another Kursk tragedy.

Half Mast

2005-08-03T08:27:00.000-08:00

Former Alaska governor Jay Hammond passed away yesterday.
Thanks for all you've done for this state and this country.

Here's an article for those who don't know the man's story; and here and here.

S boats

2005-08-01T20:28:00.000-08:00

My last post started me thinking about all the history I've seen out here in the Aleutians and got me to wondering about submarine specific events up here. That led me to this page, where I learned a few things and gained some more respect for those brave men who rode the S boats.

Smokin'

2005-08-01T08:51:00.000-08:00

The reds are in hot and heavy over at the secret hole. So much so that I was able to get my five fish in under thirty minutes Saturday evening. Well the five from Friday are smoked and those from Saturday are smoking as I type. This is my first time smoking anything but the first batch came out damn fine.
In other news I see that the new X-band radar is on it's way to Adak. The Anchorage Daily News has this article on it. This is gonna be good for their economy. Having been to Adak many times in recent years I can tell you that they really need it. I don't think the expectations that the people there had for the place after the Navy left were realistic. The place is almost sad to see. It's falling down around the peoples ears. After the Navy left, there was no maintenance done on anything out there, things are rusting in place, housing is blowing apart from the wind and weather. Imagine NOB Norfolk deserted and falling apart, that's what it's like out there as far as the infrastructure goes. A naval ghost town. There just hasn't been much of a reason for people to stay out there. The fish processing business has been meager to my knowledge, hardly enough to sustain the local populace. The biggest thing going until now has been the expansion of the small boat harbor, hopefully it will attract more fishermen. If it weren't for federal and state government there likely wouldn't be anyone there now.
Part of the problem is accessibility. No airline willingly fly's out there to make money. Alaska Airlines has a Federal essential air service subsidy to service the place but they only fly out there twice a week and there is no other carrier to get out there unless you spend around 10,000 for a charter flight. Their success rate into the place has been around 60%(I think I may be a little generous with this number). There are many reasons for that, not the least of which has been weather. Of course there are also mechanical and third party factors too. The FAA has spent hundreds of thousands of dollars improving the navaids and instrument landing system out there after inheriting poorly maintained and barely functioning systems from the Aleut Corp., which had in turn received them from the Navy after they had left town. What puzzles me is that even though Alaska doesn't get the subsidy money unless they land(roughly 11,000 per landing in Adak, at least that's the terms I saw in their EAS contract), they still refuse to try again the next day. Imagine being from Adak and have been on vacation and were returning from a month long trip to Europe. Now imagine making it all the way to Anchorage and boarding the plane to Adak on a Sunday. Next imagine flying to King Salmon, the halfway stop for the jet, and being told that they were not going to try for Adak but were instead returning to Anchorage. You'd expect to get on the next scheduled flight, right? Well unfortunately for you and every one else on board that isn't until Thursday! So find a place to stay at your own expense 'til then since airlines won't put you up for a weather hold. Of course they wouldn't try the next day, that's not in their contract and there's hardly any money in flying out there anyway!
I didn't mean for this to be such a rant. I just wanted to highlight some of the reasons that the sea based radar moving to Adak is such a good deal for the residents out there. Perhaps when it gets there Alaska will consider rebidding for the EAS contract when the time comes and adding more flights. More people means more demand and more money.
I do like Adak though, it's one of my favorite places in the Aleutian Chain. Lots of great fishing and excellent ptarmigan and caribou hunting. There's a lot of history there too.
From the spot on the beach in Kuluk Bay where the first U.S. Army commandos came ashore for a recon mission during WWII ( of course they were launched from submarines!) the historical marker placed there reads:
"On August 28, 1942, the U.S. Naval submarines, SS Triton and SS Tuna, surfaced 4 miles due east of this beach and disembarked a 37-man U.S. Army intelligence gathering unit lead by Colonel Lawrence V. Castner. The unit was known as "The Alaska Scout," or more affectionately as "Castner's Cutthroats." Their mission was to gather information about the Japanese troop strength on Adak and to report their findings to the landing force already on its way from Dutch Harbor. No enemy troops were found, and on August 30, a 17-ship landing force with 4,500 men and tons of heavy equipment arrived. Their mission: to build an airstrip and troop staging area in preparation for the retaking of the enemy-occupied Aleutian Islands of Attu and Kiska. "

The first plane landed on that airstrip two weeks later.

For anyone interested in this forgotten theater of WWII and its importance to the outcome, I highly recommend you read The Thousand-Mile War: World War II in Alaska and the Aleutians by Brian Garfield.

MCPON

2005-07-29T08:39:00.000-08:00

I just saw the funniest thing over at Ultraquiet No More. Thanks to bothenook for this one.

Check out this Easter egg I found. If you go to the webpage for the U.S. Navy's MCPON, you'll find a page full of info and links for Terry D. Scott the current MCPON. If you scroll your mouse over the picture of him and hold it there you'll get a little blurb to pop up that says "Photo of Admiral Clark". I guess they just used the former CNO's webpage as a template and forgot to change that one little thing. Kinda unimportant I guess, but the man was my first COB and had a lot of impact on me in my first two years as a submariner.

Back in good old Cold Bay for a few more days. I should end up with a few more fish this time. We'll see tonight what the red fishing in the lagoon is like now, it ought to be peaking around now so I'm expecting a good time this week. I went down to Russell creek last night and couldn't stop catching the dog salmon that are spawning down there or the pinks that were coming in on the tide. The pinks at least were bright, I even caught one fat dolly that was gorging on eggs. I wanted to catch more dollies but I kept hooking into the dogs with my ultralight tackle and couldn't afford to lose any more lures so I switched to my silver pole and knocked 'em dead (the dogs). I eventually got bored with the super hot chum fishing and went home for the night. There was just no challenge to it after awhile. I'm surprised to have not seen any bears down there yet, the fish were everywhere.

I tried to mow my lawn two days ago before I flew out here. Unfortunately my lawnmower wouldn't stay running. I'd prime it and it would run for about four or five seconds then die. I'll investigate that when I get back home, for now the jungle will have to continue as is.

It's official...

2005-07-26T11:17:00.000-08:00

I guess this really qualifies as a blog now, I've gotten some posts up and even derived a comment from a fellow blogger.
So, I'm off today no "work outside the home" as my wife likes to say. Just a bunch of hunnydo's before my next trip.

More bad news for the Boy Scouts. Four Alaskans this time. Troop leaders electrocuted at the Boy Scout Jamboree. Our condolences to the families.

The shuttle Discovery went into orbit today, congrats to NASA on getting this far in their return to flight.

The Anchorage Daily News reported today on a procedural error by the Coast Guard in Valdez earlier this month. The real story is that the Coasties let two tankers into the Valdez narrows at once which is a no-no. The story is here http://www.adn.com/news/Alaska/story/6749164p-6637253c.html. I don't think that this is any big deal except for the guy in the VTC who screwed up. Maybe a little EMI (extra military instruction, for those who never had it) for the guys on watch at the VTC but that's about it. I don't think there was much to worry about especially since there was a two mile separation between them. After surviving one collision at sea I can understand the way different factors can snowball and contribute to an accident but I didn't see anything that would cause me to worry about the safety of the vessel traffic in and out of Prince William Sound in this story or in my past visits to the MSO/VTC in Valdez. Those Coasties are usually pretty thorough down there and there's so much oil money in Valdez that they can and have afforded a lot of spill prevention equipment and training for just about everyone that lives or works in that community. Whatever the enviro-whackos say, I don't think we'll see another Exxon Valdez type disaster in PWS unless it's a terrorist action.

Cold Bay, Alaska

2005-07-23T21:59:00.000-08:00

I just got back from one of my favorite sites in AK. Cold Bay. It has great fishing and hunting plus there's enough work to keep me pretty busy until it's time to knock off for any of the afore mentioned activities.
Just look at the some of the fish I caught this last trip.

Just prior to catching these beautiful reds I saw what was probably the biggest bear I've ever seen running away as we approached what became our fishing hole. Big and the color of dark chocolate with a belly that almost drug on the beach.

In other news, my lawn which I had hydroseeded(what a wonderful invention) has blossomed forth into a most magnificent growth. So much so that in the month since it was first sprayed I must now mow for the first time. All hail to the land of the midnight sun and the giant produce it produces.

I've also noticed that yet another neighbor in this neighborhood has copied my fence design. Of course I merely copied it from my fathers design but they wouldn't know that now would they? For those who have stopped to read this blog and don't know me or have never seen my excellent custom fence, suffice it to say that it rocks and I am definitely a trendsetter in this neighborhood.

What else might I spew forth tonight....?

I've read in a number of places on the finding of the USS Lagarto, a WWII Balao class submarine sunk by Japanese mines in the Gulf of Thailand in May 1945. An English shipwreck diver is seeking permission from the Pentagon to explore the wreck. From what I've heard they won't get the permission because it's a war grave. I can only agree with this and wish my brethren on eternal patrol to remain undisturbed.

The Navy is considering quite seriously a new riverine/naval infantry type of unit. Don't they already have that capability with the special boat units? Aside from the task of delivering SEALs and other spec ops units, don't they already do that job? Wouldn't you just want to increase their numbers?

I recently heard back from a long lost friend. I was searching the submarine forums lurking out there on the 'net and came across someone whom I had been trying to get in touch with for some time. He was living in a state were I was not looking for him and not doing the kinds of things to make himself easily found. I'm glad to have gotten ahold of him again. Isn't the internet wonderful?

In interesting local news, a Boy Scout from Texas was mauled by a bear near Cooper Landing. It's a good thing there were other scouts on the hike since they certainly had some expertise in first aid. I think the best part, aside from the fact the 15 year old Boy Scout survived with surgery and is listed in fair condition, is this quote from the young man himself after startling the bear "I think I caught it going to the bathroom"! That ought to end up in Whitekeys place somehow (for those not in the know, try flybynightclub dot com).

That's enough for now I suppose.

G'night.

2005-07-11T13:12:00.000-08:00

TEST

Update

2005-07-11T11:50:00.000-08:00

I've added a few links, poked and prodded somewhat at the blog. I'm still poking at it's soft white underbelly yet. Eventually I'll have something to say.

Inaugural post numero uno

2005-07-07T19:58:00.000-08:00

I can't think of anything to blog about just yet, I really only wanted to comment on a friends blog but she doesn't accept anonymous comments. I have been reading a few blogs from this site though. I just don't have the time currently to spew at any length.