Stars at Sea Cruise of the EAGLE 9/17/07 – 10/6/07 Stars, stars, stars. If you want to see the heavens in all its splendor, go to sea on a clear, moonless night beyond the loom of the city lights on a darkened ship like the EAGLE. Venus and Mars were visible in the morning along with Sirius, Procyon, Aldebaran and Betelgeuse and Rigel of the Orion constellation. In the evening there was Jupiter, Arcturus and Antares to name some of the brighter stars. We four Auxiliaries met for the first time aboard the USCGC (cutter) EAGLE moored on the Thames River in New London, CT. We came from Flotillas 11-6 in Florida, 4-3 in Kentucky, 7-3 in New York and 6-5 in Mass. Immediately upon getting on board we were shown to our stateroom, a spacious 20’ x 12’ (approx) area on the 2nd level (one deck below the main deck) where 9 men would sleep on racks (cots), in three tiers of three with 15 inches (measured) of separation between each rack. This means you cannot sit-up nor draw your knees upward any appreciable distance and rolling over on your side had to be done carefully. After some trial and error, we quickly came up with the best procedure for entering and leaving our racks. The Auxiliarists on the bottom rack found the best way was to lay down on deck and roll-in. I myself, blessed with the middle rack, slithered in from one end to the other. For the top rack, muscle power was a definite plus as you hoisted yourself aboard using the bottom two racks as stepping-stones. All living spaces were air-conditioned which was a big, big plus and made the cramped quarters forgettable. The mess area which we shared with the permanent crew and later the OCs (Officer Candidates) was on the same deck but you had to go up to the main deck to get your meal then balance your tray carefully as you descended the ladder. Otherwise, you or your shipmate below you, could be wearing it. The food was very good, the chefs and food handlers outdid themselves. The head (bathroom facilities) consisting of 3 urinals, 3 toilets and 3 showers, was up on the main deck in the forecastle (fo’c’sle) and we shared this facility with the permanently assigned crew. The OCs had their own facility. The crew’s three urinals malfunctioned immediately upon getting underway and were not available for the remainder of the cruise. Water conservation was preached. All were expected to take 2 minute showers or less. Turn water on, wet down. Turn water off, soap up. Turn water on, rinse off. Turn water off, get out. We made our way to the head only after opening and closing two water tight hatches (doors). The procedure for opening a watertight hatch was to knock first to warn your shipmate on the other side that the long handle on both sides of the hatch was about to be swept violently upward. This knocking procedure turned out to be a wise safety measure preventing lots of bruised arms. The seas were calm for most of the time at sea. But we were forewarned to handle these heavy steel doors with caution and never put our fingers or arms on the knife-edge. Sometimes the EAGLE would lurch unexpectedly in a swell and the door would be pulling or pushing the door-handler with unexpected painful results. Safety was practiced from the “Get-Go” and Captain Sinnett (full four stripes) preached this theme from his first “All Hands” muster (assemblage) on the waist (middle portion of the main deck). “One hand for the ship and one for yourself” as the saying goes. If you chose to climb the ratlines, which all four of us did, we were cautioned to hold-on to anything painted black or white but avoid grabbing the running rigging (lines which move) and climb only from the windward side so that if you lose your grip or fall, hopefully, you’ll be blown into the sails or other rigging. Going overboard entails a great risk in recovery especially at night with a Tall Ship. It was at this assemblage that Capt. Sinnett welcomed us all aboard, Auxiliarist, TAD (temporary assigned duty) coast guard personnel as well as other guests and presented all with an EAGLE ball cap. The captain cordially greeted all four of us along with George White, Aux Liaison-USCGC Eagle, in the wardroom on a separate occasion. It was through Mr. White that we got this opportunity to sail and learn aboard the EAGLE. We found the crew to be extremely helpful, polite and multi-faceted at their assignments. The BMs (Boatswain Mates) were skilled in deck seamanship, marlinspike, sail repair, ship & sail handling and navigation. At one time I asked Captain Sinnett if one of the crew’s selection criteria was their interpersonal skills. The BM’s were Navigators Of the Watch (NOW) skilled in plotting courses, determining fixes, using the collision avoidance radar and taking celestial observations. We, four Auxiliarists, were their “break-in NOW’s” and like them we stood watches around the clock, 4 hours on and 8 hours off when at sea. In addition, the crew was skilled in teaching us as well as the OCs and held classes with live training in damage control, fire fighting, MOB (man overboard), use of the sextant for celestial observations, lifeboat drills and weather chart reading. We, Auxiliarist, helped with the OCs, especially in plotting and some aspects of celestial navigation. The Officers were also available for training and taught live docking exercises at sea for the OCs by having them con the ship alongside floating fenders to simulate docking maneuvers. The EAGLE is first and foremost a Training Ship and an Ambassador of U.S. Goodwill. For the first week, each Auxiliarist labored in getting familiar with the ship. We were given a two page document entitled “Know Your Ship” in which were outlined a series of tasks each requiring a sign-off when accomplished. Within the first day or so you had to be able to find your way out of your berthing area by two different routes blindfolded. In addition, we were given a fourteen page “Qualification Package” with another series of tasks requiring sign-off s. All tasks were knowledge or skilled based or both. Everything we Auxiliarist learned particularly in our “Seamanship”, “Navigation” and Weather courses was put to good use. We spoke the same language as the crew and plotted courses exactly the same way as the NOW did. We all worked very hard putting in many hours of study and performance in achieving as many sign-offs as possible especially on tasks which were new to us, like: determining Gyro error by shooting the azimuth of the sun; calculating LAN (local apparent noon) for a mid-day sun shot by sextant; obtaining LOP’s (lines of position) visually by pelorus and by radar; plotting true wind direction and speed using the maneuvering board with relative wind direction and speed as inputs from the anemometers; and star planning using the U.S. Naval Observatory’s “Stella” program on the ship’s computer. Another very important aspect of our training was reading, understanding and implementing the Captains “Standing Orders” which defined the responsibilities and authority of the: OOD (Officer of the Deck); Conning Officer; the EOW (Engineer Officer of the Watch); the Navigator; and we “the break-in” NOW’s; reading, understanding and initialing the CO’s (commanding officer’s) Night Orders; understanding the Nav Rules particularly when EAGLE was under sail; and helping to maintain the ship’s logs which is a legal record of the EAGLE’s command activities. The Standing Orders require that we observe the change of wind direction and velocity and inform the captain immediately when: wind direction changes by 2 points (22.5 degrees) or velocity by 5 knots; or the barometer changes .03 inches in an hour; or visibility is reduced to less than 2 nm. These are important parameters, especially when under sail, which predict conditions of impending squalls where dousing sails means men and women are going high aloft, possibly in darkness and windy conditions, to furl sail in order to reduce EAGLE’s center of gravity and improve her handling characteristics. We also got introduced to “advance and transfer”, which define the characteristics of EAGLE’s turning ability used extensively in pre-plotting the tracks into and out of New London, New York City and Baltimore as well as our anchorage in the Chesapeake. When the Conning Officer (or OOD) came on deck he/she would shout after properly relieving his/her watch in a very loud voice, “ Mr. Shaye has the Con” and we all would scream in response “Mr. Shaye has the Con”. This procedure assured that all personnel on the bridge clearly knew who had the Con and that the prior Conning Officer was relieved. The oncoming watch always relieved ˝ hour early in order to get debriefed from the off-going watch. Four days after we arrived aboard the EAGLE, the OCs came aboard for the final two weeks of sea training before the EAGLE went into dry-dock in Baltimore. Like us, the OCs had a list of tasks, which they had to accomplish and get signed-off. They stood watches, unfurled and furled sails, worked in engineering, damage control, firefighting and navigation. They performed in all drills, which were a daily occurrence. They performed galley and scullery duty and washed down the decks each day. The OCs were constantly rotated through all these tasks. After the first week at sea, the EAGLE was navigated under the Verrazano Narrows Bridge and up the Hudson and East Rivers to be gently nudged by tugs against Pier 17 just below the Brooklyn Bridge on lower Manhattan at the Battery for three days of liberty. The OCs are currently attending a 17 week training program at the U.S. Coast Guard Academy in New London which includes this two week training cruise aboard the EAGLE. The OCs are made up of selected candidates with college degrees or their equivalent. After graduation they will become the future Ensigns of the Coast Guard. Imbedded in this class of OCs are foreign nationals who will upon graduation, return to their respective countries to pursue equivalent roles. Most of EAGLE’s time is spent in training the Cadets who are enrolled in a four-year program at the Coast Guard Academy. Unlike the OCs, they go to sea more often and for longer periods of time during their time at the Academy. At the end of the second week of sea training, EAGLE motored up Chesapeake Bay some 160 miles, anchoring at the mouth of the Patuxent River for the night and motoring the next day right into the heart of downtown Baltimore, mooring next to the “Constellation” for another earned weekend of liberty and our goodbyes. On both occasions in N.Y. and Baltimore the public was encouraged to come aboard to visit the EAGLE and talk to the crew. Current 2008 planning has EAGLE sailing through the Panama Canal with stops in Mexico, and other cities along our West Coast. The EAGLE, a WW II war prize, was launched in 1936 by Blohm & Voss in Hamburg Germany. She is classified as a Barque with three masts which is defined as a vessel with one mast, fore and aft rigged and two masts, square rigged. She is steel hulled with all spars made of hollow steel tubing. She is 294 ft long in the extreme (tip of bowsprit), 233 ft at the waterline, 39 ft on the beam, with a 17 foot fully loaded draft. The fore and main masts rise 148 ft from the waterline. She carries 21,345 sq. feet of sail (approx the area of four football fields) in 23 sails (10 square sails, 4 head-s’ls, 6 stay-s’ls and 3 gaff rigged fore and aft sails on the Mizzen mast). For propulsion she employs a 1000 h.p. Cat, diesel engine and two diesel driven generators, which can be put on-line in parallel or singularly. She makes her own water by a process of reverse osmosis and her crew consists of 75 professionals (6 officers, 29 enlisted crew and 40 augmentation crew) along with 150 cadets or OCs. There are several of these ships still afloat and we rendezvous with one at sea, the “Gorch Foch”, a German training vessel, where we exchanged several crew members for a short visit. Under ideal conditions, speed under power is approx. 10 knots and under sail approx.17 knots which, to my surprise is NOT achieved when running before the wind but by running close-hauled. The EAGLE has been extensively compartmentalized with additional bulkheads and watertight hatches and scuttles (access ‘tween decks) for flood control. She’s been modernized with state of the art ARPA radar, satellite communications, GPS, fathometer, weather forecasting data, uhf & vhf radios, internal sound power communication, two diesel driven motor life boats, exposure suits and PFDs for the entire crew, and lots of life rafts which automatically inflate once they are heaved over the side which we were trained to do. I’ve always considered myself   “paper trained” in navigation but now with this new experience, though short, I have glimpsed the 3rd dimension thanks to the EAGLE and her crew. Bob Livolsi, SN Mattapoisett Power Squadron Return