Sub Number Four and More
In early June 2008, I received an email from the scheduler at Central Texas College asking if I would be interested in going aboard a Guided Missile Destroyer in mid July to teach three or four English courses (I had taught four courses aboard the USS Kearsarge, an amphibious assault ship, in conjunction with the Navy College in November and December 2007). I had never been on board a Guided Missile Destroyer and was intrigued by the offer. Not only had I never been aboard a Guided Missile Destroyer, I had never even been close to one in the ocean near Mayport Naval Base where a number of them are stationed.
The day after receiving the offer from Central Texas College, while paddling out to the sea buoy, the first ship I saw in the channel heading out of Mayport was an Arleigh Burke Guided Missile Destroyer. The ship on which the teaching position was being offered, U.S.S. McFaul DDG 74, was an Arleigh Burke Guided Missile Destroyer. You might already have gathered that I am given to seeing omens; well, here was one more to record in my travels. Soon after returning to the beach that day, and after consulting with my wife, I notified the Central Texas College that I would accept the assignment, and would await more detailed information.
I sent an email to a good friend about the trip that day describing the sighting of, in addition to the Destroyer, my fourth submarine. Here’s that message:
“Dennis, I did get out in the kayak yesterday, and it was a memorable trip. For the first time since I've been going to the sea buoy, I met up with a DDG coming through the channel - must have been an omen. Then I had a super-sized merchant ship, which I was sure would turn north fool me and turn south at the buoy causing me to paddle backwards to get out of his way. A second (medium size) merchant coming out through the channel about a mile behind the first one blew his horn a couple times to let me know he was turning south toward me, but that was great because I could just keep heading northeast toward the buoy. About then I noticed a Navy tug heading out toward me, and since I could see no Navy ship anywhere since the DDG passed, I thought a Navy Frigate seen earlier heading south was returning over the horizon and was going to be heading in. I was wrong, and soon realized that I was about to see my 4th submarine. The tug went past me, and headed east from the buoy. He picked up the sub about a mile outside the buoy, and I paddled behind him and watched the pilot climb on top of the sub where he was met by three or four submariners. Then one of the Coast Guard inflatable fast boats appeared behind the sub and began escorting her from the rear toward the channel. It doesn't get much better than that. The driver of the coast guard boat was a female, and after the sub entered the channel, she sped over to me to ask if I was OK (I had taken off my hat and waved to the guys on the conning tower, and she didn't know if I was waving or signaling for help). Those Coast Guard inflatable boats are absolutely laden with weapons, and the guy standing on the front of it was manning a 50 cal that looked like it was pointed right at me when they were coming toward me. All in all, it was a great day out there.”
(Click to enlarge all photos)
I thank God every night for granting me days like that one. I’m so lucky to have ended up living this close to the beach. In fact, I often feel guilty that all my friends and, of course, my family, don’t live here. We often say that people plan for years to take a vacation in a place just like this and do exactly what we do on a regular basis. I don’t know anyone who lives better than this.
Note: I flew to Odessa, Ukraine, in July to meet up with the USS McFaul, and spent two months teaching aboard her in the Eastern Mediterranean and the Black Sea, then flew home from Istanbul - it was great!)
