Monday, First day at sea

Someone—I think it was the Venture CO—once refered to our ships as “sleek greyhounds of death.” Well, if that's the case, then the Orcas are greyhound pups. These little ships are basically kid-sized frigates, without guns. They have a big bridge, equipped with modern electronic navigation, control and DC equipment, a modest but adequate galley, a rather spacious lunchroom/training room, and several rooms for the crew. The bunks are what you'd expect from a warship: coffin-sized beds stacked three-high. Most of the trainees' accomodation is six to a room, so two stacks of three beds, with lockers and a small sink. We have two heads for the whole crew: each has two actual heads, two showers, and two sinks.

The day was all right. I was assistant cook all day, and as if that wasn't enough of a hassle, we also have to take care of the zodiac (in case of a man overboard, for example) and... yeah, that's pretty much it. For some reason, I got sick today. Apparently it happens to a lot of people, even in the sea state we had today, and it usually goes away. Most people were all right about it, though some thought it was pretty funny that I was sick in the tiny waves we faced. Luckily, one guy on the Orca used to be a sailor (as an NCM) and said it happened to him and it happens to a lot of other people, and it'll most likely go away. It might go away tomorrow, or I might be sick all two weeks, but it should get better eventually.

Still, it's fairly embarassing to get sick on your first day “at sea,” in a low sea state, and you're not really even on the ocean. Good thing I'm not in a WW2 corvette in the North Atlantic; I'd be utterly useless. Guess it's a good thing I want to go for subs: not much sea state hundreds of feet below the surface!

This trip seems to be shaping up rather well, other than the aforementionned seasickness. Scuttlebutt has it that we won't be switching between the Orca and the YAGs, though I don't know for sure yet.

Anyway, this first harbour we've pulled into is pretty decent. It has a pool and a hot tub, though I haven't had the chance to peruse either; they closed early for some reason. Still, there are a few stores within walking distance, and a few “good” bars, or so I'm told.

Other than that, well, I haven't actually done anything truly Navy-esque, so I can't say how I like it, yet. But heh, it's all good, I'll do plenty of Navy stuff in the next two weeks.