The New England Skiff "Wren"

Finally got back on the water in something other than an aircraft carrier. This Captain brought beer (never the case on that 'other' ship) - and we had a great afternoon on the James River with 15 knots gusting to approx 25. The boat was built by Josh's dad over the course of a few years - she's a beauty! Sails well too! It has a rather unique gunter rig (2 section mast) but it probably needs a couple cup holders - I did spill my beer during one of those gusts. Afterwards we met up Dylan and "showed him the ropes" as we say...I think he was interested...

Carrier Landing Practice ("CQ")

US Navy Photos

A big part of what we do when out to sea these days is support "CQ" Carrier Qualification or landing practice for the aircrew. We've just finished up with a couple of our tactical squadrons (F/A-18 Hornets) and as I write this the training command is qualifying some of the Navy's newest aviators in the T-45 Goshawk. I can't claim much first hand knowledge since I've only even been a passenger for a couple hundred of these landings but the Navy has studies that show that this evolution (especially in bad weather at night) is more stressful for our pilots than actual air-to-air combat. We practice this often and that makes us the best in the world (much better than those Air Force guys!).

Your Navy Today

US Navy Presentation

You may have noticed that I'm gone a lot! Here's a great snapshot of what the Navy is up to on any given day. The briefing slide is not classified and in fact is a bit old (no security compromise here) but it's a great representation of where we're currently deployed. A number of different missions, with very different requirements. Most of this will never make the news, but we're out there as we have always been out there: contributing to the 'War on Terror,' keeping the shipping lanes open (counter piracy), interdicting narcotics and generally "showing the flag" in support of our allies and as a deterent to any potential adversaries. What is not depicted is the recent Humanitarian effort in which more than 10,000 Sailors and Marines have been involved in the Haiti relief efforts: a total of approximately 17 ships, 48 helicopters and 12 fixed-wing aircraft have been engaged in delivering relief supplies for distribution to affected areas. It's a busy time for us and it takes a lot of training to prepare our ships and their crews for so many diverse missions. And that keeps me out to sea a lot these days.

High Noon at the Park

You've met your match little dude...
proceed with caution...

OBX

The family took a little weekend trip to the Outer Banks of North Carolina. Michelle found a great rental house online, right on the ocean and although we had a day of rain it shaped up to be a great weekend. We toured the Wright Brothers memorial (site of the first powered airplane flights in 1903). Other than that...just a lot of kite flying, bike riding and general goofing off on the beach.

Happy Birthday

Dylan Turns one, I can not believe that he is already one, where has the time gone. We enjoyed a quite celebration together with some Birthday cupcakes and a celebratory drink of choice. We are looking forward to Les coming back so we can have a true family celebration.

Happy Birthday Dylan!

Today our little man turns one year old.  We couldn't be happier with how this past year has gone: he's as happy as the photos depict (most of the time) and each day is filled with new surprises as he continues to explore his surroundings.  While we're excited to see what he'll be like as an older child, teenager and young man we'd be just as willing to freeze time so he never changes - he's that cool.  But, of course, so much of that is beyond our control.  All we can do is our best as parents and enjoy the ride. 

To that end, a few words on the subject written in 1923 by a Lebanese-American poet:

On Children

by Kahlil Gibran

Your children are not your children.
They are the sons and daughters of Life’s longing for itself.

They come through you but not from you,
And though they are with you yet they belong not to you.

You may give them your love but not your thoughts,
For they have their own thoughts.

You may house their bodies but not their souls,
For their souls dwell in the house of tomorrow,
Which you cannot visit, not even in your dreams.

You may strive to be like them,
But seek not to make them like you.
For life goes not backward nor tarries with yesterday.

You are the bows from which your children
as living arrows are sent forth.

The archer sees the mark upon the path of the infinite,
and He bends you with His might that His arrows may go swift and far.
Let your bending in the archer's hand be for gladness;
For even as he loves the arrow that flies,
so He loves also the bow that is stable.


Happy first Birthday cool little dude!
Dad da misses you!

Happy Birthday Mummy!

Please join us in wishing Michelle a very Happy Birthday today! Although I’m currently at sea and can’t be with her I’ve given Dylan special instructions to be extra good today and give Mummy lots of hugs and kisses. It was (almost) a year ago that she gave birth to Dylan and made our family complete. We love her dearly and hope she has a great day. And when I get back we’ll have a slightly belated Birthday celebration!

Dylan's first Haircut

I decided it was time for Dylan to get a haircut, while I loved his crazy Einstein hair (see the before photo and you will know what I mean), it was getting tougher to get all that yogurt and avocado out after dinner. Also as Les would say it was not a regulation hair cut. Dylan was great at the hairdressers, never cried and sat still most of the time. Afterward we went to meet a friend to show off his new hair style

Was able to get out and enjoy the sunshine today. I took Dylan to a local play ground and he had lots of fun. He was holding his own amongst the bigger kids.

Dylan

Well we havn't been doing anything quite as exciting as high speed turns in a carrier, but we are having fun at home and getting up to mischief, Dylan that is. These are a couple of recent photo's of Dylan at Play. I guess he is excited about trying out some new recipes or he is starting to get interested in wine? He is also starting to have fun with his little computer, pounding away at the keys, just like Mum does.

High Speed Turns!

(US Navy Photos)

We’re underway again (you’ll hear a lot of that over the next year). We’re doing some more tests of the ships systems: we tried, but just couldn’t get her to roll over (actually that’s what a 97,000 ton boat looks like in a high speed turn!). We’re all looking forward to getting some real airplanes on the flight deck – a new aircraft carrier just doesn’t look complete without 70+ warplanes onboard!

Blizzard of 2010

So it has been called the Blizzard of 2010, I would have to say I am in agreement with that. We got 30 inches of snow and our power was out for about 20hrs. So Dylan and I were doing some indoor camping, all rugged up and cooking on the camp stove outside. We did have a lovely day on Sunday so got to play in the snow for a little which was fun at least. We are now preparing for the next 10-20 inches that is meant to come tomorrow.

A New Mission

It was probably just a matter of time until the Navy found me and sent me back out to sea (in retrospect, the Pentagon was a poor choice of hiding places). All joking aside, I've now left the Joint Staff and joined the crew of our newest Aircraft Carrier, the USS George H. W. Bush (CVN-77). Aircraft Carriers are amazing ships and this one is no exception. We've just pulled out of the Newport News shipyard and are putting her through initial sea trials and aircraft landing practice.

Here are a few stats about this awesome warship:

- Builder: Newport News Shipbuilding Co., Newport News, VA.
- Unit Cost: About $4.5 billion each.
- Length: 1,092 feet (332.85 meters): nearly as long as the Empire State Building is tall
- Towers 20 stories above the waterline with a 4.5-acre flight deck
- Beam: 134 feet (40.84 meters); Flight Deck Width: 252 feet (76.8 meters).
- Displacement: Approximately 97,000 tons (87,996.9 metric tons) full load.
- Propulsion: Two nuclear reactors, four shafts.
- Four bronze propellers, each 21 feet across and weighing more than 30 tons
- Steering accomplished by two rudders, each 29 feet by 22 feet and weighing 50 tons
- Speed: 30+ knots (34.5+ miles per hour).
- Crew: Home to about 6,000 Navy personnel
- Four high speed aircraft elevators, each more than 4,000 square feet, bring planes to the flight deck from the hangar below
- Enough food and supplies to operate for 90 days: 18,150 meals served daily
- Distillation plants providing 400,000 gallons of fresh water from sea water daily, enough for 2,000 homes
- Nearly 30,000 light fixtures and 1,600 miles of cable and wiring 1,400 telephones, 14,000 pillowcases and 28,000 sheets

The obvious downside to this adventurous job is the time away from home. Over the next 2 years I'll be spending a lot of time at sea, as we train the crew and eventually deploy to the Persian Gulf. Thankfully we now have email and internet access at sea so I can keep in touch with Michelle and our little man.

Spices

I guess Dylan has really taken to the spicy food. I have been putting in a small amount of curry in his food and now he is going directly to the hot stuff.