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Tall Ship Eagle2/c Jake Hauser
Underway is a good way to be. The first week of the USCGC Eagle’s voyage back to New London has seen a lot of mild weather and haze that’s kept a tight grip around the ship, neutralizing visibility at night and casting a ghostly glow under our working lights as we’ve progressed across the haunted Gulf of Maine and into the Bay of Fundi. Under the direction of the Eagle’s cadre and crew, the swabs set sail for the first time on the same day that they left Rockland, Maine. Braced sharp against the southerly winds from the Atlantic, we cruised eastward for 3 days wearing about late last night to turn back towards Portland, Maine, then over 150 miles away. The reason for our teardrop track line was to give the swabs on board a chance to infuse a bit of salt into their blood over the course of a week at sea, standing watches and working sail. On a straight trick, the transit from Rockland to Portland might have only lasted a night and a morning.
As for myself, I’m having a great time as Cadre. Upholding the role of a teacher is always a rewarding experience. I like it when I can focus my energies on someone else and show them something new, help them along in their understanding and, most of all, get them excited about all they will get to learn and do and see in the years to come. A lot of my classmates feel the same way. We know that in the endless hard work that goes with being a cadet, it’s easy for the underclass - and swabs especially - to get tunnel vision and adopt a task-oriented viewpoint, overlooking or undervaluing the scope and significance of the adventure on which they’ve all embarked. It is a part of the Coast Guard Academy’s stated mission “to graduate young men and women…with a liking for the sea and its lore” and as Eagle cadre we have the responsibility of helping the sea make a powerful first impression on the swabs and to remind the swabs of the uncommon opportunity they have to be where they are, despite the challenges they must overcome.
As for the swabs themselves, the class of 2013 definitely got something, and I don’t mean the flu that’s been going around. Their attitudes are excellent, engaging and curious – albeit still sometimes lacking in the eyes of my class’ keener sense for discipline. They’ll continue to catch on sure enough, and while they still have a lot to learn, we continue to be proud of them all (though we refrain from showing it). They’re growth through Swab Summer is already apparent as they muster the courage and skill necessary to work a tall ship, simply because they were called upon to do it. Parent’s would be stunned to see their recently graduated high school students aloft into the rigging of a real tall ship, working flapping sails sometimes over 100 feet in the air with nothing but their own hands, feet and good judgment between them and the deck. Who knows what else they’re capable of now that they wouldn’t have dreamed before. They are becoming a team, and soon they’ll become Coasties.
2/c Hauser
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