Here you will find entries from my latest mission to Diego Garcia. I ask you to subscribe to this and to my YouTube Channel for my further updates and the final conclusion to this High Seas experience.
Remember, these Blogs read from the bottom up, so start at the bottom :-)
Greetings Maties:
This here list is getting some years behind it by now. I use it to send reports to me seafarin' mates and landlubbers alike, most of whom I may never see again. I try to send out the list whenever I ship out. It's been a dry coupla three years for me during the economic downturn. With me shipping out of the Tacoma Washington port and living in Portland, OR, deployments were scarce. In 2010 I found meself doing landlubbin' work fer the U.S. Census. Oncst that come to an end I found meself again haunting the Union haul fer any All Ports offerins.
Lo and behold I suddenly stumbled into me present sitiation. As I sit here the reality of it all smacks me hard in me face as I continue to try to wrap my wee brain around the FACT that I have returned to a place I pretty much never expected to see again. Howsomever, just so the dim memories don't fade too far from me feeble mind - I get to experience all over again this hot, HOT, faraway place - the place where all this craziness began for me in 2005. Yup - talkin' about Diego Garcia - the faraway land that time forgot (pretty much). Yup, I find meself back at this island smack in the middle of the Indian Ocean - 10,000 miles away from most of you. This be the place where I served a four month sentence to begin my Merchant Marine so-called career at the age of 50 :-/
Yup, I know, kinda late in life to be hittin' the high seas! Ah but what is normal anyways - these days... Well, this place needs no describin to some o' the mates on this list like Guy, Paul, Cap'n. Morgan and mebbe some others. It is the place that time forgot. This place is like the last Western frontier. They say change is inevitable and change has occurred here - but not too much. It is still a mostly primitive life here. The place is indeed difficult to describe but I make my attempt on MySpace, Facebook and YouTube. Blogs, vids and pics.
Briefly, we are in an archipelago, the southernmost isl in the string of Chagos Islands - all part of the BIOT (British Indian Ocean Territories). Few people know of this place but just Google it. This place has quite a history as well as quite a presence. The U.S. rents this isl from the Brits. All of the Armed Forces along with the Merchant Marines have a strong presence here. I can't begin to describe the military firepower that is present here.
But I try to give an indication of what life is like out here for those who may be curious. My Sea Blogs and pics at MySpace also describe a previous mission I took to the Persian Gulf that took me around the world. Just click "More" at the bottom of the Blog. MySpace seems to be getting pretty messed up. I have become extremely frustrated with the time and expense attempting to post my blogs there. Minutes of time are precious here. Working mostly 12 hr. days seven days a week does not leave a lot of free time. Spending $4.00 per hour for internet service adds up quick as well. Do the math. So I am searching for a better place to post my blogs.
Note: Indeed, I have now found that place here at Blogger.com
YouTube has several vids I posted of my Persian Gulf mission. Click on my pics at Facebook and MySpace. Go to these places and friend me or subscribe and by all means, leave comments.
NOTE: I have 5 vids from here posted to YouTube and several more coming. So, by all means check out my YouTube Channel and suscribe for more :-)
Farewell fer now to all of ye Pollywogs as well as Shellbacks,
Chuck Fasst AB
USNS Lopez
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