Wahoo on the Fourth
It’s not often that you, as a civilian, get to call the Coast Guard and tell them that their ship is the one in trouble. Kris and I were hanging out onboard KJ, having dinner & enjoying the sunset while Brock worked. Then the alarms started going off on Wahoo. (Yes, that’s really the name of the boat ~ I thought it was merely an exuberant choice on the Coasties part. Turns out it’s an aggressive fish, Acanthocybium solandri, which makes a bit more sense…but I digress)
We sat for a while, looking, contemplating. There was clearly cooling water of some sort coming off the starboard side, which made me think a genny was running. No one around at all. WHOOP-WHOOP-WHOOP. Yeah, that was going to get annoying after a very short time.
Nothing was evidently on fire. We seriously considered going onboard and looking to see if it was something obvious. But then there was that whole FEDERAL ship thing. Not being fans of prison, we reconsidered. Well, I called Brock and *he* advised me to reconsider. Good man, he is.
Eventually, we decided to call USCG Sector Seattle and inform them. It was loud & clearly no one was coming.
You should’ve seen the guy come running. Ten minutes later or so, he was at full clip down the dock, cell phone to his ear. Must’ve been all of 18 years old. (Kris thought 12, but we’ll give him benefit of the doubt, seeing as we’re older now). Onboard, problem solved quickly, additional phone calls and a very serious look on the young man’s face. I’m thinking he wasn’t supposed to be away from the ship?
As he disembarked, I called over to him, explaining that we hoped we hadn’t got him in trouble or anything. He sheepishly looked up and said, “Yeah, I got yelled at. And I’ll get yelled at again tomorrow. But thank you for calling.” Poor kid! I did feel bad, I admit.
But federal prison for tampering with a Coast Guard vessel just wasn’t an appealing way to spend my holiday.
experience
Long time lurker, thought I would say hello! I really dont post much but thanks for the good times I have here. Love this place..
Ummm, freaky-weird anonymous posters? Don't bother, ok? You could be one of about 4 people, but your input really doesn't matter.
Moving on…but my mind still wanders back to that night you spent in the Edgewater Hotel
Oh is that all…and here I thought you were up to some other kind of debauchery. Tarts. BTW, the hanging basket looks purdy.