U.S. Navy
23 October 2010 | San Diego
Steve
I decided to put Si Bon back in the slip while I go to Catalina next week on S/V Jennifer K. I decided that yesterday would be a good time to go back due to the fact that Amber and Jeff could give me a ride back to my car in Coronado. As we headed up the bay with Amber at the helm (steering wheel) I noticed a very large warship also headed up the bay on her way out to sea. I instructed Amber to steer around a large tug boat and out of the main channel in order to stay clear of the warship bearing down on us. Amber did a excellent job of maintaining her course while staying out of the warships path. All of a sudden a Naval Security boat that guards the warships in and out of the harbor came racing up behind us and the young skipper was yelling something at us, due to not being able to hear very well and the engine noise I picked up my VHF radio and tried hailing the security boat...with no response back?? He fell back a little and then came back at us yelling again, I yelled back " why don't you hail me on 16 (emergency VHF channel), to which he responded...and I swear I'm not making this up "our radio doesn't work, but I wanted to let you know you're OK on your current course" duh... thanks for the important update dude. Now I ask you how the hell does a guy with no radio expect to guard a warship...does he yell 200 feet up to the skipper of the warship to warn him of pending danger? What if he has an emergency??? does he just start yelling for help. Note to the U.S. Navy, they have these things called hand held VHF radios which are great to have in case of equipment failure....I have one on Si Bon that you can use until you get yours fixed. God bless all of the men and women serving our country.