Hello family,
Sorry this email is about two weeks late…
Last week we pulled into Lome, Togo for our last Africa Partnership Station port visit. We were there from Monday to Thursday. This was supposed to be one of our most ambitious port visits with receptions, office calls, training and tours. However, the weather and current teamed up to make it one of our most difficult visits to date. The pier we pulled into was unprotected from the current that flowed into the harbor from the sea. While mooring to the pier, we had difficulty staying moored alongside the pier. Due to the current, the ship would surge ahead as much as 15’ as we were tied up. The undue stress this put on our mooring lines ended up parting several of them. It’s not good to be underway next the to pier, to say the least. So, we got u/w and went to see to anchorage where our plan was ride out the tide on the hook until harbor security could secure another pier for us to pull back into.
So after hanging around on the hook for a couple hours, we pulled back into port to a different pier with the hopes that we’d be more protected from the current. By the time we were moored, it was nearly 6pm and we had an official dinner w/ the Embassy personnel. I went out to dinner at a nice Lebonese restaurant w/ the CO/XO, Command Senior Chief and a few other sailors. We had a wonderful meal, and I even got to try sheep brains!!!! Looked and tasted just like scrambled eggs…but evidently, that was a delicacy there.
However, by the time we got back to the ship, a couple other mooring lines were fraying and by midnight we’d parted the frayed lines. So, there I was, comfy in my rack, getting some well needed rest, when at midnight, I hear, “NOW MAN YOUR SEA AND ANCHOR STATIONS, THE SHIP EXPECTS TO GET U/W IN 20 MINS”…we had to get u/w again. After manning up to get u/w, we went to sea about 2 miles and dropped the hook again. After a long day, we spent a long night getting the ship safely to sea. By the time we were anchored, it was 2am. But this is where the fun really started.
Although, being on the hook is safer for the ship (no inadvertent u/w’s with half the crew on liberty), the current at anchor was just as bad. For three days and nights, we took consistent 25 deg rolls. It was like working on a roller coaster for half a week. As you transitted the ship, you periodically walked on the walls to get from point A to B. And if you think working was difficult, try sleeping when the ship was actively trying to roll you out of your bed. Luckily, I have a middle rack, about 4 feet off the ground, so it wasn’t too bad, but the poor suckers in top racks had to sleep w/ their heavy seas straps on (these are straps that prevent you from rolling out of bed in the middle of the night. To top it all off, we were having A/C probs through most of the week, so the ship was a muggy 85 degs for 4 days, on top of the constant rolls.
We were supposed to take nearly 100K gals of fuel and receive a bunch of parts while pierside. However, since we were now at sea, there were no barges to bring the fuel to us, and bringing boats full of parts out to us was also problematic. We did our best to maintain the schedule of tours, office calls and receptions, but many events were cancelled. Bringing a liberty launch (a boat that carries people back and forth from anchorage) alongside was problematic at best. We have an accommodation ladder that we lower on the side of the ship…it’s a 30’ set of stairs that go down right to the water’s edge. However, during heaving rolls, the bottom of the ladder goes from 10’ above the water, to being plunged down into it, with every crest and trough of a wave. Try loading civilians, or drunk sailors from that to a boat and tell me it’s safe. After several attempts to carry on tours, and getting our sports teams and trainers back and forth, we decided it was a futile effort, and secured all further boats back and forth. Needless to say, it was a long 4 days in Togo, and I didn’t get to go ashore. Sorry, that I don’t have any pics either.
-J.R.
