As I mentioned at the end of yesterday’s post, we pulled into Norfolk around lunch time yesterday. I lived in Norfolk for a few months in 2000, so it was really cool to see from the water some of the places I’d been to when I lived in the area. We anchored in Norfolk harbor …

After leaving Buzzards Bay, we went back to work. For Division 1, that meant resuming watches. For the other divisions, it meant maintenance. I had watch from 1530-1930, After which I spent some time relaxing on deck, and then went to bed. The Engine Room is pretty interesting while we’re under way. It’s incredibly loud …

Today at 1150 we departed the state pier in Buzzards Bay and started our incredible journey. Family and friends turned out by the hundreds to see us off, carrying banners, blowing horns, and cheering as the ship’s whistle blew to announce the beginning of our trip. There was plenty of excitement on deck, as we …

Tonight marks the last night we’ll be in Buzzards Bay for the next six weeks. It’s been pretty quiet on board, not much different from any other night we’ve had so far. The holds were filled with the usual crowd of people and computers – watching movies, playing games, listening to music. There is an …

    I have set up my SeaWave e-mail account on board the Enterprise, and thought I would test it to make sure I was able to post blog entries with it. It also seemed like a logical time to post a few of the key points that we’ve been continuously reminded of over the past …

This morning at 0900 we had the official Coast Guard-inspected fire & emergency and abandon ship drills.  It took about 90 minutes, and appeared to run smoothly, so we now have the official seal of approval to ship out!  We have less than 24 hours until we depart, though you might not know it from …

The past three days we’ve done emergency drills every day. We have practiced fire & emergency and abandon ship drills each day, usually taking a total of about one and a half to two hours. Tomorrow we’ll be doing the official drills required by the Coast Guard. The Coast Guard inspectors will be on board …

Today we spent the day loading food onto the ship.  We need to load enough food for 590 people for our entire time at sea, so needless to sea it’s an immense and time-consuming task.  I was told by a fellow cadet that we loaded 134 palettes of food just today.  We will be continuing …

Today has been a very busy day.  The morning started at around 7:00 when people started arriving in Harrington Hall to put their bags down and check in.  We had a meeting in Admirals’ Hall until about 10:00 reiterating the basic dos and don’ts of the ship.  We then broke off into our divisions, and …

This morning Captain Bushy notified us that we have changed the port we will be visiting in Costa Rica. We will now be at the port of Golfito, and will be at a dock instead of anchored off shore. This should make it much easier for us to go ashore and return to the ship. …