Steel Beach Picnic

There is a tradition on large big deck Naval ships to have a morale-building steel beach picnic to break up the monotony of life at sea. Flight operations are held off, and the entire crew is invited up top for a BBQ and some entertainment. Unfortunately, entertainment consisted of a band of Navy guys who like to sing from the back of their throat like the devil.
Here is the line to wait in to get to the food. When I first saw this line I went back down below and figured I could wait a little while.

I went and put on my bathing suit and some sunscreen and returned to a relatively shorter line (not really). No, I did not recently have cataract surgery. Here I am with my running pal, Tim.

For cooling off there were inflatable kiddie pools on the flight deck. We were originally scheduled for a swim call that day, but the swells in the ocean were not accommodating. I had to make do with what they provided. Don't worry; I emptied the water and refilled it before getting in. Check out the view off of the stern.

The sites of Rio

This is team Medical in front of a modern cathedral that looks like a cross between Aztecan temple and the Tower of Babel.

This is Sugar Loaf. Just saying its name makes me hungry. It has been a tourist attraction with cable cars since 1912. It was also in a James Bond movie.

Here is the view of from atop Sugar Loaf. You can see Copacabana beach behind me and the lady with the black hat.

This is Brazilian barbeque. They have a big salad/pasta bar and then they bring endless amounts of beef, chicken and pork around on skewers.

Here we are on the Trem do Corcovado; it takes us to the top of the mountain to the famous statue of Christ which overlooks Rio. I am sitting beside my best friend, Jeff.

Looking up to view the Christ the Redeemer statue. I should have posted the other picture above this one to get a better effect, but so it is.

This statue celebrated Brazil's 100th anniversary of freedom from Portugal. Like the Statue of Liberty it was made in France and brought over in pieces.

Rio de Janiero

We usually do not Man the Rails in foreign ports but we did it coming in to Rio. Too bad there are no shots from helicopters.

I finally got off of the ship today and I will send some personal pictures but I wanted to get a little something posted sooner.

I'm radioactive

Remember on Monsters, Inc. when the monsters were contaminated by the kids and the squad dropped in to decontaminate them. Here is one of the drills we practice in case a contaminated person is also wounded. The stains on my hood are from the fake blood to simulate the casualty. Everyone calls me Big Bird in this get-up.

Here's a sunset from from the ship. For some reason I'm looking to the side. It reminds me of Napoleon Dynamite.

Showboats

So I don't know how to spell Sacajuwea, but hooked on phonic worked for me. I have to admit up front these are not my pictures. There is a media department onboard and one of the Navy photographers shot these. We had our own air show out at sea yesterday, as the flight deck prepared to awe the Brazilian visitors. It was exhilarating to stand outside in the sunshine and watch the performance. The planes flew over in formation with an E2 in the lead.

Then a SH-60 helicopter lowered a SAR (search and rescue) swimmer out over the water.

It was awesome having the FA-18 Hornet fly from out of no low over the ship. Look at the fire in the jet exhaust. And I'm down below treating eczema and back pain. All in a day's work.

Underway replenishment

It's highway to the danger zone here on the flight deck.

I want to show you happenings from the ship. There is a cable connected between our ship and the USNS Sakajuwea and the cargo is sent over. The helicopters also pick up supplies and bring them over to us. It's an amazing process to witness.

Operational

Hello from onboard the USS Carl Vinson, the strength of the sea. We recently set off on our first deployment in 4 years. We were off to train and be tested in operational skills. We were called to Haiti to aide in a relief effort. In a ravished nation, we witnessed heartwrenching injuries and stories of lost love ones and lonely survivors.