#1686129 - 12/23/09 02:32 AM
Off Shore Adventures
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Teufelhunden
14 Point
Registered: 10/31/01
Posts: 9374
Loc: Oak Ridge
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Had a river patrol this afternoon. Get down to the pier…hmm that’s interesting, there’s blood on the front of the boat. Ahh look there’s a bullet hole. The sadi (officer) walks up and tells us that an Iraqi was denied upcoming leave so he went down to the pier, got on the boat, AK to chest and adios. Enjoy your eternal vacation. Weird that the blood was still on the boat but funny that the bullet went through him then through the electronics on the dash of the boat, which by the way came all the way from WA state and run 250-350K a piece.
Anyways, rollin down the river and there is a ton of chatter and excitement beginning to fill the air. An Iranian military vessel you say? The Iraqi Navy guys had heard about the 11 Iranians invading Iraq and wanted some heads to roll. Here was their chance. Ok now we’re haulin [censored]; the twin 250’s are earning their pay. Thoughts start going through my head like oh man this is going to be interesting. Getting closer and closer. Iraqis are gripping their AK’s, taking up positions on the boat that offer cover…..well hells bells it’s a Kuwaiti vessel.
Everyone calms down and we head downriver some more. On board with me is a Coasty from Alaska. Duck hunting is his passion, ironically. He was telling me stories about how Saddam would smuggle oil out of Iraq and did it in random ships such as ones that were meant to hold dry stuff, like grain. He said they were always capsizing and the ships would hug the coast so the US couldn’t touch them. The USCG had 5 minute windows to board and reach the bridge and steer the ship towards open water. To counter this, they electrified the top rails and put rebar below the water level so when you pulled up you were done for. The “hot rails” killed an Australian a while back. He also said that they would put up sheet metal and weld layer upon layer around the storage area containing oil so that it wouldn’t seep out. Often guys inside doing the welding were sealed inside by other welders and were not cut out until the ship reached its destination. How much would that suck?
Back to the patrol….We see some guys in the water, about shin deep, up ahead. Ok, obviously it’s shallow. Common sense says raise the motors. Or not…..silt is churning up….raise the motor you stupid, stubborn SOB. Well he didn’t. remember this is their show, not ours. The motor sucks in a bunch of silt and water is no longer coming out the pee hole. So we pull up alongside and attempt to unclog the hole. No coat hanger so the coasty attempts to create a vacuum to push whatever is in the line out. Doesn’t work. So the terp gets down by the motor puts the line in his mouth and starts sucking water trying to unclog it. I was mesmerized. How gross is that? Still didn’t work although I applaud his efforts. ( This guy is a super terp. We were standing on the pier getting ready to go and a boat is pulling up alongside us. The Iraqi navy officers just stand there while the boat is going to bump into the other boats but thanks to the terp he runs over to the boats, catches the rope and helps park the incoming boat. They just stood there smoking their nasty cigarettes.)
We can’t get the line unclogged so they tie up side by side not front to back and we take over 3 hours idling back home. Caught an awesome sunset and stars coming out. Didn’t feel like Iraq one bit. The coastys said it reminded them of being on the water down in Texas. Corpus Christi area? I think I’m actually somewhere else, Mexico perhaps.
_________________________
I would rather be near the birds than waste my whole life trying to fly.
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#1687549 - 12/23/09 10:15 PM
Re: Off Shore Adventures
[Re: Southpaw]
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44fanatic
12 Point
Registered: 01/01/08
Posts: 6068
Loc: Clarksville, Montgomery Cnty
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Sounds like your havin more fun than I did over there...but then Im a ground pounder.
Great story. Stay safe.
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Bill
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#1690307 - 12/25/09 11:04 PM
Re: Off Shore Adventures
[Re: Teufelhunden]
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Bambi Buster
12 Point
Registered: 01/29/04
Posts: 6125
Loc: Middle Tennessee
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ttt
_________________________
"The American military is like a finely crafted sword. To be effective, it must be wielded by a discerning, skilled and merciless hand."
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#1690671 - 12/26/09 02:52 PM
Re: Off Shore Adventures
[Re: Bambi Buster]
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DOC1187
16 Point
Registered: 06/14/08
Posts: 10387
Loc: east tn
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#1691721 - 12/27/09 08:37 AM
Re: Off Shore Adventures
[Re: DOC1187]
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LA man
16 Point
Registered: 05/31/03
Posts: 18624
Loc: spencer, tn/houma, la.
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GOOD STORY, BE SAFE OUT THERE, DONT LET YOUR GUARD DOWN
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GO LSU
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#1704396 - 01/03/10 09:11 AM
Re: Off Shore Adventures
[Re: Panther78]
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trealtree
16 Point
Registered: 09/29/04
Posts: 10190
Loc: Middle Tennessee
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Neat story
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