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- Thread starter wynedot55
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misfitmorgan
Herd Master
Bay lives by Tyler if i recall right.
Baymule
Herd Master
Used to live in Livingston, 75 miles north of Houston, on Highway 59 (the new future Interstate 69). We moved 2 1/2 years ago to Lindale, north of Tyler.
eggbert420
Overrun with beasties
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- May 7, 2017
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If a oak tree falls on your house, and brownies make it alright? I have to ask. What are you putting in those brownies?
greybeard
Herd Master
Having ridden out several hurricanes/typhoons at sea (Indian ocean, South China Sea and one in Santa Rosa Sound Fla), a strong tropical storm @ Guantanamo Bay Cuba, and hunkered down for Debra, Carla, both Allisons, Alicia, Claudette, Andrew (S. Louisiana), then finally Rita and Ike, and a few more I've forgotten, my hurricane preparation kit is a full tank of gas and three 5 full gal cans in the back of the truck headed South West on FM roads depending where landfall is predicted. Morgan City to Baffin Bay, I go SW. Below Baffin Bay, I may go NW. Only one real hurricane has ever turned South or Southwest after landfall and that was Cindy in 63. I will never again join that mass of humanity going North, West, or NW. We did that (once) after Ike when electricity wasn't expected to be restored for 3 weeks.
I'm 100 miles from the GoM and Ike and Rita both left my place looking like someone took a sledge hammer to it. I hate 'em. Wore out 2 chainsaws and 3 sets of elbows clearing all the trees off fences after Ike.
Without a doubt, the worst I ever encountered was on a 600' USN destroyer trying to outrun a strong Typhoon in the Indian Ocean. That sucker beat us to death for nearly 30 hrs straight. Sister ship Caron in the same storm.
I'm 100 miles from the GoM and Ike and Rita both left my place looking like someone took a sledge hammer to it. I hate 'em. Wore out 2 chainsaws and 3 sets of elbows clearing all the trees off fences after Ike.
Without a doubt, the worst I ever encountered was on a 600' USN destroyer trying to outrun a strong Typhoon in the Indian Ocean. That sucker beat us to death for nearly 30 hrs straight. Sister ship Caron in the same storm.
Baymule
Herd Master
Chocolate. Lots and lots of Chocolate. Then wash it down with a box of wine.If a oak tree falls on your house, and brownies make it alright? I have to ask. What are you putting in those brownies?
It might not make it alright, but you won't care anymore. 
I remember being on the admirals bridge on the USS J.F.Kennedy coming back from a med/IO deployment and hitting a bad storm. We were taking green water over the bow on the carrier (flight deck was 65' above waterline) and had several small boys tucked in under our stern (like within 250 feet) so they could maintain some semblance of seaworthy-ness. They were taking almost 45 degree rolls and submerging their bows all the way to the bridge. Did some pretty decent damage to forward catwalks and smashed in one of the anchor windlass space hatches. Heavy weather at sea never really bothered me.
During another storm, the deck crew was lifting an A-6E Intruder up to the flight deck from the hanger via starboard elevator. A wave washed over the elevator and took 3 sailors to their death overboard. We went into man overboard routine, but never recovered any of them. I have lots of seas stories... Some not so fun.
During another storm, the deck crew was lifting an A-6E Intruder up to the flight deck from the hanger via starboard elevator. A wave washed over the elevator and took 3 sailors to their death overboard. We went into man overboard routine, but never recovered any of them. I have lots of seas stories... Some not so fun.
greybeard
Herd Master
I got seasick twice in my 9 years military.
Heavy weather only bothered me (as in seasickness) one time.
100' tug used to bring Lexington into berth at P-Cola.
We were due to go into drydock over in Mobile Al for bottom work, pumped off all SW ballast, the lead shot, and FW, and left just enough fuel in the diesel tanks to get from Pensacola to Mobile. Dang old tub was built in 1945, and this happened in '76 so she wasn't the most modern vessel in haze gray paint to begin with, but with no ballast it lost lots of stability. We had a flank speed of about 6 knots in good weather--you can drive to Mobile from port in 45 minutes. Took us 3 hrs to make the trip. We hit a squall right after we cleared seabouy and rocked & rolled all the way to mobile like a little bobber. I stayed in the engine room for the first couple of hours till the bilges got stirred up good and the smell and motion drove me topside. The steel picnic table that was on the fantail was gone, so was the p250 firepump that broke loose, and the galley that was going to fry fish for our lunch looked like a disaster area. The whole crew except the old crooked finger masterchief craftmaster was plopped down by the fresh air intake vent, when they weren't upchucking over the side. I didn't loose my breakfast but I sure wanted to. There was a payphone at the dock in Mobile, and I seriously considered calling my wife to drive over and pick me up, but we hitched a ride on another tug going back and the gulf was smooth as glass that afternoon.
The other instance was airsickness. Before being approved to fly as door gunner, you had to show your ability to hit a target from a moving helicopter. All us new gunners went up one morning, out in S. China sea just southeast of Danang, threw some wooden pallets over the ramp with dye marker nailed to them for targets. Pilots flew figure 8s, which allowed both left and right side gunners to acquire the targets, and as you know, for any aircraft to make a turn, it has to yaw over a few degrees--the tighter the turn, the more degrees you yaw over, and we were making tight figure 8s to keep the pallets within accurate range and in visible sight.
Watching that horizon move 40 or so degrees with each each turn wasn't a happy feeling, and we did it for hours, till we all got a turn, then we did it some more as the pilots went thru every possible simulation of what we might encounter entering or leaving a hot LZ. Then too, I didn't actually upchuck, but if we'd stayed out there much longer I might have. Some of them did--crewchief opened the hellhole so they wouldn't make a mess in his helo.
Heavy weather only bothered me (as in seasickness) one time.
100' tug used to bring Lexington into berth at P-Cola.
We were due to go into drydock over in Mobile Al for bottom work, pumped off all SW ballast, the lead shot, and FW, and left just enough fuel in the diesel tanks to get from Pensacola to Mobile. Dang old tub was built in 1945, and this happened in '76 so she wasn't the most modern vessel in haze gray paint to begin with, but with no ballast it lost lots of stability. We had a flank speed of about 6 knots in good weather--you can drive to Mobile from port in 45 minutes. Took us 3 hrs to make the trip. We hit a squall right after we cleared seabouy and rocked & rolled all the way to mobile like a little bobber. I stayed in the engine room for the first couple of hours till the bilges got stirred up good and the smell and motion drove me topside. The steel picnic table that was on the fantail was gone, so was the p250 firepump that broke loose, and the galley that was going to fry fish for our lunch looked like a disaster area. The whole crew except the old crooked finger masterchief craftmaster was plopped down by the fresh air intake vent, when they weren't upchucking over the side. I didn't loose my breakfast but I sure wanted to. There was a payphone at the dock in Mobile, and I seriously considered calling my wife to drive over and pick me up, but we hitched a ride on another tug going back and the gulf was smooth as glass that afternoon.
The other instance was airsickness. Before being approved to fly as door gunner, you had to show your ability to hit a target from a moving helicopter. All us new gunners went up one morning, out in S. China sea just southeast of Danang, threw some wooden pallets over the ramp with dye marker nailed to them for targets. Pilots flew figure 8s, which allowed both left and right side gunners to acquire the targets, and as you know, for any aircraft to make a turn, it has to yaw over a few degrees--the tighter the turn, the more degrees you yaw over, and we were making tight figure 8s to keep the pallets within accurate range and in visible sight.
Watching that horizon move 40 or so degrees with each each turn wasn't a happy feeling, and we did it for hours, till we all got a turn, then we did it some more as the pilots went thru every possible simulation of what we might encounter entering or leaving a hot LZ. Then too, I didn't actually upchuck, but if we'd stayed out there much longer I might have. Some of them did--crewchief opened the hellhole so they wouldn't make a mess in his helo.
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Wandercreek
Ridin' The Range
I'm a Texas ex-pat, made a wrong right turn one day and ended up on South Carolina. Still not sure how that happened 9 years ago....
If I could uproot this little chunk of land I'd plant it west of Austin.
Hello everyone from beautiful Dripping Springs...west of Austin is a good place to be!
eggbert420
Overrun with beasties
- Joined
- May 7, 2017
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Im not that far from Dripping Springs.
