Day 19. Sub Week.

12 JUNE 2012
2302

Today has been a lovely day. We mustered at 0830 and left relatively quickly. Today's agenda included a tour of the Deep Submergence Unit over on Naval Base North Island. We got there, had a PPT regarding what the actual DSU is, toured the grounds, and was supposed to have a talk from the Capt.

Once we got there, the LT took over. He's a submarine officer who said, just like the majority of the sub-o's, that he really enjoyed his service time and wouldn't have had it any differently, however he's getting out now that he's done with his commitment time. He gave us a PPT presentation explaining what the DSU does.

The DSU are the ones who go in and rescue submarines. So if anything goes wrong they allow themselves 72 hours and can be anywhere in the world to rescue whoever is trapped at the bottom of the ocean. They only can help out at a depth of 2000 ft. but subs aren't designed to go any deeper anyway. He explained their different forms of rescue and during the tour showed them to us.

My personal favorite was this Michelin Man looking suit that a Navy diver operates. It too can go to a depth of 2000 ft.

I'm not sure all the details of what I'm allowed to share, but just know the DSU will be there to rescue you if you ever find yourself stranded at the bottom of the ocean.

The best part of this tour was that we were back on base by 1045! And the rest of the day we were free to go out on liberty. Colleen still wasn't back yet (sad bonnie) but I was happy to have Sam and a marine option female from U of Virginia, Stephanie, join me for a trip to the beach. It was a beautiful morning so we made plans with the Scott, Jake, Rayne, and Bryan to meet up at the beach after lunch. By the time we got there around 1300, the clouds rolled in (June gloom sucks) but we still laid out and hung out. I eventually fell asleep only to wake up to find that more friends had joined us so it was a fun time.

I kept my tank top on but took my shorts off. It was so overcast, but as I was getting out of the shower tonight, I did notice an extreme difference in skin color. Happy to finally get some color on my legs!

After we left the beach, the girls and I went to Panera Bread for dinner. We were all craving something warm, so we got bread bowl soups! Delicious. Panera Bread is definitely one of my favorites!

Since bowling last night with Bryan didn't work out, we decided to go tonight. When we got there, we had a little bit of a wait until a lane was open so we invited Chris (they were finally back from the submarine underway!) and Sam. The 4 of us bowled 3 games and had a blast. I'm horrible at bowling but I still love it. It was a super fun way to end our day.

Now I sit here blogging when I should be sleeping. I took a shower when I got in around 2215. Tomorrow I go underway on an SSBN (a Boomer). We don't muster until 0915, but Chris thinks it will be a great idea to get breakfast together at 0630. It's tempting to skip and be able to sleep an extra 2 hours and not wake up until 8, but I can sleep any time and don't wait to miss any meals with my friends. Bryan and Chris are 2 friends I am definitely going to miss.

Tomorrow they are going to fly us to an unknown location before boarding and spending 24 hours underway. I'm nervous but looking forward to it a lot! Submarines do some seriously cool stuff. I'll be back late Thursday evening after taking a 5-6 hours tug boat ride back to land. Not looking forward to that but I'll probably just sleep.

Getting sleepy now. Can't wait for those fake eggs tomorrow morning!