My Coast Guard Days

In 1974 at the ripe old age of seventeen I entered the United States Coast Guard. After nine weeks in boot camp I was asked to stay on at TRACEN Alemeda as an Assitant Company Commander for the Recruit Honor Guard and Drill Team. I stayed there a year and a half, then moved on to Coast Guard Station Yaquina Bay in Newport Oregon. By the age of 19 I was an E5/BM2. I was a Surfboat Coxswain (the guy who drives the boat) qualified on 44 foot Motor Life Boats and the 52 foot Motor Life Boat "Victory". Below are a few pictures of some of the fun we had.

Click on a picture to see a better view.
	This is Coast Guard Station Yaquina Bay as it looked in 1975. An out of control freighter crashed into the boathouse and boat barn. The shop in the upper right corner has been replaced with new barracks. The boat house and barn have been rebuilt. The boat in the foreground is the "Victory"
	What a ride!!! This is a picture of the very first 44 foot Motor Life Boat 44300 being tested by the infamous Chief Tom McAdams. I had the good fortune to serve with and learn from Chief McAdams in 1975 through 1977 when he retired.
	Here is the Victory. I’m not sure who took this picture when, however I’ve seen it go through waves like this while out on surf drills many times.
	This is a picture taken from the beach while I was a crewman on this 44 foot MLB at the Cape Disappointment Surf School. We were just playing around in the surf before beginning drills. Photo by Chief Rob Robinson.
	Cape "D" Motor Life Boat School again. This time I was looking for some fun so I volunteered to get into this derelect 25 foot boat and be pulled off the beach and through the surf by the 44 footer in the next picture. I'm the guy in the black wetsuit and white helmet. This picture is awesome, like something out of a hollywood movie. But I can vouch - it was the real thing. Now that was a hair-raising experience! Photo by Chief Rob Robinson.
	This is the 44 footer pulling me off the beach in the 25 footer in the previous picture. These guys weren't having near as much fun as I was. Photo by Chief Rob Robinson.
	More surf drills at Cape D. This time I happened to be at the helm when Chief Robinson shot this picture. Photo by Chief Rob Robinson.
	One erie summer morning I was out on bar patrol just west of the Yaquina bay jetties. We were right on the edge of a fog bank. The water was very flat and suddenly had a wind chop with breaking tops, even though we could not detect any wind. Out of the fog appeared the Sarah. I quickly took this picture and the ghostly ship disappeared back into the fog and the water calmed. If I didn't know this historic vessel, I would have thought it to be a ghost ship from days gone by.