Man the rails? No thanks, I'm trying to quit.

Well, it is the first day of deployment...yeah, it sucks already.

We've just pulled from the harbor and come from manning the rails, in fact, I'm still in my dress whites as I'm typing. Mostly because I know berthing will be full if I try to do down to change now. Saying goodbye is hard to do regardless of how you do it. Shelby was so upset when we arrived to the pier that she got sick. It was tough to send Laura and Shelby on their way off the ship.

I have fears of leaving my family alone for so long, just as any person would. But those fears become all-so-real when the pier team take the brow from the quarterdeck, and the only way to come on and off the ship is ripped away both physically and metaphorically.

In the middle of all the sadness of departing is a glimmer of happiness, knowing that you're finally starting a deployment that has been hovering over the heads of everyone onboard the ship...Finally starting that countdown clock that will, eventually, end.

Homecoming will be incredible.
~chase