Not in My Backyard

Stoker is a 3^rd class boatswain’s mate and at his last duty station it was his job to run most everything that went on the deck.   But now he was going to be the new guy.  In the military you never wanted to be the new guy.  Being the new guy you had to learn to do everything.  What you knew and did at your last station didn’t matter, now you have a new boss and new way of doing things.  But every few years it happens and now he will have to start all over as the new guy.

His new duty station is Taylor’s Island, Md. which is on the eastern shore of the Chesapeake Bay, just outside of Cambridge.  This new station is a small boat station that goes out and helps anyone that gets into trouble on the water and might need assistance; he also does some law enforcement.   As they like to say in the military, SAR (Search and Rescue).

As Stoker walked across the parking lot he sees that his new duty station is in a small boat marina.  It looks like there is a big old house right behind a small store.  There is a boat lift that goes around the dock to pick up the work boats the watermen use to make their living on the bay.  The boat lift goes from the water to the dry dock. Stoker sees that his new boat is a 41 footer.  It is the pride of the Coast Guard because it is fast and it is easy to move around in tight spots in the small marinas that he will be working  along the bay.  As Stoker looks around he sees that his new station is a houseboat that is floating in the corner of the marina.  Next to the 41 footer there is a smaller 30 foot boat.

Stoker walked around looking to find a way onto the houseboat.  As he looked around he could see that on the top level there were a lot of people moving around inside.   Stoker stepped on to the deck and just as he did, someone asks “Don’t you salute the flag when you board a vessel?”   Stocker dropped his sea bag and asked “permission to come aboard” with this, the man says “yes”.   Stoker whips his arm up and proceeds to turns aft and as he does so, he salutes the flag.   As Stoker turns around to face the man who had asked the question he saw the man walking away and as he does the man says “follow me,  my name is Curtis Wolf,  boatswain’s mate first class Wolf your new XO.”  Wolf was a man of about 6 foot 2 and about 235 lbs. light brown hair and wore dark rimmed glasses.