There but for the grace of God go I

Mia, for 563 days, Daddy navigated a U.S. Navy warship. By the time he left, you could say he knew his way around Norfolk harbor pretty well. Put the rudder over hard a'starboard coming out of the navy base to slide past Old Point Comfort, and continue around a series of quick successive turns to starboard past Willoughby Spit, the Three Sisters, Missouri Shoals, and finally into the long reach of Thimble Shoals Channel. 12.2 nautical miles later, take Cape Henry Lighthouse on the starboard beam and enter the wide open sea. A good navigator never breathes a sigh of relief, though, until he reaches that point 42 miles from the Virginia Beach resort strip where the ship passes over the edge of the continental shelf. The ocean bottom drops from just over 100 feet to more than 5000.

For 563 days Daddy did his work, knowing the safety of the ship and his captain's career were in his hands. The captain hung 19 years of invested naval service on Daddy's ability to keep the ship off the rocks. Thankfully, Daddy made it for 563 days keeping the ship from touching anything but the sea. In the midst of that, Daddy taught one of his friends to be a navigator too.

Daddy's friend went on to be assigned as the navigator on a cruiser, a big ship, homeported in Pearl Harbor, Hawaii. Friday night that cruiser ran hard aground in six feet of water up on on a coral reef less than half a mile from Honolulu International Airport. The picture above shows the warship stuck on the reef. So far, three attempts to get the ship unstuck from the reef have failed. The next step will be to pump off the 450,000 gallons fuel and hope the reduced weight will allow the ship to float free.

Daddy is conflicted with feelings of responsibility. It's somehow a kick in the gut to know that an officer you trained was responsible for a terrible accident. But it could have been anyone, even me. It makes me more grateful for God's blessing in 563 days of steaming without an accident.

Pray for them.

Daddy