Break a boat, get a beer

[CaptsWife]

Great story, thanks. And thank you for your service, Sir.

[Deltasailor]

What a great story. Tell us some more. I want to read lots of other stories from other sailing folk.

[Rigdaddy]

Originally Posted by Shark_Bait

I'm glad you liked the story, thanks!

My family has always been close with the ocean. My grandpa was a Captain in the Navy, uncle was a Chief. I was the one that had to be weird about it haha. When I first joined the Army I walked or drove everywhere I needed to be and wanted to find something on the water. When I went to talk to the appropriate people to reclass they gave me a list of options I could switch to if I sign a new contract. Watercraft Operator was one of the options and it sounded way cooler than Watercraft Engineer. We handled the seamanship, they made sure we got there, or didn't in at least three cases I was part of haha. Really small field, a lot of the regular Army doesn't even know we exist. But, we have the vast majority of landing craft in the military along with a good number of tugs and causeway. There used to be hovercraft and LARKS but the hovercraft were given to the Navy and the LARKS were retired.

Enjoyed your story. This reminds me of the LARK that I bought in 1978 to use for salvage work in the surf in the Gulf of Mexico; but that's a different story, and I never was any good at stories.

[Meacenas]

So there was this Army guy on a boat who claimed that he could not drink and tell good stories. Au contrare, you write exceedingly well. I really enjoyed your story. You ever think about writing a collection of short seas stories, ( like in the old days ) and getting them published? Or even a blog where we can enjoy more of your 'non-stories'?

[tatomaceda]

Thank you for your service.
Good story. Awesome story-telling.
Keep it up man!

[crazyoldboatguy]

Well told story, sir. Seriously - you should add raconteur to your resume and put pen to paper.

[Fence Man]

Great story Shark Bait! Thank you for your service.

[bluewatervet]

Aw-heck, I just have to put in my two-bits worth here, Shark_Bait..!! Regular Navy here, if others have not already figured that out from my posts. A lot of folks do not realize, let alone a lot of fellow sailors to, that the U.S. Army had more boats afloat than the Navy ever did...by a huge margin....!!! Funny, I was born into an Army family, which as Korea spun-up became one of those brand new 'plank owner' USAF families. But my cousins and a favorite uncle were Navy/USCG, and since airplanes should not fly, I went Navy...submarines. Well, the Navy changed their mind and destroyers off the coast of 'Nam needed crypto's more, so the rest is history. BTW as you know, it is really much more fun and excitement on top of the water than down a few hundred and holding steady all the time. My DER was built at Brown Shipbuilding, Houston, Texas for WWII , and was not supposed to return home. She ended up serving well beyond that intended service life. Tribute to all the builder yard folks that kept us alive short of a direct hit. From a fellow combat vet, "thank you for YOUR service, troop.... Maybe sometime we can share some cold brews, bud....