Moinester (FF 1097) - Naval Cruise Book

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Channel Fever There is a thing called channel fever. It is a sickness which afflicts sailors when pulling into port — especially the ship ' s homeport. It happens that after my first extended cruise I caught the fever and caught it bad. The last night we were at sea sleep did not come easily for me. I sat up in the ship ' s lounge watching rerun movies I had watched hundreds of times. I sat impatiently, constantly shifting positions. I was beyond restless. At about 1:30 I tried to sleep and sleep did come, but only as that twilight zone between consciousness and slumber, where dreams and reality become one. Why? My light sleep was plagued with dreams of green grass, blue skies, giant pines and the woman who would be waiting on the pier for me. At 3:30 I was awakened to relieve the watch and so, as I had done so many times in the past months, I assumed the duties. It was a rather uneventful watch and none too soon it was time for breakfast. Breakfast was, to say the least, poor. A meat gruel and potatoes, but I must confess it was good to have something on the stomach. After breakfast I went to my favorite perch, the sponson deck. , As I looked out over the water I saw a flock of seagulls rushing out to meet us. The sunrise that morning was spectacular. The sky was slightly cloudy, but where the sun broke through the clouds it spread shades of red and yellow, giving the clouds a mystical look. I turned from the sun and looked as far as I could see. My heart stopped; land — not just any land — it was AMERICA. Home of the brave and land of the free. A familiar place where the people spoke the same language and understood the off-beat meanings of American speech. The mood of the view was light, laughing and joking was common throughout the ship. I saw two men, who two days earlier were locked in a death struggle, clap each other on the back like they were old friends. As we drew nearer to land the workload was increased but it did not matter. The mood of the morning can only be described as magical. How else can such a dreary morning be turned into such beauty? How else can two old enemies joke about past differences? It can only be described as CHANNEL FEVER. -by Nathaniel O. Tank Morse BT3 USN