REGINA Travel Log

• Sea Legs
  Twenty-three years old, fresh out of training you hit the brow. Your first ship and you are pusser, you’re salty, ready for whatever the navy can throw at you.

• Ready In All Respects
  To make use of a timeworn cliché the decks of Regina have been a veritable beehive of activity - 200 men and woman working together, one team, toward a common goal – preparedness.

• Week Two
  The silence a stark contrast to the high tempo, high stress activities that have dominated this space these past weeks...

• Week Three
  The Mids – The hours between 2330 and 0330 – is perhaps the strangest watch in the one in four rotation. The flats are dark, three quarters of the ship’s company is asleep and an eerie quiet settles throughout...

• Week Four
  The day broke grey and overcast, a cool mist enshrouding the ship as we inch ever closer to our mooring in the harbour separating Hong Kong from Kowloon. Victoria weather, and were it not for a myriad of foreign-looking trawlers, coastal freighters and sailing vessels, one could easily be convinced of being home...

• Week Five
  All at once there seems little time for much more than standing watches, eating and sleeping - initial shock most assuredly following an extended period in 1-in-4.

• Week Six
  Apart from standing watch, eating and sleeping, socializing has come largely to a screeching halt. In the choice between sleep and interaction, sleep tends to win out time and time again.

• Week Seven
  In theatre less than 24 hours and already we’ve conducted a replenishment at sea, had a helicopter over our deck bringing spare parts, completed our first escort tasking through the Straits of Hormuz, and hailed every vessel to come near us.

• Week Eight
  A thin wet mist floats 30 feet above the surface of the water, and as though envious of the celestial display each wave crests with bioluminescence, a swirling kaleidoscope of vibrant greens, silvery-blues and pink.

• Week Nine
  News of a pleasant nature began to filter through the ship just after midnight; talk of an out of action period - 24 to 36 hours without the steady stream of hailing, escorting and boarding.

Sailor Profiles Distant ports-of-call. Callenging rescues. World-class vessels. Visit with some of Canada's sailors for a slice of life in the Navy; the excitement, the traditions, the future.	The Reserves Salesperson or diesel mechanic? Insurance rep or inspection diver? Or both. Learn how you can lead a challenging and rewarding double life with the Naval Reserves.	REGINA Travel Log An extraordinary personal insight into the day-to-day operations of one of Canada's large frigates, while deployed on Operation APOLLO.