Today was a fun day. I was fortunate enough to be assigned POIC for a bounce dive. I love being a POIC for bounce dive, it's kind of a toss up between 2nd phase swim as to which is my favorite. I get to get underway 2hr before everyone else so I can find the exact depth that 2nd phase needs to execute their excersize. when I find the right location I try to hover on the exact spot as if I were a car. Oh the challenge, it's so invigorating, and today it was no different. We got underway a little late. I told my buddy to call up to the shop, where I was doing a bilge check prior to getting underway, if he heard an LCU start up their engines or if he hear one prolonged blast. I returned and he told me that ten minutes earlier he heard three blasts followed by one prolonged. Since he was listening for one prolonged blast he didn't think anything of it. Of course if he were using his boatswains mate knowledge he would figured that one prolong blast meant that a craft was changing its mooring status, three prolong blast meant that the craft was operating under stern propulsion. In other word a big craft, LCU, was getting underway, and backing out of its space.
So the LCU was underway for the last ten no problem. The landing craft does about 10-15kt the Aluminum rhib goes about 37 we'll catch up to the craft in no time. Problem, I didn't even know if the landing craft was even the one we were working with. The craft we were trying to catch could have easily been going to Camp Pendleton, and the craft I was waiting on was still on loading the dive gear. I didn't even know if I was suppose to be brining a stand by diver, I had the dive gear in the boat. I had to choose and I chose, but made sure Bravo knew what I was doing. If a stand by diver did show up, I told them, give me a call on the radio. As I said earlier it shouldn't be to hard for me to catch up to the slow moving craft in an Aluminum Chambered Boat with two 200hp engines in the back. Unfortunately I couldn't see where I was going, and that could hinder my forward movement a bit. It was misty in the morning and my wipers were garbage. The arms moved back and forth but the wiper didn't seem to be touch the window to wipe away, they just seem to sway back and forth on the arms Stevie Wonders head did while he sang. Every once and a while I had to have my rider hold on to the wiper as it swang back and forth to cleam of moisture so I can see where we were going. I tried sticking my head around the side of the windshield but the cold wind in my face prevented me from doing this for very long. even with this handicap I eventually overtook the the LCU, and eventually precipitation let up enough for me to see without having to manually clean the windshield, not without dodge what could have been a couple of close calls though. One possible show stopper was concrete structures that are not charted, nor lighted, that I would not have seen without me chancing a peek around the windshield.
I had know trouble finding the waypoint and the depth. The trouble I had was staying on station once I found and it. Once I got on spot the wind and waves would blow me off spot by 28 yds in less than 30 sec. Which shouldn't be that bad but the 2nd phase is kind of boat stupid. They tend to think a boat is a car, and it will stay where you stop with minimal amount of manuvering. Everytime I hit the spot I marked on the furuno I called the Landing Craft. By the time I had finished talking to the craft I was off spot again. Finally the landing craft decided take a reading where they were anchored at to see if their spot was accpetable