USS Eisenhower Friends and Family Day Cruise -- Boarding and Underway

CVN 69 USS Dwight D Eisenhower at Anchor, 31 August 2008, 4:40 a.m.

We arrived at the Naval Base before 5:00 a.m. It was still very dark and a bit chilly. The skies were foggy and we weren't sure what the day would bring: rain, shine or somewhere in between.

Approaching an aircraft carrier in the misty dark is surreal. To stand between two carriers at the same time is more than the eye can take in. Moored next to the "Ike" is the Theodore Roosevelt.

The starboard elevators were lowered for boarding into the hangar bay, which is actually four levels below the flight deck. Most of the visitors would board at these two "brows" (gangplanks). One other entrance was available and that was the officers' brow onto the quarter deck, which is like the "lobby", then opens onto the hangar bay. Scott is a Lt. Commander so we were able to board by way of the officers' brow. :-)

We heard that the number of Navy personnel and visitors on board was about 7,900. The ship carries a population of over 5,000 when deployed.

Once on board we had breakfast and began wandering around the hangar bay then up to the flight deck. There were dozens of activities in the hangar bay as well as self-guided tour routes.

This was good because there was quite a bit of time allowed for boarding and for getting out to sea for the air show.

The pictures I am putting in tonight are just highlights of the early morning hours. When I get home I will have more time to sort and title and put many of them on Flickr. I might be able to do another post tomorrow.

This shows part of the starboard side. In the foreground is one of the elevators lowered to accommodate the brow. Part of the hangar bay can be seen through the opening.

At 8:00 a.m. the colors were raised, the national anthem played, and the underway operation began. The anchor was raised and all moorings untied. At 8:30 a.m. sharp the tugs began the slow process of pushing the ship out of the pier. She was moored stern-first, so backing her up was just like pulling out of a parking space. Those tug boats are tough little brutes! Then we were escorted by the Coast Guard launches, both on starboard and port sides, till we reached open sea.

Sailing through the Chesapeake Bay to get to the ocean took well over an hour. At the time of this photo we were still well within the Bay, but the sun was shining through, promising a great day. I really love this photo. It will be used often.

Looking north, this is the Chesapeake Bay Bridge, which is 19 miles long. In two places the highway goes under the bay. This is one of those places. At this point we are crossing over the tunnel. Generally considered now to be in the Atlantic Ocean, the ship is not yet ready to go full speed. Future photos will show why.

Since there is a lot of water in these photos, I think they qualify for the Thematic Photographic Theme this week which is "watery". ;-)