Senior Class

don't look now mates, but that's land in sight there just off the starboard how... and before noon today the mooring lines will have been made fast, the gangway put down and the crew detached. there'll be a few brief days of shore leave and then ... like John Masefield, "We must down to the seas again."

Four months was a long time to be at sea ... in an ocean of S & A Manuals and Memos, Navy Regs and Travel Instructions. And the waves of examinations and publication changes made the passage a rough one at times. But lest we forget, those week-end leaves were mighty enjoyable ... and as we will no doubt learn, there are far worse ports-of-call than Boston and its environs.

Mid-Watch Tough, Too

Sure, early morning calisthenics wore tough--but so is the midwatch at sea. Six hours of class each day may have seemed hard to bear at times but it will be a cold day at at the equator when we won't work twelve hours at the new station. It's true we had to stand in line and carry trays at Cowle--but at least there was no danger of the soup bowl bouncing off the table into our laps once we out it down.

Drill formation were often irksome--but General Quarters Drill will also require physical exertion and military precision. There weren't very many free evening--but we did manage to make a few liberties, and in Boston at least, the beet is cold and the files don't bite.

Sure, we're anxious to shove off too. We just thought we'd mention though, that maybe it wasn't such a bad "shakedown cruise" after all.

We've had a lot of advice thrown our way ... but wo'd like to pass on just one more "rule of thumb" as a parting shot to those who may find themselves judging meat on the hoof in some distant South Paoiflo late. It's about those longnesed native plugs--piok 'em up by the ears, gentlemen ... and if the head goes down, it's too skinny to eat.