Oahu, Hawaii

Venus sets behind the battleship Missouri.

The Arizona Memorial at night.


Sunset over the USS Arizona Memorial, 16 September 2008.


The sun sets over the Arizona memorial, with the flag of USNS Mercy waving in the foreground.


The moon sets over the USS Arizona memorial.


On the morning of 16 September 2008, the sun rises over Oahu.


Some of the Canadians on board USNS Mercy wore their dress uniforms as we entered Pearl Harbor on 15 September 2008. From left to right, Brent, Jessica, Diane, Bethann, and Tara are standing in front of Sideflare 64, the helicopter that was hit by ground fire at Mindanao.

(By the way, Tara, at the right in this photo, earned a degree in theater before she earned her degree in nursing; she was often out taking photos of sunsets at the same time that I was. And Bethann, second from right, who is an anesthesiologist, rearranged her schedule to stay with the Mercy to San Diego (unlike the other folks from Canada and India who all left in Hawaii) so that an anesthesiologist would be on board in case of emergency.)


On our way back home, in Pearl Harbor, USNS Mercy is at a pier even closer to the Missouri and the Arizona Memorial than we were last May.


Sunrise, east of Hawaii, the morning of 13 September 2008.


Moonrise, near the International Date Line, on 12 September 2008.


Sunset on the Pacific just west of the International Date Line (GPS N 20 29.7344 E 179 20.5978) the evening of September 11 2008 San Diego time.)

Guam

Sunset over the Pacific the day that USNS Mercy left Guam.

Jeff's Pirate Cove, on the East Coast of Guam.


A memorial to the working dogs that lost their lives during the liberation of Guam near the end of the Second World War.


Todd Wright, who works at the Naval Hospital at Guam (and accompanied by 4 year old Elizabeth and 2 year old Elana, whose names I have hopefully spelled correctly), took me on a brief tour of some of the sights of Guam.


Here's another frog on Guam; they sit very still in the grass in the dark, and don't even move when their photo is taken with flash.

Goodbye, Chuuk!

The sunset that we saw on our way from Chuuk to Guam (GPS N 11 6.7486 E 148 9.8608).

As the USNS Mercy departs from Chuuk on its way to Guam, it crosses the north boundary of the atoll. Notice the small islands and the surf at the location where the wall of the atoll is just a few meters below the surface of the ocean.


If anyone has ever dreamed about buying a tropical island, I think that I found one in Chuuk that might be affordable, and I even have the location: GPS N 7 30.2350 E 151 54.4753


The last sunset at Chuuk, with Venus as the evening star.

Goodbye Chuuk!

A group of jellyfish floated past USNS Mercy while anchored at Chuuk.


One of the Micronesian turtles that IT3 Tabboga purchased for me at a gift shop called the "Truk Stop" in Chuuk.


Shell takes one last look at Weno Island, at sunset, Chuuk State, Micronesia.


One of USNS Mercy's helicopters practices with rescue swimmers.
In the first photo, a rescue swimmer splashes into the ocean near Weno Island, Chuuk State, Micronesia.


In the second photo, the helicopter brings the rescue swimmer back on board.


A rainstorm near Romonum Island, Chuuk State, Micronesia.


One of USNS Mercy's helicopters lifts off over the blue water and blue sky of Weno Island, Chuuk State, Micronesia.


Another sunset, with Romonum Island in the center, in Chuuk State, Micronesia.


Me, at sunset, on the deck of USNS Mercy, with Weno Island, Chuuk State, Micronesia, in the background.

Weno Island, Chuuk State, Micronesia

One more traditional Micronesian dance with Weno Island, Chuuk State, Micronesia in the background.

We hear a traditional Micronesian song.


Traditional Micronesian dancers perform on the flight deck of USNS Mercy with the island of Weno, Chuuk State, Micronesia in the background.


Here's one more sunset photo from Chuuk State, Micronesia.


The flag of USNS Mercy waves softly in the breeze just before sunset in Chuuk State, Micronesia.


One of the Band-Aid boats of USNS Mercy returns to the ship at sunset in Chuuk State, Micronesia.


The moon rises over Weno Island, Chuuk State, Micronesia 23 August 2008.

On our way to Chuuk State, Micronesia

One of the helicopters from USNS Mercy (GPS N 7 24.0160 E 151 49.3564) takes flight over Tonowas Island in Chuuk State, Micronesia.


Sunset (GPS N 5 5.7019 E 152 36.0579) the evening before we arrived in Chuuk.


Later the same evening we could see Venus and (just barely) Mercury in the western sky.


VERTREP (Vertical Replenishment) from USNS Richard E. Byrd (GPS S 7 42.8053 E 150 52.1770), a new Navy supply ship, two days after USNS Mercy left Port Moresby.


Moonrise over the Pacific, the evening after Steel Beach, from USNS Mercy.

Leaving Port Moresby

The first sunset after leaving Port Moresby.


I wanted to get some sort of a creature carved out of wood from Papua New Guinea; this was the smallest one available the day that we were able to go to the pier for a few minutes. One of the guests on USNS Mercy told me that she recognized the pattern, that it was carved near the Sepik river in the northwest part of the country, and that it takes about two weeks to carve one of these crocodiles. I think I will name it Wewak, after a town that lies along the Sepik river.


From left to right, LTCDR Kluegel (the Director for Administration), LT Simerman (head of the Operations Department), and LT Seaman (Chief Information Officer) return to USNS Mercy aboard a Band-Aid boat from a visit to the pier in Port Moresby.


This double rainbow was so close to USNS Mercy that I could only catch half of it in the camera, on a rainy morning near Port Moresby.


Just after sunrise on a rainy day, a ship sails past the outskirts of Port Moresby.


Here's another photo of Shell, with Port Moresby and a large container ship in the background.

Papua New Guinea

The Sing Sing Dance Troupe, traditional tribal Papua New Guinea dancers, visited USNS Mercy on 15 August 2008 and performed on the flight deck.


Shell takes a look at Port Moresby from the weather deck of USNS Mercy (GPS S 9 28.0667, E 147 7.9892) on a somewhat hazy day.

Here's a closer view of downtown Port Moresby that we got a few days ago when we had the chance to visit the pier for about 45 minutes.


Sideflare 64, one of USNS Mercy's two helicopters, has just lifted off from the flight deck, with Port Moresby, the capital of Papua New Guinea, in the background.


The sun sets behind the hills to the west of Port Moresby in Papua New Guinea. The wind seems to always be blowing these clouds either toward the east or toward the west.



Here are two photos of me with Port Moresby in the background. I'm not sure which one is clearest, so I'm sending both. The wind was blowing 20 or 30 mph both days. In fact, the day I wore the striped shirt, the wind started blowing the camera off of its shelf, so I have a great close up of just my shirt as I grabbed the camera.



Many of the days here in Port Moresby have been windy, as can be seen in this photo of one of the Band-Aid boats returning to USNS Mercy; notice how the boat is bouncing up and down in the waves.