Pictures of the Boat

Ok here are the promised pictures. I'm so glad that it is not me having to live on this boat, I would be so sick!! He is in a really small room with 3 other guys. They have to share the one sink, and the bathroom that all the male officers share was around the corner from his room. His room was right under where the planes and helicopters land and it was SO noisey and hard to get some sleep after a certain time in the morning. The food was pretty good, but it is hard to eat healthy on there, at least it's hard to eat healthy and not be hungry all the time. He said that he really enjoyed the snacks that I sent him (the ones that didn't get ruined by the hairspray that leaked all over his bag).
It is a very fun yet challenging experience flying around the boat, especially at night. This becomes even more difficult when there is a full deck of aircraft working the pattern and you have to land between two other spinning aircraft. One of the challenges of flying with NVDs (night vision devices) is the decreased ability to pick up drift tendencies while hovering over the spot, and there is very little room for error when there are spinning rotors in front and behind you. That's why they practice and are trained by and become the best pilots in the world.
Like I said I'm glad that it is him and not me!!! :o)


Marcus' bunk (the bottom)
The sink and other set of bunks
The chow hall where all the officers eat
The ready room where all the flights are planned
Marcus getting ready to take off
Lift Off

There he goes
The ocean looking from the helicopter (if you look real hard you can see the boat) The boat looking from the helicopter