This morning, Max and I got up and took a walk at 0715. Yesterday the helicopters, SH-60 Sea Hawks, were zooming all over the place making all kinds of noise. Mostly they were in transit to or from the Imperial Beach Outlying Landing Field which has been dubbed the Helicopter Capital of the World. For some reason, all of the SH-60’s that fly to and fro use the RV park as a guide to get them from one place to the other. They fly directly over us and they make a lot of noise. This isn’t a complaint, just a statement of fact. I call all the aircraft noise, and the sound of automatic weapon fire from the beach as the sound of freedom. What’s good about the noise is that they go quiet at 2200. They obviously know the rules of the park where noisy stuff is prohibited from 2200-0600 daily.

Yesterday there was one SH-60 hovering about 50-100 feet above the water directly across from us and it remained stationary as if there was a search for something.

You can see the prop wash below. Once in a while it would descend to about 10 feet off the water and hang there for a long time 15-20 minutes sometimes. Very risky because I’m pretty sure those things don’t float. Normally they would hover as you see in the photo for about 30-45 minutes at a time then break off make a wide circle to the left and come back to the same spot and do it again. There has been some debate about whether or not it’s the same CH-60 returning, or if they take turns doing this. It’s evidently some sort of training evolution but so far no one has offered an explanation about what. Since it’s all over water we chose to believe it’s associated with Seal Training.

Just before it got too dark to see what was going on, Diane watched as a swimmer was pulled into the chopper then flew away. Soon it returned, or was replaced, with another that dropped 3 swimmers into the bay. She never saw them retrieved before everybody went silent at 2200 so we can only assume that they had to make their way home on their own. We’ll never know.

This morning as I sat out with Max, scanning my surroundings, I heard the chatter of an automatic weapon. Looking around to find the source I spied a small boat, Seal’s no doubt, going left to right on the Naval Base side. The chatter wasn’t loud, but it was obvious to me it was originating from the boat. It was going very fast and was making fast 360 turns in the vicinity where the Helos were hovering yesterday. I have no idea if the events are related but could be. At this point it’s just, you know, interesting.

Later today Diane wants to visit the NAS North Island Commissary and get ‘some things for dinner.’ This is stuff I’ll have to cook so it’s OK if I tag along. Can’t take Max with us so I need to take him on a long walk.

See you later.

Visiting the commissary was like going back in time for us. It’s where we used to shop exclusively for food at many places we lived. The one at North Island is very close to the piers where the aircraft carriers tie up. At this time, the USS Carl Vinson (CVN-70), and the USS Nimitz (CVN-68) are the only carriers in the area. Lots and lots of uniforms everywhere. Just like old times. The Nimitz is special for us because our grandson, Cedric, spent 5 years on it.

Before shopping, we visited the food court by the NEX where Diane had a Subway sandwich and I got Panda Express. Then, we got what we needed, and a lot more, and headed back to rescue Max from his boredom. I don’t really think he sleeps the entire time we leave him alone and he only gets bored when we’re with him and don’t throw things for him.

Tonight he got a surprise shower to erase the swamp smell he got from one of his romps in the bay. Last time, he just got wet then played in the loose hi-tide sand. Along with the smell, we think he picked up a dose of conjunctivitis.

Now we need to find a vet.