Up on the flight deck this afternoon, these guys were dealing with a light rain as they launched a few birds. A large number of Sailors and Marines were up on Vultures Row watching the flight ops with their cameras out and the film rolling.

Bestafka said he enjoys the challenge of coordinating information between departments. "The pace is quick and the momentum picks up even more while were flying," he said. I headed down to the Chaplain's office a little while later. Here (below) Cmdr. John Gwudz from Norwich, CT is available to anyone who might be going through difficulties. On average, he speaks with more than 200 Sailors a week. "This is a very overwhelming place for Sailors who have just reported aboard, and I try and save them from some of the same difficulties I went through when i first arrived," said Gwudz. "We have such a hi-op tempo here, the new guys have to hit the ground running." Cmdr. Gwudz often takes the time to help serve food in the chow lines, probably surprising a lot of unsuspecting Sailors with the spoon in his hand and the mess-deck apron on.

Looking to make Captain A.S.A.P. is this guy (below), Fireman Jeremy Kennedy from Santa Cruz, CA. He's been here for six months and said he's ready to pick his rate, he wants to become a Captain. Kennedy said he thinks about home and surfing to keep him going while he takes his turn mess cranking.

Here's (below) the guys who make sure all the food we bring aboard gets into proper storage. Today they were taking care of the items that came off the 125 pallets we recently brought aboard. They said the frozen food will last 14 days, and the dry items 16, then it's time for a re-supply. Indy receives just about every kind of food imaginable. I know I never gave it much thought, but I didn't expect to eat fresh strawberries out here, or ice cream, I think I imagined a lot of Navy beans.

Well, once again I'm going to add a note here to say thanks for all the positive feedback we're receiving here about our website. The emails are being read and the names are being logged in for photo request. And by the year 2001 I should have all... nooooo, hopefully before the end of this cruise.

We're doing some serious cruising now, it gives you the strange desire to throw a line out, strap on some water skis and hang out with the porpoises in Indy's wake.

We're back to cruising speed now after taking some time to slow down and do some flying today. The weather's changed a few times since leaving Yokosuka, but it's been mostly gray skies out here with a few clearings. We're doing a little rock'n rolling, mostly feels like we're charging through and surfing a bit.

Before heading back down, I stopped in on the bridge to check out the action. The Officer of the Deck (OOD), Lt. j.g. Tom Bestafka from Freehold, NJ (below) was busy checking the ship's heading as my flash was setting the compass off course. Bestafka is responsible for the safe navigation of Indy as we sail closer and closer to the Gulf. He said his hairiest moment as OOD was when Indy was undergoing Sea Trials and he started losing boilers. They were down to two and he was calling for four.

While I was on my way to the Chaplain's office, I spotted a move crew parking a bird in the hangar bay. It's amazing how these guys squeeze the jets into the tiniest of space. Chock & Chainer (below) Airman Recruit Richard Vanschaick from Ontario didn't waste any time securing the wheel to the deck. He's been on Indy for two months, and right now said he's a little nervous about the Gulf trip, but he's a "whole-lot excited" about working with the aircrafts.

Heading up to HS 14's parachute shop to retrieve my float coat, I couldn't pass up the opportunity to show another little known fact about the Indy... we have guys that can make (sew) anything! PRAN James Hall (below) from Memphis, TN is putting together a FOD pouch. FOD is: foreign object damage, in other words, anything on the flight deck that does not belong there, or small loose objects that could get sucked into a jet intake. When not sewing items in the shop, Hall is responsible for inspecting all the Helo gear that pertains to survival. Me: "What do you do to relax in your off time?" Hall: "Sleep."

And, being in the general vicinity of the bakeshop, I followed the great smell of fresh baked bread and held up MS2 Kevin Hinton from Vallejo, CA for some dinner rolls. Hinton's been aboard Indy for two and a half years and works as the bakeshop Supervisor where he and his crew bake up more than 3,000 portions a day. "It very active in here, but with a good crew, it's no problem," said Hinton.