NEWS RELEASE

NEWS FROM HEALY 16 March 2003

Underway again and on our way home.  After a great port call in Hobart,
Tasmania the crew is ready to get home to Seattle where friends and family
anxiously await. 

In the last update we were still working our way north in the Ross Sea after
completing testing of the port cycloconverter in the ice field north of the
C-19 iceberg.  We continued the northly trek with a short stop to complete
some testing of our science winches and the CTD (continuity, temperature &
density) science apparatus.  This was done to make sure this vital equipment
was in good working condition for next summer's science mission.  On Monday,
March 3rd, we passed the last of the icebergs that we would encounter for
the trip wrapping up the Antarctic phase of our Deep Freeze mission.  Now
everyone's attention focused on a safe crossing of the Southern Ocean and
the anticipation of pulling into Australia for some long awaited crew rest
and good liberty. On Tuesday, 4 March, the Captain promoted Michael Lund to
Machinery Technician 3rd Class and also awarded ETC Michael McGuire his 7th
Good Conduct Medal. This was followed by the Captain's promotion of Garrett
Young to Seaman on Wednesday.  Fortunately the weather wasn't bad along the
way as we were able to sneak in between two major low pressure systems in
our transit toward Tasmania.  We were fortunate to encounter seas only in
the 12 -15 foot range that were usually off the port bow making for a
relatively smooth ride.  Of course the weather was warming up quickly as we
continued to the North which was certainly a welcome change.  

Thursday brought about a busy day as we completed a fire drill in After
Steering combining the training efforts of our Navigation & Seamanship,
Engineering, and Damage Control Training Teams in what we call an Integrated
Drill.  At quarters, 79 HEALY, POLAR STAR, and NESU sailors were presented
with their first Antarctica Service Medals by CAPT Visneski and the Command
Master Chief, QMCM George Schwarz.  Recognition was also provided for the 15
veteran Deep Freeze sailors as well. This event was kicked off by the
Captain's reading of a very nice Bravo Zulu (Good Job) message for both
HEALY and POLAR SEA from our operational commander - Commander, Pacific Area
for our efforts in Antarctica.  MSTC Mike Hamerski was also recognized for
completing his Inport OOD qualification.  It was a great way to finish the
middle phase of our Deep Freeze deployment.  The crew was also busy that day
cleaning up the ship for our arrival in Hobart.

On a cloudy Friday morning HEALY tied up at MacQuarie Wharf  #3 in downtown
Hobart.  LTJG Neal Amaral skillfully brought the ship in for his first
mooring and afterwards the crew quickly set the ship up for inport
operations including setting up the brow, hooking up a potable water supply,
onloading food supplies and mail, offloading trash and ensuring all
arrangements were set with our husbanding agent.  "Welcome to Hobart"
meetings were held with representatives from the Royal Australian Navy, the
local police, money exchangers, and local Morale, Welfare & Recreation
agents.  Quarters were held to pass all the information we had picked up
from the local representatives and we wished FN Brett Cobb, SN Eric Baker,
and SN Chad Coppin good luck as they were all departing for training in
their chosen Coast Guard occupational fields.  They had been outstanding
shipmates who will do the service well in the coming years.  We also wished
safe trips to ENS Kevin Hasselman, ETC Michael McGuire, MSTC Mike Hamerski,
MST2 Bridget Cullers, ET2 Chris Martin, and ET2 Ryan MacNeil who were all
returning to the states for training and who will meet us when we return.
And before you knew it the liberty pipe was made the crew stampeded off the
brow.  For the next 6 days the crew enjoyed all that Hobart and the rest of
Tasmania had to offer.  Activities included formal tours of Hobart and
surrounding areas, trips to the famous original convict prison at Port
Arthur, the outstanding Bonorong Wildlife Park, the beautiful Russell Falls
(and surrounding Eucalyptus forrest), the gorgeous Huon Valley including the
Air Walk among the trees, driving up to Launceston at the northern end of
the island, enjoying the many outstanding restaurants, sampling the variety
of quality local wines and beers, venturing up to the top of Mt. Wellington,
strolling about and shopping at the many brightly colored booths at the
Salamancca Market on Saturday morning, and even a trout fishing trip all
around the island.  Tasmania had plenty to offer and the crew had a
wonderful time. On Wednesday night the Officers and Chiefs hosted the
Australian-American Association onboard for a reception during which the
Captain presented the AAA and a representative for the Premier of Tasmania
with HEALY plaques.  It was a great opportunity to meet many locals who are
renowned for their friendship and support of visiting icebreaker sailors.
Our first few days in Hobart reminded us of Seattle with cloudy skies and
rain.  However, the sun really broke through on Wednesday and Thursday
providing gorgeous weather as the crew squeezed in as much exploring as they
could before we had to depart. 

We slipped away smoothly at 1800 on Thursday evening (March, 13) and headed
out to sea.  Once we turned towards the north we picked up a gentle
following swell and enjoyed a pleasant moonlit night as the crew settled in
for a good night's sleep after a hectic week of activity.  Earlier in the
day we had welcomed aboard a new shipmate - MK3 Rich Erickson fresh from MK
School.  MST3 Susan Scriven returned to us a newly qualified SCUBA Diver
having completed the rigorous training program at the Navy's Dive School in
Panama City, Florida.  We also welcomed aboard a large contingent of
maintenance techs and trainers from a variety of sources as we had planned
to maximize use of our transit to Seattle to complete many maintenance and
training needs as we now focus on preparing for our next mission.  This
group included:  ETCM Joe Passalaqua, ETC Jim Flynn, MKC Steve McClellion,
DCC Jeff Rowe, EMC Frank Donze, MK1 Jeff Pierce, ET1 Joel Rodda, EM2 Paul
Stevick, EM3 Kelvin Hernandez, MK3 Nathaniel Christian, MK3 Aaron Barrett,
and FN Chris Alston from NESU Seattle plus ETCS Pete Perron and ET2 Harold
Kiffer from ESU Seattle - a crack team of technicians who we work with
regularly since they comprise most of the HEALY Support Team in Seattle.

Since leaving the weather has been good to us: light winds, following seas
and sunshine other then a few rain squalls this morning.  We were fortunate
though, as a large Tropical Cyclone formed off the northeast coast of
Australia just before we departed that looked particularly nasty.  Luckily
for us it crossed our trackline well ahead of us and continued to the
southeast quickly sparing us any rough weather.  We completed Man Overboard
and Abandon Ship drills on Friday and yesterday the ship was cleaned up in
the morning.  The Main Propulsion engineers have been quite busy completing
maintenance on the main engines taking advantage of tech rep that we have
onboard from the engine manufacturer.  Our Damage Controlman were busy
fixing a small but challenging fuel leak in a hard to reach spot.  And the
ETs have been busy all over the place fixing and upgrading equipment.  At
Quarters, MST3 Scriven was presented with her first Good Conduct Medal.
With the good weather the basketball wars returned to the flight deck in the
afternoon and the cooks treated the crew to a filet mignon and lobster
morale dinner in the early evening.  With 65 balls available for Black Out
Bingo, the Mess Deck was jammed with hopeful winners.  MK3 Martin Bowley, SN
Isaac Nathaniel (with SN Heidi Schuman playing his card), and ET2 Josh
Rasmussen won the early games of Bingo.  In the Black Out Game several
people were down to one open square, but no one took home the X-box. Next
Saturday will bring another sell out and hopefully a winner of the grand
prize.

This week will bring lots of training and maintenance with all the help we
have onboard.  As we move into the tropics it should be a good smooth ride
allowing us to get a lot accomplished.

Have a great week back home.  We'll be thinking about you as we steadily
steam home.

Regards, Doug Russell

CDR Doug Russell
Executive Officer
USCGC HEALY (WAGB 20)