Rites of Passage

Hi friends! The much awaited crossing of the line post!

So the other day, we crossed the equator (yes, it is very hot there). For those of you non-nautically inclined folks, this might not be that exciting. But “the crossing of the line” is a time honored rite of passage in the Navy and all other sea-going professions.

Basically the bottom line is this- the seas are ruled by “King Neptunus Rex” and he is accompanied by his assistant “Davey Jones”. So whenever a ship nears the equator, Davey Jones visits the ship and warns all of the “slimy pollywogs” (a pollywog is a sailor that has not yet crossed the equator) that they will soon be cleansed of their slimy pollywog filth, demonstrate that they are worthy seafaring nautical Sailors, and ready to become Shellbacks (a shellback is a Sailor who has crossed the equator). It used to be a way to “initiate” Junior sailors who had not spent much time at sea to a life at sea for them to prove that they were capable of handling cruise.

So the idea is that the shellbacks are responsible for the “cleansing” of the “nasty slimy pollywogs” and then at the end, when they make it through the events, they are presented in front of “King Neptunus Rex’s” Royal Court: King Neptune, Davey Jones, the Royal Baby, and a few others. The shellbacks all wear funny costumes- mostly pirate themed outfits. There is the “Royal this” and the “Royal that”- depending on what your job is in the ceremonies. The wogs all wear either blue or khaki pants, depending on if they are an officer or enlisted, and a white shirt with “WOG” on it. I was, if you could guess, a “molly WOG”. Here is a picture of both the Royal Court, and our Deputy Commodore, who paired his O-6 Mess Dress blue jacket with sweat pants and a red bandana.

Now, way back in the day, when women and decorum were not as prevalent in the “Gentleman’s Navy”- the crossing of the line ceremonies used to be a bit different. All of the members of the Royal Court were men, many dressed in drag- the events were something probably resembling pledge scenes from Animal House, wogs were forced to eat a cherry out of the big greased up belly of the fattest man onboard (the Royal Baby) and other mildly homo-erotic inspired events; pretty much the most gruesome hazing things you can imagine. However, now that we are more PC and less hazing, the Crossing of the Line ceremonies have taken on a more mild tone, which frankly, is fine by me. it is however, very interesting to hear stories of some of our Chiefs and other senior enlisted, especially the ones who served on submarines, as they talk about their own crossing the line experiences.

On February 13th, USS NIMTIZ initiated 1,500 wogs to mighty honorable shellbacks. The morning was long and tiring (I never want to sing “Row Row Row Your Boat” or perform the chicken dance EVER again!!) but a lot of fun- certainly no hazing or anything degrading, it was all in good fun and was a great event overall. I certainly wouldn’t have participated in anything that was not in good taste. Afterwards, we celebrated by a big steel beach picnic.

I am going to include some pictures to this email and write a quick caption for each:

Here we are waiting to ride on the elevator. I was really excited to ride on the elevator that is used to bring jets up and down from the flight deck to the hangar bay. You can see me on the 2nd row from the bottom, all the way on the right, I have the “CDS 23 on my sleeve”

Also, here we are on the elevator, sitting and waiting to go up, this is where the fun started.

There were SOOOOOOOO many pictures on the sharedrive from the event- almost as many as from our wedding! I will pull out a few that included me, or are just plain funny!

Here we are after going through the dunk tank- you have to go in front of the Royal Court, where you are “put on trial” and have to prove that you are ready to be a trusty shellback. I am on the far right, doing the sit-up chain.

Here is an example of a shellback costume.This isn’t me (obviously) but this is the tank that you come out of, emerged as a shellback. I know the stuff looks like the green ‘goo from Nickelodeon- it had a very similar color but was just like water.

So, after 3 years in the Navy, 2 ½ deployments, many many days, weeks, months at sea, and a few hours of chanting “I’m a Slimy Wog”- I emerged a trusty, honorable shellback. I can’t wait to get my official certificate and card!!

I hope you all enjoy and stay tuned for some stories about our last port visit in Malaysia! Hopefully you all enjoyed your snow days and your Valentine’s Days! As for me, I’m just trying to keep the excitement from Wog Day and port visits up for the next few weeks. Just under a month til I see my mommy and my new mother-in-law for Tiger Cruise and then a little longer til I’m back HOME!!!!!!!