A few weeks ago, we asked the Coast Guard workforce to submit their New Year’s cutter log. Every year, Coasties around the world honor the annual tradition of submitting the Jan. 1 midwatch watch log entry in poem form.
Your entries did not disappoint! Thank you for submitting your logs and carrying on this great tradition. We were thrilled to receive entries from ships and units across the fleet:
- Coast Guard Cutter John Scheuerman
- Coast Guard Cutter Kimball
- Coast Guard Cutter Harold Miller
- Coast Guard Cutter Spencer
- Coast Guard Station Merrimack River
- Centralized Service Desk
- Coast Guard Cutter Polar Star
- Coast Guard Cutter Hickory
- Coast Guard Cutter Healy
- Coast Guard Cutter SPAR
- Coast Guard Cutter Alert
Bravo Zulu to this year’s winners for their creativity, style, and imagery! Without further ado, MyCG invites you to enjoy the winning submissions.
LTJG David Anthony, Coast Guard Cutter Healy
Another new year, my crew sleeps in Seattle.
An electrical hum, a mechanical rattle.
As the fireworks show fizzles over the skyline.
And Elliot Bay gains the shine of the nighttime.
I close my eyes and I dream of the north.
Above Barrow and Svalbard, toward Polaris steer forth.
Stay with me for a moment, I'll show you the scene.
Celestial frost, the sky ribbons of green.
The thick thud of the ice cracking under my weight.
Sixteen thousand long tons with vermillion paint.
Too many more days between now and again.
Till I witness the Arctic, my quiet, my zen.
EMC Antoinette Frazer, U.S. Coast Guard Cutter Polar Star
At the stroke of midnight, a New Year is born,
The Polar Star steams south to the ice, lightly torn.
Underway and pressing on, with purpose ahead,
Bound for Antarctica, where the cold bites instead.
The plant stands proud in a one-two-one show,
With MDEs all online and ready to go.
They push the ship onward, while the hangar party tracks,
Less ice than last year—Neptune cut us some slacks!
From ECC's control, the engines all play,
While SSDGs one and three keep the darkness at bay.
The machinery's status, on the enclosed sheet,
(Yes, it's thrilling to read, feel free to peek).
All out-of-commission gear is tagged just right,
So don't touch a thing without EOW's sight.
Material condition Yoke is set ship-wide and true,
For even on holidays, Yoke is what we do.
Potable water is drawn with good cheer,
From 3-223-1-W, pristine and clear.
Fuel oil from 4-85 keeps the great screws in gear,
And sewage is stored, for the open sea is not near.
The watch is now stacked with talent and grace,
DC1 Stefanoff, putting damage control in its place.
MK3 Melendez from A-Gang stands by with a grin,
Ready to fix any trouble that fate might throw in.
FN Hein is checking the EVAP's own brine,
Keeping the boilers happy and data just fine.
EMC Frazer holds EOW, logs in hand and eyes keen,
Ringing in the New Year from the engine room scene.
For tonight belongs here, with the Star and the sea.
ENS Kenneth McMillan, Coast Guard Cutter Harold Miller
A Salty Tale
Our ship returned, spirits on ebb,
Swapped grog-filled shore for deck.
For tallied list, we can't right say,
No treasures end o' the day.
Toiled in shadows of purser's dread,
Yet deeds be widely read.
With blackened gums and aching bones,
Jones’ Locker be our home.
Though bodies fail and wits be spent,
Our keels seldom bent.
For we’ve a yarn for all to heed,
Look ‘live, plant proper seed.
He be a Boatswain, tried and true,
Rate won when year t’was new.
So hark! Attention! Orders passed!
Make ready, top of mast!
Honorable Mention: IT1 Aundre’ Behnken, Coast Guard Centralized Service Desk (CSD)
0000 – Round Complete. All sat. 70/39
High in the Robert A. Young, the servers hum,
A digital pulse as the New Year has come.
While the city below celebrates on the street,
The NAIS Watch stands where the bit and byte meet.
The deck is secure, every rack in its row,
With cables dressed neatly and status LEDS aglow.
From the heart of the Midwest, our vigil is cast,
Securing the future by guarding the past.
The NAIS sensors, from river to coast,
Are monitored closely at every remote post.
We track every signal, we watch every site,
Ensuring the "eyes" of the Guard stay bright.
Verizon is working, their maintenance is logged,
No circuit is broken; no pathway is bogged.
Each update recorded, each ticket is clear,
To carry our comms through the turn of the year.
To the Battle Watch Captain, the word we send down:
"All systems are green in the Gateway town."
From St. Louis to Virginia, the connection is true,
The watch is relieved by the red, white, and blue.
-USCG-
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