Fleet Week

My friend Sharn invited us to go see the ships docked in Red Hook for Fleet Week and we jumped at the chance. I knew of Fleet Week, but didn't really know what it was all about. Forgive me if this is obvious to you, dear reader, but what happens is that ships from all over the world come and dock in New York's many harbors. Sailors roam the city in their spiffy uniforms and civilians can board the ships and learn about naval activities in other countries. Despite it being the hottest day of the year so far, we had a great time.

We saw three ships: the Cuauhtemoc from Mexico, a Finnish mine layer, and the RAF Argus from Ireland. We had a long wait before we could board the Argus and we were all practically melting by that point, so I didn't take any pictures. It was a super cool, ship though. It has a fully functioning hospital on board (air conditioned!), complete with an operating theatre, emergency room, and general ward. When it's not on goodwill missions like Fleet Week, it travels the world delivering food and medical supplies to disaster areas. It also responds to conflicts where British troops are injured.

And now, our day in photos.

First was the beautiful Mexican boat.

Super sweet figurehead.

Cutest little dude

I loved all the dark wood and brass.

Mexican sailors. Andrew's dominant impression
of them was their diminutive height.

Inviting, no?

Detail of the artwork on the Cuauhtemoc.

And a family portrait. Deston told me my hat and short hair went together.

It was a hot, hazy day with a decided lack of breeze!

The Finnish mine layer. No bags were allowed on board and the
Finnish sailors were all business. There was an armed sailor on board.
One of the best parts of the day was seeing the difference in the sailors. The
Mexican sailors stayed in the background and were very polite. The Irish
sailors were outgoing and friendly. Two guys on our tour were cutting up
the whole time.

A normal sight in the harbor. A hardworking tugboat.

Deston took this one inside the Argus. He took about seven similar photos.

Deston and I posed in front of the French boat. Vive la France!