Season’s Greetings

Just a quick note to wishes you all the very best of the Season. I hope your Christmas was pleasant, safe and fulfilling as it was for us. We spent a quiet Christmas at our home in BC, where the boys enjoyed opening some presents and relaxed with visits to family. The local weather was a typical rainy day with 7 degree celsius – perhaps not a white Christmas, but just fine for us.

I am thoughtful of many of our peers who are out working, away from their families and wish them a safe time at sea. I further send out my well wishes to those seafarers currently imprisoned by pirates and other thieves. These are terribly anxious times for them, and their family, and we can only hope that the situation improves for all involved.

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year. Below is a picture of the USCGC Alder arriving in Chicago, earlier this month, with a cargo of Christmas trees.

The crew of the Coast Guard Cutter Alder, homeported in Duluth, Minn., is escorted by a boat from the Chicago Fire Department as they prepare to moor at Chicago’s Navy Pier, Dec. 2, 2011. Alder’s crew is acting as Chicago’s “Christmas Ship,” bringing more than 1,000 trees from northern Michigan to be distributed by charity groups to Chicago-area families. U.S. Coast Guard photo by Petty Officer 3rd Class George Degener.