Navy Petty Officer 2nd Class Stephan Good was pondering priorities – the things he would do when he stepped off the USS Ford.
The Everett-based guided-missile frigate returned to Naval Station Everett on Friday after more than five months at sea.
“First thing is a long, long, long hot shower,” Good said. “I’ll just stand there under the spray until I run out of hot water.”
Sailors have precious few moments in the shower while they’re at sea. Five minutes? Forget it.
“Water is a commodity while we’re under way,” Good said. “We get in, get wet, soap up, rinse off and get out.”
The Ford left Everett in late May, the first deployment for the Oliver Hazard Perry-class frigate since early 2002.
Like other sailors returning home, Good couldn’t wait to see family. But he had to stand in line. Others went first, including new dad Chief Petty Officer Ron Sharp.His wife, Christine, was waiting on the pier with the couple’s newest son, Harley. It was the first deployment for her, but the sixth for him.
The sailor has only seen Harley, the youngest of five, in e-mail photos and on the hospital’s Web site when Harley arrived Sept. 10.
Sharp stepped off the warship and wrapped his wife in a big hug. He picked up his newborn, holding Harley high, before cradling the baby in the nook of his arm.
“It’s a lot different than pictures. I actually get to hold him,” Sharp said.
The 12-year Navy veteran didn’t make the voyage back to Everett alone. His two oldest boys, – Levi, 11, and Neill, 8 – rode home with their father from San Diego, Calif. on a “tiger cruise,” a chance for sailors’ families to get a taste of Navy life.
Most of the civilians got seasick on the trip, Sharp said, his boys included. “They were in a competition to see who could puke the most.”
But Dad had some advice: “I said don’t eat slimy eggs and bacon. Crackers and water.”
It wasn’t the only time during the deployment to the western Pacific Ocean that the ship saw rough water.
“The first part of our deployment was typhoon evasion,” said Cmdr. David Schnell, the captain of the Ford.
The frigate dodged several Category 4 “supertyphoons” in the Sea of Japan, he said, with 18- to 20-foot seas. The storms went on to level parts of Tokyo.
“We seemed to always be in their way, like a magnet,” Schnell said.
The Ford stayed at sea longer than expected. It had been due to return in October.
A homecoming crowd of more than 275 people were waiting for the Ford as it pulled in to Naval Station Everett, a sizable number for a small ship. The Ford has a crew of about 260 sailors when the full complement is aboard.
A banner with the headline “Hey, sailor boy, you’re late for dinner” greeted Petty Officer 2nd Class Michael Jeffery on the pier. The bedsheet-size banner pictured a 1940s-style pinup girl holding a cast-iron skillet behind her back.
On one end stood the sailor’s wife, Jami Jeffery.
“They were supposed to be home a month ago,” she said.
But the banner was a bit misleading. Their children, 4-year-old Kitten and 5-year-old Chris, will go to the baby-sitter’s tonight.
“Dinner’s not really big,” she said. “We’re going to hit a bar, have some drinks, the kids are gone for the night. Shameful things to follow.”
Reporter Brian Kelly: 425-339-3422 or kelly@heraldnet.com.
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