# There must be basic training for sailors, right? What's in it? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [December 24, 2012, 2:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/there-must-be-basic-training-for-sailors-right-whats-in-it/645011 "2012-12-24T14:33:49Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 10\ **Page:** 5
**Author:** ![aruvqan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aruvqan/32/2891_2.png) [@aruvqan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aruvqan)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2012, 5:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/there-must-be-basic-training-for-sailors-right-whats-in-it/645011/81 "2012-12-29T05:00:16Z")
> [@Leo\_Bloom](#): > > Since I’ve got some submariners on the phone, is it true that it is disconcerting coming off a tour to have silence around when you try to sleep? mrAru never seemed to have problems with it. He did sleep rotisserie fashion [spinning around on his axis just like he was still confined in a rack.] 10 years later he still does it. And I still have a 688 General Quarters alarm on my phone, and on the ipod for the wake up alarm. He definitely hits the floor running with that.😃 What he found disconcerting, if you will, conversations. We would be discussing something while he was getting ready to leave, and he could pick the conversation up more or less right where we left off - but I would have to get a refresher. Mainly [he thought] because he had limited contacts, so he could replay or keep the thoughts of the conversation fresh while I had more or less unlimited conversations about all sorts of stuff with lots of people and thusly the thoughts would get buried by other conversations. He also was thrilled not to have to eat boat food and to be able to sit for half an hour and not actually have to _do_ anything. He didn’t have to listen to someone elses movie on the mess decks, he could pick what he wanted to eat and when. ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2012, 5:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/there-must-be-basic-training-for-sailors-right-whats-in-it/645011/82 "2012-12-29T05:06:30Z")
I’ve read that submariners’ distance vision can deteriorate because they can go so long, while submerged, without having to look far away. Did you or he ever notice that? ---
**Author:** ![Robot\_Arm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/robot_arm/32/18280_2.png) [@Robot\_Arm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Robot_Arm)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2012, 8:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/there-must-be-basic-training-for-sailors-right-whats-in-it/645011/83 "2012-12-29T08:23:44Z")
> [@Snnipe\_70E](#): > > No such thing. > Could have a Unliimited Masters power and sail, and a Chief Engineer Steam and Motor any Hp. He’s probably licensed by Canada, if that makes a difference. > [@](#): > > Which training ship were you on? And When? The Picton Castle; just a six-week trip about six years ago. Everyone else around here is probably already tired of hearing about it. ---
**Author:** ![SCAdian](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/scadian/32/3292_2.png) [@SCAdian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SCAdian)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2012, 3:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/there-must-be-basic-training-for-sailors-right-whats-in-it/645011/84 "2012-12-29T15:01:34Z")
> [@Leo\_Bloom](#): > > Since I’ve got some submariners on the phone, is it true that it is disconcerting coming off a tour to have silence around when you try to sleep? Never had any problems with having it being too quiet. However, comma… One of the immediate actions during a fire (or drill) is to secure the ventilation fans, to prevent spreading smoke and fire throughout the boat. There were many occasions when I was awakened for a drill, not by the general alarm, but by the sudden quiet when the fans shut down. We don’t have A/C at home, so during the summer we sleep with a big fan in our bedroom. A few years after I retired, there was an evening thunderstorm. I went to bed, went to sleep with no trouble, and had no problems sleeping through all the thunder, and the sound of the wind and rain. But I woke up immediately when we lost power and the fan shut off… > [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](#): > > I’ve read that submariners’ distance vision can deteriorate because they can go so long, while submerged, without having to look far away. Did you or he ever notice that? I heard that from somebody back when I was in BESS, but I can’t say that I ever noticed it myself. ---
**Author:** ![Airman\_Doors\_USAF](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e36b37/32.png) [@Airman\_Doors\_USAF](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Airman_Doors_USAF)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2012, 2:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/there-must-be-basic-training-for-sailors-right-whats-in-it/645011/85 "2012-12-30T02:15:27Z")
Crap. I forgot to sign in. ---
**Author:** ![MsRobyn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/90ced4/32.png) [@MsRobyn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MsRobyn)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2012, 2:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/there-must-be-basic-training-for-sailors-right-whats-in-it/645011/86 "2012-12-30T02:16:40Z")
> [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](#): > > Not just near. It was actually _in_ Orlando - [about a mile east of downtown](http://www.cityoforlando.net/planning/ntc/ntchome.htm). Most of it is now a tony housing development called Baldwin Park. > > The local joke when the DoD decided to close the base was that it took the Navy thirty years to figure out that Orlando is an hour and a half from the sea. It’s close enough to the sea that I got to see not one but two space shuttles launch from Cape Canaveral: STS-43, which launched on August 2, 1991 (during my graduation ceremony, as we were marching off the parade field) and another one later that same year, but I don’t remember specifically when. I do have some fond memories of Orlando. It’s really not a bad town, for a massive tourist attraction. ---
**Author:** ![Philliam](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/philliam/32/3011_2.png) [@Philliam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Philliam)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2012, 9:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/there-must-be-basic-training-for-sailors-right-whats-in-it/645011/87 "2012-12-30T21:20:23Z")
> [@What\_Exit](#): > > I don’t know, I kind of think the museum route is best. Like the New Jersey, Midway or Intrepid or much to my surprise when I first heard it, my old ship, the USS Ranger CV-61. Sadly as of October, the Ranger is again scheduled for scrapping. Still hoping some break comes in that. Two Westpac cruises with VA-165 on board ‘Ranger’. “Top Gun” should be a museum - best CVA in the fleet (with apologies to “Connie”, “Kitty”, “Big E” and the rest of the China Fleet). ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2012, 10:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/there-must-be-basic-training-for-sailors-right-whats-in-it/645011/88 "2012-12-30T22:18:41Z")
> [@MsRobyn](#): > > I do have some fond memories of Orlando. It’s really not a bad town, for a massive tourist attraction. Neither is San Diego; in fact, it’s quite nice to visit. Good food, Balboa Park, Sea World, beaches, etc. ---
**Author:** ![Snnipe\_70E](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b5a626/32.png) [@Snnipe\_70E](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snnipe_70E)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2012, 9:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/there-must-be-basic-training-for-sailors-right-whats-in-it/645011/89 "2012-12-31T09:33:06Z")
> [@Robot\_Arm](#): > > He’s probably licensed by Canada, if that makes a difference. > > The Picton Castle; just a six-week trip about six years ago. > > Everyone else around here is probably already tired of hearing about it. Yes that could make a differance. Though I would guess that the mates are by tonnage and power or sail, and the engineers by steam or motor and Hp. ---
**Author:** ![What\_Exit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/what_exit/32/10652_2.png) [@What\_Exit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/What_Exit)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2012, 8:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/there-must-be-basic-training-for-sailors-right-whats-in-it/645011/90 "2012-12-31T20:07:27Z")
> [@Philliam](#): > > Two Westpac cruises with VA-165 on board ‘Ranger’. “Top Gun” should be a museum - best CVA in the fleet (with apologies to “Connie”, “Kitty”, “Big E” and the rest of the China Fleet). Which Westpacs were you on? I was on board for 87. Though as a Snipe I was rarely above the Hanger Bay. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/there-must-be-basic-training-for-sailors-right-whats-in-it/645011.md?page=4)