Effin' Pirates

I was warned yesterday that Sailor might not be coming home in May. And here it is, officially official:

FW: ! HMCS WINNIPEG Mission change !

Families and friends of WINNIPEG,

1. As I mentioned to some of you during the last Sunday Session, due to the critical role NATO is playing in combating piracy of the coast of Somalia, there was a chance that WINNIPEG's mission could change to have our counter-piracy operation extended. This has indeed occurred. Today, NATO has announced that SNMG1, of which WINNIPEG is a part, will cancel planned port visits in Singapore and Australia and instead return to the Gulf of Aden to continue the counter-piracy operation.

2. What does this mean for WINNIPEG? Well, it will impact the ship's company and the families and friends in a number of ways. Specifically:

-Short-term schedule: WINNIPEG will no longer proceed to Singapore or Perth for the planned port visits. Instead the ship will return to the Gulf of Aden to work alongside the other ships of the NATO squadron and the other coalition forces in the area to continue to combat piracy.

-Long-term schedule: NATO has announced that the counter-piracy operation will be extended until 28 June 09. At this moment, we do not know if WINNIPEG will participate in the counter-piracy operation for this entire time, or whether we will depart at an earlier date. We will let you know as soon as we do. When this decision is made, we will also be able to tell you our future anticipated ports and dates. For instance, we may still visit Perth, but it would be at a later date.

3. Some questions you may have:

Return Date: While our mission has changed, there is no indication that this change will effect our return date to Esquimalt, which is still planned for 21 August.

HLTA: Unfortunately, due to the cancellation of our port visits to Singapore and Perth, all HLTA that had been previously arranged for those ports will have to be cancelled. While this will be a dis-satisfier for some, please understand that this is an operational requirement. HLTA will be refunded for those individuals that have made plans. Depending upon the length of our operation, there will still be some opportunity for members of the ship's company to take HLTA.

Benefits: WINNIPEG will continue to receive high levels of Hardship and Risk allowances, and will remain on tax free status, for the duration of our participation in the counter-piracy operation.

As always, I know that I can count on all of you to support your loved ones as we embark upon this next phase of our mission. Rest assured that I will keep you informed of any further developments in our mission, and will advise as soon as possible when we know more about the length of the counter-piracy operation, new port visit dates, etc.

Once again, I ask that if you have any questions at all regarding our deployment, please contact the MFRC who will then forward the questions onto WINNIPEG.

Thank you,

Craig Baines
Commander
Commanding Officer

Yeah, thanks for that. How the hell do I explain to a 4 year-old that Daddy's not coming home now, but we get extra money for it?

We're all bummed out, but should snap out of it soon.

On a happier note, I got my hair coloured (redish!), trimmed, and bought a snazzy head band. I LOVE it.

Tomorrow night is the Fleet Idol karaoke contest. I'm entering. So's the Vice. I haven't met him yet. I'm hoping there'll be a HUGE crowd, because I'm sick and tired of listening to the day staff moan and drip and say, "It'll never work" when I know it will. After all, I've been there for a week (technically three days) and I already have more people on the committee, and guys from the Shop (can't say where) have come to measure stuff so they can make covers for us. Bah... when there's a big crowd, that'll learn 'em. I hope.

I invited a friend of mine to come with me. She's a new friend, and I'm really looking forward to spending more time with her. She's fun. And she sings too!

So, well, I guess I have to re-arrange some things and find a sitter for Greta during Ray's rehearsals. I think their Godparents will do it, but I should have a back-up just in case.

*sigh* Miss ya, Sailor. We all do.