US Navy, off the starboard side of the USS Carl Vinson, in 1988. Two days before our scheduled port visit to Hong Kong, Deck Department had to ready the Captain's Gig, which included rigging the boat boom on the starboard side where the Jacob's Ladder and Gig are secured during a port visit. The boom is secured to the hull of the ship while underway, but once readied for service, it is unpinned and then swung out using a block & tackle. The issue at hand is that the block & tackle is a series of two blocks, the hook at the end which secures to the end of the boom, and the natural fiber rope, which runs the path of three pulleys.
The block is *only* supposed to be rigged when the ship is not underway; however, the Division Chief knows we will be under the gun once we anchor out, and that the Master Coxswain and Crane Operator will be busy dropping the Gig into the water once we anchor. It seems that the CO wanted to be ready to leave the ship ASAP.
So, the Chief takes a few of us to the weather deck where the boom is located, and we spend almost an hour separating the rat's nest the block & tackle and rope have become. Then, the Chief says, "Alright, which of you is going to take the block out there and hook it to the end of the boom?" Mind you, flight operations are taking place which means the ship is sailing into a headwinds at 15+ knots. All of the resident bad-asses look around and say, "FUCK THAT, CHIEF". Chief is pissed, so I, being 19 and looking for that adventure the Navy is supposed to have eagerly state, "I'll do it!".
I got outfitted with a Kaypok life preserver, shinnied over the safety lines of the weather deck, and sat on the boom. This was a rush! Approximately 20' below me was the rushing sea, with the ship steaming ahead and the sound of jet aircraft launching/landing from above. As I looked forward, it appeared that the ship was turning left, then right, then left, then right. I had a safety line secured to the life jacket which I hooked to an eye on the hull. The other guys handed the block, and I carefully scooted my butt along the boom with the block in one hand while steadying myself with the other. The Chief was barking orders at the other guys not to give me too much slack and also telling me to take my time. I would get a couple of feet, unhook the safety line from the eye I passed, and then hook it to the next one. One guy got shitty and yelled at me to hurry up. Big mistake. The Chief jumped down his throat and tore him a new one. Chief was a crusty old Sea Dog with 18+ years of service. He looked out at me and said, "You fall into the water and you damned well better hope the sharks get you, because I'm not going to want to explain to the Old Man why you're rigging the boat boom while we're underway!"
I grinned, and said, "No problem, Chief!" and continued to scoot along until I got to the end. We double-checked the lines to insure they weren't tangled and then I attached the block to the end of the boom. I sat there for a moment just marveling at the entire seascape in relation to where I was on the ship -- just hanging off the side. After a few, the Chief shouted, "HEY! GITCHERASSBACKHERE!"
I scooted right back as quickly as possible and hopped back over the lines to the weather deck. Everyone else either called me a suck ass for "sucking up to the Chief" or said I was nuts for going out there. The Chief ragged those who called me a suck ass, and their response was that they weren't stupid.
I friggin loved it!

