Zarlon's Sea Stories #1 (Rota Spain - The night we saved a bar from sinking)

For the last several days I have been browsing steemit, partiko and have decided that it is time to share some of my life, experiences and likes with the steemit community. Only because the community so far has been top notch and very welcoming. Unlike that other social media site and those people are supposed to be friends. Go figure. But I still like most of them.

Taken in Las Vegas, Me 2016

A little background on me. I retired from the US Navy, in 2015, after 22+ years. In that time, I have met a wide variety of people and have traveled to many... several... a lot... oh hell, I have visited 6 of the 7 continents and a whole bunch of cities and towns along the way. The experiences have broadened my views and ideas of the world and the people that live on it. I have lived in many places around the US such as California, Arizona, North Dakota, Idaho, Mississippi, Virginia and Hawaii. I lived outside of the US in Japan for a few years also.

I like photography, travel, gaming, gold prospecting, nudism, real people and so much more. Just ask if you would like to know more about these likes or others that I may not have mentioned. :-)

A buddy of mine said that I should write a book about Sea Stories, but I am not much of a book writer. Sea Stories are events that happen to us or someone we know in the Navy. Some of the stories inspire and entertain, while others serve as a warnings or life lessons. What you may not understand is that Sailors live on Sea Stories. If you are not making one, you are telling one. I hope you enjoy!

Zarlon

By Emilio del Prado from Valladolid, Spain, España - puerto de rota, CC BY-SA 2.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=35085545

Rota Spain - The night we saved a bar from sinking

Rota Spain was my first Liberty Port (time off for fun) in the Navy and my first time off the North American Continent. I had no expectations and no idea what it would be like to experience a new place and culture. I was a NOOB and inside I was as excited as a kids’ first time to Disneyland. But I couldn't show that on the outside.

I joined a group 3 of people that I work with and left the ship to explore Rota. A couple of the people had been to Rota before and had a few ideas where to go to see the sites and have some fun. We walked the streets for a few hours taking in the sites of the city and stopping, occasionally, to grab a drink and relax. Something we called Tapa Hopping, grab a drink, try some food, move on.

Later that night we found a little pub located not too far away from the breakwater wall at the southeast area of the city. We were only stopping for a drink and then we were going to move on to the next place. We were having such a great time with some of the locals and the bartender that we decided this was the place for the night. This is where I had Strongbow Cider for my first time. Strongbow Cider is so good!

An hour or so later and several drinks down, one of the other three called, "GQ! GQ!" (General Quarters). Those two letters would get the other three people to become serious and alert. Apparently, something that was located upstairs was over flowing or leaking. The deck (floor) upstairs was covered and the water had started running over the edge of the deck where the spiral staircase met the second deck. The ceiling above the bar was a see-thru panel that was frosted, kind of like a sunroof. The water could be seen, through this panel, swishing around the deck of the head (bathroom/restroom) just above us. We asked the bartender where the cadillac and swab (bucket and mop) are located, so we could take care of the problem. She looked at us puzzled, but finally told us where we could find them.

We jumped into action! We found the leak; someone left the flush valve on the urinal running. I figure it was probably one of us that caused the problem. Once the running water was secured, we swabbed all the water up from the deck and the staircase. We also wipe down and dry the staircase, you know, for safety reasons. Can't have drunk Sailors sliding down the spiral staircase. They might get dizzy.

The bartender thanked us all with fresh drinks on the house. She had told us that it would have taken her at least an hour or two to clean up the mess and the restroom (head) would have been closed. That wouldn't have worked for those of us that have to pee every 15 mins. What would have taken her an hour or more, only took us 10 minutes. I told her "We do that kind of stuff in our sleep”. Laughed and said, “We can swab decks with the best of 'em". The night when on....

I had a great time in Rota, Spain. The people were kind and friendly and the night life was a blast.

Thank you for taking time to reading my post. I look forward to hearing from everyone. There are many more stories to come and Rota will be in them again I am sure.