Crossing the Line......

[gsta86]

Who on here knows anything about the naval tradition of "Crossing the Line" if so please share stories.

To feel you in on what it is.....it's been done for thousands of years. Back when people believed the seas were ruled by King Neptunus Rex. When crossing the equator (line) they would send the pollywogs through a series of obstacles to test there sea worthyness and show to King Neptunus that they were able. It's changed plenty since the days of wooden ships, and in today's navy is now a much watered down version, even of what took place during the 90's. Any who,

I'm a Wog!

Any of you shellbacks care to share stories by all means please do. Of if you'd like to expand on the history....feel free, I'm no expert by any means. Tomorrow is the ceremony, should be a good time!

[Bigredmariner]

Oh boy, shellback here. The merchant ceremony pails in comparison to the USN ceremony though. We had to drink some stuff that tasted like shit, kiss a fat guys belly and push washers across the deck with our noses. It was 1987 when I went through it so I have blocked some of it out. You will look back on it and laugh later. :lol:

[Zembonez]

Those are some of the things that make a real man out of ya.

HA!

No permanent harm done and you can laugh about it later on. :D

[gsta86]

Oh boy, shellback here. The merchant ceremony pails in comparison to the USN ceremony though. We had to drink some stuff that tasted like shit, kiss a fat guys belly and push washers across the deck with our noses. It was 1987 when I went through it so I have blocked some of it out. You will look back on it and laugh later. :lol:

shoot, that's nothing compared to some stories i've heard. the fat guy here in the Navy usually has a cherry or in some cases a raisin in his uber greased up belly button. gross! i've heard of guys having to swim through the catapults on carriers....filled full with grease! not to mention the schalaylay...however you spell that

[Bigredmariner]

Oh boy, shellback here. The merchant ceremony pails in comparison to the USN ceremony though. We had to drink some stuff that tasted like shit, kiss a fat guys belly and push washers across the deck with our noses. It was 1987 when I went through it so I have blocked some of it out. You will look back on it and laugh later. :lol:

shoot, that's nothing compared to some stories i've heard. the fat guy here in the Navy usually has a cherry or in some cases a raisin in his uber greased up belly button. gross! i've heard of guys having to swim through the catapults on carriers....filled full with grease! not to mention the schalaylay...however you spell that

Yeah the fat guys belly was greased up with some kind of crap, plus all the poly's had on blindfolds. God only knows what was going on. I do remember waking up in a pool of vomit the next morning. Standing a look out watch at sea with a raging hangover. At least my ass wasn't dripping. :lol:

[Bowtie2Sierra]

Oh boy, shellback here. The merchant ceremony pails in comparison to the USN ceremony though. We had to drink some stuff that tasted like shit, kiss a fat guys belly and push washers across the deck with our noses. It was 1987 when I went through it so I have blocked some of it out. You will look back on it and laugh later. :lol:

shoot, that's nothing compared to some stories i've heard. the fat guy here in the Navy usually has a cherry or in some cases a raisin in his uber greased up belly button. gross! i've heard of guys having to swim through the catapults on carriers....filled full with grease! not to mention the schalaylay...however you spell that

Yeah the fat guys belly was greased up with some kind of crap, plus all the poly's had on blindfolds. God only knows what was going on. I do remember waking up in a pool of vomit the next morning. Standing a look out watch at sea with a raging hangover. At least my ass wasn't dripping. :lol:

Has this been an issue for you in the past? :eek:

:jester:

[Bigredmariner]

Oh boy, shellback here. The merchant ceremony pails in comparison to the USN ceremony though. We had to drink some stuff that tasted like shit, kiss a fat guys belly and push washers across the deck with our noses. It was 1987 when I went through it so I have blocked some of it out. You will look back on it and laugh later. :lol:

shoot, that's nothing compared to some stories i've heard. the fat guy here in the Navy usually has a cherry or in some cases a raisin in his uber greased up belly button. gross! i've heard of guys having to swim through the catapults on carriers....filled full with grease! not to mention the schalaylay...however you spell that

Yeah the fat guys belly was greased up with some kind of crap, plus all the poly's had on blindfolds. God only knows what was going on. I do remember waking up in a pool of vomit the next morning. Standing a look out watch at sea with a raging hangover. At least my ass wasn't dripping. :lol:

Has this been an issue for you in the past? :eek:

:jester:

:lol:
I wondered who would catch on to that. To answer your question, no never been a problem.:jester:

[Hickspanic]

Oh boy, shellback here. The merchant ceremony pails in comparison to the USN ceremony though. We had to drink some stuff that tasted like shit, kiss a fat guys belly and push washers across the deck with our noses. It was 1987 when I went through it so I have blocked some of it out. You will look back on it and laugh later. :lol:

shoot, that's nothing compared to some stories i've heard. the fat guy here in the Navy usually has a cherry or in some cases a raisin in his uber greased up belly button. gross! i've heard of guys having to swim through the catapults on carriers....filled full with grease! not to mention the schalaylay...however you spell that

Yeah the fat guys belly was greased up with some kind of crap, plus all the poly's had on blindfolds. God only knows what was going on. I do remember waking up in a pool of vomit the next morning. Standing a look out watch at sea with a raging hangover. At least my ass wasn't dripping. :lol:

Has this been an issue for you in the past? :eek:

:jester:

:lol:
I wondered who would catch on to that. To answer your question, no never been a problem.:jester:

In other words, he likes it dry.:eek:

[Bigredmariner]

:lolup: :confused:

[Bowtie2Sierra]

:lolup:

[Draenor]

:facepalm:


Did you have to do this twice? Crossing the line, both ways North/South, South/North.

[Bigredmariner]

:facepalm:


Did you have to do this twice? Crossing the line, both ways North/South, South/North.

You know I think there was some shit like that but I don't really remember. That was a wilder time in my life, maybe Josh will chime back in here. The ceremonies I went through were all before the Exxon Valdez spill. Alcohol on ships was a big thing, after the Valdez spill the laws changed alot. Now by the laws you can't even have a beer and come back to the ship for 8 hours. :dunno:

[CJ Hungus]

Oh boy, shellback here. The merchant ceremony pails in comparison to the USN ceremony though. We had to drink some stuff that tasted like shit, kiss a fat guys belly and push washers across the deck with our noses. It was 1987 when I went through it so I have blocked some of it out. You will look back on it and laugh later. :lol:

shoot, that's nothing compared to some stories i've heard. the fat guy here in the Navy usually has a cherry or in some cases a raisin in his uber greased up belly button. gross! i've heard of guys having to swim through the catapults on carriers....filled full with grease! not to mention the schalaylay...however you spell that

Yeah the fat guys belly was greased up with some kind of crap, plus all the poly's had on blindfolds. God only knows what was going on. I do remember waking up in a pool of vomit the next morning. Standing a look out watch at sea with a raging hangover. At least my ass wasn't dripping. :lol:

Has this been an issue for you in the past? :eek:

:jester:
Anal seepage.... must be tough to deal with....














:jester:

[Bigredmariner]

Oh boy, shellback here. The merchant ceremony pails in comparison to the USN ceremony though. We had to drink some stuff that tasted like shit, kiss a fat guys belly and push washers across the deck with our noses. It was 1987 when I went through it so I have blocked some of it out. You will look back on it and laugh later. :lol:

shoot, that's nothing compared to some stories i've heard. the fat guy here in the Navy usually has a cherry or in some cases a raisin in his uber greased up belly button. gross! i've heard of guys having to swim through the catapults on carriers....filled full with grease! not to mention the schalaylay...however you spell that

Yeah the fat guys belly was greased up with some kind of crap, plus all the poly's had on blindfolds. God only knows what was going on. I do remember waking up in a pool of vomit the next morning. Standing a look out watch at sea with a raging hangover. At least my ass wasn't dripping. :lol:

Has this been an issue for you in the past? :eek:

:jester:
Anal seepage.... must be tough to deal with....














:jester:

You are a nut Carl.

:rollin::rollin:

[daddy]

Oh boy, shellback here. The merchant ceremony pails in comparison to the USN ceremony though. We had to drink some stuff that tasted like shit, kiss a fat guys belly and push washers across the deck with our noses. It was 1987 when I went through it so I have blocked some of it out. You will look back on it and laugh later. :lol:

shoot, that's nothing compared to some stories i've heard. the fat guy here in the Navy usually has a cherry or in some cases a raisin in his uber greased up belly button. gross! i've heard of guys having to swim through the catapults on carriers....filled full with grease! not to mention the schalaylay...however you spell that

Yeah the fat guys belly was greased up with some kind of crap, plus all the poly's had on blindfolds. God only knows what was going on. I do remember waking up in a pool of vomit the next morning. Standing a look out watch at sea with a raging hangover. At least my ass wasn't dripping. :lol:

Has this been an issue for you in the past? :eek:

:jester:
Anal seepage.... must be tough to deal with....














:jester:

SEApage. LOL

[Bigredmariner]

:lolup:

[Hickspanic]

Oh boy, shellback here. The merchant ceremony pails in comparison to the USN ceremony though. We had to drink some stuff that tasted like shit, kiss a fat guys belly and push washers across the deck with our noses. It was 1987 when I went through it so I have blocked some of it out. You will look back on it and laugh later. :lol:

shoot, that's nothing compared to some stories i've heard. the fat guy here in the Navy usually has a cherry or in some cases a raisin in his uber greased up belly button. gross! i've heard of guys having to swim through the catapults on carriers....filled full with grease! not to mention the schalaylay...however you spell that

Yeah the fat guys belly was greased up with some kind of crap, plus all the poly's had on blindfolds. God only knows what was going on. I do remember waking up in a pool of vomit the next morning. Standing a look out watch at sea with a raging hangover. At least my ass wasn't dripping. :lol:

Has this been an issue for you in the past? :eek:

:jester:
Anal seepage.... must be tough to deal with....














:jester:

SEApage. LOL

:facepalm:

[svensk]

Any golden shellbacks here?

[Bigredmariner]

Any golden shellbacks here?

Yes but we never really had any ceremony for that one. I've been across the date line more than the equator. We used to run west coast USA to the far East alot.

[gsta86]

only have to do it once in your career as long as the next time the ceremony comes up you have proof of being a shellback. you get a card. sailors usually carry this card with them, especially when on deployment.

golden shellback is from my understanding....and i believe is the truth. is when you cross the dateline and the equator at the same time. I believe we have a couple onboard here. some others believe golden is if you've crossed more then once, don't believe that is true at all.

there is also another naval tradition. the blue nose! anyone know what that is?

i just finished up becoming a shell back about 30 minutes ago. only lasted for about 2 1/2 hours. nothing like what i've always heard "how it used to be" we just duck walked or crawled around on all fours all over the topside of the ship. we sang. got asked questions about the ship. get em wrong do some more pushups. get it right , move on. they had the 2 1/2" fire hoses going! damn things pump lots of water all over the place. it really sucks if you are a "special case" you get a lil extra treatment. its a good clean time overall. they could make it a lil more rigorous w/o going back to whipping each other and putting collars and leashes on people...but, it was a good time. my gosh damn knees, shooot! my whole body is sore!

[Bigredmariner]

Sounds like you had a good time.
You've been out for awhile so go check this out. http://www.truckmodcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1418

There's pics of the Maersk Alabama lifeboat on there, tell those SEALs onboard thanks.

[usmcpmi]

My father was a Shellback. Crossed aboard an Ice breaker in 1954. Uss Staten Island GB-5.
We have an album full of pictures of the whole thing... You can watch a history Channel show about the ship he was on and the mission to set up the first station at the South pole. He said when they came back through the Panama Canal there was still 12' of ice packed on the decks....
MG

[06 Sport Taco]

Blue nose here. 1984 Multi National Task force @ Finsnest Norway. 3 months there Then off tothe coast of Beirut for another 6 months. What fun. Stand on the bow of the ship in the F@#$%^ cold with nothing but the scivies (spelling) for 1/2 hour while you listened to the story of the Blue Nose.

[daddy]

Blue nose here. 1984 Multi National Task force @ Finsnest Norway. 3 months there Then off tothe coast of Beirut for another 6 months. What fun. Stand on the bow of the ship in the F@#$%^ cold with nothing but the scivies (spelling) for 1/2 hour while you listened to the story of the Blue Nose.

Mark, nice to see you around! :thumbs:

[06 Sport Taco]

Mark, nice to see you around! :thumbs:


:thumbs:

[gsta86]

Blue nose here. 1984 Multi National Task force @ Finsnest Norway. 3 months there Then off tothe coast of Beirut for another 6 months. What fun. Stand on the bow of the ship in the F@#$%^ cold with nothing but the scivies (spelling) for 1/2 hour while you listened to the story of the Blue Nose.

there are variations, i'm sure its all up to how the ship wants to do it. but one guy said his consisted of sitting on a giant block of ice in nothing but his scivies. had to do an assortment of different tasks all while being hosed down with the fire hoses...and to be sure his nose was blue he did pushups in blue paint....making sure his nose touched. the other guy says he just got the block of ice. though i'd like to experience this.....i'm not going to the eastcoast to get the oppurtunity. west coast sailing i'll stay!

[Draenor]

only have to do it once in your career as long as the next time the ceremony comes up you have proof of being a shellback. you get a card. sailors usually carry this card with them, especially when on deployment.

Pics of this man card.:D

[gsta86]

only have to do it once in your career as long as the next time the ceremony comes up you have proof of being a shellback. you get a card. sailors usually carry this card with them, especially when on deployment.

Pics of this man card.:D

man card has not been issued yet. admin still has to, shit, probably order the damn things. so it could take a good 2 months, i could show someone elses....but that's not nearly as cool as showing my own. i will post when i recieve it.

[Z71 Kris]

good ole fashioned fun!

[06 Sport Taco]

Blue nose here. 1984 Multi National Task force @ Finsnest Norway. 3 months there Then off tothe coast of Beirut for another 6 months. What fun. Stand on the bow of the ship in the F@#$%^ cold with nothing but the scivies (spelling) for 1/2 hour while you listened to the story of the Blue Nose.

there are variations, i'm sure its all up to how the ship wants to do it. but one guy said his consisted of sitting on a giant block of ice in nothing but his scivies. had to do an assortment of different tasks all while being hosed down with the fire hoses...and to be sure his nose was blue he did pushups in blue paint....making sure his nose touched. the other guy says he just got the block of ice. though i'd like to experience this.....i'm not going to the eastcoast to get the oppurtunity. west coast sailing i'll stay!

Yeah I feel I got the short version. It depends on the ship. Plus What were training for back then too didnt coincide witha bunch of fun either. I was stationed at ACU2 and we had to practice hitting beaches with rolling stock and troops with the other countries involved as well. So no real time for play there. :(
Also on the way over to the Med I got the " Order of the Rock" By passing thru the Straits of Gibralter near Morocco and the Atlantic Ocean. But Still a Wog HAHA.

[gsta86]

haven't heard of "order of the rock" i passed through there in 07' on the way to the gulf. any whos,......