I have seen those shellback certificates before and forgotten completely about them until seeing this thread. It was no doubt somewhere on the JFK (now decommed, may she rust in peace, oh wait that was already happening during my stay there
)
I am grateful that my med cruises were in my single days with only a car waiting for me getting ocean rot (gotta love living right on the Florida coast) and have much much respect for those that are doing them now - I saw a few people get 'dear john' letters in the mail and would miss my family horribly now doing that 6+ month deployment.
And the water in the Persian Gulf is quite hot, the seawater injection temp was 97 degrees, and the mainspaces were hitting 130-140 easily. Much cooler to go the north anlantic.
something pertinent here:
my only major post in my 'recollections' category on my blog about
steaming into the heart of a hurricane