The holidays at sea
A job as weatherman for Her Majesty’s Canadian Ship Ville de Quebec
Jjames Grady is thousands of miles away on a frigate in the Mediterranean Sea, where he works as a meteorological o cer and is spending holidays with shipmates..
James Grady once marched through the streets of Truro as a reservist with the Nova Scotia Highlanders.
Today, the master corporal is thousands of miles away from home on a frigate in the Mediterranean Sea, where he works as a meteorological o cer and is spending holidays with his shipmates.
“I’ve been very lucky in that this is the rst Christmas I’ll be having away from my family,” said Grady, who lives in Halifax when not on tour. “A lot of my friends in the military have spent many Christmases away. I’m taking it fairly well, I would say.”
HMCS Ville de Quebec is doing its best to make Christmas holidays special for its crew. Sailors and airmen on board enjoyed a full Christmas dinner with all the trimmings, plus a brunch, church service with carol singing and festive movies through the day.
But the biggest treat of all for Grady is being able to speak regularly with his wife Katie Plestid and his two-year-old daughter Bridget.
“It really does contribute to morale a lot, both on this ship and at home,” said Grady.
With Grady at sea, his wife and child celebrated Christmas with her parents who live in Tatamagouche.
“I wish I could be there for Christmas,” he said.
Grady and his teammates set sail from Halifax on July 18 for a six-month tour of duty in the Mediterranean as part of Operation Reassurance, Canada’s contribution to the NATO defence of Europe. HMCS Ville de Quebec is due back home in late January.
While he is a member of the Royal Canadian Air Force, Grady’s meteorological technician job landed him a tour at sea, where he has his work cut out for him.
“I’m essentially the ship’s weatherman,” he said. “I conduct weather observations, forecasts and brie ngs for the ship’s company, operations team, captain and the air detachment.”
Unlike the rough Atlantic Ocean near Nova Scotia, the Mediterranean is a mostly calm sea with warm waters for most of the year.
However, Grady has often seen thunderstorms close to the shore, as well as eight or nine tornadolike waterspouts near the ship.
rough rain or shine, HMCS Ville de Quebec has conducted naval training drills with ships from allied nations such as Greece and Spain. Such tasks may include everything from refueling at sea to ring exercises and in atable boat deployment with the elite Naval Tactical Operations Group. Accurate weather forecasts are essential for such situations.
However, it was not all work for Grady and his colleagues, who enjoyed shore time in Portugal, Spain, Italy, Tunisia, Greece, Algeria, Norway, Holland, Egypt, Turkey and Israel.
During one stop in Sicily, Grady saw the bustling sh market in the port city of Catania, nestled under Mount Etna’s shadow.
e navy arranged a tour of the active volcano for crew members, who went up to the crater.
Back in Catania, he sampled local delicacies such as arancino, fried rice balls stu ed with ham and vegetables.
He described the local cultures as “a lot to take in.”
In Egypt, Grady went on another tour of the Pyramids of Giza, while during his most recent stop in Israel he paid a visit to Jerusalem and its old city, dating back to biblical times.
“Every country I’ve visited so far has been a great experience, but I really enjoyed Israel, also Italy,” said Grady. “ e people are so friendly and laid back.”
He found more of the same vibe in Greece, where he spent two weeks on his mid-tour holiday with Katie and Bridget, who ew out from Nova Scotia to join him. e family spent a week exploring Athens and another week on the beach in Marathon.