Master Seaman Bill Dennis returned home Thursday to a first look at month-old granddaughter Phoebe, born during his deployment with Operation Caribbe.
She was bundled up and waiting for him along with her mother, grandmother and great-grandmother — part of a large contingent of families who braved the cold and rain to welcome HMCS Brandon and HMCS Whitehorse home from the mission. The ships, both maritime coastal defence vessels with crews of 38, were gone for about 21Ú2 months.
Dennis said it was “quite something” to meet the newest family addition.
“It’s going to be a great Christmas,” he said.
Lt.-Cmdr. Landon Creasy, captain of HMCS Brandon, said the two ships had excellent results in the operation, which aimed to aid the U.S. Coast Guard and stem the flow of narcotics in the eastern Pacific Ocean.
Creasy said the ships spent time off Guatemala and dealt primarily with cocaine. The multinational operation also tackles trafficking in the Caribbean Sea.
Brandon and Whitehorse, which worked in tandem, are credited with seizing more narcotics during their deployment — about 9,800 kilograms — than any other two maritime coastal defence vessels since Operation Caribbe began in 2006. (It’s also more than all Canadian forces seized during the operation last year.) The previous high was 5,934 kilograms seized by HMCS Whitehorse and HMCS Nanaimo this year.
Creasy said the ships seized cocaine bound for North America, with some of it likely to have ended up in Canada.
“I think it’s just a matter of being in the right place at the right time,” he said.
Lt.-Cmdr. Shane Denneny, Creasy’s counterpart on Whitehorse, said it is great to be back in time for Christmas — but the timing of the return was far from guaranteed. Rough weather meant biding time in San Francisco during the trip home.
“We were starting to get a little bit worried as we watched storm system after storm system come across the north Pacific. We were wondering whether it was going to be a California Christmas.”
Creasy said he found time to do some Christmas shopping while in San Francisco.
“I am absolutely delighted to be home for Christmas,” he said. “I’ve got two boys at home and I’ve got some good playing of toys and playing of video games to get done over the next couple of weeks.”
He noted that temperatures off Guatemala were much warmer than what the crews came home to.
“I think everyone’s in a bit of weather shock today,” he said.
Also looking forward to being with his family for Christmas was Petty Officer Second Class Brendan Huber, who outbid his colleagues to earn the honour of having the first kiss from a loved one on shore. He and wife Kathryn shared a kiss on the jetty as their four children looked on.
The hardest part of a mission is leaving family behind, Huber said. “The easiest part is always coming home.”
Huber said he earned the right to the first kiss by bidding $20 in a shipboard contest.
“The best $20 I’ve spent. It was a real deal,” he said. “Ten dollars Canadian, $10 American, that’s all I had left, so that’s what won it for me.”
