We toured the Monsoon, a Navy shoreline defense vehicle. They patrol and defend the shores, harbors and waterways of other nations…most recently along the Arabian Sea and next deployment the Straight of Hormuz. Duty is sort of like the Coast Guard but with more and bigger guns. Oh yeah, and a lot further from home. The crew was wonderfully friendly. So were all the armed guards milling around dockside….we had to pass through security even to board for a guided tour.

The very coolest thing, our tour guide was the cook.