Before the Navy...

Born and raised in New Jersey, I went to the University of Iowa and grew bored with the infinite supply of blondes and no bilges to clean. So I joined the Navy in 1981 and after two delightful years of nuke training was assigned to the Atlanta in March of 1983. I had requested Pearl Harbor. I was the only guy out of about 30 guys in my nuke prototype graduating class NOT to get Pearl Harbor. Norfolk was not even my second or third choice on my dream sheet.

USS Atlanta Time...

It took me nearly two years to get my dolphins. I guess you can say I wasn't the most motivated crew member. Some may remember me as the "Bull Dink". I was also the guy who forgot to follow a coolant discharge procedure in 1985 and got the whole boat in trouble with Big Daddy Nuke in Washington. I was busted and required to re-qualify in 1986 (they found something else to bust me on). The COB at the time (Bill Heron) hated me with a passion, and I'm probably the only guy who was hot-racking after three years on board.

After the Navy...

So, what happened to me after being such a problem child on the Atlanta? To make a long story short, I ended up in Silicon Valley, joined a very successful startup software company (Informatica) and I made VERY large amounts of money on my stock options (you don't want to know how much). Today I'm the skipper of my own 42 foot yacht, the "Serenity". She's a traditional cutter and I'm equiping her for extended cruising. I'm also a pilot and I fly my own plane, a Piper Archer II. If any of you Atlanta sailors find yourself in the Bay area, look me up and we'll go for a flight or a cruise. Even the COB is welcome!

Glenn Damato