Coast Guard ship returns home after drug patrol

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 After 60 days at sea, the crew aboard the USCGC Resolute is back on land. 

The ship and its 78 person crew have been on a two month counterdrug patrol, and their families back home in the Bay Area were eager to see them. 

The Resolute returned to Sector St. Petersburg on Saturday morning, to a dock full of smiling faces. 

Four-year-old Evelyn Patch spotted her dad, Chief Petty Officer Justin Patch, from shore, and couldn't contain her excitement. 

"He's been leaving ever since I was pregnant with her," her mother, Jessica Patch explained,  "So he's only been around for half of her life. Two and a half years. So every time he comes back it's completely different, every time."

Jessica and Evelyn understand that Chief Petty Officer Patch and his crew had an important job to do, and they did it very well. 

The Resolute's crew stopped seven vessels suspected of transporting drugs, and seized $129 million worth of cocaine.

"For most of the guys it was their first time getting a case, so getting cocaine and seeing it, and being hands on. You get to go out there and experience it," said Seaman Alexander Patterson. 

The Coast Guard says this was the Resolute's most successful counterdrug patrol in recent years. 

After a successful trip, Chief Petty Officer Patch looks forward to some relaxing time with his family. 

"We get lunch, and she takes a nap and [sic] then we go hangout. I usually take her to the pool or to the park, and we just hang out until she goes to bed."