What happens to your pay while your at sea in the navy?

Answer 1

You still get paid of course, but if you're deployed for any length of time (e.g., a month or nine) then you need to make arrangements for how your money is to be deposited and bills to be paid. Typically that just means the money gets deposited in the bank, and you bring enough with you (and a credit card) to take care of purchases aboard ship or at a liberty port. Larger ships have their own disbursing divisions, so it's easier, but smaller units (e.g., submarines) that are going to be out of contact for a long time need different arrangements.

Sailors going on long deployments can request an advance on their pay up to the amount that would be made during the deployment, so that appropriate steps can be taken to pay bills and take care of dependents.

Sailors who are married and have spouses at home typically just rely on them to handle deposited paychecks (the Navy went to strictly Direct Deposit for regular pay over 25 years ago) and pay bills why they're deployed. Single sailors have it rougher, unless they're living on board ship or in the barracks, since they need to deal with advance rent/utilities payments, storage if necessary, etc.

I figured out a long time ago that my wife was a lot better at dealing with our money than I was, since she had the experience doing everything when I was deployed for long periods, or at sea (which was most of the time). That's why she still does it today.