^^ it wallows side to side like a big assed sea cow.
I reckon a few hours in one of them in choppy seas would end up filling with
^ Yeah well... you know what the Scandinavians are like...
And whoever invented detachable caps for shampoo bottles anyway?
Look at the muscle in that right wrist....then look into the mirrored surface of what he's holding and you can see he's bollock naked.
You're not wrong Nev... no handle to hang on to in those bus toilets mind.
Many's the time I've disembarked a bus at Morchit with a wet patch in my crotch.
I usually save it until the U-turn at the overpass after Don Muang when in theory the bus should be stuck in traffic and going nice and slow, but I reckon the bus drivers see me in their rear view mirror and slam on the brakes right at the critical moment.
I used to do a lot of fly fishing... I've always had a stronger right wrist than left.
I've also got strong fingers cos I was forced to play the violin as a kid.
I remember my mum used to tell me a story about a Jewish woman who was being transported to one of the concentration camps in a train cattle truck, but managed to open the lock with her fingers because they were so strong from playing the violin. My mum reckoned a load of people then escaped. I have no idea if this is true or if my mum made it up, but either way with hindsight it seems a strange story to tell to encourage a kid to keep playing an instrument.
If you look long enough at clouds in the sky, eventually you'll see what you want to see. I re-enacted and checked that picture today for my peace of mind, and suffice to say I'm very glad there was a well placed screw in the lower wall bracket!
Note to self... double and triple check any pic before posting, because you just never know what kind of warped, perverted people may be viewing it.
Because, I was indeed STARK BOLLOCK NAKED!
Yes, I intend to push the boundaries with this thread!
Anyway, back on topic...
No, this isn't Steve Redgrave come out to pay us a visit... the weather was back down today so I was back on the horse...
Dill, if you look at the reflection in the silver rim of the clock above the window, you may see that me cock's hanging out!
Something a bit more cerebral for any engineers viewing...
Ootai... enjoying your morning coffee?
We use multibeam echosounder to produce a 3D model of the seabed, and side scan sonar to interpret surficial seabed sediments and seabed features.
If we want an indication of the shallow geology below the seabed we use a sub-bottom profiler. This again uses a sound wave, but at lower frequency than the other sensors so the sound pulse penetrates through the seabed. We know the speed of sound through various sediments, so by timing the return of the sound pulse (two way travel time) we can work out the depth below seabed of any sediment layering. For this work we're only interested in the upper 20m or so, and often only the top 5m for trenching cables and pipelines. Typical frequencies used for the sound wave would be between 1 and 10 kHz (side scan sonar is around 100 to 500 kHz as we don't want it to penetrate the seabed).
Proper geos working with proper seismic equipment for exploration would be working with much lower frequencies measured in Hertz, not KiloHertz, as they'll be looking at layering in rock maybe several hundred metres, or even kilometres below the seabed. As with other equipment, low frequency equals greater range but lower resolution, high frequency (that we use) equals less penetration but greater resolution.
Some examples from an old project, but in similar seabed as we had up north in the ice-effected area.
This is what we like... 4m or so of softish clay above the hard boulder clay layer. The top of the boulder clay is so regular because that is where the ice sheet sat during glaciation. The glacial boulder clay is called 'overconsolidated', very hard, due to compression by the weight of ice. It's also full of boulders (gouged out by glaciers as they crept down slope through valleys) and is impossible to trench through. Generally, off northern Norway we are looking for the top of the boulder clay as it is so influential for construction projects.
And here's what we don't want... outcropping boulder clay. The seabed will be covered in boulders at this location. A pipeline could be trenched either side of this outcrop, but could maybe require rock dumping at the outcrop where trenching would be impossible. The outcrop of boulder clay could also introduce 'out of straightness' to the profile of a pipeline, which is also bad.
And here is the result of the base of an iceberg gouging out the seabed. The iceberg ploughmarks not only affect seabed topography but also sub-seabed geology by having removed the upper softer layers of sediment. The variation in topography and upper sediment makes pipeline route design very challenging in areas effected by glaciation.
Mendip
Thanks for the interesting read while i enjoyed my coffee.
I have just one question for you. Why are you worried about your next job?
If your current job runs past its due finish date does that mean you will not be able to take the next job?
Do you have to dock somewhere at a certain time so that you can move to the next boat which would also need to be in the dock?
I know someone (lom?) suggested transfer by helicopter as a joke because you said you hate the things but is that not a possibility?
Surely if the company has engaged you for the job they can't find someone else at short notice and therefore are stuck with finding a solution for you.
I realise that it might be the last time they engage your services but?
Sorry 1 more question. Are you managing to keep in touch with your daughter?
How is everything going at home I am sure she is missing having you around. Do the dogs still get taken for walks?
Just keep thinking that in the long term it will be worth it. The alternative is being home but broke and that is not an option here or anywhere for that matter.
Time for another coffee.
Ditto.
Made me think of the Great Lakes in North America, which were formed by glaciers gouging out the top layers of earth and depositing them across the mid-west. Thus creating the Great Lakes and making the mid-west so fertile for farming. Or so I read in a book, anyway. Cool to see the graphics.
"...we use a sub-bottom profiler."
Is that position open for applications?
My next job is office work with a different contractor. This job was due to end on 20th at the latest, the office work start on Monday 21st.
They have a crew change on this boat every two weeks, on alternate Wednesdays. We have one near Bergen today, the next on Sept 23rd. The problem with having projects finish between crew changes is that if they run on it's very hard to get off the boat, and I don't want to miss a few weeks work with the next contractor for the sake of a few extra days here. If the next guys want to get the work done fast they will try to find someone else to do it. This next company also has work in the Black Sea over the winter, so if I get myself into their office I should be able to get on that.
It's always difficult when freelancing cos you can't afford to burn any bridges. If this work does run on a bit I'll just have to hope the next contractor is a bit flexible with their start date. Helicopters and stuff just isn't an option... these guys have no obligation to get me off the boat, it just doesn't work that way. It's my fault for trying to be clever and get back to back work but I think things will turn out OK.
UK is on Norway's red list for Covid and anyone coming over has to quarantine for 10 days (they're decimalised on the continent!). This may be the first favour Covid has done me... I'm here already so can go straight to work. Normally I wouldn't consider going straight to another job after 8 weeks on a boat, but these are strange times and if I can't get home I may as well work. Of course a problem for me with UK on Norway's red list is that I don't really want to go back and visit family, as then I'll rule myself out for more work over here. If a second wave goes across the UK I won't want to risk visiting my elderly mum anyway. Covid really has changed everything.
And my daughter is doing fine Ootai, thanks for asking. I'm on a bad shift to keep in touch and can only talk to her before school... when she's not really in the mood to chat. We message on Skype, when she decides to reply... the bugger.
Of course she's spending way too much time on her screens while I'm away (I get a weekly report from Microsoft) and I can see her online way past her bedtime as her Skype button is green. But... she's happy at school and doing OK. I learnt a long time ago to pick my battles... I have to be here working and that's that. There's no point in getting pissed off over stuff out of my control (I still do though).
The dogs won't have been walked since the day I left, but they all get on well and have plenty of space to run around and I'm happy with that. The gardener takes care of my street dog feeding routine, as you know he really is a Godsend.
I've bribed the daughter to teach Coco and Yogi to sit... the promise of a new tablet if I get home to well trained dogs keeps her out in the garden for half an hour every night!
Bribery works wonders!
I've put your name down Shutree... although there's not many bottoms I'd like to profile out here.
Plenty of hairy arses for you though!
One of the guys on the bridge had chest pains last night. The medic hooked him up to a machine and streamed live data to shore and it was considered serious enough for a medivac. (the medic must have access to a lot better bandwidth than the rest of us).
He is now in a hospital in Bergen with nothing serious found... so I guess it's OK to post this.
We were working near Oseberg, pretty well bang in the middle of the North Sea, midway between Norway and The Shetlands, so a helicopter was sent out.
I thought my helideck was going to get it's first piece of action this trip, but the ship was moving too much for the helicopter to land.
(if helicopter crew changes are planned the ship has to send telemetry data from sensors on the helideck to shore, for a certain duration, to ensure the movement is within safe limits. I think 3 degrees pitch and roll are the limit).
We were way over that.
They dropped a line and a guy abseiled down.
Once he was down he held the line...
And a second guy prepared to come down. I guess this was the doctor... not your average GP.
And off they run to find the patient.
All done, the patient winched up, and off they went... straight to the heliport at Bergen Hospital I'd imagine. He was in the hospital in Bergen less than two hours after the chest pains. That's one good thing about working in Norway, they look after you. If you have something go wrong off West Africa you're pretty well buggered.
I still hate the things though... more time in the gym for me!
Jaysus.
List of jobs to want:
North Sea helicopter dude that abseils down to sick people on North Sea vessels.
No thank you.
^^ Great post Mendip
Who are the Helicopter guys?
As in a private company servicing the oil/gas industry?
^^ I imagine a fund all the oil companies pay into will provide for the medivac service, but I'm only guessing.
CHC Helikopter Service.
The airline operates primarily to oil platforms on the Norwegian continental shelf in the North Sea and the Norwegian Sea, with crew change, infield shuttle and search and rescue operations. Though the global headquarters are in Richmond, B.C., Canada, the company has its main base at Stavanger Airport, Sola.
CHC provides private Search and Rescue services in the Norwegian North Sea but acts in concert with government SAR operations. The CHC SAR fleet includes three offshore based AS 332L1, along with an EC225 at Statoil's Statfjord field, which can be converted from inter-rig shuttle role to SAR duty role within 15 minutes. Several of the Super Pumas in CHC's Norwegian fleet are prepared for the same quick change to SAR configuration.
CHC Helikopter Service - Wikipedia
See also:
CHC | CHC provides unmatched helicopter services that enable our customers to reach beyond.
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