Another lockdown… another commute

[Mendip]

^ I decided against clicking on that link at work... I don't know why!

I'm curious... if I did take a 'ladybloke' back to a hotel room, which I'm not gonna do of course, why would I choose one with only one eyebrow?

Anyway, that particular Filipina stewardess left the boat nearly four weeks ago so we'll never know... and I'm not gonna try out that phrase on Lui the night cook!

[Reg Dingle]

I'm curious... if I did take a 'ladybloke' back to a hotel room, which I'm not gonna do of course, why would I choose one with only one eyebrow?

They don't start off with one eyebrow, or even owning a penis for that matter.
Can't just be me, can it?

There was nothing sinister in the link, just an explanation of munters/mingers/chew your arm off birds/two baggers/ the coyote ugly

[Mendip]

^ I think maybe it can!

Anyway, what did you think of the dolphins?

[Reg Dingle]

Anyway, what did you think of the dolphins?

I know they are mammals but I prefer women tbh

[malmomike77]

So, it's all systems go.

That's excellent - i note that lack of praise for the system. Its not all broken in the UK.

[Mendip]

I was just about to say how good the system is!

I am impressed but will reserve any further praise until I actually get the vaccine in my arm.

[malmomike77]

If you are over 50 get your Flu jab too. That you can arrange through most pharmacies on line.

[Reg Dingle]

I am impressed but will reserve any further praise until I actually get the vaccine in my arm

They were injecting people in nightclubs.

Dunno about Bristol's Spearmint Rhino

[David48atTD]

Your NHS number is xxxxxxxxxx

Great, at least you got one which is easy to remember ... they do that for older fuckers

The easiest way to get booked in for your vaccine is going to be to call 119, they will be able to book you in for any of the clinics locally.

I wonder how many dyslexic fookers dial 911 instead!

[Mendip]

^ The emergency number's 999 in the UK so I should be OK... I rarely get two out of three numbers wrong!

They were injecting people in nightclubs.

Dunno about Bristol's Spearmint Rhino

^ I had to look that up as well... you seem to have a low opinion of me.

I've been reading that all the injecting going on in clubs at the moment is with date rape drugs and stuff. I don't fancy any of that.

If you are over 50 get your Flu jab too. That you can arrange through most pharmacies on line.

Good thinking Mike, I may as well get my money's worth!

[Reg Dingle]

I had to look that up as well... you seem to have a low opinion of me.

Nothing wrong or lowly about gentlemans clubs...is there?

Where do you normally hang out in Bristol then?

I guess I'll be better off meeting up with Mike the Mo and No Nut Joe then.

[Mendip]

^ I rarely go in to see the bright lights these days. I'm more of a leaning on the bar of a quiet village pub with a pint of cider kind of person.

If you're interested in meeting up I prefer the afternoons before it gets too busy!

[malmomike77]

Good thinking Mike, I may as well get my money's worth!

I did mine through boots, easy to sign up.

https://www.boots.com/online/pharmacy-services/winter-flu-jab-services/

[Mendip]

^ Thanks Mike, I've never had a flu jab before so wouldn't have thought of this.

I checked and I can get this done in the Boots on Weston-Super-Mare High Street which is great as I was planning a visit there one day anyway... there's a butcher's just around the corner where I can get a rabbit for my mum to turn into a pie!

We're now into the third day of waiting on immigration in the bay just off Anapa. Immigration came out on Monday to check the crews' Passports and Seaman's Books and then came out yesterday to check serial numbers of the ship's engine and stuff. Now we wait... this is on the Client's tab so no problem really within reason.



We have around 10 days work to do within the territorial waters and a crew change scheduled in Turkey two weeks today, so to prevent any delays we really need to get started tomorrow since we may take another 2 or 3 days to clear immigration to exit Russian waters, plus a day to get across to Turkey. They want to finish all the coastal work in one campaign to prevent having to go through this immigration ordeal a second time and I really don't want any delays to the next crew change... it's my crew change!

There's a nice big wheel and roller coaster on Anapa beach, although they don't look very active.



And what looks like a water slide. I reckon it could be an OK place to visit in the summer.

[Edmond]

I wonder how many dyslexic fookers dial 911 instead!

The emergency number's 999 in the UK so I should be OK

Possible info tidbit.

I read before that if you dial the emergency service number of most countries - 911, 999, etc, it will auto redirect to your host country's emergency services.

[Mendip]

^ Why don't you test that theory out?

(maybe use the missus' phone though...)

[Edmond]

I did it yesterday after receiving a red repo.

[bsnub]

Mendy there is a thread here About a US sub collision in the south china sea. The US is claiming they hit an undersea mountain. You are an expert at all things at the bottom of the ocean. How likely do you think that story is?

Wouldn't sonar have seen that?

[OhOh]

Wouldn't sonar have seen that?

Was the subs sonar switched on?

I'm sure all will be revealed at the captain's court-martial.

[Topper]

Wouldn't sonar have seen that?

Subs almost never use active sonar, anyone listening will know where they're at.

[CalEden]

It has been determined it was an uncharted geological obstruction.

[OhOh]

It has been determined i

I don't suppose you have a link to the international inquiry, and it's published "determination", to share with us?

[cyrille]

I don't suppose you have a link to the international inquiry, and it's published "determination", to share with us?

Where did he say that?

What country would have an 'international inquiry' after such an event? China?



You're almost as disingenuous as FaRT.

And 'its'.

[Shy Guava]

It has been determined it was an uncharted geological obstruction.

So it's turned out to be Mendip's fault then? What use is all this high priced technology and personnel when they can't even see mountains in the South China Sea from the Blaxk Sea? Cunning Chinese have probably sprinkled these things all over the place. Mendip will have to crank his forward facing camera up a few notches to be safe as the Russkies might also have the technology.

[Mendip]

^ I don't think it's really fair to pin this on me.

Wouldn't sonar have seen that?

Subs almost never use active sonar, anyone listening will know where they're at.

I haven't followed this story but I do know that any sonar (even if it's turned on) is only as good as the operator. Our ROVs have forward facing 'Obstacle Avoidance Sonar' (OAS) but several times I've known an ROV pilot to nod off on the job and fly the ROV into an under water obstruction. It would seem strange for a submarine skipper to do this with his submarine but you have to remember that working at sea is probably 90% monotony and routine and it's easy to lose concentration. You'd like to think a submarine would have some alarms going off before a collision though.

Strangely enough, we've been having a problem flying into tree trunks. There seems to be loads of big tree trunks sticking vertically out of the seabed in the Black Sea and it seems that the logs must drift about until they become waterlogged and then sink vertically down like spears and embed themselves into the soft seabed. I have no idea why there are more in the Black Sea than anywhere else I've worked... maybe because due to the anoxic conditions and absence of bottom current these tree trunks just remain on the seabed forever. Maybe they're tens or even hundreds of years old? But my point is that the OAS doesn't detect these tree trunks and they're proving a problem for the ROV pilots (SG - the cameras are pointing inwards to the pipelines for the inspection). I guess the logs are similar in density to water and having rounded edges they deflect away the sonar pulses rather then reflect them back to the sonar receptor.

Maybe this 'underwater mountain' was made of soft sediment and wasn't detected by sonar? It's unusual to get unidentified 'mountains' made of rock, and rock should be detected by sonar I would have thought. There are features known as mud volcanoes in the deep ocean... just a thought.


Anyway, seeing as this COP26 is currently underway, to get on the environmental topic here's a timely reminder of where your litter ends up. Right slap bang in the middle of the Black Sea, 150km from land, here was a kid's pink party balloon lying on the seabed... where it will remain forever.