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  1. #526
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    Quote Originally Posted by docmartin View Post
    Totally agree.
    Having worked for Groinpus many many years ago I can say that they're probably a little deficient in down-to-earth reality checks even now.
    Inner-city vegan organic chai-sipping folks and all that.
    Seconded, or thirded. There are cleaned up vessels being deliberately sunk to create artificial reefs. Those are mainly for recreational divers who can enjoy the wildlife they attract. No reason at all not to do the same thing on a larger scale and provide some safe havens in the North Sea. Otherwise the trawlermen will trawl until there is nothing left.

    There is a very good book "Cod" by Mark Kurlansky, the title says it all, which is a fascinating read. One of the things that stays with me from his book is the way that Newfoundland fishermen and politicians simply kept the fishing alive until there were no fish left to fish. The lesson being that the oceans do not belong to a small number of self-interested fishermen, they belong to everyone and everyone should have a say. It is a lesson that has not been learnt.

  2. #527
    Thailand Expat helge's Avatar
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    Having a suspicion here that the good intentions, the hopes, half studied knowledge and 100 billion good, saved cleanup money has taken over.

    If something sound simple, it probably isn't, and the bill to correct these mistakes could be huge.

    Read some reports, manuals on how and where to play with nature, and where not to do it.

    (and remember that 100 billion can buy a lot of pre concluded reports)

    Sorry about the tone

  3. #528
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    ^ I think a pessimistic tone is very apt Helge... money and politics will win over the environment every time, Greenpeace should forget politics and remember why they started. (by the way Helge... if my office work in Haugesund (Norway) falls through next week I've had a back-up offer of work in Gothenburg... you got any decent beer in Sweden?)

    To make the point... an example of the seabed off the remote northern coast of Norway... a country who has always been a fishing nation but who has also managed their fish stocks extremely well. Cod are abundant throughout the Norwegian Sea.

    Each of those furrows on the seabed has been made by a trawl board... the whole area is riddled with trawling activity... and this is well managed.



    Imagine the amount of trawling in the southern North Sea where every bordering country is hell bent on catching every last fish. The seabed is dead and barren from constantly being dredged up by trawling. It would be like a farmer ploughing his fields every week.

    But anyway, nothing will change.

    We left Oseberg today and I was hoping to get a pic this morning in daylight as it's an impressive structure, but at 7am it was still dark. Quite a change from when I joined this boat two months ago when it never got dark... now it doesn't want to get light.



    Not my pic, but Oseberg field centre. Around 20 years ago I once had a basket transfer from the helideck on Oseberg A down to the back deck of a survey vessel... and very nearly shit myself. It wouldn't be allowed these days, and I certainly wouldn't do it again, even if it was.


  4. #529
    Thailand Expat Saint Willy's Avatar
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    Brilliant pics, Mendip. Cheers.

  5. #530
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    The trip's coming to an end and we started the last project today... hopefully just a day's work at Visund.

    It's a busy part of the world...



    We finished up at Gullfaks and departed early this morning...



    With Statfjord and Snorre off to the port side...



    Heading for Visund to the northeast... with dawn just breaking.



    And up this afternoon for my last full shift (hopefully!) working at the Visund semi-sub FPU (Floating Production Unit). It's deep water here and the platform doesn't reach down to the seabed... instead the anchorage system comprises chains to suction anchors in the seabed.

    There's still the old 'Statoil' sign and logo on Visund... Equinor need to get that sorted.



    The weather has again come up this afternoon... a real bugger. My Norwegian office work has already fallen though due to delays on this job... but I've secured a month of so's office work with this company in Gothenburg, Sweden, the next part of my commute.

    But in the interim I've got flights on Saturday from Bergen back to Bristol to see me mum! I've got three days to drink as much cider and eat as many steak and kidney pies as I can fit in... then fly to Gothenburg on Tuesday morning.

    I don't want any more delays. Just three days to eat and drink all my favourites... it's gonna be a difficult choice!

  6. #531
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    Quote Originally Posted by Mendip View Post
    I've got three days to drink as much cider and eat as many steak and kidney pies as I can fit in


    The anticipation.....

    You've earned it.

    A pic to wet your whistle, should still be warm at the weekend..

    My post-lockdown commute back to work-screenshot_20200917-230904_chrome-jpg
    Last edited by Chittychangchang; 18-09-2020 at 05:10 AM.

  7. #532
    Thailand Expat Saint Willy's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Mendip View Post
    've got three days to drink as much cider and eat as many steak and kidney pies as I can fit in...
    And put on everyitng you lost over the past 3 months.

    Quote Originally Posted by Mendip View Post
    then fly to Gothenburg on Tuesday morning.
    Do they have a weight limit?


    Anyway, will be good to see you mom!

  8. #533
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    Quote Originally Posted by Mendip View Post
    But in the interim I've got flights on Saturday from Bergen back to Bristol to see me mum! I've got three days to drink as much cider and eat as many steak and kidney pies as I can fit in... then fly to Gothenburg on Tuesday morning.

    I don't want any more delays. Just three days to eat and drink all my favourites... it's gonna be a difficult choice!
    No quarantines or self-isolation to worry about?

    Have a wonderful trip. Remember: tea and, if you must, Spam.

  9. #534
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    ^ Thank you Shutree! I don't think I have any quarantine worries... I've filled out some form for UK immigration and think I'll be OK. The north of England seems to be going into lockdown, but Somerset is still OK. I should be in and out again before a nationwide second lockdown takes effect, which I think is pretty inevitable.

    Bergen is currently in lockdown, but I should be heading straight from vessel to airport, so hopefully won't get affected. Offshore workers are apparently except from self-isolation rules, strangely enough. So what can possibly go wrong...

    Well, I'll tell you what can go bladdy wrong. I went to bed at 7am this morning with the vessel heading to port, and woke up this afternoon at Troll C... the buggers picked up another job while I was sleeping.



    We've got '12 hours work' at the Troll C semi-sub, then into port 'and it won't affect any flights'...

    Here's Troll B and Troll A in the gloom in the background... Troll A had the distinction of being the tallest and heaviest structure moved by man at the time of it's installation, although my pic doesn't really do it justice.



    ... and I'm 3 hours into my shift and we still have at least 6 hours work to go... I've called me mum to warn her I may not be arriving for my steak and kidney pie tomorrow.

    I can't do any work tonight as everything is being backed up for the office. It seems an awful long time ago when I boarded this vessel on 26th July up at Narvik... a life time ago in fact.

    A couple of highlights for me...

    We did indeed find deep water coral way up North. Many people don't realise how common deep, cold water coral is. It's very interesting as well... living way below the photic zone where there's no photosynthesising algae at the bottom of the food chain. A theory is that these ecosystems gain nutrients from upwelling fluids.

    Helge, you will be please to know that the pipeline route will be deviated a long way around this coral mound!



    And a couple of pics from 280 metres down...



    Sadly this area is heavily trawled and there's not much live coral left...



    And a big rock for Ootai! I managed to find a couple of errant boulders, so much to the crane driver's disgust the boulder grab was put into action...



    A bit over the top maybe for such a small boulder! (which fell out in the wrong place anyway)

    Last edited by Mendip; 19-09-2020 at 08:48 AM.

  10. #535
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    And what about my health kick...

    My last beer was at Suvarnabhumi on 25th July, that was fifty-five 12 hour shifts and exactly 8 weeks ago. I've watched my diet and been walking on the helideck or been in the gym almost every day (apart from the last week when it's fallen apart a bit).

    So today was the day...

    Just about very boat or installation has one of these on the way to the helideck...



    A heli-lounge!

    It's usually a double edged sword to be in the heli-lounge. On the good side it means you're about to get off the boat... but on the bad side it means you're leaving by bladdy helicopter. You have to sit through a safety video and stuff before the crew change.



    But I wasn't here to sit through any boring safety video... before any helicopter flight every person and their luggage have to be weighed.

    I was after those scales!



    I had a medical two days before boarding this boat, and if you're to believe the scales at Bumrungrad I was 114kg.

    Tonight...

    Well... fark me, that's a result!



    And then the boat rolled... FFS...



    I'm now somewhere between 101.9kg and 112.0kg, depending on the roll of the boat.

    Convention states you should take the lowest figure, but if I take a mid range figure then 107kg may be realistic. That would be a 7kg loss in 8 weeks... a bit disappointing to be honest.

    And another disappointment... 11pm and we're still at Troll. No chance of my 6:20am flight and we need to be away by 3:30am at the latest to make my back-up 11:45 flight... double FFS...



    'Around' four hours work left... a queue of boats at the dockside and a one hour taxi to the airport... I'm getting too old for this shit.

  11. #536
    Thailand Expat Backspin's Avatar
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    Top thread.

  12. #537
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    Sweep stake needed on Mendips weight before he gorges on cheese and cider.

    102kg -112kg, ten members post a weight.

    Winner gets the repo glory.

    I'll hazard a guess at 106kg....

  13. #538
    Thailand Expat Saint Willy's Avatar
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    106.5kg

  14. #539
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    Quote Originally Posted by TheRealKW View Post
    106.5kg
    Bstard gazumper, it's not The Price is Right.

  15. #540
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    Sounds like the buggers are trolling you Mendip

  16. #541
    Thailand Expat David48atTD's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Headworx View Post
    Sounds like the buggers are trolling you Mendip
    So ... what are you guessing?

  17. #542
    Thailand Expat David48atTD's Avatar
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    108.314159265 kg

    By pie ... he'll make it.

  18. #543
    Thailand Expat lom's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Mendip View Post
    a 7kg loss in 8 weeks... a bit disappointing to be honest.
    Losing them slowly and steadily is the best way of losing them.

  19. #544
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  20. #545
    Hangin' Around cyrille's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by lom View Post
    Losing them slowly and steadily is the best way of losing them.
    Indeed.

    However that isn't really an option when one's planning to pack most of it back on by the extended stuffing of one's face with cheese, pies and cider.

    I guess the results of that won't really be classed as 'disappointing'.

  21. #546
    Thailand Expat lom's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by cyrille View Post
    However that isn't really an option when one's planning to pack most of it back on by the extended stuffing of one's face with cheese, pies and cider.
    Forward planning, making room for it. He will probably miss his flights so he will only get two days of reveling..

  22. #547
    Making people dance. :-)
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    1.25 Phuket Bounds.

  23. #548
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    Quote Originally Posted by Edmond View Post
    1.25 Phuket Bounds.
    Is that an official World Standard ... or restricted to Canooks?

  24. #549
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    ... burp... I find it a sad reflectiom on Teakdoor society that I post a pic of an 8000 year old, never before seen by mankind deep water coral mound, yet the topic of conflabation is my weight!!! hic...

    I'm off the boat... by the wat...

  25. #550
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    Quote Originally Posted by Mendip View Post
    ... burp... I find it a sad reflectiom on Teakdoor society that I post a pic of an 8000 year old, never before seen by mankind
    Those of us here who have been divers probably share your angst. Together with a sense of helplessness. No rational person supports this wanton destruction.
    The question is, next time I buy a piece of fish, how do I know about its environmental impact?
    As I posted elsewhere, in different language, it is a total effin disgrace that people are allowed to destroy the environment that belongs to our children. And we, myself included, have utterly failed to do anything about it. And if anyone reading this feels differently then you are part of the problem. We shall all stand accused by future generations.
    I see people complaining, with reason, about colonialism. And in that self-righteousness, do you wonder how your grandchildren will judge you, for eating their fish and failing to act, in an entirely parallel way, to our colonial forebears sipping tea in salons as history was made around them?

    Yes, I do feel quite strongly about this.

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