Another lockdown… another commute

[Saint Willy]

I cannot imagine why they'd be annoyed at you wearing barefeet in the gym...

[Topper]

I cannot imagine why they'd be annoyed at you wearing barefeet in the gym...

The loudness of the slapping sounds as he walks?

[cyrille]

wearing barefeet

What a weird way of putting that.

[helge]

What a weird way of putting that.

You don't want to know how he defines a nudist

[Saint Willy]

What a weird way of putting that.

Now that I reread that…yes. My brain has been fried by reading too many posts by Klongdick and David44.

[Mendip]

^ But you can wear your Birthday suit?

No boatswains mates in the ships crew - they have everything and know everything.
Are there no inflatable boats on board - if there are there should be a repair kit with two-part adhesive.

It seems strange to see the correct spelling... I'm so used to referring to them as 'bosuns'.

Yeah, there will surely be some decent adhesive on the boat somewhere but it's proving difficult to track down.

This was my gym footwear tonight... they are slightly dog-chewed and still stained by pond water, and I'm sure they wouldn't pass muster for entry to one of Korat's trendy gyms full of nubile young women in their skin tight leggings covering sweaty tight buttocks and with flat, bare, moist midriffs showing beneath their skimpy sports-bra tops, but they did the job in a boat full of hairy-arsed contractors.




But anyway, my mind drifted away there somewhat and I've only been onboard for two weeks... so back to work stuff.

This is our survey ROV. This beast has been winning these contractors loads of work... so much in fact that they had to give projects away to competitors this year since they just couldn't find the personnel. A combination of Covid and Brexit has made life extremely difficult for Norwegian contractors who have always relied on a large workforce of freelance Brits. Surely that hopeless twat Johnson can sort out some kind of agreement to get people working again? ... probably not.



Compare the survey ROV to our work class ROV... a more traditional box-like shape. Not much hydrodynamics going on there.



Being launched to start another survey...









Top thrusters on... and down she goes to the seabed 350 metres below to start making money.

[Stumpy]

I'm sure they wouldn't pass muster for entry to one of Korat's trendy gyms full of nubile young women in their skin tight leggings covering sweaty tight buttocks and with flat, bare, moist midriffs showing beneath their skimpy sports-bra tops, but they did the job in a boat full of hairy-arsed contractors.

And to think, only 14 weeks more .......

[katie23]

Mendip - pls quit being a remoaner. It's over & done with. You're beginning to sound like SA.

Thanks for the ROV pics!

[Joe 90]

Korat's trendy gyms full of nubile young women in their skin tight leggings covering sweaty tight buttocks and with flat, bare, moist midriffs showing beneath their skimpy sports-bra

[Saint Willy]

Korat's trendy gyms full of nubile young women in their skin tight leggings covering sweaty tight buttocks and with flat, bare, moist midriffs showing beneath their skimpy sports-bra tops,

You've been locked up too long!

[Saint Willy]

Compare the survey ROV to our work class ROV... a more traditional box-like shape. Not much hydrodynamics going on there.

huge difference!

[Mendip]

Mendip - pls quit being a remoaner. It's over & done with. You're beginning to sound like SA.

Say it ain't so!

Fair enough Katie... I need to move on, I don't want to be labelled a remoaner.

I'll try and refrain... but it doesn't mean I'm happy about it!

[OhOh]

Quote Originally Posted by Mendip View Post
Korat's trendy gyms full of nubile young women in their skin tight leggings covering sweaty tight buttocks and with flat, bare, moist midriffs showing beneath their skimpy sports-bra tops,
You've been locked up too long!

The

Top thrusters on... and down she goes to the ....

mention is telling.

Is there any way of warning the females/ROV's on board?

[PAG]

This was my gym footwear tonight... they are slightly dog-chewed and still stained by pond water, and I'm sure they wouldn't pass muster for entry to one of Korat's trendy gyms full of nubile young women in their skin tight leggings covering sweaty tight buttocks and with flat, bare, moist midriffs showing beneath their skimpy sports-bra tops, but they did the job in a boat full of hairy-arsed contractors.

[nidhogg]

Just out of interest Mendip, are there specified footwear requirements for any part of the boat? Would have thought work mandated steel toe capped boots (obviously not for the gym, but for elsewhere, particularly outside)?

[Shutree]

one of Korat's trendy gyms full of nubile young women in their skin tight leggings covering sweaty tight buttocks and with flat, bare, moist midriffs showing beneath their skimpy sports-bra tops,

I am quite far from Korat but I could make the journey just to visit the gym. Every day.

[Mendip]

^ Before you jump in your car Shutree I think it only fair to tell you I haven't actually been inside a gym in Korat.

This is just how I imagine they would be like... I've seen plenty of pictures on the internet.

Just out of interest Mendip, are there specified footwear requirements for any part of the boat? Would have thought work mandated steel toe capped boots (obviously not for the gym, but for elsewhere, particularly outside)?

Nid, within the 'accommodation area' the only footwear requirement is that the shoes have a back... so no flip-flops or slipper things. A lot of people wear those open-toed sandal things with velcro straps. I tend to wear sport sandals (as in the picture above). I don't like open toed shoes, especially with my current big toe nail issues. The accommodation area basically comprises the interior of the vessel and includes the bridge, cabins, offices, the mess and any day rooms, etc. You're not allowed to wear work boots within the accommodation area because they mess up the floors and if you're working outside and need to pop in you have to out hose blue plastic covers over your boots or else the Chief Steward will give you a bollocking.

There are areas outside where you can wear your sandals, including many outside passageways around the upper levels of the ship and the helideck.

All outside work areas require full PPE to be worn, which as a minimum comprises steel toe-capped shoes/boots, coveralls, gloves, hard hat and safety glasses.

The back deck is the biggest outside work area...



The ROV hangar...



If the vessel is working within a platform 500 metre zone, full PPE must be worn anywhere outside. If we enter a 500 metre zone there will be an announcement over the tannoy and temporary signs will be put up at all exits.



I rarely need to go outside for work in Norway these days and I didn't even bring my PPE on this trip... my luggage weight allowance is much better used for taking strong cheddar cheese, black pudding and tins of SPAM back to Thailand.

Safety is now taken extremely seriously in this industry and repeated non-compliance of rules will lead to loss of your job. When I started I remember leaning off the back of a small trawler with a boat hook, trying to hook a tow-fish as it swung about on the A-frame in a force eight gale, with someone behind me holding my harness to stop me falling off the back of the boat where the prop was turning. I was young and stupid back then, but thankfully those kind of practices are long gone and even a trainee wouldn't be expected to be so foolish.

[Topper]

Is there a ship's store on board for gedunks and the such?

[Mendip]

I had to Google 'gedunks'... never heard that word before.

The Chief Steward opens the bond once a day... you can get cigarettes, sweets, chocolate, soft drinks, toiletries and the like, all at duty free prices for what it's worth (big savings for smokers I guess).

You used to be able to get very cheap bottles of spirits for consumption 'after you'd left the vessel', but the Camp Boss didn't seem to mind if you went back for another a few days later... he was making money! That's all long gone now of course.

[Edmond]

you can get cigarettes

Hadn't thought of it before, but kinda surprised that smoking isn't outlawed.


It surely must be outlawed on the rigs that are pumping up oil and gas... right?

[Mendip]

^ We have a sealed smoking day room and that's the only place you can smoke within the accommodation area. When I started doing this just about every work station had a full ashtray next to it... the work place is now smoke free but that's due to HSE rather than any risk of igniting oil or gas.

Smoking in cabins has always been banned due the risk of falling asleep and starting a fire.

So long as we're outside of platform 500 metre zones I think you can smoke outside. As for platforms, I would imagine they have designated smoking areas but I've never worked on one. Dirk and PAG will know.


Tonight we're heading in to Kristiansund for a crew change... we have one every two weeks on this vessel while working in Norwegian waters. The staff Norwegians only do two week trips thanks to the extremely strong SAFE union, but this is good for greedy day raters willing to work longer trips.

We're sailing in beam on to a strong south-westerly and the ship's moving all over the place. It's times like this you have to remember the old saying 'one hand for yourself and one for the ship', and there are reminders at every stairway.



This will be the first of many crew changes when I watch other people leaving the vessel while I stay on board. Tomorrow we have people flying to their homes all over Europe... in addition to Norway there are crew heading to Sweden, Poland, Croatia, Germany and even Romania... and the UK of course. In times gone by, on crew change days I would have finished my shift at midday and then made my way to a bar, previously asking the OM to give me a call half an hour before the vessel was due to depart. As much drink as possible was then consumed before the OM called sometime in the late afternoon... and it was back to the boat, straight to the cabin and sleep... and up again for the following shift starting at midnight. It was a good system and caused no problems if you were sensible and discreet... but of course there's always someone to abuse it and those days are now long gone. I won't even bother getting off the boat later today.

It will be a different matter during the port call in in two weeks time... I should get a couple of days in Haugesund before the voyage to the Black Sea and I'm trying to organise a Pfizer Covid vaccination while there... and I need a new pair of trainers. The trainers should be easy but the Pifizer jab is proving very hard to get sorted and I think will probably be impossible. I'm pissed off about this... I've paid enough tax to the bastards over the years and the least they could do is give me a jab.

Anyway, while we're steaming into port, operations have obviously stopped and the vessel's like a ghost ship... a good time to take some sneaky pics.

This is the galley... probably the most dangerous part of the ship and I'm full of admiration for the cooks. In many ways they have the most difficult of jobs since whatever the weather, everyone expects a meal. When things get really rough they will serve up a 'storm soup', which just means they gave up and chucked everything into a big pan and boiled it up.

The galley is the only place on the boat where pointed knives are allowed.



The galley on this ship is kept absolutely spotless.



The food is served up here...



And eaten in the mess... a far cry from the messes I ate in 30 years ago crammed into the bows of some small stern trawler.



If you look at the photo of where the food is served up, to the right of my reflection (that I've just realised is visible in the window) you can see two lonesome plates on the green non-slip mats. This is where my opposite number, the senior day shift geo, has been leaving my plated up evening meals.

It's very nice of him to do this... but he's also a complete tosser. I've spent two weeks trying to get him to plate up small portions with practically no carbs and I was finally getting somewhere... and now he does this this. He leaves the vessel tomorrow so excelled himself tonight as a parting gesture... a huge roast chicken meal with two types of potato AND an apple crumble with custard pudding. What a dilemma this puts me in... I haven't had a single pudding or biscuit in two weeks but what can I do. Like I say, what a tosser to put me in this situation...




So... a quick competition... for a free 'Green', who can tell me how many Brits are leaving the vessel and what their names are?

[Loy Toy]

Nick and Simon.

[Mendip]

^ Well done Loy Toy... Green owed!

And I won't even go into it... ya see Katie, I've moved on!

[bsnub]

Nick and Simon.

Quick on the draw, LT!

[katie23]

^^lol. Good onya, Mendip. Maybe Boris will give you a medal upon landing in Heathrow.

Thanks for the galley pics. It's nice to see where my compatriots are working. Galley reminds me if the kitchen scenes in Jurassic Park (the one with the velociraptors).

Some months ago, I watched a "day in the life" vlog of a Filipino seafarer. He worked in the engine room, I think. I chuckled at the end of his vid. The vlog ended with him on his bunk and a pic of lotion/ moisturizer.