Another lockdown… another commute

[hallelujah]

I once had breakfast one morning with her kid sat at the other side of the table. That was weird.

I had the same thing (minus the kid) when I was on a piss up in London. It felt more than a bit weird with her mum sat opposite tucking into her bacon and eggs when 30 minutes earlier her daughter had bent over and told me to do anything I wanted to her and had been moaning and groaning knowing her mum was in earshot (like Mendip's story, she was also quite a bit older than me).

I made my excuses and got out of there sharpish, but I sometimes wonder how the conversation went when I left!

[Topper]

using shower flip flops

That's what I used as well when I had to ride a ship. It gave a bit of grip and protected your feet from athlete's feet.

[Saint Willy]

like Mendip's story, she was also quite a bit older than me

another granny banger!

[hallelujah]

another granny banger!

Guilty. Well, the more mature lady...

[Reg Dingle]

when I had to ride a ship. It gave a bit of grip and protected your feet from athlete's feet

You mean athlete's foot Shirley? Or were you protecting your achilles from being pounded and ripped into by the unkempt Mendy-esque toenails of the French mens 4 x 400 metre relay squad?

[Mendip]

Matelot Mendip, what is the energy source for the shallow hi-res seismic? Are energy source and geophone(s) both carried on the ROV?

How wonderful to get a post that isn't about weird sexual practices.


Shy Guava, electricity is supplied to the ROV via the umbilical. This is needed to power the thrusters to enable the ROV pilots to fly the vehicle as well as for all manner of equipment. There is also lighting, positional transponders and a host of survey sensors that all require electricity for power. If, for whatever reason, we lose power to the ROV we have a dead vehicle which then takes some skill to recover unharmed.

The Chirp sub-bottom profiler system we are using has separate transmitter and receivers.

The transmitter has a transducer that converts electrical energy to sound energy to produce a pulse to send down through the water column and into the seabed. This is obviously fitted to the underside of the vehicle to allow unobstructed sight of the seabed.



There are two receivers (hydrophones) that are fitted longitudinally to the underside of the nose of the ROV to receive the reflected pulse. These also require unimpeded 'sight' of the seabed.



And a close-up of one hydrophone.



It can become a challenge to fit equipment so as not to obstruct the 'view' of other equipment and it's not uncommon to find a small shadow in data due to partial obstruction caused by some other survey sensor.

Acoustic noise from other equipment (or the vessel acoustic navigation system) is also a problem, particularly where two separate sensors are operating at similar frequencies. The sub-bottom profiler data (high resolution seismic) is also extremely susceptible to interference from low frequency hydraulic noise produced by operation of the ROV thrusters, so that's another consideration when located the system.

[David48atTD]

I had the same thing (minus the kid) when I was on a piss up in London. It felt more than a bit weird with her mum sat opposite tucking into her bacon and eggs when 30 minutes earlier her daughter had bent over and told me to do anything I wanted to her and had been moaning and groaning knowing her mum was in earshot (like Mendip's story, she was also quite a bit older than me).

I made my excuses and got out of there sharpish, but I sometimes wonder how the conversation went when I left!

A Sportsman's double

[Mendip]

FWIW, my dentist 40 years ago told me to switch to Sensodyne. Even then he said my gums were receding through over-energetic brushing. That surprised me, I don't think I have been an overly energetic brusher. He told me that most brushes then were too big and too firm, he said to switch to a softer, smaller brush, specifically he recommended Oral-B and I have followed that advice since, later switching to an electric toothbrush.

I've had exactly the same experience Shutree. A couple of years ago my dentist told me I was brushing too hard and to take things a bit gentler and get a softer brush. I didn't really believe her and two years later have ended up needing a load of fillings and sensitive teeth. I think one of my problems is that I tend to brush from side to side instead of up and down.

I now have the softest possible Oral B toothbrush and use Sensodyne toothpaste... I guess the next step is to limit my diet to soup. I'm really not enjoying getting old.

I've never used an electric toothbrush. I've always thought that shows the height of decadence but maybe I'm just a bit old fashioned?

Hey Mendy, How is the gardener doing around the place with all the rain? Bet he hasn't picked up a tool since you left. Pond nice and full?

I'll take that bet!

I assumed the same until last week the wife was on to me, saying that the gardener wanted some wheels to get some jobs done. Of course I was, 'WTF does he need wheels... what kind of wheels?'

Nothing was making any sense so I asked for a picture... my usual fall-back for just about anything in Thailand.



The wheels were for the scaffold tower. The gardener seems to be doing the long awaited anti-pigeon measures on the upstairs window ledges. I guess I shouldn't begrudge a couple of thousand Baht if it saves him dismantling and then re-assembling the tower at every window?

You spend less time with your family than the average traveling salesman/soldier/trucker/ submariner/astronaut.

A Yuri Gagarin/Dwight Yorke/ Wayne Rooney of a family man.

I had to look up two of those people on Google and can now see that it wasn't a compliment.

And I've always thought so highly of you...

[Mendip]

Yesterday the boat became inundated by a flock of small land birds. Maybe they had been blown off course by our earlier bad weather, or maybe they just wanted a rest.

I'm not sure what kind of birds they were, but I'm sure Shutree will know.



A greenfinch maybe?



A chaffinch?



This often happens, and sadly once these birds take refuge on a boat they usually die. They drink contaminated water from the back deck which doesn't help, and they get seasick. The clever ones stop for a quick rest and then resume their journey to land.

But... on departing the vessel many get swooped on by the ever present seagulls. They are pretty well doomed, unless I guess they are clever enough to wait for nightfall to leave.

We'd been followed by a flock of seagulls all day. Maybe they think we're a fishing boat?



Just waiting to swoop down and eat a poor chaffinch...

[Mendip]

Land Ahoy!

My first view of Old Blighty in more than a year.



This was mid-afternoon, and an hour later the skipper had gone as far as he wanted.



We stopped just off Lowestoft.



No sooner had the thrusters come on to maintain position, this small boat turned up. This was obviously a well coordinated operation.



The small boat barged up against us to enable the equipment transfer. A small boat transfer is how we usually crew change in West Africa and you can see the bow of this boat is designed for personnel transfer. No fun in a big swell... you have to time the jump across at the top of a wave which sounds easier than it is when some nerves come into play.



Three boxes were brought for us.



It would be nice to think there were a few steak and kidney pies inside that box, but I very much doubt that. I haven't had any kind of pie since I left home over five weeks ago.



So after a brief 30 minute stop we were on our way again... next stop Istanbul.

This equipment transfer must have cost a small fortune, but a lot cheaper than getting a pilot, harbour fees and of course the several hours delay that going alongside would have caused. Time is money, and all that.

[Joe 90]

Hopefully you'll get a bit of time to have a mooch around Istanbul, always fancied a visit there.

[Joe 90]

You spend less time with your family than the average traveling salesman/soldier/trucker/ submariner/astronaut.


A Yuri Gagarin/Dwight Yorke/ Wayne Rooney of a family man.

You hurting from your footy team choice or whatever.
Mendy is a good father that does his best like we all do.
Its not easy being a family man as you know.

[Shy Guava]

How wonderful to get a post that isn't about weird sexual practices.

Thanks Mendip for the detailed explanation. It is somewhat as I expected. I have a complete hi-res land shallow (<500m) seismic system stacked in my yard right now and a family member who is an ROV pilot, so I am just trying to join all the pieces together as I have very limited offshore experience (but more land experience than should ever be required of a human being).

Great thread, please keep it going.

[Shutree]

I'm not sure what kind of birds they were, but I'm sure Shutree will know.

Thank you for your confidence but there are others here much more knoledgeable than I. I'd go with your Chaffinch suggestion. I hope they took the chance to get to Lowestoft. Any port in a storm and that sort of thing.

I've never used an electric toothbrush. I've always thought that shows the height of decadence but maybe I'm just a bit old fashioned?

The electric toothbrush is better for me, helps with the up-and-down, actually I just brush up on the bottom teeth and down on the top ones. The more expensive Braun model has a warning light if you press too hard. I was sceptical at first, now I am a believer.

[OhOh]

I asked for a picture... my usual fall-back for just about anything in Thailand.

Be prepared,

When I was a lad, a hand drawn sketch was the norm. Still acceptable in Thailand.

[Mendip]

Hopefully you'll get a bit of time to have a mooch around Istanbul, always fancied a visit there.

Not much chance of that sadly... I very much doubt that anyone will be allowed out of the port.






There was one landmark that I really wanted to see during this transit... the iconic White Cliffs of Dover.

The English Channel is undoubtedly one of the most historically significant stretches of water on the planet. Somewhere around 100,000 years ago the breaching of a huge glacial lake fractured the chalk land bridge connecting Britain to continental Europe, initiating the formation of an island. Swampy ground across what is now The Dogger Bank continued to intermittently connect Britain to the Continent during glacial periods with lower water level.

Around 8000 years ago a huge tsunami is thought to have irrevocably flooded this swampy land bridge, thus producing an island nation. This tsunami was triggered by the Storegga Slide, a huge landslip off the west coast of Norway, which is a fascinating topic on it's own. Incidentally, the Ormen Lange gas field is located at the base of the Storegga Slide escarpment and supplies 20% of the UK's gas requirements via the 1166 km long Langeled subsea pipeline.

Storegga Slide - Wikipedia

If it wasn't for the English Channel there probably wouldn't have been endless wars between the French and English through the ages. Napoleon may well have invaded us and then we, along with our colonies and Commonwealth, and most probably Thailand as well, would now be driving on the right. Furthermore with no English Channel the Nazis may well have succeeded 80 years ago and now I could be typing this in German. It makes you think.

But most significantly, if we were not an island nation the UK may have been more predisposed to integrate with our Continental neighbours and there would have been no Brexit. Instead of being stuck on this bloody boat for two weeks, right now I'd be sitting in the Haugesund office and having a pint after work every day.

Everything comes back to geology which is what makes it such a great subject.

But anyway, this was the vessel position at midnight.



Yes, we passed The White Cliffs of Dover in the middle of the bloody night. I was disappointed to say the least.

But despite the disappointment I took a few pictures off our starboard side as we passed. There was just enough moonlight to give the vague indication of whiteness.



Slightly zoomed in you can get a real feel for how magnificent the cliffs would look in daylight.



For the life of me I can't understand why they don't light them up at nighttime, like they do with Big Ben and Buckingham Palace. It would look great.



And here is the comparatively boring French coastline around Calais, off our port side.



The skipper was taking it steady sailing through one of the worlds busiest waterways during the night. We are the little turquoise-coloured boat marked with the black arrow.



And here is one of the lunatic dark blue cross-channel ferries that cut across our bows while plying it's trade back and forth across the main streams of traffic between Dover and Calais.




This also brought me back to the scene of my first proper job back in 1990, which was located around 90 metres below where I took these pictures from.

My job back then was in the UK Crossover Cavern of the Channel Tunnel.



If you've ever wondered why the tunnel has such an uneven vertical profile... it was to stay within the lower Cretaceous chalk marl, a perfect rock to tunnel through. The overlying white chalk is weathered and full of fissures which would have let too much water through during excavation. It's all down to geology again!

Not really on topic, but a few pics I found of the UK Crossover Cavern... just for the memories. I have a load of hard copy pictures in storage somewhere and haven't seen them in years.

The Crossover Cavern was a huge undersea cavern excavated using roadheaders. The cavern was built to allow the rail tracks of the two main tunnels to cross over to the opposing tunnel in the case of maintenance or an accident. If it wasn't for the crossover caverns (the French had one too) the north and south running tunnels would be entirely independent for their entire lengths.

Most photos were carefully stage-managed for the benefit of the HSE Executive. You can see here that roadheader isn't actually making contact with the rock face... if it was the air would have been full of dust.



The crossover cavern was constructed with three initial chambers, two sidewall chambers and one roof chamber. Once stresses had stabilised, these were combined to make one overall cavern.

No machinery at all was being operated for these photos! On days that the HSE Executive visited, all machinery was miraculously being maintained and the air quality was excellent.





And the running tunnel south TBM (Tunnel Boring Machine) passing through the crossover cavern on it's way to meet up with the French.

[Edmond]

Mendo for TD president.





What are the red and green circles? There seems to be a party/orgy happening on the top right.

[Mendip]

Anchored vessels. They'll be anchored up within designated anchorage areas (away from shipping lanes, subsea pipelines/cables etc) awaiting loading or offloading.

[David48atTD]

I think one of my problems is that I tend to brush from side to side instead of up and down.

I now have the softest possible Oral B toothbrush and use Sensodyne toothpaste... I guess the next step is to limit my diet to soup. I'm really not enjoying getting old.

I've never used an electric toothbrush. I've always thought that shows the height of decadence but maybe I'm just a bit old fashioned?

Same here.

The Dentist gave me a brushing lesson and, same as polishing s car ... circular motion ... wax on, wax off.

I have a broken crown and something else going on, because I can't get back to Thailand I use Sensodyne toothpaste ... great stuff.


Couple of years back (when they were on a 1/2 price special) I bought an Electric Toothbrush ... couldn't go back now.
Also great for getting the cleaning action to the back of the molars.

I had a wisdom tooth out about the same time Luigi had his out ... neither of us understood what it a serious operation it was.

My kids also use electric toothbrushes ... one Star Wars, one Frozen ... identical to mine ... just some fancy graphics.


Oh, agree also ... soft bristles, only way to go.

Flossing is the last thing.

[David48atTD]

designed for personnel transfer.



^ Mendip off





^ Mendip on

...

[malmomike77]

For the life of me I can't understand why they don't light them up at nighttime, like they do with Big Ben and Buckingham Palace. It would look great.

It would certainly help make illegal immigration a 24 hour operation

[nidhogg]

Same here.

The Dentist gave me a brushing lesson and, same as polishing s car ... circular motion ... wax on, wax off.

I have a broken crown and something else going on, because I can't get back to Thailand I use Sensodyne toothpaste ... great stuff.


Couple of years back (when they were on a 1/2 price special) I bought an Electric Toothbrush ... couldn't go back now.
Also great for getting the cleaning action to the back of the molars.

I had a wisdom tooth out about the same time Luigi had his out ... neither of us understood what it a serious operation it was.

My kids also use electric toothbrushes ... one Star Wars, one Frozen ... identical to mine ... just some fancy graphics.


Oh, agree also ... soft bristles, only way to go.

Flossing is the last thing.

I spent nearly the last year with dentists. Constant problems. Started getting a getting a broken tooth sorted (required a root canal) last December when I developed a gum abscess at about the same place. Just developed into a mess, and my regular dentist referred me over to a specialist clinic. So far I have seen nearly every two weeks either a dentist or a periodontist. They have finally sorted everything out (mostly the periodontist). Was scheduled for final work on the root canal to get it ready for a crown, when the f*cking tooth immediately below it broke. F*ck me. So, I now have two temporary crowns, and will go see the crown specialist next week.

Most of the time was spent with the periodontist. She did a "deep clean" (one mouth quadrant each visit), and some more minor surgery around the site of where the abscess had been. It has not been fun. And she said when the crowns were done, back to her for another (more normal) clean.

Between the two (dentist and periodontist) I now have an entirely new brushing routine. The main focus on brushing is now along the gum line (I was told to use the regular toothbrush at a 45% angle, with only gentle sweeps up to the side of the tooth). Regular toothbrush first, then a gum tooth brush(along the gum) then an interdental toothbrush. Twice a day. Does get old.

Anyway, gum brush and interdental are these things:

[Edmond]

Fuck this shit, I'm heading off to brush me teeth.



Really, really fucking well.

[helge]

then we, along with our colonies and Commonwealth, and most probably Thailand as well, would now be driving on the right.

Everything comes back to geology

You're blaming geology for the british contrariness ?

Nice to see that you can sail on the right side though

[Stumpy]

Tugs boats are fun to watch. I used to sit on the Oakland estuary and watch them push around huge cargo ships as well as cruise ships. You don not really appreciate a tug boat until you see one dry docked and how huge the propellers are.