Well, it’s been 6 months since my last blog! But I am back (for now)! and here I am back out at sea. I had an extended break this time, just about bang on 9 weeks at home. That’s been the longest for me since I started this kind of work. I was supposed to go back to ‘the project that shall not be named’ at the beginning of June, but they decided to call it quits the end of May because of the weather forecast for June. However, it is supposed to startup again in November, so I will most likely find myself out there once again.
So, 9 weeks at home….it would have been much nicer if it had been summer is all I am saying. I did a short (~10 day) trip to Tassie at the beginning to catch up with all my friends, and then came back to Melbourne. I dealt with the end of the tomato plants and planted a winter crop (peas and broad beans), but other than that not much gardening going on. I always have stuff to do when I get home from a trip away, but at about 6 weeks I started to get a bit bored, and the weather wasn’t all that conducive to doing things either.
Winter is generally a slow time for work, with the whale migration and everything. My name got put in for a few jobs, but the first one I was offered was this one. It’s just a short job, but better than nothing (or so I thought). I was told I was joining the ship in Darwin, so I flew there on the 26th. After lots of disorganization we joined the ship 3 days later. But hey, I am not complaining about that – 3 days in Darwin, with sunny 30-degree days, and paid to be there – NICE!
While in Darwin, I visited the Mindil Market a couple times, went for a couple nice runs along the coast, and just enjoyed some warmth and sunshine – we haven’t been getting a lot of that in Melbourne lately. However, Darwin in a small city, and without a car you quickly run out of things to do.
Nonetheless, things went a little downhill once joining the ship. First, it’s an OLD ship (> 30yrs), it might look OK, but it hasn’t been maintained all that well, and it’s small.
I was kind of prepared for that, I didn’t have my hopes up. But wow, I am very glad this is a short trip now! There is no real gym. There is a Bowflex machine – ever see one of those on TV commercials and wonder what they are like? Wonder no more. The are crap – that’s what they are like. Every other piece of machinery that was on board has been taken apart, moved to a ‘new’ gym, and then just left on the floor in pieces.
To top it off, the helideck is off limits unless we have really calm seas, which is a bit annoying, but so far we have been lucky. Lack of exercise is probably the biggest issue for me, and is the main reason why I am glad it will be a short(ish) trip. Also, when we joined they had me and the other MMO sharing a cabin (fairly normal practice), except we also had to share our bathroom with 2 guys from the room next door. Needless to say, we weren’t too impressed with that. From a females perspective, it’s one thing sharing your bathroom with your significant other, it’s a whole other kettle of fish to share it with 2 complete strangers. So, we requested a room transfer. However, almost all of the accommodation has shared bathrooms and the only other female on board is the Chief Steward and she gets her own private cabin anyway. The only rooms without shared bathrooms are in the bowels of the ship. We discussed it and opted for this option. So, our room is on the lowest deck, next to the engine room door. If it’s rough outside, it is LOUD inside, and at about 6am during shift change the engine room door is just BANG BANG BANG. Men….better than sharing a bathroom with them though.
As it is, it is a 4-day sail to the prospect, about 2 weeks of shooting and then a 4-day sail back to Darwin. That’s if all goes well (fingers crossed). There are a few positives I must admit. The marine crew is one of the best I have worked with, and the day cook is amazing – really good food and good variety. There are a few characters on board too.
We are currently about half way through the survey and I have seen more whales then I did in 10 weeks on my last job! Sorry the pictures aren’t that great this time around, most were taken with my phone (except for the blow) and it took me about 5 days to upload them with the internet connection – and even then I don’t think they all uploaded properly!
Until next time…..