Pollution Training

Friday presented another opportunity for me to escape from the Ivory Tower. Fraser (our new recruit) is at the stage where it is best to leave him on his own to do the job without standing over him all the time. As there was going to be pollution training I asked if I could go and as this was ok I kitted up and headed for the jetty.


We were going to go out on the SEA SWEEP which is one of our two pollution craft, especially built to clean up major oil spills. Thankfully we have not had to use them in anger since 1997 and the SEA EMPRESS, but we still have to train on them regularly.

I was only going as an observer so luckily I could stay relatively warm in the wheelhouse and not have to freeze to death on the deck with the other trainees. We headed off from the jetty towards the east and away from the open water. We had to find a relatvely sheltered position to deploy the boom. We reached a point near the Semlogistics terminal and began to stream out the boom behind us. The boom is used to coral any oil on the surface of the water to make it easier to retrieve.


It took nearly an hour to get the whole 300 metres inflated and deployed but once it was out it trailed behind us like a long snake, making the SEA SWEEP harder to maneouvre as it acted like a giant rudder.

By this time I was frozen despite being inside the wheelhouse with the heater on so how the guys on deck must have been feeling I can only imagine. It was a really cold, blustery day, with showers between the sunshine and I managed to get this lovely shot of a rainbow landing directly on the deck of the BRO AGNES... I should have chased it and looked for the gold.


We finally headed back to the jetty at about 1200 and I couldnt wait to get back into Port Control and try to defrost, but it had been really nice to get out on to the water for a change. As I have said before the job does have its advantages.

Strange Night Thoughts

There must be something about being up at stupid O'clock that buggers about with your brain.

The wee small hours seem to distort things and result in rather silly thoughts. Tonight's random thought involves some sand dredgers which have arrived in the Haven. They are managed by a Dutch company call Van Oord... which to me sounds a bit like the Ood, so I was wondering if the crew are tentacley faced and carry their brains around in their hands.

As I said it must just be lack of sleep!!

What a Difference a Day Makes

Its surprising what a bit of sunshine can do to lift your mood. Today I feel much happier, I won't say the January Blues have been banished completely but I am certainly feeling better.

I also have a couple of good things to look forward to next week.

Tuesday we are going to Druidston for one of their "all you can eat" buffets (Italian) with Chris and Julie. I have turned down another overtime night watch for this, I couldn't face having another of my four days off buggered about with.

Then on Friday we are going to a themed quiz night at the Cwtch, also with Chris and Julie and several other couples. The theme is School days and it is fancy dress, so plenty of photo opportunities. The food is also going to be the Cwtch's take on school dinners, so that should be interesting.

So today the sky is blue, the sea is blue and the ships are pretty colours, my cooker is fixed, its Friday and I anticipate a kebab and a bottle of Pinot Grigio this evening with possibly a soak in the hot tub... thing are looking up when the sun shines!!

January Blues

I have the January Blues. Everything today is grey (not blue really). The sky is grey, the sea is grey, the ships are grey and my mood is grey. My four days off was buggered about by having to do an overtime night watch in the middle and I feel as if I've not had any proper time off at all.

My cooker packed in on Monday and although it was been fixed today it was been a pain not having an oven. The house is a mess, pub quiz last night was cancelled after I had trekked all the way to the Jolly Sailor for nothing and my pile of ironing is nearly reaching the ceiling with more washing piling up all the time. I feel a bit like Edvard Munch's Scream at the moment. It must be that time of year. I really need sometime to motivate me but my whole attitude at the moment is "I can't be arsed"... I hope I snap out of it soon because it is really depressing me. Sorry for the moan, hopefully I shall feel more cheerful in the near future.

RIP Bill

It was with huge sadness that I just read on the BBC News website of the death of Bill Mclaren at the age of 86.

As someone who grew up listening to his voice commentating on just about every rugby match I ever watched, he was for me, as for the rest of the world "The Voice of Rugby".

This is the man who called the mighty JPR a Jet Propelled Rhino, who likened forwards racing up the pitch to a "herd of rampaging wildebeest". He was a legend. I was priveledged to be at the final game he ever commentated on, Wales v Scotland in 2002 at Cardiff and joined in the standing ovation he received from the crowd before the game. He will be sorely missed. RIP Bill Mclaren a true great!

Incy Wincy

Noel is forever on the lookout for new ways to torment the cats. He is joined in this endeavour by Meurig who this year bought him a remote controlled four wheel drive car to chase them around the house with.

No satisfied with this, while we were in Cardiff Noel spotted one of these in The Gadget Shop. As both Erin and I have a huge phobia of spiders it was not the most popular of purchases.

Hopefully I shall get some video of him tormenting either the cats or Erin with it shortly.

Happy Belated New Year

Wow it's 11th January already, this is not a good start to a year of blogging.

We had a very quiet New Year, just Noel, myself and Meurig. We watched some TV, soaked a bit in the tub and saw 2010 in very quietly if not quite soberly. Ffion and Craig went to Haverfordwest and didn't get back till about 5am. Erin and Martin also had a very quiet time staying in together, mostly because they couldn't be certain that Erin would be able to get into anywhere.

New Year's day we had our first sprinkling of snow. I won't say too much about the snow because I am sure you are all more than fed up with it by now. It was however, very pretty.


Luckily I am on 14 days off at the moment so it has not affected me very much. Noel and Ffion however have done a lot of walking to work in the last week or so much to Ffion's disgust (she does exercise about as much as I do).

The weather moderated enough at the weekend for us to get up to Cardiff for our weekend away with Chris and Julie. We went to see Les Miserables in the Millennium Centre on Saturday night be decided to make a weekend of it by going up on the Friday. We stayed at the Mecure Hotel on Newport Road which was very nice and as we used our Tesco's vouchers, very cheap.

Friday we mostly wandered around the shops, had a leisurely late lunch in Positanos then retired to Iguanas for cocktails during Happy Hour. After a quick nap back at the hotel we returned to Iguanas for a meal which was very nice.

Saturday morning we caught a bus down to Cardiff Bay where there was still a lot of snow on the ground and it looked lovely

It was very lethal underfoot though and it was like trying to walk around on an ice rink. We had a look around the foyer of the Millennium Centre then wandered across to Mermaid Quay for a a cup of coffee. We then decided to have a look in the Welsh Assembly building, the Senedd. It was very quiet in there and we had a guided tour which was very interesting and we were able to actually go into the chamber. The building really is architecturally amazing especially the ceiling which includes a mushroom shaped dome which allows natural light into the chamber.
After we had picked up the tickets for the show that evening we returned to Las Iguanas for more cocktails and some lunch both of which were very enjoyable. We then returned to hotel via the shops to get changed for the evening. We caught the bus down to the Bay and arrived at the Millennium Centre in time to have a drink before the show. Our seats were in the front row of the Upper Circle so we had to go to the fifth floor where the bar was just inside the lettering that adorns the bronze dome of the Centre... it was quite unusual to see it from the opposite side.


The show was amazing. We have seen Les Mis twice in London and this production was by far the best we have seen. The three hours flew by and I cried buckets at the end, as well as when Fantine died and in other places (I won't say too much and spoil it for JoJo).

After the show we went to Strada on Mermaid Quay and had a lovely meal before getting a taxi back to the hotel.

Sunday morning we had breakfast then headed back west as it had started to snow again. It snowed all the way back and by the time we got to St. Davids to fetch our car it was quite heavy so we went straight home. All in all it was a wonderful weekend. I shall leave you with a little bit of Les Mis.