Weather: Calm - Flat Calm

Location: Nun Rock

Food: Gammon + Bread Pudding for desert!!!

SUPER SOAKERS & HAPPY BIRTHDAY DAVE!!!!!!!!!!!

Hello!!

Well firstly a big shout out to Dave Smith from his family and friends!! Happy Birthday!!! A visit to the bar for our three units tonight is on the cards!!!

Today, is the first day I felt like the cruise was really coming to an end (in the sense that we will be going into port) and it starts to get scary how long we have been out and how fast it has gone by, how much we have done and how much is still left to do. As it comes to an end it's really strange as I have met so many great people from all manner of colorful backgrounds. It will be a shame to say goodbye to them......

Today is emergency drill day where we practice a variety of skills that we would use in the unlikely event we have an actual emergency. These drills vary from week to week to ensure that we cover a broad spectrum of scenarios.

Eamonn had handed me a sheet detailing the exercise yesterday. The drill today was a fire onboard - in which we would get to use our new toy - a smoke generator (the sort you have at a disco). Our specialist trained teams went to investigate the fire whilst the scientific party were left to undertake boundary cooling. Boundary Cooling involves staying well away from the fire (as mentioned we have specially trained people onboard who will tackle the fire) and cooling bulkheads down to minimize the likelihood of the fire spreading to other compartments. Each scientist was shown the correct methods for setting up the hoses and using them as part of a team- they were then given a few minutes to use the hoses and have a practice spraying water over the side of the ship.

Once we had finished using the fire hoses we waited for our call to the lifeboats. The smoke generator worked a treat and by all accounts the visibility was nil - good practice for our firefighters. When it came to venting the smoke from the training area it was amazing how much smoke the machine had actually generated (See pictures below)

We finished by mustering at the lifeboat stations where the roll-call was taken.

The rest of the day has been coring, coring and more coring!!! As I am currently the only person capable of using the USBL Fusion system to track the rig it has been a very busy 24hrs although the BGS people have been very helpful!!

I hear the people back at BGS are getting excited about the cores - lets see how excited you guys are when you have to unload them!!! There’s millions of them!!!!

Eamonn and me had a meeting to discuss the end of the cruise and what needed to be done. Though the ship is going into Leith on Friday, I'm onboard for another 10 days and am sailing with the ship to Hull where it will undergo recertification - Eamonn is on for a bit longer - I think after this I might take a few days off!!!

PART 1: BEFORE THEY WERE FAMOUS!!!!

Some "friends" and family sent me some pictures of some of the familiar faces from our cruise when they were a bit younger.... (If you've got any send em on!!!)

Yep, its me!!! by all accounts I have to add a pic of me if im going to show baby pics of everyone else!!!

Left: Jim Aged 18 (with slightly more hair) at RAF Cosford (1983)

Julia has gone from getting covered in tomato sauce to mud.

Part 2: Pictures

Tootums, Mike and Dave W looking at cores

A rare photograph of Heather now that they have changed shifts

Strange!!!!

Me practicing boundary cooling

Julia practicing with the hose

James getting stuck into the drill

Eamonn Having a Go

The hanger just after we started venting the fake somke from trainning area

Chris walks through the fake smoke

James examining a core sample

Bob looking at a core sample - I couldn't even pronounce the name of the minerals that it contained....