Boat landing operations.
1. A Surfer approaching the ladder.
2. Personnel climbing the ladder from a Surfer.

My first trip to a real platform was to Bonga, owned by Shell. Like all investments in oil and gas, Bonga is a Joint venture investment between many partners but the operating partner was Shell. Bonga was named after Bonga fish. The crew has assembled on snake island preparatory to the trip. On a fateful day, we arrived early to fuel the boat, tidy things up, everything was top-notch, we got coolers of food from the kitchen. The personnel boarded the boat at the lower jetty and we set sail.

We played the safety orientation video for them on the DVD. We demonstrated our evacuation plan. I asked if there are people that will need anti-seasickness, no one indicated interest but I brought the tablets out anyway.

Just as we passed, the great wall, it started to rain heavily, the tides changed, the waves started to roar. There were corresponding changes within the cabin to match the changes outside. One person wretched and became sick, it had a domino effect on the other passengers, virtually all of them vomited. Because of the rough sea, we did not arrive at Bonga until late in the evening. As we approached the platform, I noticed two things, the bright light that could be seen miles away and the heat from the gas flare tower.

The Captain contacted the control room onboard Bonga for permission to enter the 500m exclusive zone. Permission was granted and we approached the boat landing, The wearied pax started preparing to disembark, some managed to smile. Then we realized that we have more problems. The heave was more than 2m so it was very unsafe to approach. The personnel with us developed sullen faces again. The Captain asked if basket transfer could be done but it was ruled out based on the heave and the fact that the boat did not have a dynamic positioning system (DP system)

We had to stay additional 4 hours for the heave to go down, eventually, at about 2100hr, we were able to approach the landing and we transferred wave-battered wearied souls onto Bonga. We spent the night on the boat because it was too late to start getting back to Lagos.

A little information about Bonga;
(Copied.)
'Bonga lies 120km southwest of the Niger Delta, in a water depth of over 1,000m.

The real extent of the Bonga field is approximately 60km². After acquiring and processing 3D seismic data in 1993-94, the first Bonga discovery well was drilled between September 1995 and January 1996.

Shell drilled an exploration well on Bonga Southwest located 10km south-west of the Bonga field in May 2001. Bonga Southwest was drilled in a water depth of 1,245m

Shell decided on an FPSO development solution. The field has around 16 subsea oil-producing and water injection wells tied to the FPSO.

AMEC secured a £300m ($463m) offshore contract for the engineering design, fabrication, integration, and commissioning of the 17,000t topside production facilities in 2001.

These were necessary to produce approximately 200,000 barrels of oil and 150 million standard cubic feet of natural gas a day.

The newly built hull arrived in the UK during the third quarter of 2002, following its construction in the Far East under a separate contract. The topsides were installed onto the hull to create the 300,000t FPSO.

The vessel achieved production of more than 800 million barrels of crude oil in 2018. It is amongst the largest FPSOs in the world.

Gas and oil export

Gas from the Bonga is connected to the Nigeria Liquefied Natural Gas (NLNG) plant at Bonny, where a third processing train was constructed.

LNG is exported to Atlantic and European markets via tankers. The oil is stored on-board the production facilities prior to direct offloading.

It can produce 200,000 barrels of oil per day and 150 million standard cubic feet of gas per day. The cost of the full field development was $3.6bn.

Contractors involved in the deep-water project

ABB won the $180m order for the engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) of all of the subsea equipment. This also included production-control umbilicals and gas-lift risers.

ABB supplied 29 conventional subsea trees and associated hardware under the deal in order to facilitate oil production from, and water injection into, the reservoir.

The deliveries of equipment continued until mid-2009.

The work included project management, the engineering and supply of manifolds, trees, wellheads, controls, connection systems, intervention equipment, integration testing and installation support.

Stolt Offshore signed an approximately $200m turnkey subsea construction contract to support the project.

The deal covered the design, engineering, procurement, installation and commissioning of the gas-export pipeline, production flowlines, water-injection lines and steel catenary risers.

Stolt Offshore began the design engineering and procurement work immediately.

The risers were fabricated in the second half of 2002 at the Stolt Offshore Nigerdock pipe reeling facility in Nigeria.

Installation works included rigid steel flowlines, together with steel catenary oil and gas-production risers.

Seaway Polaris installed 36km of 10in-diameter production flowlines and all the project’s steel catenary risers using the J Lay method.

Samsung Heavy Industries was awarded a contract to build the FPSO.

Additionally, Seaway Polaris handled the installation of the 92km-long, 16in-diameter gas-export pipeline that connected the Bonga FPSO to the Shell EA riser platform.

Seaway Kestrel installed 25km of 12in-diameter water-injection flowlines. Surveying and tie-in work was undertaken by Seaway Legend.

ClampOn delivered a topside system of sand sensors in February 2003.

An extension to the field, Bonga Northwest field, is situated in OML 118. It lies at a water depth in the range of 2,953ft-3,937ft.

This field will be developed by 12 subsea wells tied back to Bonga’s FPSO.'

https://www.offshore-technology.com/projects/Bonga

The most common Chopper being used in the sector was and still is the Sirkosky S76c+ and S92/S96, Some operators like AON and Caverton use Augusta and Bell Helicopters but they are not as common and popular as Sirkoskys. - My words

Copied from Bristow Helicopters.
The Sikorsky S76 C++ is a twin-engine, 12-passenger, IFR-certified helicopter featuring higher speeds, greater range and a smoother ride. This reliable helicopter is capable of carrying cargo and passengers offshore, day or night, and in instrument weather conditions. The S76 C++ is powered by 2 Turbomeca Arriel 2S2 engines rated at 923 shp for takeoff, 853 shp max continuous operation, and two-minute power of 956 shp. The S-76D features an all-glass integrated avionics suite, dual-speed composite main rotor, additional fuel capacity, icing certification and 1,077 shp Pratt & Whitney Canada PW210S turboshaft engines.

The Sikorsky S-92 helicopter is the most advanced aircraft in Sikorsky’s civil product line, certified to the most stringent safety requirements of the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) and the European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA). The helicopter’s advanced health and usage monitoring system sets a new level of reliability and enables cutting-edge fleet management services. With seating for 19 passengers, the S-92 has a maximum takeoff weight of 26,500 lb/12,020 kg. Bristow also has four S92s with the Gross Weight Expansion (GWE) applied which increases the maximum takeoff weight to 27,700 lb/12,565 kg.

https://www.bristowgroup.com/fleet/heavy-twins/sikorsky-s-92

In the warm months between February and April, going to the sea on a boat was always fun. During these months, we usually have pods of dolphins accompanying us as we rode to our location. While on-site, sometimes we will notice jet spray in the air and the mammoth sea creature will emerge from the deep blue to breathe and then take another dive, Whales. They do come to our waters to mate and brood babies. There was one that came very close to us, less than 10m to the boat. Fortunately, we were outside on the stern when we sighted it miles aways so we were guessing when and where it will surface again only for us to be sprayed with the jet spray as it came up beside us, less than 10m away.

Some periods are always difficult to fly as a rotary-wing pilot, Late December till February when there is persistent Harmattan reducing visibility. May till July when it rains heavily offshore. The birds struggle to fly so the boat becomes the medium of staff transit naturally.
There were 3 series of Surfer boats then, at least the ones that were operational in the Nigerian Maritime and Oil and Gas upstream industry.
We had the 1400 series, the 1800 series, and the 250 series in order of production and advancement. Surfer 1822 must have annual maintenance that had to be done in the Bourbon Shipyard in PH. During this period, the company sent Surfer 1414, a 1400 series. The 1400 series had a fatal design error. The Cabin leads straight into the Stern, no wall that separates the Cabin from the Stern, just a flimsy tarpaulins curtain. The 250 series was top-of-the-range boats then, there must be newer series now.

There were 3 series of Surfer boats then, at least the ones that were operational in the Nigerian Maritime and Oil and Gas upstream industry.
We had the 1400 series, the 1800 series, and the 250 series in order of production and advancement. Surfer 1822 must have annual maintenance that had to be done in the Bourbon Shipyard in PH. During this period, the company sent Surfer 1414, a 1400 series. The 1400 series had a fatal design error. The Cabin leads straight into the Stern, no wall that separates the Cabin from the Stern, just a flimsy tarpaulins curtain. The 250 series was top-of-the-range boats then, there must be newer series now

Inside picture of one of the Surfer boats

Surfer 1414 and 258, 1400 series and 250 series.

Alwayshungry:
Dats true..
Although my normal location 8s at deep water.
Came out there for a call out.
JVO is just stressful cos of the daily surfer movement to external platforms.
All my intestines don twist.
Especially now that they are using the SILVERLINE SURFER.
THE thing can shake u out of ur body.all the same I wish I well in ur endeavors.

Thank you, Daily surfer transfer to those unmanned platforms is not easy.

These are the ships and vessels that you will find on the channel, approaching the seven port terminals in Apapa, Oe of the past Nigerian Presidents has a controlling stake in one of them. AP Muller.

• Container Ships.

• Bulk Carrier.

• Tanker Ships.

• Naval Ships.

• Offshore Ships.

There are tug boats, supply boats, floating barges, wooden canoes mostly sand-carrying canoes. These sand-carrying canoes move sharp sand from one point to the other, they travel in clusters of about 15 or more boats tied together. Once we sight them, we will reduce our speed to the slowest because the wave generated by the surfer is strong enough to capsize all of them.

Tug boats are like the touts on the channel in the sense that they are small, hardy, and mostly unkempt but they can tow mighty ships in and out of the channel.

I remember NNS Arandu, the naval flagship frigate, she has accosted us a couple of times, questioning what we were doing on the sea.

In the warm months between February to April, going to the sea on a boat was always fun. During these months, we usually have pods of dolphins accompanying us as we rode to our location. While on-site, sometimes we will notice jet spray in the air and the mammoth sea creature will emerge from the deep blue to breathe and then take another dive, Whales. They do come to our waters to mate and brood babies. There was one that came very close to us, less than 10m to the boat. Fortunately, we were outside on the stern when we sighted it miles aways so we were guessing when and where it will surface again only for us to be sprayed with the jet spray as it came up beside us, less than 10m away.





https://www.africanmilitaryblog.com/2020/02/nns-aradu-nigerias-most-powerful-warship-gets-a-refit

Fidelismaria:
Well done SoKnown, how's London treating you?

Great my friend, welcome on board

IYIMAN:


Great experience we had. Nice write up my man. It was all worth it, a lifetime experience. Thank God you made it out and then out. I will be corroborating and expatiating on our encounters as necessary.

Thank you, Baba, good to have you on board

Exmilitant:
Op, i can relate, once worked with Noble drillings as roostabout and in a fishing trawler as deckhand. Water is another world of its own. Thats why those who've worked long at sea hardly get use to another life. You write like a pro.

At this time, Noble was drilling wells at Erha.

itzzkhaliii:



Nice thread op,me found my bed relax,plug my charger and followed the thread reading kindly with all interest wishing to learn one or two things from this write up but it seems there are tons of knowledge in here.
But on a serious note op connect your boy na.

It was ages ago, my friend.

Alwayshungry:
Bourbon surfer are no longer crewed that way.
It's now manned by a 3 member crew.
No more medic.
Medic are only found onboard platforms or FPSO.

That Crew make up was just for that project, Most Surfer boats have just the Captain and Seamen.

Asquare84:
Opp, did you witness any mystical being like UFO in the sea

Not really.

Alwayshungry:
Wonderful.
Kindred spirit.
Currently onboard deep waters.
No other life than the sea.

Trust you are safe, looks like a JVO location that I know. A Production platform that uses a mother ship as its storage. Don't want to mention the name.

iamclime:

And by the way, this is how Whispering Palms looks like now. Was there on Thursday for research purposes.

These pictures brought many memories. Thank you.

uche785:

Pictures from nigerdock, drydock and RoRo vessel, the red arrow is the gate of the drydock.

Nostalgic feeling here. Thank you.

I need to rest, I am on a late shift. See you, later all.

uche785:

Wow that's awesome � am so surprise most places mentioned I have work there snake island, in niger duck also enjoyed their shor club restaurant ,thro deep blue sea, high sea and inland Waters , work on tugs boat, pilot boat and digger vessel etc is a good experience but the risk is very high.

Wow, happy to have someone that has worked on Nigerdock on board.

Generalwoodz:
IAM not Op but we are as hot as fallen angels

Washed by Amphitrite and creamed by Calypso,

Klass99:
@ Soknown, I like the way you write.

Did you ever encounter any incidents where a chopper crashed into the sea and your crew had to do rescue activity?

Are men at sea as Hot as I've heard? And if there's a female on board they all try to get in between her legs for some relief?

These are things I've heard and I'm curious to know if there's any truth to it.

No chopper crash happened when I was on that project but after, I will get to that later.
Per the bolded, it's all bar-table tales. Fables I must say,

Inception:
I was thinking that Willbros was bought over by the now defunct Ascot(Ascot constructors offshore located at their site2 yard and Ascot lines at their site 1yard) at Isodu PH
I do not know about Acorn

That is what I heard from guys that I left behind in WAGP, so many stories about Wibros, some said it was bought by a former Governor in an oil rich state.

PeraGSD:
Interesting read. It reminded me of my days in the oil industry were our team was responsible for something similar but on land. We did flight following monitoring flights from onshore to offshore rig. The chopper chimed in on take off and every 10 mins with coordinates of current location which we logged. We were also responsible for routing any "man overboard" emergency as maybe necessary too. Other interesting stuff then too.

Interesting experience, Kudos. I guess you are out of the industry now?

Thanks all for reading and commenting, i will keep updating it.

The last picture that i posted was taken by a photographer:

Per Karlsson [View profile]
Title: Surfer 1822
Added: Jan 30, 2008
Captured: January 06, 2010 IMO: Unavailable Hits: 1,677
Location: Douala, Cameroon Republic

Photo Category: Offshore Crew Vessels

Description:
Surfer 1822
Type: Crew boat
Owner: Bourbon Offshore
Flag: French
Capacity: 25 PAX

Photo taken when inbound to Douala on Wouri River, Cameroon 2010-01-06

So each morning, we will resume at the dockside, fuel the boat on alternate days, pick food from the Kitchen. Mr. A**a, an itsekiri was the lead cook. We had to discuss this with him at some point. He was giving us Nigerians, the same food meant for the Captain, that was a good thing, right? But when we collected Lasagne in the morning to keep in the fridge, the Captain can eat the Lasagne in the cold form but to us, it was a big punishment. So we spoke with him to be giving us gaari and Okro with different road-blocks in it, Fried rice, Jollof and Chicken. Enough of eating cold continental dishes. In his defense, he did not want to discriminate against the Nigerians, He felt we should be treated equally. He understood our plight and change the menu for us. We will set sail in the morning, doing about 2 knots on the creek until we were outside the Channel, after the channel, the Captain will announce, Full ahead. There was a mystery to me that has not been resolved, outside of the Lagos Channel there were two distinct colors on the water, the dirty-looking light blue sea of the harbor and the deep blue sea, lying side by side yet not mixing. I asked the Captain, I remembered that he said what caused the delineation was the level of salinity in the deep blue seawater and the overdiluted land water mixed with the creek. I hope geologists, water scientists, and mariners can explain this to me.
I was very close to one of the Captains, I could call him my friend because we kept in touch for many years after the project. Captain St****n was a very good man. Unlike his back-back Captain Ch****ph who was a jerk( pardon my French), we were always at loggerhead in the same boat, he felt he was the boss, so he could do anything, I wasn’t having it. The Cabin has no smoking signs everywhere, instead of going outside to smoke, he will sit at the wheel and start to smoke where you have three non-smokers. I never wasted time in confronting him. You may own the boat but comm’on this is my country. I reported him to two Snepco officials but they were not keen on correcting him because of fish, Yes Fish. We do get fish and prawns from Fish trawlers from different countries, Angola, Togo, Benin, Cape Verde, Sao Tome, and Principe. It was free for all out there, I kept wondering why were these people in our territorial waters. What is the work of our Navy? These Trawlers and sometimes canoes might have been on the sea for weeks, so they always need a fresh supply of water and cigarette. So we usually exchanged cigarettes for their swathing catches.
The sea was really calm in the first two months, I mean, April and May but from the end of May, Heavy rain started and the sea became more turbulent. Sweeping and high rolling tides and waves started. Waves that will be higher than a ship. Most times we will run from our location if a mighty wave was coming towards us or the heave became higher. We have all the safety gear and life-saving equipment on board but they will be useless, if the boat capsized. The Thuraya phone was very handy in those difficult days to call out to family members, of course, we were not telling them, we were facing challenges but just talking to them and hearing their voices usually bring some sunshine to our otherwise grim environment, Deep, dark roaring sea and a dark, overcast 'tearing' sky, oh I forgot the cold. I remembered one incident, it was one of those grim days, it started raining from Lagos channel, so the sea was rough, the boat was slamming and banging the waves as we sped at about 15knots/hr to our location. We arrived late to the location, thankfully the weather was so bad that the birds could not take off from LOS and Snake island. The ambience was very dark, rain was hammering us, the waves were rolling us from window to window, port to starboard. There was a killer wave coming towards us, that we needed to move away quickly but the engine did not start, the Captain and the Seaman dived into the engine room to check what the problem was, I was left at the wheel. The Diver was on the lookout. All of a sudden, a dot appeared on the radar yet I could not see anything outside. Then we heard a loud horn, obviously, an oil tanker changed course because of us, we have drifted to her path. As they passed us, The Captain radioed to check on us. We informed him about our problem but that it was resolved as the engine has fired up and running smoothly. I know you want to ask, Yes, collisions do happen on the sea too, it is rare but it can happen.

Thank you Mods, I just realized that my topic made the front page.

There she is.

I have been to different places in my life, non is as diverse, deep, and awesomely interesting as the deep blue sea.

My first sojourn into this life started in 2006, after leaving Wilbros's project in Badagry. Wilbros now Acorn was laying a gas pipeline from Escravos across different terrain, swamps, rivers, jungles, roads, and settlements through to Lagos en route to other West African countries.

I still remember Okor-afor campsite, Ajido and Agbado Gas station, our relaxation hub, whispering Palms resort. The project was named West African Gas Pipeline. The company that I worked for was providing ambulatory emergency services and cover for the project so we were following these men from camp to site, swamps to the jungle. I cannot remember the number of times that my ambulance got stuck in the swamp and had to be towed out by an excavator. I was awed by the number of Catfish living in the wild in swamps, we made quite a few catches. Some are as big as a human leg and very delicious in a pepper soup.

Before I jump right in let me state here that the purpose of the thread is to educate, enlighten and add to the body of knowledge on Nairaland, It is possible to be a short thread or it could be a very long one, it depends on the level of civility and decorum in our engagements, the quality of materials that I can muster and the amount of time that I can spare to write. Let us keep it civil folks. I intend to keep it interesting with pictures to boot.

I have been across rivers and streams prior to this time in 2006 but nothing prepared me for this next stage of my life. So I was deployed to the Snepco project operating from snake island in Lagos. The theatre of operation was Tincan Island/Nigerdock. It involves using a Surfer boat launched daily from Tincan port to offshore in monitoring flights from both LOS and the offshore platforms. So basically we stayed in between LOS and the locations. The project was a tripartite contract between A major rotary-wing operator, 3 IOCs, and the government as the regulator of course. Remembering my first days on this project now as I write, this song comes to mind ‘ Oju e ni ma la aa ri o, Oju e ni ma la ari yonu’.

On my first day on the job, there was no power in the house, it was too early to put on a generator. I used the torch on my Samsung J700 ( Samsung J700 was a slip phone that the company used Didier Drogba to advertise back then) I left, Taiwo street, Alaguntan Bus/stop Iyana Ipaja very early in the morning, I got to Bolade, Oshodi at about 0500hr. I got a bus going to Liverpool and we proceeded. The trip was smooth until we got to Mile 2 bridge, there was traffic as early as 0530hr, traffic was moving at snail speed from MTN maritime house till we got to Coconut bridge. I alighted from the bus at Tincan's second gate then walked down to the main gate. I moved to the Jetty gate and presented my letter of introduction to the security, he radioed to the control room to confirm my presence. I was led to the jetty and waited for the rickety ferry. Two ferries operate across the two ends of the Tincan port on the 5 cowry creek. The first rickety ferry is for moving personnel across the creek and the second one is a long barge to move vehicles including oil tankers. The jetty was a beehive of activities as mariners and Niger-dock workers jostle for space in the ferry.

On getting to the island end, The environment felt different. The ambience was great, with cool air, spaced housing, power supply, a lot of greenery, unlike the chaos that I survived before getting to the jetty. I was directed to the control rooms for my ID processing. All done within few minutes. So I proceeded to the anchorage very near the dry dock. The dry dock is a big rectangular concrete box that has an iron gate that can be opened and closed to let the ship in before the water is drained away so that the body of the ship can be worked on.

It is amazing looking at various ships dry-docked, bare butt, and unencumbered by water like a nude model being worked on by the make-up artist. Only that these artists are not the usual soft face, brush wielding, powder sprinkling smiling faces, they are hard faces, with harder hander hands, wielding hammers, wire brushes, electric sanding machine, Chisel, sandblasting machines, and paintbrushes to make this particular iron lady a darling of the sea that she once was.

These are gifted hands that do diagnostic, clinical, and cosmetic surgeries on the various ships, they are named welders, Scaffolders, roast about, deckhand, sandblasters, safety officers, iron scanners, painters all decked in oil-soaked cover-all working tirelessly to return the sea beast to the sea. What fun to watch.
Besides the dry dock where she was, anchored, Delicately Perched on the waters like a bumblebee perched on a sunflower. Paragon of beauty, powerfully endearing, looking delicate like a butterfly wing yet powerful and beastly on the surf.

This boat was a beauty in and out, sitting elegantly on the dark waters but unstained. Sleek and Splendid, petite lady with a big engine, the cynosure of all eyes along the creek, darling of the brave and tormentor of small boats and canoes. Surfer 1822, A Bourbon Interoil made surfer boat. The 1800 series was top of the range then. Later on, I got so familiar with this boat that I could hear the moaning of her engine right from the Tincan gate. We refueled right there at the Jetty, the Seaman or the roast-about has collected our food from the kitchen and that was it. The Seaman removed the rope that tied the boat to the dock, The Captain eased off from the jetty and We set sail, Bon voyage.

My first day on the high sea.
Surfer 1822 ( called one eight two two and not eighteen twenty-two) was a 22 pax capacity service/rescue boat commissioned as a proactive measure to monitor flights and offer emergency rescue in the unfortunate incident of choppers crashing into the sea. Ironically many years later when I needed this kind of service, the contract has been terminated. If you have moved in a chopper to any of the offshore facilities within LOS and offshore locations belonging to the big four IOCs, we were on the floor of the ocean monitoring your smooth passage like the guardian angels that we were.

The boat was manned by four men, The captain, the medic, the seaman, and the diver. We have on-board top-of-the-range navigation equipment and also rescue equipment. The Captain is responsible for getting us to the designated position on the sea and also the day-to-day running of the boat, including general correspondence, logistics supplies. Thuraya was top of the range phone then, we had two on board because there was no cellular coverage on the deep sea, even with the Thuraya phones, we have to wander around on the sea looking for strong signals.

The medic, which was my humble self. was responsible for evacuation equipment and supply, general maintenance, daily, a weekly and monthly test of the equipment, and stock inventory. I was the lead personnel for emergency and rescue operations. I coordinated medical drills, real recovery, resuscitation, and evacuation of victims and was also responsible for the welfare of the crew members.

The seaman assisted me and the captain in whatever roll we deem fit. While the diver was to dive into the sea to rescue victims and sometimes to declutter the keel and underbelly of the boat.

It was awesome fun to watch as the boating ease out of anchorage into the open creek passing incoming and outgoing RoRo, tugs, tankers, and canoes. Outside of the creek, the boat kissed the waves as she picked up the pace, racing past the mother ships who were too big to enter the port but had to berth at the harbor serviced by small boats. It was April so the sea was relatively calm, the boat rod rode and surfed in what looked like an endless journey to nowhere, it took about 45 minutes traveling at 35knots/hour to reach our designated position.

I wondered how they knew the particular spot we were supposed to be, there was no Bus stop, skyscraper landmark, or street name. Well, there were coordinates and compass, perfect guidance.
Sometimes we drifted from our location and had to ride back to the location.

So the waiting game started before the airwaves buzzed,
5NB*** 1822, come in
1822 go ahead.
5NB*** Switch to channel X
5NB*** Departed LOS @ ***** approaching ******, ETA *****, ** Souls on Board. Endurance ******
1822, Roger all that.

The captain logged the information in his book, and our business for the day commenced. We know the distance between LOS and each location so if a particular bird forgot to tell us of her flight, we track her down because the pilot was sometimes too occupied with flying that they forgot to tell big brother on the seafloor.

Before my field postings, I have worked in the call center so I was very fluent in NATO-phonetic alphabets, the 26 code words, thingy. Alpha, Bravo, Charlie, Delta, Echo, Foxtrot, Golf, Hotel, India, Juliet, Kilo, Lima, Mike, November, Oscar, Papa, Quebec, Romeo, Sierra, Tango, Uniform, Victor, Whiskey, Xray, Yankee, Zulu. So following discussions on the coms was easy for me.

The first day was not too bad for me as I was not seasick, I had bought peppermint sweets or candy if you may, the day before so anytime I felt sick I was popping sweet in my mouth or going to the deck for fresh air and sunlight.

After 1 week, I stopped feeling sick altogether. The rotation was one week on – one week off.

Quite a few people have asked that I should upload my picture. Well, there you have it.
Satire.

Good morning, let the light through.