little gray concrete houses

I’ve just returned home with sore arms. I flew to Edinburgh on Sunday evening to attend a medical on Monday. I arrived at the medical centre Early in the morning and was greeted by a nurse. She took my blood pressure and some of my blood, tested my eyes, hearing and then jabbed me four times in the arm so as to protect me from various diseases. I was also drugs tested and tested in every other way imaginable. I then saw the doctor for another ENG 1. Apparently Chevron insist it is issued by that particular doc.
Next I was to demonstrate my overall fitness and coordination/dexterity. This involved about an hour of various exercises performed at different levels of exhaustion. Some of which seemed rather odd to me. One of the exercises involved moving baked bean cans around on a shelf just out of comfortable reach. Another had me threading nuts onto bolts once they had been passed through a link in some chain. I was also asked to crawl around on the floor, run up and down a step ladder, lift and carry heavy weights and rise and fall onto my knees unaided. Lastly I did a test which consisted of stepping on and off a 12inch high stair for 10 minutes at varying speeds whilst my pulse was read. After all this I was thoroughly tired and thankfully thoroughly finished.
I then took a train to Glasgow where I went to my companies office. I was given an introduction to the company and watched some DVD’s about safe practice and how wonderful Chevron are. They were full of words like “Dynamic” and “Proactive”. Thankfully they managed to avoid using the term “run it up the flag pole” but I suppose this is because of the industry they are involved in (could become a confusing term to use.) I was shown a leaflet entitled “The Chevron way”, this explained that Chevron and its employees are “nice” and “polite” and that the company is “honest” and (grrrrr) “proactive”. All of which I would have thought goes without saying, but nevertheless they have written it down in a lovely glossy leaflet. Once I had been learned how wonderful Chevron is I went to the airport and travelled back to London (through some rather strong winds).
I noticed that Scotland (the bit I saw) has lots of prisons and everyone seems to live in grey concrete houses. The countryside is beautiful though. Some of the houses looked like they had at one point been made from stone but have now been plastered and painted a sort of dirty grey colour. Very odd.
I received a call from Chevron this morning. They now want me to attend their Glasgow office again next week so as to meet someone who was not there yesterday so it looks as if I wont be joining ship for another week and a half or so.

Back online

Sorry for the late update, I have received countless reminders from all different sources. I left college on Friday evening and have spent since Saturday in London without internet access. I’ll Start where I left off. After being burnt on Wednesday, we were cooled down on Thursday with the sea survival course. The morning was conducted in a classroom by an ex- RN instructor who explained to us that all we were going to learn today is a last resort and if we are lucky we will never do any of it again. Which is a shame as it was much more fun than the fire fighting. We were introduced to a life raft which was inflated in the classroom. They are large hexagonal floating tents really, with various useful gadgets and necessities stowed within. Procedures for launching a life raft depend largely on the type, but most involve cutting some straps then throwing the thing into the sea and pulling on a bit of rope (the other end of which you hope you remembered to keep hold of). The life raft then inflates from a Co2 canister and hopefully lands the correct way up in the water. Now so far the life raft has not proved to be of any use as you are still on the sinking/burning ship. Now comes the bit where you must explain to your passengers (if you have any) that what they really want to do is step off the side of the ship and fall into the water. Once this had been achieved all floating (and probably very cold) parties must get themselves into the raft. A life raft with a capacity of twelve we were told can hold 24 people if fully inflated. In the afternoon we went by mini bus to a swimming/diving pool. Here we all donned lifejackets and mustered by the pool for the practical aspect of the course. Firstly we did a dry (yer right!) launch and embarkation of the life rafts. We threw them into the water, inflated them, pulled them to the side and all jumped in. We all jumped in to about 5 inches of water. So much for a dry run! After twelve of us were in the life raft it was very full, I certainly wouldn’t want to be in there with 24. We then ran through the procedures for survival. Firstly a leader needs to be selected, then everyone (without exception) must take anti-seasickness medication. In the first 24 hours knowone should eat of drink (unless injured) but everyone should go to the toilet. Urine retention can become a big problem so start as you mean to go on etc. There are three days of rations in the life raft so you should be able to survive 4 days plus how ever long you can go without food and water. A sea anchor is deployed to stop the life raft drifting away from the last position of the ship (to help search and rescue), finally lookouts are posted and the life raft is closed rather like a tent.
Next we were all to jump off a high platform. We were instructed how to hold our nose (there is a special way!) The platform was only about 4 meters high but it gave me that “stomach in mouth” feeling as I hurtled towards the water, great fun! We then practiced swimming in groups and helping each other into the life rafts.
Finally to finish the day we were all ushered into the lobby where we were told we would run around the car park until we experienced the onset of hypothermia. Thankfully this was a ploy to distract us as the pool was set up for the last exercise. We entered the room which was now pitch dark, cold, and noisy with sirens and bells going off. Lights flashing and freezing cold water being sprayed down on us from above. We had to all climb the platform, jump into the pool, swim to a life raft in a group and go through the procedures. It was great fun!

I have exchanged Emails with my company today. Looks like I will be joining my ship in Hawaii some time next week.

NOT DEAD!

Am not dead, without internet till friday. will update then.

Rob

I hope my ship is fire-proof!

This has been the hardest day yet, the practical basic fire fighting course. I am now very satisfied with my cold room, its lovely! I've have been out into the corridor several times this evening to check the fire extinguishers are in place and in date. In fact I am now a bit of a fire extinguisher anorak, I can't help but look at them all wherever I go and check on their condition should I need to use them! Today I have also come to really respect fire fighters and the job they do, I could not do it!

This morning we arrived at the fire school at 8am. We were issued with fire clothing (Fire resistant boots, trousers and jackets) which we put on over our overalls (so not sure why they are called overalls really!) We got a hat (USA fireman style helmet) and then strolled out onto the fire ground. Firstly we put out a few fires with different types of extinguisher, water on a wood fire, powder on some liquid and foam on some other burning liquid. We practiced putting out a chip-pan fire with a fire blanket and a chopping board(never use a damp teatowel! NEVER!). There are methods for all of these, its not simply a point and squeeze with the extinguishers or a "throw it in the rough direction of the pan" with the blanket. Then we put out a large(and very hot) fuel fire with foam from a hose.
All this was rather pleasant and even fun, we were outside in the fresh air, not for long! Next we went into the Breathing apparatus (BA) room and donned our sets. These involve a tank on your back (heavy) and a full face mask. They also have a gauge, whistle(this sounds when you are low on air) and a torch. We returned outside with the BA on our backs in teams of four.
On the fire ground is a three storey metal building with various ladders and outer platforms. We donned our face masks and climbed up to deck two, we entered the building after carrying out a door entry procedure and conducted a search of deck two in pitch black(no torches allowed). We then proceeded up a ladder to deck three to carry out another search. Throughout the exercise we had to communicate with each other to describe obstacles and movements. I was team leader so went first shouting back the line when I felt a bulkhead or hatch etc. This is hard enough without breathing apparatus on, but when wearing it you struggle to be heard clearly. Two members of our team don't speak English as their first language so I spent a lot of my time stretching out into the dark, grabbing hold of them and pushing/pulling them into the correct position.
We then exited the building on deck three and descended the ladder to the ground. At this point all I wanted to do was rip the BA off my face and breath fresh air, not allowed! I found that the BA made you conscious of your breathing because of the noise it makes and therefore it becomes difficult to breath. I had to concentrate on not concentrating on it just so I could concentrate on the task I was meant to be concentrating on (over kill on concentrate??!!). When we were allowed to remove the BA it was time for lunch, so we changed the cylinders serviced the kit and stowed it away for a break.
This afternoon was the big exercise, we were to enter the building find a casualty and fight a fire. After donning our BA kit and telling the incident commander our name and letting him check how much air we had we were good to go, the instructors checked we were all flame proof and we entered on deck two. I could not see a thing, it was smoky and dark, and beginning to get rather hot. We worked our way to a door and performed a door opening procedure (involves cooling the door with a hose, checking for steam -indicating a fire behind the door- and slowly opening it whilst crouched down to avoid any backdraft.)
The next room was very hot, I could feel the hot floor through my boots, We searched two rooms for a casualty, found one and did a gauge check to see how much air we had left. Luckily mine was the lowest which meant the two with the most were elected to remove the casualty (a 9 stone dummy). At this point I was becoming aware that I could not see anything even with my torch on, the side of my face was very hot and I really wasn't to keen on staying in there much longer! Almost as if my thoughts could be heard an instructor appeared (also all done up in BA equipment and fire suit). He wiped my visor (didn't realise smoke can cloud up the visor!) and shouted at me to move into the next room so he could replace my flash hood(a sort of heat resistant balaclava) as I was likely to burn my ears off. That was a welcome interlude! When back in the room with the rest of my team we were told to descend a ladder in to the room below. First we all had to peel back our gloves to reveal a bit of skin and hold it in the hatchway for five seconds to gauge if the room was too hot to enter. I rather thought it was but everyone else seemed to think it wasn't so down we went.
The first person cooled the ladder with the hose and then descended, we lowered the hose down to him and he cooled the ladder for the second person. I was third and followed by four. As I descended the ladder (as quickly as possible due to the fact it was bloomin warm!) I felt like I was lowering myself into an oven. When I reached the bottom and turned around there was a huge fire on the other side of the room (about 8 foot away). It was very very hot, I cannot exaggerate how hot it felt. The instructor then made us tell him what type of fire it was (A) and what dangers there were. We then did another gauge check and I was selected to fight the fire. I moved to the front of the team and took the hose. I had to stand up and blast the fire at its core for 4 seconds, then duck and wait for the steam to clear. After repeating this several times the fire died down. Just as we were about to discuss further what we would do next one of our whistles started to sound indicating we were running low on air. Luckily this meant we could exit and finish the exercise. After being debriefed and removing our BA we went to get out of our fire gear, When I removed my fire clothes my white boilersuit underneath was almost see-through from sweat due to all the heat. I really have never been so hot.

I am tired now from writing all that, Sea survival tomorrow so I'll get off to bed for some rest!

Got my passport back today, blasted Yanks have stuck an ungly U.S Visa into one of the pages.

arrrr 'n' arrrrr

Basic fire fighting theory today, we learnt about different classes of fire from A through to F (not including E - that's a category Americans give to electrical fires(which don't happen because its the wire/insulation/plastic that's burning and not the electricity!))
There are different methods for putting out each category of fire including cooling, smothering and removing the fuel (E.g shutting off the gas supply if its on fire). This is because all fires require air, fuel and heat in order to burn. So if you can remove one of those you have no fire. Of course that's easier said than done in many cases as fire is rather warm and produces smoke and toxins. We were shown all the different types of extinguisher and how to use them, then we were told that most ships will have dry powder (almost useless according to our instructor) and water (no good for fires near live electrical equipment and also sometimes ineffective due to surface tension - it wont soak into the centre of a burning mattress.) Water also posses a problem as if too much is used it can effect the stability of the ship. There have been cases of ships sinking in harbor when the shoreside fire fighters have used water a little too enthusiastically and filled the ship! In the true spirit of teaching here we were told yet more gruesome stories of deaths at sea.

Tomorrow we are doing the practical fire fighting exercise. We will be donning breathing apparatus (which we were shown today) and conducting a search of two decks of the simulator for casualties. We will be doing this in groups of four, I am hoping to be designated the team leader as there are a few of my fellow cadets I would enjoy yelling at should they make a mistake. It will be amusing to see how many of them struggle when faced with real fire and realistic casualties in the pitch black searing heat - I expect they will wish they had paid more attention in the theory classes or at least turned up on time. A little off topic now but I feel like a bit of a rant, I have been amazed at how many cadets are lapse about their time keeping/ appearance/ politeness towards adults etc. I have not yet been on a ship but would imagine that being late for a watch does not make you very popular with the chap your relieving. I have been presuming they will only do it once! Appearance is often reminiscent of a 13 year old kid at school (ties loose barely reaching below their breast pocket, shirt un-tucked and buttons undone, un-polished shoes and all to often an air of "uh?!" about them.) Rant over.

I forgot to add above - we will also be putting out a fire tomorrow, with a hose I'd imagine.

One more quick rant then I'm done. I heard today from my company they will not allow me to join the RNR, I'm a little upset and surprised, they evidently need persuading. I shall continue to try.

More doom and gloom and a freezing cold room

Today we have started our short courses (Basic fire fighting -BFF, personal safety and social responsibility -PSSR, personal sea survival -PSS and first aid -EFA.)
This morning we completed PSSR, this consisted of yet more pictures of broken ships and stories of how they came to be broken. We were also treated to a variety of examples of different ways we could kill ourselves (and made to think we probably will!)
It appears drinking and sailing is not thought of as a good idea. Infact we were shown many photo's of where it has proven to be a really really bad idea! A first mate on the bridge on his own, at night, with no lookout and half a bottle of brandy inside him = "bang", followed by "what was that?", followed by "sorry to wake you captain but we appear to be on some rocks/another vessel", followed by large fine/prison/sacking of said mate.
This afternoon was the beginning of the BFF course, just the theory today and tomorrow then its time to be frazzled on Wednesday. Pretty basic stuff really, fire triangle etc. Also plenty of pictures of burning vessels just to cheer us up. Although we were glad to be talking about fire as all the rooms are freezing including my cabin. I think the heating gets turned on at some point, probably when we turn up for lessons with frostbite and blue noses!
Later tonight there is a lecture by Nautilis UK (formally Numast) - The MN Officers union.

USA! USA! USA!

Sorry for the delay in an update, been to town to get me a visa today! After a mere 5 hours waiting I was seen by a yank official for all of two minuites and signed off as approved. I think it was the Clyde Marine badge on my unifrom that sorted it, as he seemed little interested in me or what I plan to do in his country. Still a free trip to the big stink and a few hours on American soil was better than yesterdays activities. This week we have started EDH (Efficient Deck Hand). I would not describe the teaching as efficient, but it is certainly effective. We learnt how to splice(correct spelling??) a rope and how to use and rig a bosuns chair. I really enjoyed the rope-work but found the rest a little tedious. My knot tying (or forming to be correct) was a little rusty at first, and there is one I still can't get my head(and fingers) around. Our instructor is a retired Captain and ties(sorry forms) knots as quickly as US Embassy staff interview applicants. -Thats very quickly by the way (although preceeded by a very long wait.)

I am heartened to read the comments left on here, thank you.

Came third in the bar quiz tonight! - a record!

Rob

2 weeks to go.

Well week four is over, that leaves two weeks until I am off to sea. Very excited now. The Clyde Marine Training Manager is coming down to see us on Monday, and on Tuesday we are all being bussed up to the US Embassy for our VISA interviews.
Unfortionatly the college keep cancelling talks, we were meant to hear from NUMAST (Ships officers union) last week but that got cancelled as did a talk on Drug abuse by the Royal Navy(I think that meant the talk was given by the RN, not about how the RN abuse drugs!)

Next week is the EDH(Efficient deck hand) course, this lasts all week and teaches us seamanship skills such as knot forming, rigging pilot laders, gangways and bosuns chairs etc. Should be interesting, the degree group did it the other week and they all seemed to enjoy it.
The place is very quiet this evening, I think many have gone home for the weekend.
On Tuesday evening next week myself and a few others I have persuaded along are going over to Portsmouth to a recruitment evening for the RNR (Royal Naval Reserve).

I'm going to take some pics tomorrow for the blog, not sure what of yet but i'll wander around and point and click.

Re-sits?? no thankyou!

Sorry I've been a little preocupied with exams and bars and suchlike. This week was exam week, having finished our lessons last week with a flurry of revision and cramming, we had two exams on Monday, two Tuesday and one on Wednesday. They were all scheduled to take about 1hr, The longest one took me 15 mins. So most of the week was spent with the entire class waiting for and watching the clock.

We got the results today, Mine go as follows,

Dry Cargo 70%
Wet Cargo 80%
Shipboard Working Enviroment 90%
Ship and Port Operations 85%
Bridge and Deck Watch keeping 96%

We still dont have the result for Ship Maintenence. There are quite a few who failed, they are doing re-sits tomorrow.

Will post more this evening, off to lunch now.