On Monday I got on board with all the other crew. Got my bunk allocated and in AP watch with Lyndsey. First thing we did was attend a meeting with all the other crew. We met the captain, the 1st mate, 2nd mate and all the others like the engineers, cooks, etc. We listened to instruction on the do's and don'ts so that we knew how to stay safe. Our group has 9 people.
Me (Ian), Dave (my buddy), Daniel, Phil, Lyndsey, Stephanie, John, Viv and Gill. When our briefing ended, we enjoyed a lovely cuppa and a flapjack.
Mmmm! Then we had a lesson from David on belaying which was looping ropes around a pin to make fast. We also learnt the art of sweating and tailing and 2, 6 heave!!!!! Once this was over we then all had dinner. Lamb, mash and veg followed by a pudding of cream, pavlova and orange segments. AP watch was then on night watch duty, 10pm to midnight. This was a reduced watch as we were at anchor. The watch finished at midnight. By this time we needed to go to bed. In the morning we got up at 700am and had breakfast of egg bacon and mushrooms with toast washed down with a nice cup of tea.
Our crew joined David on upper deck for a lesson on bracing . When we finished we then had happy hour which was cleaning , we cleaned the floors, toilets, showers , the bar and the bunks . We have enjoyed a lunch of jacket spuds and beef curry and now as we tell our story of the last 24 hours at sea we are at watch with some bloke called Dave who keeps following us around? Does anyone know who he is?
Ian Sheldon, AP watch