Training on the New Ship

I was away for the weekend for a meeting with colleagues. The other set of colleagues this time, fellow Antarctic guides and expedition leaders. The meeting was held in a small town called Haastrecht because the company's new ship Plancius is over there for the moment, awaiting sea trials, christening and departure to the south. She seems like a good ship, lovely great windows for good views of the ice and the whales. And a great many decks on different levels for watching them in the fresh air.

I got to sleep in one of the bigger luxury cabins, testing out the accommodation. Not a bad place to sleep, the cabin has nice big windows too. And a very comfortable bed. A lot of thought has gone into the design, and all the details that will make life at sea more comfortable. A lot of work still has to be done on the ship, but much has been done already, and it is all happening very fast.

One of the nice things about the weekend was meeting all these people who do the same job under the same circumstances and who share my experiences. We usually are on different ships, and when we are at work there always is something to do. It was good for once to spend a couple of days like this, talking about the work, sharing experiences, and looking forward to the next season.

It wasn't all about talking and sitting around. We had a zodiac out on the water for a practice run on Saturday morning, sitting out there in the quiet Zeeland delta instead of the wild waters of the Antarctic Peninsula. All of the waves there were caused by passing ships.

The greater part of the weekend was spent in first aid training though. A Scotsman came over who works for the BASP, the British Association of Ski Patrollers, so someone who knows what it is like to work in inhospitable, cold environments. He was a good teacher, a great story-teller, and he was good at organising the practical exercises. It was a good mix of the theory and the practical, and I learned a lot. I had great fun playing the victim in one of the practical cases. I spent five minutes hysterically screaming for attention, and I really enjoyed myself. I did end up with a sore throat though...