What am I doing
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A quick entry
by Alistair Baillie on 20/07/2008 @ 12:33 (UT)
We’ll its now almost 8 weeks since I came onboard and I am now settled into the watches. Marc and myself are rotating around every 2 weeks, currently I am on 4 - 8 with Marc doing 8 - 12.
We’re both progressing with the tasks in our TRBs and I don’t really have much else to say at the moment.
We’re in Barcelona tomorrow so I will upload the dance video’s there. There’s also a few new photo’s that I have added to facebook.
Hello from the Island Escape
by Alistair Baillie on 20/06/2008 @ 18:57 (UT)
We’ll I have now been onboard the Island Escape for just over a week and a half and am all settled in. There was a little bit of confusion when we arrived - no one knew we were supposed to be coming - but that was all sorted out quickly, and we got put into a passenger cabin for a few days until they had a cabin ready for us.
Our training is a lot more organised this time, with both Marc and myself having drawn up a plan of what we are going to do over the next 4 months and as with the Island Star all the officers seem happy to help us learn.
The Island Escape wasn’t originally built as a cruise ship, and this is apparent with the maze of corridors which make up the crew and some of the passenger areas, especially all the random stairs, so it’s taking a bit of time to get used to it.
So far we’ve really been just completing the safety tasks, finding our way around and working with the fire patrol guys with the lifeboats. We’re also helping the LSA officer with his monthly life boat inspections - this ship has 10 open life boats and 4 tenders so there a bit different from the Island Star.
I’ve also been on the mooring decks for arrival / departure or up on the bridge dealing with the paperwork, talking to the pilots and getting used to the different way of working.
Marc and I have also been dancing for the passengers, the dances are a bit different on this ship - so that confused us - especially when its the same songs, just different steps (not that I can dance anyway)!
End of College... almost
by Alistair Baillie on 14/05/2008 @ 13:59 (UT)
Well that's the last "proper" college phase now finished, although rather annoyingly I have to hang around until Thursday 22nd to sign some forms! So I have an entire week here doing nothing!
I do return to college for 3 weeks orals prep at the end of this sea phase and then a few weeks of short courses before I sit my OOW Oral examination ("orals") with the MCA next June/July if all goes well.
I have also passed my MCA Signals Oral examination yesterday and should be able to pick my certificate up from the college next week sometime.
Anyway I will probably write some more before I go away to sea.
Ps. I am now on Twitter which I will be using while I am away at sea to let you know where I am and if I am doing anything interesting while at sea. You can subscribe to automatically receive my updates (via txt / email, or just on the web) at http://www.twitter.com/alistairuk - you will require a free twitter account to subscribe.
Independence of the Seas
by Alistair Baillie on 26/04/2008 @ 15:08 (UT)
Sorry for the bit of a delay in posting, but since things have been reasonably boring the past couple of weeks I didn’t really see any point in posting.
I am now starting college week 40 (in course terms that’s week 5) and the classes are now beginning to finish up (there’s another 2 weeks left of classes) before we all get to go back to sea.
As anyone who has even the slightest interest in cruising will know one of the worlds largest cruise ships "Independence of the Seas" arrived in Southampton in the early hours of yesterday morning prior to its naming ceremony on Wednesday.
For those that don’t know she is the 3rd ship in the Royal Caribbean Freedom Class, weighing 160,000 GT with a length of 339m and a bream of 38m at the waterline (364m long, 60m wide at longest/widest points).
According to her AIS information (courtesy of a cool web site called AIS-Live.co.uk) she is heading off for a mini cruise to the Channel Islands on Sunday.
When I went wondering down to the Mayflower Park yesterday she was carrying out a boat drill with all her port side lifeboats in the water. Interestingly she does not have tenders, which I suppose makes sense, trying to do tendering operations with that many passengers is going to be a real nightmare.
I do still wait with interest the newest Royal Caribbean ship currently called “Project Genesis” which will be even bigger weighing a massive 220,000 GT and carrying 6,400 passengers! She is currently under construction in Finland and is due to be launched sometime in 2009!
Anyway, this has turned into a rather random posting, not at all related to my college phase, so please excuse that :)
Phase 3, Semester 3, Week 2
by Alistair Baillie on 10/04/2008 @ 12:17 (UT)
Good afternoon all!
Still not much to report on the college front, Morse is still in progress although I seem to have found a system which is working for me! Oddly although I would of thought this would be harder, learning the flags and there meanings only took an hour!
In response to someone's comment (and to give me something to write), while I know its meaning the flag "G" was never flown by the ship I was last on - possibly because we never had to wait for a pilot or it was usually dark when we approached the ports.
The flag "H" (I have a pilot onboard) was flown regularly, "B" (I am loading, carrying or discharging dangerous goods) was flown whenever the ship was bunkering and "Q" (My vessel is healthy and I request free pratique) was flown occasionally whenever we hadn't already received clearance before arrival.
I received my next ship assignments last Friday I shall be going on the Island Escape on the 10th of June until the 14th of October during which time I shall be travelling around the Mediterranean Sea.
I will then be going back to the Island Star on the 8th of November until around the end of March 2009, where after she completes her dry dock I will be sailing across the Atlantic to spend the winter out in the Caribbean Sea.
Marc who was with me last time on the Island Star will be joining me on both trips this phase and one of the other Island Cruises cadets who I shared a room with at college in phase 1 will be joining me on the Island Star.