The Final Week

We are now on the final leg home having transitted the canal today. It has has been a frustrating couple of weeks in the Red Sea doing nothing but steaming around in circles and hosting VIPs. On the plus side though I have been out most mornings watching the world go by with a cup of coffee and have been out to watch a couple of Sunsets. The sunsets over the Sinai Peninsular were particularly good with the light reaching out like orange fingers as the sun slipped behind the mountains.

I creeped out one night to look at the stars, they put the upper decks out of bounds at night which is a shame. Anyway we went out and stared up at the starlit sky. Should have taken my iPad up though as I have forgotten so many of the stars that I used to be able to name. I really must start to learn them again. 

We are now in the canal and will soon be back in the Mediterranean where the forecast is not promising, it will be cold, windy and rough but not long until we get to Malta, my final stop this deployment. It will be good to get ashore though as I haven't stepped off the ship since October. I get to fly home early as once we get into the Med most of the work will be done. So looking forward to getting away from this tin can, having some space and more importantly a proper bed to sleep in and a comfy chair to sit on. So roll on Wednesday and my flight home so I can be back with my family.

Still Heading Home

It has now been a week since I last wrote, goodness knows when this will actually get uploaded though as I think it will be the best part of a month before I get WiFi again. The ship continues transit back to home waters having sailed from Muscat.

It was my first visit to Muscat and it was ok, it reminded me a little of Dubai in the 90s, still a middle eastern port though, so not a great place to visit. I have never really been a fan of the Middle East, far to hot, dusty and humid for my liking and very little green. Give me a Mediterranean port any day over the Middle East.

On the plus side I did get to see a little bit of the town and walked my feet off, getting blisters and achy legs but covering 8 miles. Other than the heat, the walk along the sea front was quite pleasant with some wonderful sculptures, and occasionally a nice sea breeze. Stunning view of mountains, but in some ways they were quite bland as they were just the colour of sandstone. The thing that did surprise me was how noticeable the temperature was on the rare occasion we found a bit of shade.

We walked all the way to the Royal Palace, very ugly and brash building in my eyes, however leading up to it were some very pleasant walkways that offered some shade.

During the visit we also went to see the Grand Mosque, a very impressive and peaceful building. Inside was stunning with huge chandeliers and the worlds second largest hand woven rug. Took a few moments just to sit in the gardens, so peaceful.

Well we are now back at sea, and as a staff are controlling three Task Groups as part of a large multinational naval exercise, the first few days have been a little busy but things should start to quieten down now. Once the exercise is over though I think things will start to get really dull for the last month before we fly home. It is going to be hard to keep myself sane, will just have to keep going down the gym to break up the monotony of pointless meetings.

Not long now

Things are finally winding down now that we are heading North, much of the work is done and days are spent twiddling thumbs trying to find work to do. 

We have had some fun though as a few days ago they called hands to bathe. The ship was stopped, stern door lowered and we were all given the opportunity to go for a swim. I have always wanted to do a hands to bathe but we don't do them on RFAs. It was a bit surreal though just jumping off the ship and going for a swim with no land in sight, and nothing to sea but the ship. The water was lovely and warm, think it was about 28 degrees, I could have stayed in it for hours but only had 45minutes as we had a brief to attend straight afterwards.

Well we are now in the Red Sea and heading home, we are calling in to Saudi but there will be no shore leave as we are holding a cocktail party for the great and the good. Plus I think they are worried about jolly jack running amuck ashore and upsetting the locals.

This is really the last big event of the deployment so things are going to be very quiet onboard for the next few weeks. At least they flying some of us home early rather than keeping us onboard. Only 17 days to go and then I will be home and taking 10 days leave before heading back into the office. Will have to see how far I can cycle down the gym before I get off the ship. The saddles on the bikes aren't the most comfortable but it beats sitting in front of a computer. Even managed a 40k ride the other day which wasted a good two hours of the day.

Anyway I am rambling now so will draw to a close, just hope that the wifi they are putting on the ship for the port visit works.

Pointing Towards Home

We are finally pointing towards home now we have past the halfway stage of the deployment. Must say I am looking forward to getting back to the UK in December and seeing the family. I think it certainly gets harder to go away especially as I miss so much of the kiddies growing up. I really can't believe my little Girl is six, my monster will be five in November and little Matthew will be one on Friday (Halloween).

At least with this shore posting, if you can call it that when I am stuck on Bulwank, should give a bit more stability and I should get to see the little ones more regularly so I can see them grow up. Well, for the next two years or so and then it will be back to being away in four month stints again. Admittedly it is easier with Skype and phone calls but I still miss everyone at home. I don't miss the kiddies fighting or not doing what they are told though. 

It is a strange life at sea though, we shut ourselves off from the world in a floating metal box and escape society and yet crave normality. We are surrounded by some wonderous sights, we see wonderful sunrises and perfect night skies. We are guided through our travels by dolphins and flying fish and yet I long for the hills of home. I know that when I hand up my sea boots for the final time I will always yearn for that open horizon. I will no doubt feel different by the time they finally let me retire though in 2040. Let's just hope I win the lottery before that, which reminds me I must buy a ticket.

It's been a while

It's been a while since I last wrote my blog (20 months), it has either been a long time with writers block or I have just been bone idle (probably the latter). A fair few things have happened it that time, as can be expected and I must make more of an effort to keep this up to date. 

The most notable change is that the little ones are growing up quickly and they now have a baby brother (he will be 1 at the end of the month). The first few months were a little stressful as he was not well but now to see the three of them smiling together makes it all worth while.

I have also taken up a shore post for three years. We'll a semi shore post as part of the time I am at sea and part of the time ashore. On the plus side I only tend to be away for 4 months and the rest of the year I am ashore so I get to go home most weekends. 

Other than that everything is a bit of a blur, I just don't know where the time goes anymore. Life is certainly flashing by, that's no bad thing when I am on board but it is a real bugger when I am home as there are always so many things I want to do or achieve. Perhaps I just need to learn to slow down, or more likely I need to learn to manage my time better.

Any I will endeavour to kick my own behind and update my blog more often but as a picture paints a thousand words here are a few from the last few months.