Karlsruhe twice due to popular demand/technical hitche (or rather a snowball hitch). Once again the fault lay beyond the control of the wheelhouse. Troops huffed none the less. Brummer dived by skipper (been a couple of weeks since I have been in the water). Weather superb, light winds and sunshine: just enough to lul the troops in a false sence of security before scapa bites.
French TV making a film about Scapa on the boat at the moment.
Whichever way you look there is someone pointing a camera or waving a gerbil on a stick.
Today the boys dived the two cruisers, Koln then Brummer whilst the girls did the Markgraff.
Any inferences drawn from this schedule are purely in the mind of the beholder!
Well that’s the end of the first week and a good one at that.
The boys were good company, seem to have enjoyed the diving and seem to have found that Scapa has offered a challenge. There have been no technical hitches with the boat and the weather was ok. I think the vis could have been better but there is always a bloom sometime around the start of the season so it will always fall in somebody’s week: thats the way the cookie crumbles sometimes.
Not only that but soup, sausages and bacon for lunch. The boys done good: I blackened their name wrongly earlier in the week!
The best thing above all others was the sheer pleasure of being back out again, free from the pier, fiddling with the boat and the miriad of other winter chores. The banter was good, I was back doing what I do and there were no hitches. No complaints with the week at all: very chuffed.
I am now free to think about the french TV crew coming to film tomorrow. Will explain Gonzo diver then. In Franglias. Twice.
The boys and girls dived the Dresden and the F2 today (when I say the F2, I mean I dropped them on the barge and then they went for scallops but they tied a shot on to the F2 on the way past so I can log that as the F2).
All is forgiven. Tomato soup at lunch today. Suspect they may have sneaky intenet link and are reading blog without letting on…
The troops did the KPW twice today. Vis clearing, wind picked up but NW 10-15kts tomorrow and high preasure for the weekend.
On Monday I bought 6 rolls and a packet of bacon for lunch, ate half of them and stuck the remainder in the fridge for the next day.
On Tuesday, I found out how old mother Hubbard felt. The bastards had eaten my lunch. One hungry skipper wondering how to broach the subject. I know what had happened: whoever opened the fridge must have thought the other had bought the bacon and served it up.
Well, seeing as the culprits are both YDers who know about my blog, I will say diddly and let them read about their crime next week when they get home. Guilt can eat away at a man but even more so when you remove the means to rectify the situation!
Moral of the tale: never eat the skipper’s lunch.
Brummer and Koln dived today, though not by everybody! (’nuff said!!) Wind dropped away, good enough forecast.
So as I said earlier, one of the boys this week has the new inspiration with the vision electronics. He went to the dive shop to get a cover for the wrist unit and came back with a prototype to try, the final design still needing some honing apparently.
Three brains around one table all looking at the small pouch.
“It’s a bit fiddly to get the unit in and out..”
“If this bit was velcro and the flap went this way..”
“But what about if that went there..”
“no, bad idea. That would catch there…”
“…if that…”
“.. no like this..”
“If it had a D ring here.”
Silence.
Fcuk me: that’s the answer.
Put a D ring on the pouch and they would sell by the truck load (even OC divers would want one). Stroke of genius.
Left early then Dresden, F2 and home by lunch.
The forecast for the afternoon was poor so a day to beat the weather. And they were right: it is strong SE now.
Scapa did it’s finest today. We left in drizzle, sailed through a hail storm and finished the day with beautiful sunshine. And I bet that has set the theme for the summer.
Small group to start with, which is fine as it lets me find all those things that are going to break after not being used all winter and fix them before the onslaught arrives. One of the lads has the new inspiration which is the first time I have seen one on the boat. At a distance the changes seem fairly minor but with a bit of prodding and delving their true extent becomes a bit more apparent. Will be picking his brains for the rest of the week.
The best of the day was just being out again. Feeling a bit rusty (forgot a few things like the mask bucket: the boys jumped in looking thru a foggy haze but were too polite to complain!) but good to blow away the cobwebs of the winter.
Dived the Karlsruhe and then the Tabarka. Vis very poor but the boys were happy enough. Poor weather on it’s way tomorrow so going to have an early start and try and get things done before it arrives. Can’t remember losing any dives last year through weather so not going to treat this season any different. Famous last words.
New Kung foo shoes well comfy.
No complaints about today.
Well that’s it. I am as ready as I can be.
The last week or so has been the usual frantic push to get everything ready in time (hence the lack of blogs this week) but, to be fair, has not been as tight as in previous years. The season seems to be later this year, certainly it is the first time for a good while that I have not worked Easter but it is also a reflection of the growing maturity of the boat. This will be the fifth summer with the H so most of the major structural changes have been made and I am now just adding refinements.
There is a second compressor going on the boat, awiating a drive engine, that will be installed in the evenings. I broke a valve cover on the primary compressor yesterday afternoon so had to ring south for parts to be sent up asap: fortunately Royal Mail came up trumps and the bits were here by lunch today. The compressor is still a bit slow but seems to be running ok otherwise.
Had a final clean of the engine room, did the last of the mucky jobs and then took all the paint, tools and other unwanted shite off the boat for another year. Next spring I will be pulling unwashed brushes and manky tins of paint from the recesses of the garage that I have just flung them today, wishing that just for once I would put them away properly. I cursed myself this year an no doubt will do the same again next year.
Took the boat for a quick spin just to warm the old girl up (and to let the JE tie up on the inside) in preparation for Sunday.
Checked round the accommodation. It is a good feeling when all the carpets go back down, the beds get made, everything is clean and ready for punters to arrive. It took me a couple of days to clean the boat ready for JM to come down and clean the boat ready for punters! All the dust from sanding the walls before they get varnished and a million other grubby jobs all accumulates and needs a good spring clean to eradicate. It is fitting that today is the Queen’s 80th as she would feel right at home on the H with it smelling of new paint and cleaning stuff.
Last job: home to prepare the skipper for punters. Quick trim up top to cut all the bits of paint, cement and other wildlife from the thatch and to be presentable ready for arriving divers.
The season will no doubt be full of twists, turns, scares, adventures, calamities and exhilaration but there is little more I can do now in preparation. The die is set. I am ready to do what I do.
I am on the eve of a season.
It seems to be a pipe dream held by quite a few to turn “pro” and to be “in the industry”.
Well, I’ll let you into a secret.
90% of dive instructors, commercial divers, whatever, spend 90% of their time in the front of a white van fannying around. With two of you, then you get to argue over the radio station.
A Bovi Sat course consists of 3 hours at 300m and 8 weeks in the middle seat of a transit fiddling with the ash tray while the instructor leans out of the window talking sh1te to his mate.
Likewise, PADI won’t sign you off till your lower lumbar region snaps from crouching and keeping your knees away from the gear stick.
You still want in?
KH and Flat Eric cruise sunset strip.
I came third in the easter egg rolling competition.
My egg was the one with the face on it that took a skid out of the grass and onto the hard sustaining injuries beyond it’s design parameters.
So anyway, I have spent the last few days in a final flurry of preparation before the first of the divers arrive.
Easter is late this year and so is the start of the season. Been fine for me as I spent the start of the year underwater diving for clams which made a good change. Seem to do most of my diving in the winter these days and revert to spectating during the summer.
So anyway, the final flurry. The bank cylinders arrived back from testing ready for re-installation. Each cylinder is a heavy lift for two men (impossible alone). But there is just me, a small hatch, an endless chain and a mast.
It took almost 5 cups of tea to get them down the hatch. There was never a question that they were not going to go. Some things are just going to be and that’s the end of it.
All four went back from whence they had come, were re-plumbed and they didn’t leak. No annoying hiss. Perfect. Cup of tea no 6 was spent in quiet satisfaction of a job well done.
Now I just have to find a place for the new batch of 16 I have just bought.
A good vintage by all accounts.
15th April 06
I know I shouldn’t laugh, and I didn’t at the time, but when she was out of earshot, I had a little giggle to myself.
Low tide and she was stood at the bottom of the pier ladder looking up. She was absolutely petrified with her buddy looking on in the background, slightly embarrassed but trying to be sympathetic. Ok, so it was a low tide and the top of the pier was about 12 ft up but all the other divers had climbed it and were away without even a second glance.
I had been below deck fixing the loo. First there was the clunk of footprints across the deck with chatter and laughter, then a quiet spell. Then the growing agitation as the pair squabbled about their predicament. Coming up to investigate, I could see their skipper in the wheelhouse of their boat engrossed in the repairs of bits broken that day, oblivious to the drama unfolding.
If anyone was going to help them it was going to have to be me. I tied the boat of to the ladder: the gap was now 2ft or less and not about to enlarge by any amount.
One hand on the ladder then back as if bitten.
“I can’t do this”
“Oh well high water is in 6hrs”
One hand back on the ladder, then a foot.
Slowly she climbed moving each limb on my command ’till she climbed over the precipice like the pope on new soil. There she sat, got her breath back and set off to the Ferry for a stiff whisky. The buddy nodded his thanks. I know, if you had helped there would have been a row. Better it was me, and you stood back, even if you did look silly. I know the drill there. I have been there too with my friends, though not at the bottom of a ladder.
I untied the boat and went back to the loo, chuckling. Bad, I know, but it did tickle me.
Time on the slip is expensive: each day is charged so any delays swiftly dig into the budget. So it is douly frustrating when the weather hinders progres as it did this year. I think in total about 3 days were lost as the painters went home early when the water ran down the side of the boat.
The hours the yard boys turn in are fairly impressive: work starts with a bang at 8am sharp and there will usually still be someone banging about at 9pm that night. It is a good time to put some hours in myself: I usually stay on the boat so evenings are spent picking away at all those litte jobs that get left ’till a rainy day.
An hour spent doing emails and a bit of mucking around on the computer and then it’s usually time for bed.
I quite like the solitude of the evenings: the job by nature is generally gregarious so time spent alone and left to thoughts can be rare. However, a week is normally enough before cabin fever sets in!
When the small details start to appear on the hull it usually signals that time for the water is near.
This is now the home run and each evening sees a new routine added: the walk to the harbour mouth to see what the sea is doing in preperation for the run home. Will that swell die and give me a smooth run north, or will it build and give the boat a hammering…
The underside of the boat is painted with anti-fouling, a paint that stops creatures growing on the hull. On the whole it is surprisingly effective but even the growth over a year that still settles will lose the boat a knot of speed. With an average speed of 7kts, this soon becomes a significant loss of economy, speed etc.
The active ingredient used to be TBT, a harmful chemical that damaged the environment: friendlier active components are used these days.
Why is the anti-fouling red then? Don’t know really. You do get other colours but seeing as nobody has shown me the anti-fouling swatches, or rather I have never been asked, ever, what colour I want the bottom of the boat, I just think of it as one less decision to make.
Anodes corrode in preference to more important metal bits on the boat and also need to be replaced. Otherwise there is little else to do with the boat out of the water beside the obvious visual inspection and daily Halton love-in.
All boats want to be a rusty streak of brown and spent their lives aiming towards this goal. It is all a man can do to keep the palette of his choosing and unless a roller is waved in the general direction of the boat annually they will continue their headlong gallop to the colour of their choice.
Have not mastered the video side of things yet so thus file may be a bit large (2,019kb) for those dial-up luddites
For those that still like stills…
