Day Three; Afternoon: Work, Work, Work.
Okay, so a parent naturally wants to spend a bit of time
with the offspring when they live & work a long way off, so what do
you do when your son is a cook and draws constant duty in the galley? You
walk in and ask if he needs a hand. Mistake one!
Chop, chop, mutter, mutter as I cut up fifteen thousand tons of Indonesian
pumpkins for lunch. |
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"How big did you say this pizza is going to be?"
Knee deep in mince and pizza ingredients is a new experience for me.
Being a useless non-cook, I find the sheer quantity of food being processed
for 200 people every mealtime a little staggering.
Even after it is all over, the garbage disposal (Named "Igor!") does
it's job with alarming efficiency & speed. |
Tony enjoyed no small amount of amusement at my expense watching me
flounder around the galley in my ill-trained attempt at assistance. At
least he offered to wash up after the meal was cooked.
The water onboard is HOT! That heavy rubber glove he is wearing is
not just to protect his delicate little pinkies from wrinkling. It was
about 1degree off steam, hence the heavy lagging on all the pipes on the
wall. |
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The afternoon, for the crews of both HMA Ships Kanimbla & Hobart,
was a very busy one with preparations for a jackstay transfer (transfer
of goods/personnel by cable) between the two vessels whilst underway. Here,
the Executive Officer (XO) briefs the crew members responsible for this
exercise on the requirements. |
| As soon as Hobart drew alongside, a line is fired to Hobart from the
foredeck of Kanimbla by the fellow with the SLR rifle. Normally, a simple
task, but this time the poor chap was beset with all manner of problems.
Here you can see the line tangled around the muzzle of the rifle as it
soars to about 2 metres short of Hobart's deck. His third shot lay the
line across the foredeck of the other ship so that it could be used to
draw a distance cable across. |
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On the other side of the fence, Hobart's crew attach the line which
is used to mark and maintain the distance between the two ships for the
duration of the transfer. The bridge crew watch the markers (visible near
the number) on the line to gauge the gap between us & maintain a parallel
course. |
Once settled in & rigged, the transfer gets underway. It could
be vital supplies, ammunition, medical supplies or personnel. In this case,
it is the highly valuable block of concrete used for training!
The other thing to note is that when you have 300 people with nice
blue helmets onboard a ship, who needs a fancy winch to pull the cargo
across the briney void? |
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Hobart's skipper is seen here (in the white shirt) carefully watching
the transfer take place whilst the crew and seariders look on.
The lighting was particularly savage here, coming right down the "gun
barrel" from the other side of the destroyer. |
| When all the fun & games are over, there is always the packing
up and tucking away. The jackstay crew de-rig the cables and gear as Hobart
breaks away at speed once again blaring it's battle cry of Wagner's "Flight
of the Valkaries" |
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When the work is handed out, no quarter is given or asked for regarding
size, gender or looks.
The co-operation and teamwork of the crew was admirable everywhere
I looked. A statement to the officer's, chief's, PO's and the whole crew's
abilities. |
| One of my favourite photographs. Hobart almost serenely cruises into
the sunset off the north coast of NSW. |
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The Supply Mess is home to the cooks and members of the supply branch.
Tony's bunk is deck level and he shares his humble abode with eight others.
For the duration of this voyage, I also drew a lower bunk, although in
a bigger mess. Entry entails a sort of lay on the deck & roll into
bed action almost! Great fun for someone with claustrophobia |
| Upon entering my mess to roll into my bunk for the night, I noticed
a great deal of activity around the area where I slept. Some one had noticed
a rather unsavoury smell and when located, turned out to be a leak in the
main sewerage pipe from the heads on the deck above us. The growing puddle
between the bunks & the side of the hull had to be dealt with and NOW!
What a way to end a day! |
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