26 Jan 09 is getting closer and now it is over....
I started to count down to the day which i will never miss ( for the pass 26 years) but this year it is abit different. After many times of delay, i am prepared to not to able to celebrate CNY at home with my family members. I thought that i can handle the feeling of not going back home for CNY just like the other public holidays that i spent working in 2008 but again i might be wrong...
A week after sailing, i start to put a cross on my calender at the end of everyday. The initial sailing which expected to take only about 21 days is delayed due to some unforseen reasons, like stopping for overhauling the main engine, waiting for spareparts for the main engine at Mauritius etc etc...
The unforseen delay has made the journey to become about 29 days ( expected arrival date in Capetown is on 2Feb afternoon). Now that i am totally missed the CNY though i might still be in A/S around 7 Feb (Sat)if everything go smoothly...
On the CNY eve, browsing through my facebook, knowing that all my friends are on their way back to hometown / preparing for their reunion dinner / lunch make me feel homesick but that was only for a temporary moment...as i was quite busy with lots of work on board the vessel...which keep me mind away from thinking of CNY celebration.
At about 8pm ( vessel time) around 12 midnight ( M'sia time)after finished the evening meeting, i immediately made a phone call back to my home. Speaking to my sisters, brother , my mum and dad i can feel that they also miss me very much ...since this is the 1st time i didnt spend my CNY at home...you just feel like something is missing and you dont know what to do during that time except making phone call to friends...
The night, i finallly realise the meaning of CNY to me...it is not about the spring cleaning/preparation feeling anymore ( which i enjoyed most in the past)before the CNY. It is the feeling of seeing getting together with my family members. The feeling of seeing them all happy and healthy give the most satisfaction to me..now i finally know that.....:)
Anyway, i never feel regret to go sailing with the vessel as i did learnt lots of thing which will be helpful to my carrier in years to come...final count down 5 days to Capetown and i will spend another 2 nights stay travelling in capetown before flying back to Office in Singapore before headed home on Friday night ( 6th Feb 09). Hopefully everything go smoothly and i safety reach home on 7 Feb 09.
Happy CNY to all my friends!
Wednesday, January 28, 2009
Sunday, January 11, 2009
A week of Sailing
Ever since sailing on 6th Jan, i just get too lazy to upload the photos onto the web due to the super slow uploading speed...but since tonight i have some free time and not feel like sleeping yet..so i will try to upload some photos for sharing.
Anyway, it is really an amazing journey. Started from you can see a lot of boats to now just merely can see the sea and sky horizon....almost no boundary. Enjoying the sea breath while having a cup of coffee or an icecreme cone after lunch is what i normally will do while staring at the horizon..seems like thingking of something but actually the feeling is so relaxing. So, hope that you will enjoy the photos.
Photo taken by helicopter when we started to sail. So nicely taken.
Panaromic View of our Floating Production and Offloading Vessel (FPSO)Cidade De Sao Mateus.
Looking back to the day prior to Sailaway...it was dated at 6th Jan,7am in the morning.We were ready to sail after whole night of struggling to lift the winch and to get the fresh water generator (RO) running. Spent time until 2am in the morning getting the RO package running..i was so excited getting to know that those who are fixing the hydraulic sys for the anchor winch nearly finish their work too...they finish at 4am. I was told that the ship going to sail at 6am. Feeling too tired, i went to take a nap...keeping in mind that i would like to see they lift the anchor for sailing...but a nap become a sleep. The time i woke up it was about 7am. I went to check if we were sailing and was told that we were on the way lifting the anchor..without 2nd thought, i ran towards the forward anchor winch which is located at about 300m away just to make sure i manage to catch the "special moment" ofcourse wont leave my camera behind. Find the "Special Moment" i catched.
This Anchor Took us 1 hour to lift from sea bed. So i was lucky to witness this moment. But after that we had some problem again with the main engine and have to lower the anchor again before we really sailed in the evening at about 630pm.What's important is that we work against all odd to make sure the smooth sailing.
Bridge Deck- This is the place where pilot will give command to the watcher and navigate the ship.
The 4 men Cabin on Board our Vessel. To me it is about the size of First world hotel room. I eventually change to a 2 men cabin which is much comfortable staying together with the Maintainance Superintendant.
All the cabins are equipped with Lifejackets & smoke hood with light stick for escape during emergency.
SImple Furniture in the Cabin
Some said that, toilet is one of the criteria to determine the number of star a hotel should be....so i have no choice as to show it as well...so now you have got all the information to judge how many star is the cabin...no matter what i leave the answer to you. Haha.
Photo taken at night from the bridge deck. Looking at topside process module.
Last photo for today post...the lengcai taking photo of himself.
Oya, forgot to let you know that now we are travelling to the west, after coming out from Melaka Strait. So our time is 2 hours behind Singapore time. We are now at 1130pm(11 Jan 09) and Singapore is at 130am (12 Jan09). So it is time for me to go to sleep as tomorrow gotto work from 7am till 7pm in the evening.
Cheers! Looking forward to travelling in CapeTown and Resting at home after sign off from vessel. We should reach CapeTown by 1 Feb 09 according to the speed (10knots/hr) and currently we are also sailing against the current which is slowing us down. Anyway, the current and wind should be in our favor in another 3 days time.
Night!
Anyway, it is really an amazing journey. Started from you can see a lot of boats to now just merely can see the sea and sky horizon....almost no boundary. Enjoying the sea breath while having a cup of coffee or an icecreme cone after lunch is what i normally will do while staring at the horizon..seems like thingking of something but actually the feeling is so relaxing. So, hope that you will enjoy the photos.
Photo taken by helicopter when we started to sail. So nicely taken.
Panaromic View of our Floating Production and Offloading Vessel (FPSO)Cidade De Sao Mateus.
Looking back to the day prior to Sailaway...it was dated at 6th Jan,7am in the morning.We were ready to sail after whole night of struggling to lift the winch and to get the fresh water generator (RO) running. Spent time until 2am in the morning getting the RO package running..i was so excited getting to know that those who are fixing the hydraulic sys for the anchor winch nearly finish their work too...they finish at 4am. I was told that the ship going to sail at 6am. Feeling too tired, i went to take a nap...keeping in mind that i would like to see they lift the anchor for sailing...but a nap become a sleep. The time i woke up it was about 7am. I went to check if we were sailing and was told that we were on the way lifting the anchor..without 2nd thought, i ran towards the forward anchor winch which is located at about 300m away just to make sure i manage to catch the "special moment" ofcourse wont leave my camera behind. Find the "Special Moment" i catched.
This Anchor Took us 1 hour to lift from sea bed. So i was lucky to witness this moment. But after that we had some problem again with the main engine and have to lower the anchor again before we really sailed in the evening at about 630pm.What's important is that we work against all odd to make sure the smooth sailing.
Bridge Deck- This is the place where pilot will give command to the watcher and navigate the ship.
The 4 men Cabin on Board our Vessel. To me it is about the size of First world hotel room. I eventually change to a 2 men cabin which is much comfortable staying together with the Maintainance Superintendant.
All the cabins are equipped with Lifejackets & smoke hood with light stick for escape during emergency.
SImple Furniture in the Cabin
Some said that, toilet is one of the criteria to determine the number of star a hotel should be....so i have no choice as to show it as well...so now you have got all the information to judge how many star is the cabin...no matter what i leave the answer to you. Haha.
Photo taken at night from the bridge deck. Looking at topside process module.
Last photo for today post...the lengcai taking photo of himself.
Oya, forgot to let you know that now we are travelling to the west, after coming out from Melaka Strait. So our time is 2 hours behind Singapore time. We are now at 1130pm(11 Jan 09) and Singapore is at 130am (12 Jan09). So it is time for me to go to sleep as tomorrow gotto work from 7am till 7pm in the evening.
Cheers! Looking forward to travelling in CapeTown and Resting at home after sign off from vessel. We should reach CapeTown by 1 Feb 09 according to the speed (10knots/hr) and currently we are also sailing against the current which is slowing us down. Anyway, the current and wind should be in our favor in another 3 days time.
Night!
Monday, January 5, 2009
Set to Sail to Cape Town
Now it is only a matter of counting down the time before we lift up the anchor and start our sailing journey first to Cape Town (South Africa)then to Vitoria (Brazil). As for me, i have been waiting for this chance for so long. Starting from the begining of the project, i would always want to finish the project and see the vessel leaving the port. But even since i join the commissioing team,sailing with the vessel has become my target. To be able to get the installed / constructed items / modules / system running at their desired condition has been the duty of all the commissioning team.
Because of the nature of the work that you just couldnt correctly estimate how long it will take to commmission a system, sometimes we need to stay back until 9pm at yard finishing the job. Giving the short period of time due to work delay by the construction team, needless to say we have to work 7 days a week. But all the hard work finally pay off...the vessel is on its way sailing to Brazil...
Today started quite relaxing. I did some paper work in the morning, and going around to check the fire water system and modification work for the condensate system for the gland steam condenser. In the afternoon, we had our safety induction course,and about 230pm the captain arranged a fire drill to prepare everyone onboard about things to do during emergency. It seems pretty simple and easy for us until dinner time. Everything seems prepared and set for sailing.
First, there was news that the main engine is not gonna get started due to some problem with the govenor. Then there was a problem that the storage of the fresh water is too little, and might not enough to fire the engine room boiler so that might prevent us from sailing.At about 10pm, i was in the engine control room, standing by to see what i can help (apprently i cant, but i just want to be there to see how the problem get solve). Sooner, the the RO unit (reverse osmosis unit)that we kept runnning since 630pm in the evening was found to be leaking....trying to figure out the problem, i pull along my colleague who have much more experience than me together to get the problem solve. Then it came my boss, and the offshore installation manager and the maintainent superintendent.Suddenly the machinery space become more lively though the flanges still leaking as we tried to figure out which flanges actually clothing the discharge line. At about 2am in the morning, we finally figure out and solve the problem after opening 4 flanges and found out that it is actually the problem of the failure valve which clothed the line. SO happily pack up our tools and went back to retake our bath and change our soaking cloth...
Despite having to work till midnight, i am still very excited as i get to know that the vessel is gonna leave at about 6am in the morning. So,i am ready with my camera to take down the memorable moment sacrifising my sleep. I found some noted written on the board about sailing speed and arriving date in cape town..
If we sail at 10 knots/hr----arriving at Cape town on 30 Jan 09
If we sail at 11 knots/hr----arriving at Cape town on 28 Jan 09
If we sail at 12 knots/hr----arriving at Cape town on 26 Jan 09
I hope that i will be able to reach home by 1 Feb 09 for CNY.
Feel sleepy now...may be i need a coffee ...i gonna miss all you guys....
Wait to see more picture ba...
Because of the nature of the work that you just couldnt correctly estimate how long it will take to commmission a system, sometimes we need to stay back until 9pm at yard finishing the job. Giving the short period of time due to work delay by the construction team, needless to say we have to work 7 days a week. But all the hard work finally pay off...the vessel is on its way sailing to Brazil...
Today started quite relaxing. I did some paper work in the morning, and going around to check the fire water system and modification work for the condensate system for the gland steam condenser. In the afternoon, we had our safety induction course,and about 230pm the captain arranged a fire drill to prepare everyone onboard about things to do during emergency. It seems pretty simple and easy for us until dinner time. Everything seems prepared and set for sailing.
First, there was news that the main engine is not gonna get started due to some problem with the govenor. Then there was a problem that the storage of the fresh water is too little, and might not enough to fire the engine room boiler so that might prevent us from sailing.At about 10pm, i was in the engine control room, standing by to see what i can help (apprently i cant, but i just want to be there to see how the problem get solve). Sooner, the the RO unit (reverse osmosis unit)that we kept runnning since 630pm in the evening was found to be leaking....trying to figure out the problem, i pull along my colleague who have much more experience than me together to get the problem solve. Then it came my boss, and the offshore installation manager and the maintainent superintendent.Suddenly the machinery space become more lively though the flanges still leaking as we tried to figure out which flanges actually clothing the discharge line. At about 2am in the morning, we finally figure out and solve the problem after opening 4 flanges and found out that it is actually the problem of the failure valve which clothed the line. SO happily pack up our tools and went back to retake our bath and change our soaking cloth...
Despite having to work till midnight, i am still very excited as i get to know that the vessel is gonna leave at about 6am in the morning. So,i am ready with my camera to take down the memorable moment sacrifising my sleep. I found some noted written on the board about sailing speed and arriving date in cape town..
If we sail at 10 knots/hr----arriving at Cape town on 30 Jan 09
If we sail at 11 knots/hr----arriving at Cape town on 28 Jan 09
If we sail at 12 knots/hr----arriving at Cape town on 26 Jan 09
I hope that i will be able to reach home by 1 Feb 09 for CNY.
Feel sleepy now...may be i need a coffee ...i gonna miss all you guys....
Wait to see more picture ba...
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
