Drydock in Singapore.

Singapore Drydock on the Kakariki...
If you think it was hard being the only chick on a tanker for 3 months strait, you have seen nothing till you have done a drydock in Singapore. You would think there would be at least one woman working in the dockyard in Sembawang. Well your wrong, there was none!
There were literally 100's and 100's and 100's of guys there. All Malaysian, Indian, Chinese, Bangladesh and Singaporeans. And having a few guys watch you as you walk the catwalk on deck its ok, but having the whole ship stop working and heads turning as you do your deck safety rounds its kind of intimidating don’t you think. After 4 weeks there they should have got used to seeing me on the ship, but they didn’t and they continued to stop working to watch me walk.

This photo is of the deck of the Kakariki during the lay up period alongside the wharf waiting to go into the floating dock. We had two ships more up alongside up, was the Western Star which recently had an accommodation fire so the whole accommodation block was burned down. That’s the photo below.

Pretty scary aye. And i fire to this extent only takes seconds to go up. You could actually see how the steel work buckled with the heat when we looked close up. I’m am never leaving my cabin light on anymore and always sleeping with a fire extinguisher and EEBD in my cabin.The crew all abandoned the ship using the free fall life boat. At the bottom of the photo you can see the retrieved lifeboat on the deck of the ship.

"She's a Chick????"

I couldn't believe what i was seeing. But then again it should have been expected. This is what i am used to now working on tankers. (being the only woman on a ship you kind of expect to be stared at now. i have got used to it.) You have to!

I walked from the control room out to the manifold to check the hose connections. I could see the guys standing on the jetty who were talking amongst them selves. You could see them peering up to at the ship every so often passing around a five dollar note. I knew what they were up to just by the way the guys were trying to be suspicious while trying really hard to win the five dollars back. I walked back along the catwalk to the control room but just as I turned around I pulled off my hard hat and turned to look at the guys on the jetty. I turned around slowly and the guys mouths dropped. The words spoken next broke the painful silence. “She’s a Chick!!!” They couldn’t believe it, that there was a chick on board a tanker and better still a young chick.
I gave the guys a wave and then walked back into the cargo control room, laughing away to myself at what had just happened.
Oh the joys of being a woman, it has its advantages and fun times.

Size Doesnt Matter...

As this photo shows height doesn’t matter. You are always able to make yourself taller, you cant ever make yourself smaller. Advantages of being small... On the Spirit of New Zealand when the seas come over the bow the wave breaker at the wheel protects you from getting wet, no need to duck. Its not size that determines how good you are at steering a ship, nor does it show how competent you are with cargo operations or personal relations with passengers. Sole Deck Officer on bridge Watch in Cook Strait, New Zealand. The Inter Islanders ferries are run by one deck officer during the cook strait crossing in good conditions of visibility. During the red zone - pilotage waters in Tory Channel and Wellington Harbour, the Master, Mate, Quarter Master and Lookout are also present. Just think. A ship of the Aratere's size with up to 399 POB, 100 Cars and 8 Trucks followed with 4 rakes of rail. The lives and safety of all on board is under the competence of the deck officer on the bridge keeping watch. Watch Keeping Officers, the Master and the HOD's all carry with them UHF Radios for in an emergency situation. This has been and will always be my favourite ship to work on in my lifetime. The Inter Islander Ferry the Aratere. Sole Deck Officer on bridge Watch in Cook Strait, New Zealand. The Inter Islanders ferries are run by one deck officer during the cook strait crossing in good conditions of visibility. During the red zone - pilotage waters in Tory Channel and Wellington Harbour, the Master, Mate, Quarter Master and Lookout are also present. Just think. A ship of the Aratere's size with up to 399 POB, 100 Cars and 8 Trucks followed with 4 rakes of rail. The lives and safety of all on board is under the competence of the deck officer on the bridge keeping watch. Watch Keeping Officers, the Master and the HOD's all carry with them UHF Radios for in an emergency situation. This has been and will always be my favourite ship to work on in my lifetime. The Inter Islander Ferry the Aratere.

Voyaging around the beautiful New Zealand Coast...

Working on a product tanker for 9 weeks on the 4-8 watch your my body clock had to adjust to a daily start of 0330. Taking down a piece of marmite on toast and black coffee, I now have my kick to keep me awake and alert for the next 4 hours. Whether it is on bridge watch in uniform or cargo watch in overalls, I would now be the sole deck officer in charge for the next 4 hours.Such a peaceful feeling being on the bridge of a ship for the sunrise each morning, a nice way to start the day. And then to top off a hard day at work I get to enjoy the beautiful scenery of the sunset each evening. Oh and people say life is hard and work isn’t fun. Well I’m happy to say I love my life and my career. It has its moments but the joys out weigh the downtimes. This photo is taken from the bridge of the Kakariki when I was on watch one evening. The voyage was when we were heading to Botany Bay in Australia. Beautiful westerly winds and sunset. That’s the deck of the Kakariki at the bottom of the photo. A pretty large product tanker. She carriers products such as PMS, RMS, AGO, HFO, LFO, JET and Bitumen, various grades of each. In short I call the products premium, regular, diesel, Ferry Fuel, Skinny fuel and Plan Juice... :-)My times served on the tankers were great. I have some great memories from the 4-8 watches. Places visited and times on board with the crew. No desire to pursue a career on tankers though. I need to have people around me who I can talk to. I’m not anti-social, far from it. So cruise ships and ferries is more my seen. And having other Woman around me to will be so great.