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17th October 2020, 01:13 PM
#1
Fatigue and stress at sea
Videotel is a London based outfit that provides training videos on a wide range of marine related topics for on board crew training.
Returning to my ship from leave in the Manchester ship canal I found that we were to be involved in the making of a training video on the above subject.
The scenario was that after being on the bridge for an extended period due to bad weather and arriving in port with a long pilotage, on berthing for a quick turnaround, instead of being able to catch up on his sleep the captain has to spend hours on the phone to head office to get them to order and deliver prior to sailing an important spare part that is critical to the vessels safety and head office were trying to get him to sail without it. Whilst arguing with the office he receives a phone call from home saying his son has been arrested on a drugs offence. All of this results in his stress levels going through the roof to the extent than when he is eventually able to rest he can only lie awake going through everything instead of being able to sleep.
To make the video there was a professional actor ( who had at one time been in the soap program Crossroads, the director, sound man, camera man and script writer.
The actor was to play the captain's role whilst some of us would have walk on parts.
The actor must have thought he was on stage at the old Vic as after every scene rehearsal he would question the director asking him if had the right emphasis on his words, Larry Olivier he was not!!.
During discharge they got most of the scenes shot and as we were going back down the canal to start our next trip they filmed the actor captain working the starboard bridge controls (disabled of course) whilst myself and the pilot did the actual driving. Surreal as every action and words that myself and pilot said was repeated by the actor and canal helmsman (who was playing the part of a pilot).
At Eastham they all got off with the exception of the camera and sound man who wanted scenes of the ship at sea, hopefully in bad weather. We were bound for Rotterdam and boy did we get them bad weather scenes. The bar pilotage was suspended so we went to lynas to drop him off in a force 8/9 which continued all the way down the saint Georges channel and only eased off once we rounded lands end.
The poor camera man had to get his shots of the ship pounding away in a head sea with solid water over the deck, all the while whilst being constantly sea sick.
As he was leaving us in Rotterdam his last words to me were on the lines "you must be mad to do this job".
Rgds
J.A.
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17th October 2020, 01:36 PM
#2
Re: Fatigue and stress at sea
[QUOTE=John Arton;.
As he was leaving us in Rotterdam his last words to me were on the lines "you must be mad to do this job".
Rgds
J.A.[/QUOTE]
Well we were, but somehow we kept going back for more as the pavements were too still!
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