May Day...May Day

As Stu (or a yachty) I find myself on the move quite a bit and luggage has had to become far more than just a ‘bag’ to me, its one of the more constant things in my life, its part of me. To break it down, for the last three years I have been confined by a general 23kilogram restriction thanks to all you airlines out there. Unfortunately, not all airlines give you in exchange for a mammoth stop over to entice your spending urges in their duty free in Dubai; for a whopping and much appreciated 30 kilograms per person. Dear Emirates head honcho, for this mere product placement I will accept flying miles in exchange, thank you. And I used up every inch of my bag to fit in just about everything I own.

In the left corner, weighing in at a whopping 28kilo’s of bulky, red duffel bag, with ALL her worldly possessions, we have (Drum roll please) … STU.

Just yesterday I watched a boat down the quay go up in smoke! Yip, somebody’s billion-dollar toy destroyed. Which got me thinking about the course I did before I started taking on the persona “Stu”. In order to work at sea we have to go through a course on fire safety and fire rescue, as fires on yachts and boats in general are quite common – case and point. The course itself was an absolute blast, no wonder fire fighters are voluntary (ok maybe that was a little harsh). But it really was an interesting, and not much about sitting in a class room interests me. But this course had me hooked, from fighting the blazes to the search and rescue in a smoke filled tanker, making my way blind folded through a foam filled tank and the 'top descend' into a boiling hot room. You name it, firefighter Stu I Am - hear me roar. Now in theory the term “make a plan and remain calm” is at present vague to me, especially while watching gusts of black smoke bellow out of the bridge doors on this boat across the way.

I know my synergy is all a bit up in the air, but hold on for one more minute – here’s the link:

In the right corner, weighing in at over 1036 tons, carrying over 151000 litres of combustible fuel amongst many other highly flammables, we have … The Boat!

We are taught that in the ‘unlikely’ event of a fire (unlikely…I just watched one), relax, plan your next move and remain calm (Calm…Pah-lease). While I watched the fire fighting team plan for what seemed like half an hour before going in when at this stage things were getting extremely out of control and with thousands of dollars crumbling in seconds. I got thinking, worrying actually, not about my safety – hell if there is a fire onboard while in port, I’m outta there! No questions asked, no holds barred, hand it over to the fire department and ask them kindly to put protective booties over their boots as the floors have just been vacuumed, and I wash my hands of it.

Now for potential employers, please don’t feel like I’m not fully committed to your vessel, I am, truly, but when it comes to fighting the actual ‘out of control’ fire in port, when the perfectly capable volunteers from the fire department are itching for a bit action, then I’M OUT.  At sea sure, ill put on my fire fighting pose and boundary cool the sh*t out of it, I'll even play some montage music for the whole ordeal.

It got me worried about my things, my dresses, my shoes, my make up, my jewelry, sure, all these things I would miss, but to lose my photos would be a catastrophe. So I backed them up on a hard drive, but that’s in my carry-on bag under my bed – pointless. So perhaps while the fire team deal with the fire issues, I'll be on the search and rescue team, finding the valuables like passports, photos and camera’s (to take photo’s of the fire).

I know I sound a bit paranoid but if we look at the maritime industry at present, things aren’t looking too good for it as a whole. The container ship that hit a rock in New Zealand, the cruise ship that ran aground and capsized in Italy, the Super Yacht that sank off the coast of Greece a week or two ago, the other “Costa” cruise ship that had a fire in the engine room and was left powerless (would hate to work for that company right now) and now this boat across the way from us. I feel like boats all around the world are giving quite drastic tributes to the Titanic for its 100^th anniversary coming up in April. 

Whatever it is, pack your water wings.

I don’t think life could get any more exciting. Don’t ever say I don’t live on the edge…

Fire fighting Stu…taking the sea’s less travelled!