Not long to go now!

The skipper Dave has just told us that we will arrive in the Falklands at about 4pm on Sunday the 15th. I can hardly wait!

This is really exciting news and I shall have to get all the sleep that I can to prepare me for my arrival and meeting my new friends.

I am told that Luka’s Dad will be collecting me as my Dad is still at the V.E.T.s in England and will not arrive until the 17th. (I am not allowed to stay with Luka until I have been two weeks under house arrest!)

In the mean time I shall be staying with my Auntie Joan and Uncle Terry and their son Mark. I hope they have some shoes to chew as there do not seem to be many left on this ship!

This is all too exciting for a BFBP!!

My next Blog may be from the Falklands! Yippeeeeeeeee…………….

Who is that in my sun?

My Best Friend (another one) and fellow watch keeper Alex has written a description of our watch (why is it not called a dog watch?)

Hello my name is Alex Hammond the third officer on the Hartland point and as you well know by now, Jackson the ships dog comes up on the morning 8-12 watch with me to keep an expert lookout for ships.

The morning starts off with me going down to his Cabin to collect him at about quarter to eight, we then arrive on the bridge, once we have finally made it past the ships galley, at about ten to eight where he promptly presents him self to the Chief Mate Raj who says every morning, good morning Jackson.

The Hand over of the watch then usually consists of Raj telling me all the relevant information to do with my forth coming watch, while Jackson finds somewhere to pee and have a poo. This is quite often in the actual bridge it’s self or if he is in a good mood out on the bridge wing where it is easier for me to clean up.

Then I make my coffee and Jackson fights with his ball, we then both have a little play with the ball, which lasts a little while until he gets bored and goes out on to the bridge wing and falls asleep in the sun. [I'm not sleeping! I am like a coiled spring on the look out for any emergency!GJ.]

The Captain will then arrive on the bridge at about quarter to nine and he will be greeted at the top of the stairs by the dog’s nose, in fact Jackson greets everyone as they come up the stairs and on to the bridge. Jackson will then follow the Captain round and then after a while go back to his spot in the sun where he tends to spend most of his watch.

Jackson has a tendency whilst on the watch to come into the bridge every time any alarms goes off, he then looks at me to say are you going to answer it or shall I, then once it is all sorted he goes back to his place in the sun. [That just shows that I am on the alert!GJ]

At the end off the watch Paul the second mate comes up to the bridge to take the watch from the two of us and I then pick Jackson up, as he does not do stairs, and carry him down to the deck where his cabin is, where he promptly makes a B line for the galley. [Just to check that the cook does not need a paw.GJ] That is what Jackson’s dog watch consists of.

The Watch keepers