I tried to get up early this morning to catch a Landing Craft at 0600 across to the beach but for some reason the alarm on my phone didn’t work. I got to the STOM (ship to objective maneuver) desk at about 0635 to find that I had missed the first wave but was informed that there had been some issue on the beach and a landing craft would be leaving about 0745. I popped up to the wardroom for breakfast and enjoyed the delights of marmite on toast. It pretty much tastes like vegemite but is stickier and therefore messier – I recommend sticking to the good stuff.
I made my way back down to the STOM desk at the appointed time to be told that there had been some more issues and that the next LCU would be leaving at 0830. It was back up to the wardroom where I was for less than ten minutes when told that there would be a LCU leaving from the vehicle deck shortly. I arrived only to be informed that there had been a change of plan and I would have to wait a few minutes to hop on one. In the end I boarded an LCU then hopped off an LCU than got back on an LCU to walk through to a LCVP before hopping off the LCVP, back across and LCU to the vehicle deck. It was starting to look like a bit of a fizzer before I was put on another LCU that was unloading Viking tracked armored personnel carriers and troops before going back to the beach.
A Landing Craft Utility coming into the ships dock
Some of the heavy lifting equipment moving metal matting used to make the beach easier to use for vehicles
Troops returning onboard
The recovery vehicle is based on a leopard tank and used to drag vehicles up the beach or push grounded landing craft off
I finally got on an LCU and we headed off to the beach in bright sunshine and crisp air. Not long into the journey I found to my horror that taking photos in the vehicle deck had drained the battery in my camera and I was going to be relying on my phone camera (which is not a fancy iphone) to take photos – what would Paula say! I decided to ring home and confess all (she informed me that I had better paint a b!@*@y good word picture). The trip across though cold was fantastic with smooth seas and beautiful scenery all around. There was another person doing the same trip as me so she rode in the wheelhouse on the way out and we swapped just before we got to the beach. I certainly lucked in because no sooner had we set off on our return journey than the weather changed and we were buffeted by winds and snow showers. It wasn’t too long a journey though and before we knew it we were back in BULWARK.
BULWARK from the outside
Some of the other landing craft
The view from the beach – beach obviously meaning something different in Norwegian than Australian
The weather was quick to change
The afternoon was spent watching the last weekend of the Six Nations. Not having anywhere near as much emotion invested in any of the matches as others it was amusing to watch reactions when the satellite reception kept dropping out. Needless to say, the Dutch and Norwegians paid no attention to any of it apart from mild amusement. I did feel for the sole Republic of Ireland representative as his team got flogged by the English. I must say its also very civilized being able to have a beer at sea. Not much cloud cover this evening and suspected minor northern lights activity. Unfortunately the Norwegians confirmed that it was just cloud being lit by the moon.
No comments:
Post a Comment