(Click on “48 Hour Category”, then “KEP South Georgia”)
This week has been full of different ‘schools’. In order to pass people out as jetboat coxes they need to be able to do a bit of simple navigation, just so they can get themselves home if their electronic navigation fails. I therefore taught a bit of simple navigation on Monday. I am not very good at navigation myself but managed to teach it without confusing either myself or the others too much which was a bonus.
After that we went down to the jetty and I got into my drysuit and jumped in so that the others could experience how difficult it actually is to get people out of the water in a boat with such high sides. They figured out that they needed to get me to the back deck which is lower and there they could get me on much easier but I think it gave some of them pause for thought since they hadn’t realised how tricky it would be.
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| After being recovered a couple of times (photo: H. Woodland) |
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| Rod enjoying far more than necessary pushing me overboard (photo: S. Gregory) |
Everyone seems to be on a bit of a fitness drive at the moment. On Wednesday there were 6 people in the gym which is great but it does mean a little bit of cooperation is needed to try and fit everyone in. Luckily on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays I can remove myself from the competition: Hazel and I, and now Nik, do gymnastic rings. It is a series of simple exercises such as press ups, dips and pull ups but because we do them on unstable rings hanging from the roof it engages pretty much all of the muscles in your body just to stay steady. It is amazing how tricky it is and how much of a difference it can make to one’s fitness. Hazel and I have a healthy competition going but we only push each other so we can get better.
On Wednesday it was Sarah’s (the manager of the museum and the wife of one of the GOs) birthday so we were all invited round to Carse House for dinner. Pat and Sarah were here during the years that it was under the control of the military. One of the regiments that was sent here to garrison the island was the Gurkhas (in fact they were the garrison a couple of times). From them Sarah was given ‘the Gurkha Cookbook’ and we had a selection of curries which were utterly delicious. It was a lovely night and a reminder yet again of the luxury of sitting on sofas.
On Thursday we had Doc School which was a very good session. Hazel set us a scenario and let us get on with it, then, when we had got as far as we thought we could, we debriefed and ran through what went wrong and what we could have done better. Hazel then showed us how she would have run the situation if she had been doing it. The situation was a cruise ship passenger coming in with shortness of breath and being a known asthmatic. We got to give Salbutamol (the stuff inside an inhaler) through a nebuliser which vaporises the liquid drug and gives it with oxygen. It was interesting to remind ourselves of our limitations and what we can actually do while here. It also gave Joe a chance to remind himself of the contents of the surgery. He will be the paramedic cover when Hazel, Jo and I go on holiday to Harpon at the end of next week.
We had a number of ships in and therefore did a fair bit of boating which is always good. The main other thing that happened was that I passed Hazel out as a jetboat cox. This means that she can back me up when I take the boats out to ships. Now I just need to pass Rod and Joe out, both of whom will be staying next year and therefore will be backing up the new boaty when he is alone. I am very pleased that I have started passing people as coxes and I know that Hazel was very pleased as well.
Not much else happened this week. Next week my blog will be late since I will only be returning from Harpon on Monday. I hope you all have a good week till then.
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| It really does look like a film set |
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| Spot the penguin |
Loved the film, thanks! And the rest, obviously. Was that penguin looking at your pint!? xx Trav
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