For Christmas Santa brought RP, our outboard mechanic, a pudding truffle.

On-Board the M/V Arctic Sunrise

Day Forty-eight - 4 January 2000

"The Life of an Outboard Mechanic "

It’s late in the afternoon on Christmas, after a tiring day of actions to hinder Japan’s illegal whaling. Outside the temperature is right at freezing and the ship is making 10 knots. But our outboard mechanic, RP, is outside anyway, working on the Gray Whale, a rigid hull inflatable boat that’s hanging in its cradle above the deck.

“Just checking under the hood,” he says. “She’s performed well so I spoil her.”

Their speed and maneuverability makes the inflatable an ideal tool for getting between the whale and the harpoon.

RP puts in whatever hours he has to, out in almost any weather, to see that the Greenpeace inflatables are ready for action. This makes RP a vital link in the action team. The boats need constant attention, and without them there would be little we could do to hinder Japan’s illegal whaling.

Andrew Davies (right) talks with RP while he inspects the Gray Whale. Andrew has been providing the on board stories from the Arctic Sunrise.

RP is quick to point out that he gets plenty of help, “I can always go to David [the chief engineer] who’s ultimately responsible for the boats working, and everybody pitches in when it comes to figuring out tricky problems.”

The science team also uses the boats in their marine mammal surveys, and to do work with the hydrophone. Most importantly the boats need to be ready for search and rescue if we lose someone overboard or the helicopter goes down.

RP - the “R” stands for Richard - has been working for Greenpeace for seven years now. He’s been to the Southern Ocean before, but this is his first job with the whale campaign.

RP takes the Gray Whale for a spin.

When asked how he ended up an outboard motor mechanic RP said, “I enjoy driving boats. It seems a bit silly if you’re driving one, and it stops and you don’t know how to fix it. So, I started learning about how to fix them.”

The Arctic Sunrise has a lot of good boat drivers, and Richard is one of the best. In the last action RP drove one of the Novuranias. These are small boats that are challenging to drive in choppy seas.

Does he want to be a ship’s engineer someday? “Why would I want to be an engineer?” RP replies. “They get stuck down in the engine room while I get to spend all day out here.”