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A Night in the Fog
26-27 February. Ugggghhhh. Unfortunately that's all I can
manage. It's 3.30am and I haven't had my cup of tea to get
my voice working yet. I'm about to go out on anchor duty
for the second night running. We're due to leave at 4am
to relieve my poor shipmates and allow them some sleep.
We actually leave the Rainbow Warrior at 5am, and I know
my shipmates are going to be mighty upset. After all, sitting
in an inflatable, chained to the anchor of a very large
ship gets a bit boring after 3 hours.
But, in our defence, there is a very heavy fog descending
on this part of the Mediterranean. We can't even see the
target ship from the Warrior and the going is very slow.
Eventually the three of us set off. Me and Tyronne are going
to relieve Marco and Cees in the inflatable and Chris is
going to relieve Anders who is hanging on a rope above one
of the cranes. We launch out into the dark, in the fog and,
unfortunately in the wrong direction!
We are in fact heading towards Africa, but luckily the
Boson, Sarah, comes over the radio and explains this to
us. By that time, the fog is so dense that we can't even
see the Rainbow Warrior anymore, let alone the target ship!!!
Three worried idiots in a boat, springs to mind (or was
that 3 men in a boat?).
Anyway, we turn and head back in what we think is the right
direction. Wrong again! Can't see the Warrior. Can't see
anything. Not being used to this sort of early morning activity
I am about to go into cranked up panic mode, however just
in the nick of time we see lights and I relax. The funny
thing was that the lights belonged to the target ship so
we had completely missed the Warrior - but hey, we are back
on the target and can start the job.
Of course, Cees and Marco were at first really pleased
to see us and then 2 seconds later, very upset that we took
so long and who can blame them. We swap positions and, as
we wave them goodbye with a 'sleep well darlings', me and
Tyronne settle down for our watch.
I'd brought my camera with me this time because Haussy
had told me that this was the strongest full moon of the
year. I was, of course, eager to capture it in between the
anchor chain and the bow of the ship (I fancy myself as
a bit of an artistic snapper). But naturally when I had
packed my camera, along with my chocolate, cheese, apple
juice and lip balm, I didn't know it would be so foggy.
So, I took some snaps of Tyronne and he took some of me
but the moon hid all night.
It's really funny sitting there doing nothing. You think
you hear ship engines all the time and you get used to rushing
up to the chain ready to tie yourself on and obstruct the
French Commandos. Even after 10 false alarms, the adrenaline
still hits you.
Tyronne and I sat under the tarpaulin and discussed our
mums, dreams and the link between this log-ship and Al Qaeda.
We debated whether old Bin Ladin could actually be hiding
in between the logs. At that point I decided that I would
hand myself over to the first Commando I saw and ask him
to get me the hell outta here!
The action team on the deck, Haussy and Chris occasionally
poked their heads over the side and asked how we were doing,
at which point we replied 'found Bin Ladin yet?'. Well,
we thought it was funny.
The fog stayed with us into sunrise (so I couldn't even
be artistic with that). I sat thinking that I should have
worn 3 pairs of socks as my feet could have fallen off by
then and I wouldn't have noticed. The rest of me had stayed
fairly warm, what with 5 tops, 2 pairs of trousers, the
padded action suit and the life jacket, but I did have to
start sitting on my wellies to stop hypothermia creeping
into my toes.
Luckily, by this time, our watch was almost up. It was
nearly 8am. Huh, who am I kidding? Haussy hangs his head
over the side and shouts, 'they won't be relieving us until
9am guys'. Typical. Then, a few minutes later….'they
won't be relieving us until the fog lifts'. Now that isn't
funny. We came out in the fog and the dark. How come they
won't even come out for us in daylight fog???? I made my
feelings known in no uncertain terms. I might even have
sworn at the Boson! 'But it's Captain's orders' Sarah comes
back with. 'I wonder if the Captain likes laxative in his
pesto' was my reply. They came to fetch us at 9.30 (guess
the captain likes his pesto natural)! They arrived just
as the French police boat turned up to continue filming
us like they'd done for the last 2 days. So I'm busy trying
to lock myself to the chain because Tyronne didn't want
to get greasy (and I gave him my last piece of chocolate)!
Our crew come along side, see what I am doing and ask if
I'm chaining myself up because I want to stay there all
day!!!!
No comment. It's a speedy ride back to the ship and I am
back in bed by 10.30.
That's it for now because as you all know, the action began
the next day and I want to tell you all about what happened
to me in that crazy, bizarre, surreal day.
Lesley
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