Well, I've been on the ship for a week now and so far it's been really quite enjoyable. I am slowly realising how much there is to learn about life at sea and every day is most definitely a school day at the moment. The week started off well, with some unexpected shore leave in Portsmouth giving me the opportunity to say goodbye to my parents properly for the final time (and involve them in lots of last minute pre-departure admin tasks because, as usual, I was more than a little disorganised). We left Portsmouth on the 12th October and, if all goes to plan, we will not set foot on solid ground until we arrive in Stanley (Falkland Islands) in a month's time. The Bay of Biscay lived up to its reputation and we had an interesting couple of days of rocking and rolling in all directions which made sleeping tricky (for me at least). Since I haven't suffered the slightest hint of sea sickness I decided to brave life without drugs a couple of days ago and so far all appears to be going well. Unfortunately I haven't adapted completely to life at sea and definitely need to work on looking cool and nonchalant while wandering around the ship when it is rolling 20 degrees to either side! I have yet to actually fall over but there has been a lot of staggering and struggling to get doors open and little chance of me hiding the fact that I have spent very little time at sea before. The crew are quick to inform me that the rolling experienced so far is really very mild in comparison to records from previous years. However, as I slide around my bedroom on my chair, whilst trying to type on my laptop (which is also sliding around the desk) with the contents of my cupboards making loud bids for freedom at regular intervals, I feel this is challenge enough for me right now. There are certain advantages to the constant movement and I suspect I will be keeping my room much tidier than usual, rather than run the risk of losing prized possessions thanks to a particularly brutal swell and wave combination - bungees are fast becoming my new best friend.
Big naval ship of some kind on a sunny day in Portsmouth
Portsmouth looking rather nice as we head out into open water
I have been slowly working my way through the medical kit on the ship, trying to work out which of the many cupboards, drawers, lockers and under-seat storage my predecessors have decided use for what. Unfortunately several years worth of different doctors, with different interests and different ideas means that this is turning out to be a colossal task and I am starting to feel a little overwhelmed by it all! In order to have a break from the bandages, cannulas, bags of fluid and a million other things that keep hurling themselves at me every time I open a cupboard door, I decided to see whether some of the kit is actually working by testing it on myself. I am happy to report that I am not having a heart attack, am not anaemic, appear to have a normal blood pressure and oxygen saturations (although a worryingly quick pulse for no apparent reason) but apparently I am diabetic.......this I have decided to ignore for now, in the hope that by tomorrow the machine will have magically fixed itself. I am also feeling rather proud of myself, having successfully sterilised a pair of scissors. Currently I have absolutely no need whatsoever for a pair of sterilised scissors but the autoclave machine has been daring me to have a go on it for the last week and today was the day I took up the challenge. Having never seen or used an autoclave before, I wasn't entirely sure what to expect (but I'm a girl and therefore felt no shame in consulting the instruction manual first). It made a lot of noise, created a lot of steam, had lots of flashing LEDs and, at one point, caused me to leave the room for fear I was about to be attacked by a jet of boiling water. However, at the end of 20 minutes, when I opened the machine, the dot had turned from yellow to purple and I felt (albeit briefly) like I had reached the pinnacle of my medical career. I celebrated with a gin and tonic and a steak. So far so good for life at sea.....
Pictures of the ship have been requested - this is the back bit with lots of stuff on it
The officers' lounge - well stocked with gin and tonic
