Offshore

Probably top 3 unique experiences of my life, but glad to be back on shore.

After an early morning boat ride at the beginning of the week I awoke to the Captain of the boat announcing it was time to hop on the "Billy Pugh" basket and get lifted on to the platform, 150+ feet up. Nice little adrenaline rush to start your morning. I'll take that over a large double double any morning. Wasn't allowed to take video, so this one from Youtube will suffice.

Billy Pugh basket being lowered between Alba B1 and B2

This is where the magic happens so to say, the offshore platform. Everything on land exists because of these offshore platforms which extract the natural gas condensate from the ocean floor 200ft below. The valuable product is pumped up at some seriously high pressures (5000psig), the ocean water is removed, glycol is added and it is sent to shore. Cha-Ching.

Our job; Install the new radio communication system on both platforms which, after spending a week out there are proven to be an integral part of this operation. If stuff goes wrong out there, things go BOOM!

Ever see big red buttons and have the urge to push them? These were everywhere around the platform in case "shit hits the fan" and a shutdown is required. I was told that one press of a button would easily be a million dollar button push.

Living quarters were as you might expect, tight! I shared a room with 3 Rope Access Electricians from Scotland. Seemed like such an interesting trade. In a nutshell, they are licensed electricians that are qualified to do there job while suspended by rope and rigging, while hanging in awkward areas, like underneath the gas platform. Nice guys to hang out with.




The view at night was a surreal sight to see as mentioned in the previous post along with a picture. One clear night I counted about 25 other offshore platforms towards Nigeria. I was told that most of those companies don't make full use of the extracted product, hence the massive flames coming from the top of many platforms.

As north American media outlets frequently let you know, pirates are a problem in oil abundant areas like this. True, however not in our case. Let's  just say, this companies hired guns are a bit bigger, so the pirates tend to stay in Nigerian water and not these parts. With the lack of entertainment and change of scenery, a few operators on the platform said they would welcome the excitement of a pirate attack haha. I'll pass for now. Most guys are on a 28 day rotating schedule, 28 days straight work, 28 days off. You really get the vibe that any more than 28 days out there and you might start going a bit looney.



 All in all, couldn't be happier. Met friendly people from all over the world and got to pretend I was on the set of Waterworld for a week.
Back to shore for steak and beer.

Motion of the Ocean

Figured I at least write SOMETHING here, while in such a unique location....

Who knew I'd have internet access 25+ miles out in the ocean? Technology is great.

Will go into detail in a few days, but here's the Coles Notes version:

Out here in the Gulf of Guinea on an oil/gas platform for the week. Quite a surreal sight to see, especially at night. Looking north towards Nigeria I can see at least 6 other platforms lit up probably at least 50km away, with the burning flames comming from flare stacks ligthing up in the sky, intense.
More to follow..

View out the window. Electonics not allowed in process areas in case of explosion.

28 Days later

After being here for a full month, it is safe to say that there are no lion's, zebras or giraffes on the island (Not all of Africa looks like a scene from The Lion King).

So far, so good. I think I can get used to this foreign work opportunity thing. I assume that being single, with no pets or a mortgage makes it a little more simple an enjoyable. Kind of an ideal situation in my life for an opportunity as such, one might think...

Road into our Billion dollar bubble

Quick facts on this country:

• Equatorial Guinea is composed of both a continental and Island Region, with Bioko Island located in middle west Africa, in the Gulf of Guinea
• It is the richest country per capita however, the wealth is distributed very unevenly, with 70% of the population living under the United Nations Poverty Threshold of $2/day. 
• Equatorial Guinea has one of the worst human rights records in the world
• The political situation here is a bit complicated. I wont get into that or even mention the Presidents name as it will likely set off a red flag and I might likely have one of the hired Russian fighter jets circling my building in a matter of minutes. 

 
Where we are:
We are on the northern tip of Bioko Island, Punta Europa, in our very own isolated, barb surrounded bubble. Big time American companies have set up shop here with one goal in mind; pump as much money out of the ocean floor as possible, and they do a darn fine job. 60,000 barrel of condensate per day. ($$).

Morning view, one of the volcanoes that created the island. Military outpost at the peak

The airport for the island is less than 1km away, which provides a lot of aviation sight seeing. The average day is usually comprised of at least one fighter jet taking off engines blaring, a few commercial airliners, Military logistic and combat helicopters and sometimes the Presidential entourage if he feels like burning a few dollars.

What the heck am I doing?:
We are installing a brand new  communication system/network for the three petroleum product companies here. Two-way radios (Like police/fire/ambulance use at home "10-4 Rubber Ducky, Over", ya know?), pagers, fibre optic links, and GPS tracking on vehicles (so that Joe Slacker can't detour to the local hideout for an extended nap). Techy electronics stuff. Always been my forte I think?

 I still have 3 weeks of "stuff" to catch up and update on here, however I'll be out to sea for the next few days on the offshore platform. Will update in 5 days or so providing no encounters with Somalian pirates

Busy busy busy

Working 6 or 7 days a week so its hard to get around to putting anything with substance on here.

More to follow, I swear.....

I saw London, I see France

After an entire summer getting everything ready for the job, myself and 4 co-workers finally flew out of London on Sept 23 on my first overseas adventure to date. Having only flown to Vegas, Mexico and across Canada, spending 17+ hours on a plane was definitely one of many new experiences to come.
I heard rumors that international flights are "all you can drink", true story. Short pit stop for an espresso in Paris, Champagne and Heineken while flying over the Sahara desert, BONUS.Classy looking women in Paris, I think I'll be back...

To our surprise and utter joy, we received Vegan meals on our flight across the Atlantic. What a big missed steak. I think I'd rather eat cardboard with bbq sauce on it than a vegan meal, let alone an airline vegan meal.

Destination: Bioko Island, Equatorial Guinea, Africa. Home and work for the next 2 months or less

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So this is blogging...

So here I am, giving in to yet another form of social media in this digital age.

Likely only to be used as a travel blog for the next few months while on my greatest adventure yet. But here it goes, I'll give it a shot now and then as a personal memory and way for friends and family to check in.

Read on, if so inclined....