Picture from work today

[raccoonboy]

DSCF7697.JPG (1.1 MiB) Viewed 1641 times

[normen]

Wow, you work there longer periods of time or was it more of a visit?

[raccoonboy]

I do 3 weeks on here and then 3 weeks at home. Have spent almost two years of my life just on this one place, definetly worked here more than other places although I do move about sometimes.

In this picture I am actually on a set of ropes as I was abseiling (rapelling I think it's called in the Americas) under the flareboom to inspect the underside.

[tibah]

Hurray to abseiling! (No, really, as a German that's quite amusing )

Great picture.

[normen]

Crazy. Is it far off the shore? How deep is the sea there? Is there big ships coming to the rig sometimes? Sorry for sounding like a child, I'm into marine stuff

[raccoonboy]

Hurray to abseiling! (No, really, as a German that's quite amusing )

Great picture.

I don't get it ;( hahaha

But I love Germany so is that okay?

thanks.

[raccoonboy]

Crazy. Is it far off the shore? How deep is the sea there? Is there big ships coming to the rig sometimes? Sorry for sounding like a child, I'm into marine stuff

No problem, ask away


To be honest I don't know how far it is. hahah. I should really know. The chopper cruises about 250 miles per hour and in good wind it takes 40 mins to get here. It's roughly half way between Shetland (a Scottish Island) and Norway. I have worked on many rigs and I have never been able to see the shore, surrounded by water. Was definetly eerie my first time over 6 years ago, especially when the fog comes in and you can't see anything and there's a big fog alarm going off. Like Silent Hill. If I wonder around the platform on a clear day I can see over 30 other platforms in the distance.

The North Sea varies from 20 metres to 120m deep. Averages about 35. I'm about 50 metres here. Off the West coast of Scotland is much deeper but requires newer technology (like that one that blew up near America, deep sea horizon I think, that was over 1k deep). This rig has been around since 1978 which is quite near the start of offshore drilling. There are on average 170 people on this platform but it can be as many as 200 when it's busy which is about the size of the village I'm from.

There is always one standby boat nearby which is relatively big, it has a smaller rescue boat in case anybody falls in, but you don't have much of a chance if you do as you will freeze in a few minutes and it's a long way down.

A large ship comes every few weeks with more food and other essentials. Sometimes you can see yachts or cruise ships. Sometimes even dolphins and orcas

[normen]

Amazing. I live on an island (Sylt) just off the german coast, all the way at the danish border. So technically theres just the north sea between us right now

And btw "abseilen" is a german word for exactly what you're doing on that picture, direct translation would be something like "roping off", Seil = rope.

[raccoonboy]

Abseilen. Brilliant. You learn something new everyday, thanks. I should have known this, doh!

Excellent! I've heard of this island. I met a guy in Hamburg from here. Will have to visit it.

When I'm climbing about again tomorrow I'll be sure to wave in a Southeasterly direction

[normen]

Abseilen. Brilliant. You learn something new everyday, thanks. I should have known this, doh!

Excellent! I've heard of this island. I met a guy in Hamburg from here. Will have to visit it.

When I'm climbing about again tomorrow I'll be sure to wave in a Southeasterly direction

Gimme a nudge when you actually want to go here, I have some rooms for rent, not too pricey (contrary to most rooms here)

[Noplan]

Your working place reminds me a bit of Reason. The pipes look as if someone had wired some CV/Audio cables.

[decibel]

wow, so that rig has been sitting stationary, sucking oil out of the same deposit for the last 38 years ? or do the rigs mobilize and move around a bit when things run dry ? i have a few mates who do the same kind of work in australia, but have never thought to ask ?

[raccoonboy]

Your working place reminds me a bit of Reason. The pipes look as if someone had wired some CV/Audio cables.

Funnily enough there's loads of really cool oldschool analogue looking switches and knobs that look cool but I'm not allowed to press them

[raccoonboy]

wow, so that rig has been sitting stationary, sucking oil out of the same deposit for the last 38 years ? or do the rigs mobilize and move around a bit when things run dry ? i have a few mates who do the same kind of work in australia, but have never thought to ask ?

There are three main types of platform in terms of mobility. Permanent. Semi-sub (semi-submersible) which can move around and Jack-Up which has legs which can extend and retract, so it can move when needed.

This particular rig is permanent. But is not always getting oil from the same deposit as every few years they will start drilling again in a different location. Drills can be up to and over 10 kilometres long and can bend left, right, up and down like a snake until they hit oil.

I think that's as far as my knowledge of rigs goes, as I am a mere climber/inspector.

I'm actually just a bit of a hippy, not some oil guy. Just ended up here somehow

[decibel]

I think that's as far as my knowledge of rigs goes, as I am a mere climber/inspector.

I'm actually just a bit of a hippy, not some oil guy. Just ended up here somehow

sounds exactly like the guys i know i have considered looking into work on rigs myself yeah ($$$$) lol, never know what the future holds eh ?

[raccoonboy]

Without working offshore I would have never been able to afford even my basic modular setup.

[decibel]

Without working offshore I would have never been able to afford even my basic modular setup.

im assuming you take our laptop loaded with reason along for he ride ? lol
i also heard the internet connections out on the rigs are pretty shite, not sure if i could handle that ?,
i would probably end up actually being productive for once lol

[JoshuaPhilgarlic]

Hurray to abseiling! (No, really, as a German that's quite amusing )

Great picture.

I don't get it ;( hahaha

But I love Germany so is that okay?

thanks.

"Abseilen" in German comes from Seil = Rope and means "to climb down a rope". It's just funny for us to see this kind of german words in English .

[raccoonboy]

Abseilen. Brilliant. You learn something new everyday, thanks. I should have known this, doh!

Excellent! I've heard of this island. I met a guy in Hamburg from here. Will have to visit it.

When I'm climbing about again tomorrow I'll be sure to wave in a Southeasterly direction

Gimme a nudge when you actually want to go here, I have some rooms for rent, not too pricey (contrary to most rooms here)

Thanks. Will keep that in mind

[raccoonboy]

Without working offshore I would have never been able to afford even my basic modular setup.

im assuming you take our laptop loaded with reason along for he ride ? lol
i also heard the internet connections out on the rigs are pretty shite, not sure if i could handle that ?,
i would probably end up actually being productive for once lol

Internet has improved dramatically, as has the food recently. heheh. But it varies from rig to rig. When I started over 6 years ago it was 20 minutes to load an email. Now it's pretty fast, but the wireless in my cabin is not great but it's usable. Right now I'm on my work computer.

Yes, I have a Macbook Pro, treated myself to a nice expensive laptop as I'm here half my life. Muck around in Reason amongst other things. They also have a couple of guitars and a keyboard although I need to get a hold of a new plug for it. Probably more productive here as there is no whisky.

"Pretty Shite" Are you Scottish as well?

[raccoonboy]

Here is a picture of me on the same flare boom in 2014. Only this time I was slightly off the side of the tip whereas yesterday I was off the very end which gave me that great angle.

pic.jpg (91.78 KiB) Viewed 1530 times

[decibel]

"Pretty Shite" Are you Scottish as well?

nah, im a mongrel (mixture of all sorts) my dads mum was scottish though, mean old thing she was, made of stone lol

[JoshuaPhilgarlic]

Here is a picture of me on the same flare boom in 2014. Only this time I was slightly off the side of the tip whereas yesterday I was off the very end which gave me that great angle.

That would definitely be NO job for me . I prefer to sit here in the studio and mix an episode of "Madam Secretary" .

[Ahornberg]

a fine picture for an album cover

[willowman]

Do you ever pretend that you're bruce willis's character in armageddon ?, I know I would if I worked on an oil rig , seriously though dude great photo's