Places to Go to ....

Ieuan Dolby
Copyright © 2006

My Life's Mission Statement

To go far within the Maritime Industry and to write something, to write some more and write some more still and then write a whole lot more about something else and as long as my wife is happy, then thats fine!

The Educational Establishment and I

Och, I had an unremarkable dose of education here and there! I once attended a primary school and then a couple of years down the line I poked my head through the doors of a secondary school! I think the schools and the teachers made as much impression on me as I on them; I got a C in O'level woodwork, although I got into trouble (so did the woodwork teacher) for wielding a truncheon that I had made on the lathe! The headmistress caught me on the stairs as I was suitably impressing half the school! NB: I was only twelve and had no inclination to join the Police Force!

I left school and became serious! Four years down the track I was awarded a Higher Diploma in Marine Engineering from Leith Nautical College and South Shields Technical College. As a matured student; I eventually wandered through the haloed doors of the University of Newcastle Upon Tyne and got myself a Bachelors (with those Honors things) Degree in Maritime Technology (I re-read my thesis recently on "Waste Heat Utilization on Ships" and couldn't understand a word!). Oh, and then I got myself a Post Grad Certificate in Shipping Management from the Norwegian Maritime Academy.

My future aspirations include a Masters MBA or MSC, should I have the time and money to do so - maybe in turnip cooking, ancient history of the parmalite era or volcanic eruptions in Glasgow!

Non-Educational Certificates that I was awarded

British Class 1 Foreign-Going Motor Ticket, First Aid at Sea, Fire Fighting, Sea Survival Certificate, Steering Certificate, ISM Management, STCW '95, and all that sort of stuff. Plus some Certificates in Welding and Small Boat driving, High Voltage, Orbis and HUET (Helicopter Safety). One for climbing the Scott Monument in Edinburgh (had to pay for the privilege), got something for playing the guitar and one for falling down a hill with snow on it. (Said on the certificate that I had received a Grade Two in Skiing but I just remember sliding down on my behind).

The Seafaring Work Life

I was a Cadet, then a Fourth Engineer on Deep Sea vessels. After a few years I used my Class Four Ticket to get a job as a Chief Engineer on Coasters in Europe and Papua New Guinea! After a few years of that I returned deep sea to get my Class Two and subsequent Class One sorted out, sailing as third engineer then second engineer on a variety of gas tankers, general cargo, ferries, etc until departing deep sea for the offshore with Tidewater Marine and then Swire Pacific Offshore. Now as a Chief Engineer I have worked on Research Vessels, Seismic Survey, Anchor Handlers and Ice-Breaking Supply Vessels. Some are extremely old, others extremely new. Some are less than 3000 horses, some are more than 20000 horses but whether new or old, weak or strong my job remains the same - I keep and operate the vessels machinery to a standard worthy of the company that I work for. I may sweat oil and curse wildly, I may hate the fact that the paperwork often prevents me from participating in the engine room all day long and I may quietly wish that all trips were in Vietnam but ........that's my job! Lately, I have been working in Shakahlin on an 22000 HP Ice-Breaking Supply Vessel as a Technical Advisor to the Russian Engineers on the 6000 volt, deisel electric aquamaster setup!

In other words a Cadet to Chief Engineer on a variety of leaking tin cans and some state of the art vessels!

A list of vessels that I have sailed on can be found here

Fill-ins between seafaring jobs

Milk delivery on the streets of Edinburgh. Paper boy for the local newsagent's. Tried a career of washing car windscreen's but this did not really take-off. Shop Assistant in Frankfurt in a shop selling English foods. Tried Selling Hamburgers in Frankfurt but didn't last the afternoon. Also a volunteer for the VSO in London as the Head of the Marine Engineering Department of the Tuvalu Maritime School for two years. Taught English at a large English teaching Establishment in Kaohsiung, became the Manager of the School for three months until Summer Break and the need for a larger salary reared its ugly head (or was it all the screaming children that sent me packing?).

Outside Interests and Hobbies

Writing articles, stories and tall tales for my website of Seadolby.com! Cooking and Photography are my other two non-physical interests. I would say that my photography is better than my cooking but I just cannot eat the end result. Exercise wise? Not enough but once upon a time I used to do everything from skiing to Velodrome racing - and good at it too. Now I play the odd badminton game and try to go running every morning - although something always seems to get in the way. Can speak some German and am contemplating learning Mandarin.

The Today and the future

Now living in Taiwan and in Scotland with my beautiful and supportive wife (and son) I plan to continue writing for the long term. Writing about the sea, ships and all who sail on them. But also to write about life in general, about people, attitudes and their ways of living around the world. With so much knowledge collected from my travels to all corners of the globe, from experiencing cultures and people first hand, I have so much to put down on paper and so much to give from experience, and so far I have not even dented the stored content that resides in my brain.