Two Days To Go

I caved under the immense pressure of preparing to leave this ship. I've started to pack my bag! I fully appreciate that the neatly folded shirts and well-placed shoes are going to suffer mass upheaval before I get to close the zipper for the last time but I had to do it. I had to do something instead of pacing up and down and watching reruns of movies that were rubbish the first time I watched them.

However many times I do this (going home I mean) the eagerness and anticipation is always high! The word 'Channels' has often been used to describe this feeling and refers to long ago when British sailors knew that they would be home soon as they have entered the English Channel. Admittedly in these times gone by they spent a year or two longer at sea than our measly 6-8 weeks but people still get the channels! In my case I find it harder to concentrate on the work as my mind has already packed itself up and is casually asking the stewardess for a beer on flight CI 661 bound for home!

The Seismic Crew onboard here are all getting off at the same time as me. They are certainly not seafarers and for the most part have spent far less time at sea than the ships crew but I can see through them, they all have the Channels! There is a tenseness hanging over the ship, an air of expectancy and nervous energy. I see one of them doing something that he has never done before; he is cleaning the area around his containerized work hut. Obviously he feels the need to make a good impression for his relief or maybe he just needs to do something. One young lad has stopped eating (a typical Channel Symptom due to hyper-tension and expectancy) and another has been washing his clothes over and over again as if he is trying to rid himself of something! In some ways the atmosphere is bad, it is as if everybody is waiting for something that might arrive at any time; yet the date is fixed and secure and its not for another two days. Some people have changed from normally relaxed and amiable characters to jumpy and curt people to avoid, some are now issuing out laughs that sound extremely forced and overdone and others have withdrawn into themselves completely.

The boss of the seismic crew is running around with a clipboard like the Queen is coming to visit and he's the host, the chief mechanic has suddenly found a whole array of problems that he needs to fix (these were an unexpected occurrence) and the medic is overworked as channel victims find ailments they never knew they had! All those going home cope with this period of wind-up in different ways, all act differently yet the signs are all there! They all have the Channels.

The people I feel sorry for are those that have to stay behind! Not because they have to stay but because they have to suffer all this build-up and live under this umbrella of overpowering electrical charge. They continue to do their jobs whilst around them are people who they can no longer communicate with and in some cases people that they can suddenly talk to who never talked before. They will remain behind and for the most part will be glad to see us go, glad to get back to their jobs and with the knowledge that they will be the next lot to go.

Lucky them!

Well, I'm going to stop here! I need to get something that is now residing at the bottom of my suitcase, just under all those neatly folded shirts! Yep, it always happens, just part and parcel of departing a ship for home.