Where were you when..........

OK, let me first apologize for very little WinnieLeaks contents recently. I have not been travelling so much recently and not much funny has happened around me to warrant writing a WinnieLeaks. So I have decided to drag up some old stories from years ago that might entertain you.

I was not alive when JKF was shot in Dallas and the whole World was stunned. People say that everyone remembers where they were that day. In my lifetime, there has been the attack on the two World Trade Towers in New York, commonly known as “9/11”. I remember that day very clearly and where I was. However, I want to share with you another day.

On the 31st August 1997 I was working hard on the back deck of a survey ship called the “Orient Explorer”. The vessel was tasked with investigating possible oil pipeline routes from the Shell Malampaya Oil Field to the port city of Batangas, in the Philippines.

My job was to collect soil samples from the seabed in very deep water. Basically, I operated equipment that hammered a nine meter steel pipe into the seabed and then we pulled it out again, hopefully securing a core sample of mud, silt, sand and dinosaur shit. Dirty work on a baking back deck, in the tropical heat of the Philippines.

The back deck of the vessel was only about 40cm above the water and that creates challenges. Our biggest challenge was urgently trying to find any flying fish that flew onto our back deck. If we didn’t find them quickly they would begin to rot and stink the whole area out. However, the biggest fright I had was fighting with a curious sea snake as it tried to come aboard one night. I only had a broom handle and the snake was very quick. Luckily, I won that battle and the snake left…..with a bump on its head.

Anyway, on this fateful day, the ship’s loudspeaker announced that all operations were to cease immediately and everyone was to report to the project office. The crew was a mixture of many nations, Europeans, Americans, Indians, Filipinos, Indians, Australians, Singaporeans and South Africans. What had happened that affected us all?

The main man in charge was an Irishman and he stood at the far end of the room waiting patiently for everyone to arrive. Once we were all assembled, he looked at us with great sadness on his face and said. “Gentlemen, I just been listening to the BBC World Service radio broadcast and they have just announced that Lady Diana, the Princess of Wales has died in a car crash.”

There was a brief pause as many burly men, still sweaty and dirty, began to digest that information. In his soft Irish accent he continued, “The details are very few at the moment but if anyone has a question please ask.”

It was then that a gruff voice, with a heavy Scottish accent, shouted from the back of the room, “Did you get the football scores?”

I will never forget that moment.