SV Concordia

90th Birthday Party From jocox ^Pro in Where am I now? (28 days old)

Now I know I wrote the last entry, proclaiming how rushed off my feet I am, but some things are more important than work, and my Grandfathers 90th Birthday party was 1 such occasion. Having missed num… more

Drydock - Frederikshavn From jocox ^Pro in Where am I now? (28 days old)

Well, since my last update, almost all of the good intentions have gone by the wayside. Not only have I been very slow and useless at keeping my blog upto date, I have been even worse at the new exerc… more

Back to sea and full of good intentions From jocox ^Pro in Where am I now? (80 days old)

I've now been back at sea for just under 3 weeks and so far so good. Its been a pretty busy time as I have gone from doing the nice simple second mates job, to covering the Chief Officers role, gainin… more

Another Leave From jocox ^Pro in Where am I now? (94 days old)

Ok, so as usual I am running at least a month behind on the blog. But I have a more than valid excuse. I have been on leave, which has been a very hard month of lying in the sun, drinking and eating t… more

North Sea Work From jocox ^Pro in Where am I now? (128 days old)

After far too long enjoying myself, it was finally back to work, and my first introduction to the commercial world of shipping in the North Sea. So no prospects of seeing penguins and albatrosses for … more

Courses, Course and more Courses From jocox ^Pro in Where am I now? (152 days old)

All good things must come to an end, and after a nice bit of time over in Spain, I finally had to return to the real world. Before I could rejoin the ship I had to attend a few courses to enable me to… more

Sun, Spain and Sailing From jocox ^Pro in Where am I now? (167 days old)

All good things must come to an end, and I am now back in the UK after another great few weeks in Spain. The first week was another boat maintainence marathon. And even if I am slightly biased, I thin… more

A Few Days in Gibraltar From jocox ^Pro in Where am I now? (217 days old)

I allowed myself a few days off from sanding and varnishing Fintail, and headed down to Gibraltar for a break. I lived in Gib for 3 years when I was really young, but have only been back for a day tri… more

Getting to grips with Fintail From jocox ^Pro in Where am I now? (242 days old)

I was after a nice calm day to get the sails up on Fintail, and see what all the bits of string do. And you don't get much calmer than this. I never thought that the salt works on the way out to the m… more

Fintail From jocox ^Pro in Where am I now? (251 days old)

Fate works in strange ways, and for me it has led to me buying Fintail. I first came across her last summer, when she came on the market over in Spain. It was love at first sight, but unfortunately … more

Back to the UK From jocox ^Pro in Where am I now? (258 days old)

Its certainly been an interesting few weeks, and I have now made it back to the UK. I have certainly learnt at least one lesson over the last few weeks, and that is that if you are going to get ill, t… more

A Few Days at Rothera From jocox ^Pro in Where am I now? (265 days old)

Its been a very quiet few days for me, with no real photo opportunities (unless you really want to see my room from a whole range of different angles). I arrived at the base at Rothera on Friday ev… more

Halley to Rothera From jocox ^Pro in Where am I now? (269 days old)

I promised more good pictures, and hopefully I will deliver. My thanks must go out to Jason for the amazing ariel shots, as he was sitting in the co-pilot seat and had a much better view. My journe… more

More Seals, More Penguins and I make it to Halley From jocox ^Pro in Where am I now? (271 days old)

I suppose I may as well get the cheesy picture of myself out of the way first of all. Another busy few days here, with plenty more great opportunities for photos. The seal tagging continues well. W… more

Ice, seals, penguins and lots of fun From jocox ^Pro in Where am I now? (278 days old)

There is only one word that can aptly describe the last few days for me, and that is amazing! I thought I had seen and done quite a lot in my past seasons down here, but I realize now that I have b… more

Back to the Antarctic From jocox ^Pro in Where am I now? (282 days old)

Another long delay, but hopefully the start of several Antarctic posts over the next few weeks. Despite the fact that this is my 7th season down here, it is all new for me this year. For a start I… more

The missing months (again) From jocox ^Pro in Where am I now? (422 days old)

An update at last. Sorry for the delay as I have been truely rubbish at keeping my blog upto date. My last post was in February, when I was down in the Southern Ocean. Since then it has been a very bu… more

A bit of dry land From jocox ^Pro in Where am I now? (621 days old)

After 6 weeks at sea, I finally got a chance to get off the ship for a brief walk ashore at King Edward Point (KEP) on South Georgia. KEP is one of the ships more frequent stopping points as we re… more

South Georgia Sunrises From jocox ^Pro in Where am I now? (633 days old)

The last 10 days have seen the ship working around the island of South Georgia. During this time there has been a real mix of great weather, and truely awful weather. In amongst it, there have been a … more

Southern Ocean From jocox ^Pro in Where am I now? (653 days old)

While I am away at sea I spend 8 hours each day driving the ship. This equals a lots of hours staring out of the windows, and gives a great chance to experience the Southern Ocean in all its moods. … more

South Orkneys From jocox ^Pro in Where am I now? (665 days old)

This week has seen the ship working around the South Orkney Islands. The science cruise is going well, with my time on watch spent with a wide range of science kit either dangling over the ships side,… more

9 countries in 9 days From jocox ^Pro in Where am I now? (674 days old)

To say it was a hectic end to 2007 doesn't even come close. By the 29th December I had managed the impressive feat of visiting 9 countries in 9 days. The epic journey to join the ship took me to Madri… more

Botswana to Home From jocox ^Pro in Where am I now? (686 days old)

From Etosha national park, we headed further east into rural Namibia. The modern world was left behind, with the Africa I had imagined beginning to emerge. Conventional buildings gave way to small fam… more

Etosha National Park From jocox ^Pro in Where am I now? (687 days old)

Our arrival in Etosha gave the chance to view some of Africas game animals, and a few of the big five. Words really can't do the place justice, so I will let the pictures do the talking, for what was … more

Namibia From jocox ^Pro in Where am I now? (687 days old)

Before heading to the coast we had a bit more desert to cross, offering more stunning views. But just to show that the desert isn't all barren. This was the sight that greated us as we arrived at o… more

Cape Town to Namibia From jocox ^Pro in Where am I now? (704 days old)

The last 3 weeks have taken me from crossing equator on a ship, to crossing the Tropic of Capricorn in an overland truck. To say its been a busy time, doesn't even come close. The rest of the trip so… more

Crossing the line From jocox ^Pro in Where am I now? (722 days old)

The voyage to Cape Town continues to go well, with this week seeing the ship crossing from the Northern to Southern hemispheres. In true merchant navy tradition the occasion was marked in spectacular … more

Back to Sea From jocox ^Pro in Where am I now? (732 days old)

In the middle of September I returned from another trip to Spain, and then it was back to sea. I joined the RRS Ernest Shackleton in Immingham in the middle of September. It is the first time I have s… more

The missing months From jocox ^Pro in Where am I now? (732 days old)

Ok, so I said that I would keep the blog running and surprise, surprise it is now over 6 months since my last post, so many apologies. But better late than never. So what have I been upto since I r… more

Sydney - Hong Kong - Cheswick Green From jocox ^Pro in Where am I now? (952 days old)

Alas the end has come. I am writing this from back in the UK at the horrendous time of 5am, thanks to jetlag. Its a time of day I have heard about before, but I never thought I would ever see it. And … more