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Post by granty on Jul 17, 2017 20:30:27 GMT
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Post by DADDY O on Jul 18, 2017 2:56:22 GMT
Once again Granty, I am in absolute awe of the skills that you posses.
I may have told you this before, but when the oil boom was going strong about 20 years ago, some of my clients asked if I could design some oil storage tanks. Like the dumb ass I was at the time I replied "Sure.....no Problem". THen they asked if I could also inspect the construction of the tanks, and again, being the dumb ass I was....."Sure.....no Problem".
I knew I had to take some "Special" courses to become a certified welding inspector, so I signed up for the classes and spent close to 4 weeks in Houston taking these courses. That was the most difficult course I have ever taken in my life. I barely passed te certification exam(s), and believed the only reason why I did was the instructor felt sorry for me.
So, now I have this shiny new certificate to hang on my wall, which I did and sat back and thought...........what am I doing with this? I really believed, and still do that I am not qualified to inspect others' welds........it takes a special breed of cat to do that.....someone who has actually worked for many years in this profession, and that wasn't me.
To make my humiliation even worse, I thought, well maybe it would help if I bought a welder and did a little welding of my own, so I did exactly that.......bought an arc welder only to confirm that I am absolutely the worst welder in the world. I tried welding some simple fence corrals to keep my horses in. One of them accidently backed into a panel and it shattered into pieces, and I spent the next 4 hours trying to catch my horses. They only came back because it was supper time and they were hungry.
Not to be outdone by my own stupidity, I then bought a MIG welder, which was much easier to use, but gave me the same results.
I gave up after that.
So, to make a long story more boring, I find the work that you do to be the best tradesman I have ever seen in my life. Many people don't realize that you are producing these rigs while working some 200 or more feet above ground. Most people would throw up just standing there. And, the work has to be absolutely perfect to make the placement of the structure successful. Even a small hole in the leg of one of these rigs could very well send it to the bottom of the ocean where it may never be recovered.
My hat is off to you amigo. I wish I had half of the skills that you possess.
And lastly, I'm sure you know that you are a dying breed. Skilled craftsman are being replaced by cheap labor who skimp by on everything they do. |
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Post by DADDY O on Jul 18, 2017 3:04:49 GMT
BTW - in photo #4, is that Pilot I see on the bridge of the tug holding a $29.95 GPS instrument?  |
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Post by sherri on Jul 18, 2017 15:11:35 GMT
Excellent photos. I am sure also that one day, they will be historically interesting.
I'm glad for you that there is now work in the area where you live!! That's great news.
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Post by granty on Jul 19, 2017 20:00:28 GMT
And the first jacket gets lifted on the barge, all 2000 tonnes of it. Another 27 to go.  |
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Post by granty on Jul 19, 2017 20:02:09 GMT
I forgot to mention, 3 mile down the river is South Shields.
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Post by sherri on Jul 19, 2017 22:58:20 GMT
took me a while to figure out what on earth you meant by jacket. What are they for? I have always associated them with oil drilling, mining and that sort of thing.
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Post by DADDY O on Jul 19, 2017 23:31:49 GMT
I believe they mount wind turbines on them and plant them in the very windy North Sea.
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Post by granty on Aug 8, 2017 19:42:03 GMT
Was down the rocks with Milo tonight, and the first two jackets sailed out of the river destined for the Moray Firth.  |
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Post by sherri on Aug 9, 2017 6:06:03 GMT
Good grief, I hope they don't hit a storm or rough waves. They look too high to be stable. I guess they know what they are doing though.
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