On the morning of Saturday 26th March a very special celebration for our ship was conducted in the Island’s beautifully preserved old Chapel. Julia Forde (Chef) and Tim Patterson (AB) were married in a service given by the ships Captain. The preparations for this had begun two weeks prior as the vessel departed Stanley when we all discovered that Tim had proposed. Cakes and Origami flowers were made. Dresses prepared Speeches and readings practiced. The whole ship and the KEP base got behind the idea of a wonderfully unique wedding.
Nothing disappointed on the day. The KEP Govt Rep Bob Patterson led Julia into the chapel with bagpipes. Captain Harper set a warm, heartfelt and humorous tone. This was followed by several choke backed readings from sources as varied as The Bible, Tom Waits, The Velveteen Rabbit and more. Rob the base commander accompanied our rather rusty singing attempts on the fiddle. The Church bells announcing the the union to some rather startled looking seals and penguins.
Once the ceremony was completed we all gathered outside the chapel for photographs and a toast to the newly wed couple. They were piped down the hill to their waiting Limousine, a pick-up truck, which ferried them back to the ship.
"So if you find someone
Someone to have, someone to hold
Don't trade it for silver
Don't trade it for gold
I have all of life's treasures
And they are fine and they are good
They remind me that houses
Are just made of wood
What makes a house grand
Is not the roof or the doors
If there's love in a house, It's a palace for sure."
The celebrations continued into the afternoon and were capped with a Brazilian style barbecue prepared by Ralph, our chief mate, who is a resident of that country. Huge big swords stuck in the earth with sides of cow skewered thereto and glowing coals all around. Something different and exotic to enjoy and yummy it certainly was.
Later on the wedding cake appeared with figurines handmade by Andy Rutter of the engineering dept. A few more speeches and messages from absent friends were read out. This pretty much concluded a very busy and memorable day for all.Thanks to all who contributed to making this a special occasion that will be talked about for a long time to come.
The Vessel headed off early the next morning for Bird Island were we back-loaded cargo and personnel in less than ideal conditions. We then departed for Stanley, our last call before heading north to the UK. An amazing season down south comes to an end.
We arrived back in Stanley on Wednesday the 30th in the evening to discharge cargo and disembark Base personnel not coming north with us. The cargo work got underway first thing on Thursday morning and the those not involved scattered in the Falkland winds to go and explore.
The few evenings we had in port were well used in trying out the feeding troughs and watering holes of the Island. There are more of these than the layman may think. This culminated in a spontaneous bash on the ship on Thursday evening that carried on into Friday morning. Music and dancing and even a song along with lyrics supplied to what has now become a Shackleton standard. "The Sloop John B". The messroom was almost empty at breakfast, a clear sign that a good night had been enjoyed by all .
The end of these cruises always evokes a melancholic mixture of emotions, happiness to be going home and sadness at missing new friends and the wonderful places the ship has taken us. It now seems pretty empty and quiet around here.
We are now on our way north to the UK and due to arrive in early May. Hopefully there will be some good warm weather along the way.
Potted Men
Images by Andris Kubulins, Andy Walder and myself
