When I first joined (just over 10 years ago) I did some sea trials and at that time that meant big money. First was on Malaysian vessel just before Christmas and the weather was fine but becasue the ship was for Malaysia there was no alcohol allowed on board.

Accomodation was tight – Malaysians are a lot smaller than a typical weegie – I had top bunk with a main sewage pipe running directly overhead. Lovely.

Second trial was a lot rougher – high seas, transferring from a small boat to the ship was not nice and long hours. I wasn’t happy at getting woken at 4AM to do some odd job that could have been done at a more sensible time.

The third and last one was on the Type 23 frigates. Memorable as we ran some gunnery trials and there was a force 9 storm for a day and a half – unbelievably rough and makes me appreciate more what life at sea can be like. Hellish.

I enjoyed them but probably because they were all short stints (1 week max) – could see what we build in action and there’s a lot of people who work here never get that opportunity. Going from 30 knots to a dead stop in 20 seconds is damned impressive for a 3000 tonne ship.

Would love to go out on the T45 but can’t see it happening in my current role – maybe I could test the internet connections and iPod docks that every cabin now gets. Geek.