Voyage Pictures

Diary of L.É. Eithne voyage to Argentina February 6th to April 8th 2006

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Captain’s Journal LE EITHNE - Monday February 6th
Early this morning the crew of the L.É. Eithne embarked for their historic deployment to South America. Bags were thrown into cabins as last minute supplies and humanitarian gifts arrived on the quay wall. These supplies were hurriedly stored away as family, friends and wellwishers arrived down to the ship to say their good byes. At 1030hrs, the Chief of staff swept down onto the soccer pitch in one of the new Air Corps Eurocopters. By now everyone was poised awaiting the arrival of the Minister of Defence. The Guard of Honour lead by S/Lt Clarke was in position, the ships company was mustered on the flight deck and family and friends were seated in the hanger. The Minister was piped onboard at 1100hrs and inspected the guard of honour, before addressing the ships company. In his address he referred to the deployment as exciting and historic. The ships Capt. Cdr Mark Mellett also addressed the ships company and the media that had gathered on board for the occasion. In his speech he talked of the work to be done in Argentina, Uruguay and Brazil. He also referred to the new opportunities open to L.É. Eithne and the Naval Service, and finally he thanked all those who have worked on behalf of L.É. Eithne to make this deployment happen. The Minister then unveiled the painting, by artist Philip Grey, commissioned by the Naval Service for the South American deployment. The Minister, his Excellency the Argentinean Ambassador to Ireland and JJ O'Hara of the Admiral Brown society were then presented with limited addition prints by two of the ships crew, A/Sea Carney and Blackwell. It was 1135hrs before we set sail, and there were palpable feelings of excitement, anxiousness and relief as the engines started up and the lines were let go. We were on our way South America (via Tenerife).

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Captain’s Journal LE EITHNE - Tuesday February 7th
Midday position - 45 46'.8N 010 18'.8W
360nm from Cork
1000nm from Santa Cruz, Tenerife
Everyone has spent the day getting back into the sea going routine. However the events committee headed by S/Lt Carr and SPO Fealy held draws for the upcoming events, which include a darts competition, a 45 (cards) competition and a Colin McCrea Rally competition on the PS2. The XO, Lt Cdr Aedh McGinn is one of the favourites for the darts competition after winning a preliminary wardroom competition today. Today also saw the start of daily circuits run in the ships gym by S/Lt Kieran Carr. To everyone's surprise the ship still has Sky TV despite being 550nm from the Irish Coast. The ship is making good speed and we may arrive in Tenerife ahead of schedule, if we can manage avoid a low pressure with gale force winds heading westerly towards Canaries.

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Captain’s Journal LE EITHNE - Wednesday February 8th
Midday position - 39 29.6N 12 11.8W
760nm from Cork
690nm from Santa Cruz, Tenerife
The ships routine has now pretty much become established. A dog watch has been introduced which means that watch-keepers can now advance a watch each day and will get a full nights rest every third day or so. For day workers call the hands is at 0700 and breakfast at 0730. A wonderful sunrise today followed Tuesday's beautiful sunset. In between, the night watches had little to report apart from the wardroom watching the 'Cruel Sea' on DVD - . To remain sharp the Marine Engineering Officer Lt Cdr Tony Heery has planned a major damage control exercise in which the whole ship's company will turn to. Key staff for this exercise will be Chief 'Bull' Hogan and PO Tom Kennedy. The Captain and Communications Officer, Lt Olan O'Keefe are still watching the Atlantic depression with gale force winds sweeping to the north of the Canaries between us and where we are due on Friday. Will we be forced to alter course? As I write the decision is being made. We are now more than half way to Tennerife. The ships onboard news team have been busy getting ready for our onboard news report tonight. More about this tomorrow!

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Captain’s Journal LE EITHNE - Thursday February 9th
Midday position - 33 47N 14 17W
1105nm from Cork
335nm from Santa Cruz, Tenerife
Yesterday after lunch the first in a series of damage control and fire fighting exercises planned by the MEO and his engineering team for our voyage to South America, was executed. The scenario for the exercise, was that after a submarine surfaced unexpectedly in front of the ship a collision was unavoidable, and this collision was to result in a hole in the bow. The exercise was then to shore up the hole and prevent the ship from flooding. All the ships company trained for this kind of situation, but regular drills keep everyone sharp and ready should a similar event happen in reality. This showed yesterday as everyone knew his or her place of duty and the exercise ran smoothly. While a submarine collision may seem extreme the scenario could just as easily arise as a consequence of a collision with one of the many 40ft containers lost overboard from merchant ships every year.

Traffic converging through the choke point of the Strait of Gibraltar was modest and no alterations were necessary although one super-tanker passed close astern heading west out of the Strait. As the stand on ship L.É. Eithne had the right of way.

Internally preparations continue for service provision in South America. The usual nuisance items of course pop up, with a leaking freshwater pipe causing the shut down of the ships domestic services for a time. Shipwrights and artificers were very quickly on hand however to repair the fault.

The darts tournament was due to commence last night but was postponed due to bad weather and heavy rolling. However the first installation of the P31 news was aired last night through the ships internal TV system. The co-anchors Commop Tom Browne and A/Sea Adam Purcell presented the news ably assisted on the sports desk by PO Micheal Broderick and A/Sea Jenny Blackwell as the weather girl. With direction from S/Lt Fergal Tubridy and C/RRT Sean Newstead. Their was also a special health and safety slot in the news last night with PO/SBA Matt Connolly giving a demonstration on the application of suncream ably assisted by his model PO/Shipwright Tom Kennedy. The show went down well and everyone onboard is looking forward to the next installation. It seems that forecast give by A/Sea Jenny Blackwell was not as accurate as it could have been with near gale conditions overnight and undermining every attempt at a good nights sleep.

Despite the weather progress is good and the ship is passing to the west of Africa. After yesterday's weather briefing the Captain decided to stand on and not to alter course. L.É. Eithne is a good sea-boat and well up to the forecast conditions. Who would have thought that you would have near gale conditions off sunny Casablanca. Engine revolutions have been reduced a little to take account of the heavier weather. The air temperature has been rising steadily and is now at 17 degrees while the seawater temperature is over 18 degrees. Our estimated time of arrival in Tenerife is lunchtime tomorrow 10th Feb. Fuel and other vital supplies are ready for shipping. As we are ahead of our ETA we may even stay the night but that will depend on the forecast for the next leg from Tenerife to the River Plate - more about that tomorrow!

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Captain’s Journal LE EITHNE - Friday February 10th
Midday posn - Alongside Santa Cruz Tenerife. Temp. A comfortable 23°C
1440nm from Cork
4546nm from The River Plate (Mar Del Plata)
Throughout Thursday afternoon L.É. Eithne continued to make good between 14 and 15 knots. With the wind veering from Southeast around to Southwest in rough sea conditions L.É. Eithne moved moderately and occasionally heavily in the head sea and westerly swell. The daily gym circuit training was cancelled although a few 'die hards' like the Gunnery Officer, Captain and PO Engine Room Artificer Plant got their thread mill or cross trainer fix. By nighttime the weather had improved and those not on watch got a better nights sleep. However the weather did not ease sufficiently enough for the darts tournament to begin, and it has now been postponed until we leave Santa Cruz. The water temperature has risen to over 20 degrees Celsius and so far concerns regarding keeping the engines at a sufficiently cool temperature at higher speeds have been premature. The decision was made, however, to bring the engines back slightly, once it was clear that L.É. Eithne could make its ETA in Santa Cruz. Throughout the night the occasional spectacular bolt of lightning lit up the sky as the one or two thunderstorms passed through.

The ships company woke up this morning with more of a spring in their step after finding the weather to have improved, with sunshine and clear blue skies, almost on cue as we made our final approaches towards Tenerife. Tenerife rose out of the ocean like Skellig Micheal off the West Coast of Kerry. The steep and imposing rock islands set against the background of a clear blue sky made for classic Spanish scenery. Everyone onboard was happy to see the first line ashore at 1147hrs. The Consul, Mr Jaime K Willis was there to greet us on arrival and give us a brief on where to go in Tenerife. We were surprised to find how strong the Irish community is on Tenerife with the first Irish settlers establishing their roots in 1847. So next year there will be a big Irish celebration around St Patrick's day. All the crew are now looking forward to the chance to do a bit of last minute shopping and stretch the legs. The weather also looks promising for the start of our next leg south towards Argentina (The River Plate), with winds forecast to be northerly and behind us making for much more comfortable sea conditions - more about this tomorrow!

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Captain’s Journal LE EITHNE - Saturday February 11th
Midday posn - Manoeuvring Santa Cruz Harbour Temp A comfortable 23 C
1441nm from Cork
4545nm from The River Plate (Mar Del Plata)
Since arriving the weather in Tenerife has been mixed, with long sunny spells interspersed with short heavy showers. The showers seemed to come just as we were undertaking an evolution like manoeuvring the ship or taking on fuel. After taking on 70,000 litres of marine diesel L. . Eithne moved from the bunkering berth to a berth closer to town.

Santa Cruz harbour is a man made harbour in some respects similar to Dun Laoghaire with large breakwaters protecting ships from any easterly sea and swell. The air temperature is 22 degrees Celsius while the seawater temperature has just passed 20 degrees. I mentioned that the first Irish settlers came to Tenerife in 1847, that should have read 1747 when Cromwell was in his element. Lt Cdr Aedh McGinn has insisted that this fact be corrected otherwise his fianc would be very annoyed. Some of the crew took to the quay wall with their hurleys and the sliothar. I say the sliothar because we only brought one with us so when it went into the tide there was no option but to jump in to retrieve the ball. The rain didn't stop the crew of L. . Eithne donning their shorts for the first time since leaving Cork Harbour, and taking advantage of Tenerife's duty free shopping, with people buying everything from expensive watches to dodgy sunglasses. Happy with our purchases and shopping bags dropped back to the ship, the mood was buoyant as we set out to sample some of the local cuisine and nightlife. It has to be said that the locals, who like to be referred to as Canarians, are very friendly. Food was excellent with and relatively cheap. The beer however is quite strong and in hindsight best drank by the thimble full!

The ship woke up this morning only too aware of the night previous, with sore heads and periodic moans of 'never again'. Many took the few hours free this morning to run off some off the ill effects of last night. Sinbad Duvet was surprisingly slow for a man that has run at national level.

Jaime, the honorary consul called onboard to see all was well and after a coffee with the Captain he left happy that the visit was a success and even happier that the ship had left him with no headaches! Getting to Tenerife from Ireland is quite easy with direct flights from Dublin by Aer Lingus twice a week and a flight from Cork scheduled to start in July.

The pilot boarded the ship around 1100. A difficulty in clutching in the starboard main engine required that the ship left with only one engine, however the second engine was on line before the ship left the safety of the harbour. By 1200 L. . Eithne was steadying up on 204 - a course which will bring the ship to Mar Del Plata and the River Plate the next stop in two weeks time. There will be plenty to talk about between now and our arrival with crossing the tropic of Capricorn, going through the doldrums crossing the equator to mention but a few topics - but more about that tomorrow.

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Captain’s Journal LE EITHNE - Sunday February 12th
Midday posn - 22 51.8N 019 01.4W
1800nm from Cork
4300nm from The River Plate (Mar Del Plata)
1480nm from The Equator
Since we left Tenerife yesterday the weather has been (as they say in Cork) massive, with a blue-sky during the day and magnificent full moon lighting up last nights clear skies. Temperatures are reaching 24 C during the day and fall slightly to 19 C at night. Today, the ship is on Sunday routine, with uniform only worn by people on watch. The flight deck is covered in a shimmering white carpet of Irish bodies who like albino seals are popping in and out of our own paddling pool, an old liferaft commandeered before leaving Ireland. L. . Eithne is making good time, with engines at ahead 8 Trim 6, she's doing 15knots. We crossed the Tropic of Capricorn (23.5 N) this morning at 0915hrs. As we progress along this the longest passage ever undertaken by an Irish Naval Ship we do not expect to put into Port until Sunday 26th February.

Onboard we normally have dinner at 1800 but today in keeping with tradition in much of Ireland we will have it in the middle of the day with a choice between lamb, pork or beef roasts. For evening meal there is a choice between panini, quiche or healthy option salad.

The decision has been made to change working rig to shorts from tomorrow morning. The next in a series of exercises is planned for tomorrow afternoon after we have had time to make more progress on the external and internal preparations for South America. As we are now well outside coverage for terrestrial television and the footprint of our satellite service stopped at the Canaries our own homemade onboard entertainment has started in earnest. The darts competition finally got underway today with Able Supply Paddy Lawlor hot favourite to take the title. Updates on the darts results tomorrow. The gym has been very busy with the three treadmills, cross trainer, cycling and rowing machines getting good use. For the more serious including the armed boarding team and divers there is the "smith" weights machine, which has proved to be a fine piece of kit. The excellent gym facilities, good food and no alcohol underway combined with weather conditions that are improving each day make a recipe for health and fitness.

If you have any queries regarding our deployment or if you want to ask any of the crew a question about their work or anything else please e-mail the captain - captain@eithne.amosconnect.com We will try and answer your question as quickly as possible - now I'm going sunbathing.

Week One
Week Two
Week Three
Week Four
Week Five
Week six
Week Seven

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