I arrived back in the U.K. on the 22nd September in the early hours after flight from Kos which left at 04.30.
The ferry from Lakki Leros left the previous morning at 00.30 on the morning of the 21st. Arriving in Kos town at 03.00.
My hotel was booked for 21st through Booking.com but couldn’t technically check in until 15.00 hrs of the same day.
Walking from the ferry terminal along the old walled town of Kos and got some money from an ATM.
There were young Brits still out and about after their night out partying. I thought I’d move along the coast as my hotel apartment the Andromeda was a few miles down the coast road from Kos.
Carrying a big and small bag with me and was able to carry them over my shoulders. The big one weighed about 19 kilos. As walked along the coast road I saw a small garden with trees and benches and thought that would be good place to sit and rest, as it was set back off the road.
I set at the back of the gardens placed my main bag at the end of the bench and used it as back rest and chilled out for few hours. I googled a few local cafes and one close by was due to open at 06.00. I thought good I’ll walk around there for cup of tea when it opens.
After a couple of cups of tea I walked back around to the small gardens sat for awhile considering my options?
I know I’ll slowly walk along the coast road towards the hotel and later I’ll text to see if I can check in early than 15.00 ( 3pm.) Slowly walking along there were cafes and hotels overlooking the sea front. One was open and I asked the waiter was the dinning restaurant open to non residents he said yes. Great and for €15 euros there was a set Buffett style help yourself menu.
So I dropped off my bags and helped myself to an excellent breakfast. Cereal, hot plate with beacon and eggs, toast, and croissants with jam and plenty of tea to wash it all down.
After paying my bill I crossed over to the sea front and sat on another bench looking across to Turkey and the azure sea. There was a catamaran anchored not far off in fairly windy conditions and I was admiring it’s lowish squat lines.
I’m not a big catamaran lover because I find many of them are quite ugly. But this was more a racing type low profile design the skipper came roaring back in his inflatable to stern of his catamaran he had to give it lots of engine to gain hold of one of his stern ropes due to the strong winds.
After dozing on and off for hour or so whilst sitting on the bench I decided to walk along the coast towards the hotel. I texted the hotel and Ria said yes I could check in anytime that morning. I thought good I’ll be able catch up on some badly needed sleep.
I called into another cafe further along for drink of orange and ask about taxi’s the owner said there’s bus stop just outside of the cafe and it will drop you off at the Andromeda apartments. Within 5 minutes I was on the bus and 10 minutes I was outside the hotel.
I was checked in by the owner shown to my room and I had a quick shower and straight into my bed for a nice “sort after” sleep. About 14.00 I awoke got up went for walk along the front to a small beach bar for a beer and to relax in the sun taking in the scenery of the sea and the Turkish coastline. I find the Aegean Sea fascinating with its deep blue colour why it’s so popular with sailors is due to its strong northerly winds. On occasions they can develop into 40 to 50 knot winds.
I arrived back in the U.K. at Gatwick airport got the train via Reading to Bromsgrove where my ex picked me up for my few days stay with her.
We spent a day visiting Worcester I left her and her friend to shop I walked down to the river Severn and past the old spire of St Andrew’s disused church.
What made me come back to the U.K.? My sister had a bad fall walking her dog Frankie
She’d cracked some ribs broken her wrist and badly gashed her forehead. I wanted to see how she was and thought about trying to get some paid work.
I’d had an email from a employment agency when in Leros looking for welders on naval shipyard work. I had sent my CV but it didn’t meet their criteria?
I asked why but they wouldn’t say. I was little annoyed but that got me thinking seriously about doing some work?
After arriving back in North Wales with my sister who was slowly recovering from her fall I had two more emails from the same employment agency about work and higher pay rates. I sent an email off to them saying that I didn’t meet the clients criteria? But that was Portsmouth shipyard. How about Barrow in Furness on nuclear submarines?.
I said okay and she sent off my CV she came back you have to have apprentice papers? I had my military engineering papers from the Royal Engineers with my certificates and discharge reference which was exemplary!
She soon came back and said there was a role for me but I had to have a security clearance and have a criminal record check by the government and the Ministry Of Defence.
I booked into the Welding Academy in Chester for 3 days intense welding practice to brush up on my welding skills. I started off on the first day with MIG GMAW or Gas Metal Arc Welding. This is semi automatic welding process using spool of welding wire that’s fed through a welding torch and a electrical contact tip. I concentrated on mild Steel, mainly on vertical fillets and vertical butt welding.
Because I only had three days of welding time and I hadn’t done any serious welding for a last 12 months I wanted to cover three welding processes. I had to pay over £1,200 pounds both for the 3 day course and my several codings.
Day two I concentrated on SMAW Shielded Metal Arc Welding. That’s an old arc welding process developed at the turn of the last century by ESAB a Swedish welding company.
Swedish engineer Oscar Kjellberg develops the worlds first coated welding electrode and founds Elektriska Svetsnings-Aktiebolaget (ESAB).
The company was founded by Oscar Kjellberg. In 1904 he pioneered the development of manual metal arc welding electrodes in Gothenburg, Sweden. The company sells equipment used in welding and cutting
Finally on my last day I concentrated on Gas Tungsten Arc Welding. I started on a vertical butt welding and moved on to 2 “ Schedule pipe weld at 45 degree position of 6g
I ended up getting certificates from the welding school for my various test pieces to BS 4872. Part 1
It would of been nice to have had a few more days brushing up my welding skills but it was fairly expensive process. I suppose welding for a welder is like riding a bike you never forget how to ride but maybe you need to perfect your balance after not riding for awhile.
I’m great believer in professional training both in technical and practical knowledge skills. But with any skill it’s repetitive practice that increases your skill level. Obviously older welders like me need glasses for close welding work. I noticed doing the GTAW welding my glasses weren’t quite strong enough for really close work.
Reading glasses for welding aren’t strong enough, unfortunately. I did go to test out at two different companies one using GTAW and one using GMAW but never heard any more?
I think if you go to any company or organisation to do a weld test at least the organisation should have the common courtesy to let you know sorry your test failed or wasn’t acceptable enough? That tells me immediately they weren’t the sort of company I wanted to work for.
But I guess it’s the sign of the times these days but you know a professional company when you see one. As soon as I walk in the door of any manufacturing organisation I can make an immediate assessment if they’re professional outfit or not?
What do I mean by that? It’s the whole process from start to finish. Most companies today use agencies and in most cases agencies aren’t really knowledgable about the organisation they’re representing?
If there’s a weld test how well prepared are the company for weld test appreciation? Some have no facilities, poor facilities or no proper procedure or facility for testing of welders. Don’t mention safety or even give a brief intro to their organisation.
Don’t contact you after the weld test. Professional organisations do have proper testing facilities and really want to see the proficiency of the welder and good companies have in-house training to up-skill the welder if needed.
As I mentioned earlier training is or should be an important part of the companies quality assurance procedure. I feel it’s good investment in the workforce getting the new people up to speed and understanding the production processes.
Fingers crossed I’ll get a job with good a organisation who values their employees and has a professional training programme. But we’ll see? If there’s a skill shortage and retired people would like to work and are fit and healthy why not employ them to fill in the skills gap ?
Finally what do I do if I get a permanent role in a company? One the reasons I came back to the U.K. was to earn some money because the costing of running Stella Polaris was really eating into my savings. I still have work to be completed in Greece on the boat. I also need to purchase various items for the cooking stove burner heads all quite expensive items. This was the wobble or worry I had with the boat.
First I have to get a job obviously harder when you’re older but I’m very fit and healthy and certainly could do with the money? I have take things one at a time, cross my bridges when I come to them.
But of all the jobs I like Submarine job with BAE systems in Barrow in Furness, will all my security things go through I’ll have to wait and see? I’m a great believer if things are meant to be they will be.