Done two lots of carols already. Thankfully no resurrectional dietary products on the scene yet.

No idea where we are or for how long we will be laid-up but I think that its about time to wish the crew of the GD and all here on SH a Happy Christmas and a safe, contented and healthy 2023.

My thanks to all who have made me, a landlubber ex-railwayman, welcome here. I have appreciated the courtesy, maturity and depth of experience so evident.

The 'user-friendly' Gallery has also contributed to my photography and, indirectly, my health by cycling to take the photos.

Best Wishes to All. :wave:

Geoff (YM)

In a dry dock in Beer-kan-Ed. Most crew gone home to spend their Christmas bonus. I stay aboard as usual.
We float out January one. waiting for a message from the agent as to where we will sail for.
Cheers everybody, go live it up this festive season. But, Dont forget the reason for the season.

Well, turkey de-salmonellad (cheap rum instead of Dettol), draped in sausage and bacon covered in foil, checked of in oven fit and put in larder for tomorrow.

Giblet gravy on the go. Turkey legs cooking (cats Eve treat). Gammon cooking (cold with hot bird).

New potatoes harvested from elephant socks (hoping someone will volunteer to wash and rub).

Taking a break to fetch newspaper and have tea - to sound of R4 carols and whopping great thunder rumbling. Then on to make cauliflower cheese (one lady does not do sprouts) and perhaps start the bread sauce. I take it there will be a snifter or two in the owner' suite - on the Company of course - before dinner

If we are the only ones left onboard be warned. I've the measure of all the comestibles and I expect them all to be there in the morning - bar the legs, of course. I will check before the guests arrive.

What about the polishing of your upright?

Stout man Varley, no Humbug when you are in charge of the vitals.
A Merry Christmas to one and all.

Merry Christmas to each and every one of you.
Steward!. get some chairs into my suite.
Tannoy: Click! attention all remaining crew. Tots up! in my suite 10:00 hours.
Steward! you know what everyone likes so make sure there are ample stocks available in my suite.

Let nothing us dismay!

(Bloody oven, It's taken until now for the gammon to make a safe temperature. It delayed bed time by a whole bottle).

Aw thats too bad Mr Varley.
Maybe another bottle would make you feel better.

Top Tip Varley: only use M&S Cauliflower Cheese.

Very best wishes to all the crew...... Happy Christmas to all.

Im off to sort Faversham out.....the breakfast champagne had barely been chilled!!!!....... almost ruined the Xmas Atmos.

:(

Someone said he is to be found on top of the Christmas tree.....
......for some reason.

:)

God bless us every one :flowers:

A very Merry Christmas to all of you crew type persons, your friendship brings a tear (almost) to this oul injuneers eye :smoking: or maybe its just a smut from all the tube blowing going on. :jester:

..... definitely smut.

:)

Theres more smut in Tmax's cabin than carbon particles, so Mr V told me.

Spare Faversham a thought he probably thought you would need a post banquet naga, brimstone and fundador pick-me up. The fizz would have been ready for smokoe.

No major problems - should have measured the turkey twice so's not to have had to do a bit fettling to get it in for-real.

Cats finished the legs (warmed under the grill) - the 19 year-old won't see next year's I'm afraid although he did make an attempt to ambush the smoked salmon - in body language if not the actual table-leap.

Only hiccough was instead of switching the electric blanket 'up' one before the guests arrived I found out, when the festives were done and I was teeth-brushed and all ready for beddie-bise, that I must have switched it off instead. Lucky the anaesthetics were still circulating.

(If Faversham is really in need of correction you could send him round to help Higgins with the f... washing f... up. That would give me time for coffee and a browse of Tmac's bookshelf. I see he has a bowdlerised version of Being a Ghost Story of Christmas - a sickening story of a fine upstanding man that catches religion which destroys his good business sense and in which we find a damaged tyke, nurtured disreputably to breeding age, and with a sickening "God bless us all, everyone" catch phrase. I hope to find the sequel, "Scrooge and Marley rejoin the FT 100").

Or Scrooge and Marley, (can be shortend to S&M for you and T), could join the ERG or start watching Farage every evening.

No need. I never let it get rusty, Rusty.

Dockers done well. we are finished. they have started flooding the Dock already. we are scheduled to moor at Alfred Docks. we will take on fuel, spares and stores. Still awaiting news from the agent.

Should I start raising steam yet or will we be going nuclear?

Are all these new solar panels down here in the engine room associated with my redundancy somehow?

Should I be worried? I am too old to learn about electrickery now!

Solar panels down in the engine room.
Are you sure that’s what they are?
Maybe they work using some of Stephen Hawking’s dark energy.

Hold your fire lads. we will move ship using the electric motors. Its only about 300 meters to our berth.

Happy New year to you all
 

I am told by the Berthing master we can stay there for 7 days. (I think the case of Caroni 90 played in out favour.)

I thought originally that they were a secret, albeit collaborative project, undertaken jointly by Tmac and ES but I now believe that they are probably to power the electric motors to which BB refers (above).

Only trouble that I foresee is that the solar panels are currently located in that part of the GD's anatomy 'where the sun don't shine'!

FWE. ok ok whos the clown did this?
 

Someone got a new Pental pen for Christmas!

Rest easy my old horny handed son of the outback, we will always need a bright youngfella with a deep knowledge of enthalpy, entropy and saturated steam to be in charge of the Burco Boiler.
As regards electrickery we work on the assumption that if Lord Lax don't know the formula Reeds Basic Electrotechnology will save the day.
Yes indeed it is no secret that the location of the solar panels is less than optimal but Tmax is treating it as a piece of basic research and by a process of elimination we will end up on the Monkey. Hope these bloody panels are sturdy yokes.