Maldives Nov-Dec 2009

Slideshow
My stay in the Maldives from Nov 22 to Dec 19, 2009

Lovely Peterhead

Peterhead his one of these gloomy fishing places of Scotland teeming with seagulls cawing at all time of the day shitting everywhere and seals lingering around in the harbour waiting for fish to drop down the quays. I have been working around since April for Westminster dredging, british subsidiary of Boka. The site office is made up of shelters interlinked all together and fitted with a galley, toilets and of course desks... It's not a five star hotel but an acceptable working place though.

It took quite a while for me to get accustomed to this so-called scottish accent similar to russian and the everyday depressing "driech" made of rain, fog and coldness. If very lucky, It sometines happens to get the sky cleared up and to have a bit of sunshine brighting up our misery. But it's not very often... Netherveless, I keep thinking positive, listening to salsa music in the office, dreaming of palm trees, white sandy beaches and casinos under the tropics. But after all, Peterhead is not the worst place to be... is it ?

Inishmore Island - Western Ireland

The Aran Islands off the Galway county boasts breathtaking cliffs of 100m high jutting out in the Atlantic Ocean and is the homeland of diehard Irish people proud of their culture, traditions and language (gaelic) that they keep speaking even novadays. I came over to Inishmore, the largest of the Aran archipelago one month ago. The job consisted in dredging the Kilronan harbour and building a 500m long breakwater. The purpose of this job is to bring over more tourists in the summertime by ferries. Take a look on the pictures by clicking on this link:
http://picasaweb.google.com/thierry.begot/IrelandInishmoreIsland#
Cheers

Berthaume fort / St-Mathieu foreland (Finistere)

Fellow the link below to see the pictures:
http://picasaweb.google.com/thierry.begot/081231_STMATHIEU#

Flights record 2008

The list below represents the places where I travelled to this year by plane (transfers included)

2008	from	to	transfers
Jan 2	Brest	Amsterdam	Paris CDG
Jan 5	Amsterdam	Panama City	Atlanta
Mar 10	Panama City	Brest	Atlanta Paris CDG
Apr 7	Brest	Panama City	Paris CDG Atlanta
Jun 6	Panama City	Fort-de-France	-
Jun 17	Fort-de-France	Brest	Paris Orly
Jul 10	Brest	Abu Dhabi	Paris CDG
Sep 8	Abu Dhabi	Brest	Paris CDG
Sep 10	Brest	Abu Dhabi	Paris CDG Frankfurt
Sep 22	Abu Dhabi	Brest	Paris CDG
Oct 29	Brest	Tallinn	Paris CDG Copenhagen
Dec 04	Tallinn	Brest	Copenhagen Paris CDG
Dec 18	Brest	Tallinn	Paris CDG Stockholm
Dec 29	Tallinn	Brest	Helsinki Paris CDG

Thank you Boskalis !

Sur le toit de la Bretagne / On the rooftop of Brittany

Situés au coeur du Finistère, les Monts d'Arrée constituent le relief le plus haut et le plus ancien de Bretagne. St Michel de Brasparts, son point culminant, atteint 396 m grâce à sa petite chapelle. Par temps dégagé, les paysages vus de son sommet sont superbes: vastes étendues de landes et de tourbières peuvent être observées tout autour ainsi que d'autres sommets comme celui du Tuchen Gador (384 m). Vers le Sud se trouve le vaste lac de Brennilis près duquel a été construite la première centrale nucléaire française dans les années 60. Maintenant entrée dans un long processus de démantèlement, cette centrale minable contraste avec la splendeur des étendues sauvages environnantes...

Situated in the center of Finistère, the Monts d’Arrée are the highest and oldest hills in Brittany. St Michel de Brasparts, its highest point, reaches 396 m high thanks to its small chapel. In clear weather, the 360° views from its summit are amazing: open moorlands and peat bogs can be seen all around together with other peaks like the Tuchen Gador. To the south lies the vast Brennilis lake and closeby the first nuclear plant built in France in the 1960's. Now well into the long process of dismantlement, this crummy power plant contrasts with the magnificence of the surrounding unspoilt wilderness...

Further informations on this subject:
http://www.brittanywalks.com/Export17.htm (en)
http://breizhvibes.free.fr/lieux/montaree3.htm (fr)
http://www.brittanytourism.com/ (en)

Tribute to my favorite survey tub

Outdated breaking News:
On the 28th of November 2008, a tropical storm swept the Panama State. Roads washed away, hotels destroyed... I have been informed by relevant sources that, the mighty Recon 6 didn't resist to the fury of the elements that day and sunk in gruesome circomstances in the cloudy waters of the Balboa port overrun with crocodiles. On behalf of all my family, please accept my deepest sympathy you guys. What a terrible heartbreak ! May he rest in peace.

Update: Recon 6, like a Phoenix rising from the ashes, has been fished out thanks to the perseverance of courageous survey knights and a diver. After being dried out and the survey equipment onbard replaced, he should be finally back to business soon. All's well that ends well !

Exclusive ! The Recon6 salvage tofs (Credit: Roland)
http://picasaweb.google.fr/thierry.begot/Reckon6Salvage#slideshow