• 0730 The bedside telephone rings. It’s the Third Officer giving me 30 minutes’ notice before my bridge watch starts. Time to get up, washed and dressed.
• 0750 I arrive on the bridge at 0750, dressed in company T-shirt and long shorts. The Third Officer hands over the watch, pointing out nearby traffic, reporting points to the coastguard, ETA at next waypoint and the ETA at our destination.
• 0800 The morning safety meeting then takes place on the bridge, with the Master, Chief Officer, Third Officer, Chief, Second and Third Engineers, the Bosun, the 3 AB’s and the Cook all in attendance. In these meetings the work for the day is brought to the attention of the Master, whilst I record everything on a form thateventually the Chief Officer and Chief Engineer sign.
• 0830 After the meeting it’s pure navigating, taking the Captain’s watch while he prepares 0800 reports for the company. A basic watch includes plotting positions on the chart every 30 minutes, taking a compass error and looking out for other ships and making sure you comply with collision regulations (whilst drinking lots of tea!). If I’m unsure about anything, I can call the Captain who will check my actions and assist me on the bridge.
• 1100 After plotting the 1130 position I call the Second Officer to give him 30 minutes’ notice for his watch. I then start to fill out the deck logbook, gathering information about the weather, sea state, distance covered and visibility.
• 1155 The Second Officer comes onto the bridge. The deck logbook is correctly filled out so I can now hand over the watch and head to the Officer’s Mess for my lunch.

Craig Jack, Clyde Fisher

James Fisher & Sons