Late evening of 3rd January, 08, me, Harmadi and Zack paid a visit to old friends at the offshore barges. They have been continuously inviting us to visit them since the past 6 months (since completion of offshore works). The weather and sea state didn't seemed very gentle to us but we went through as not to let down our friends invitation. Riding on Sole Ann was not smooth (feel like riding "kuda naik minyak") and Alhamdulillah we made it to the barges. It was a dream come true for Zack because it was his first trip to offshore.
The barge crews were very happy to see visitors after such a long time living on the barge without doing anything except maintaining the barges and fishing. We were served with delicious fish biryani during dinner and later went for fishing. It wasn't a lucky night and we didn't catch any fish. The next morning, after "fajar prayer", the fishing activity continued. We were served with large capati by the host during breakfast. Weather and sea state became worst after noon hours and I was worried that I couldn't reach the shore to catch up with the flight on the 5th Jan,08. Muzaffar (the chief) informed me that he couldn't send me back to shore because Sole Ann was not safe to sail through the rough sea state (2-3m of wave height) while the large tug "Dina Star" was having hydraulic problem at the engine.
Muralli, the electrical engineer on the barge had a deep cut in his right hand finger while retrieving frozen fish heads from the refrigerator. The fish heads were meant for us. It was very unfortunate day for him but we did appreciate his sincerity in preparing the fish heads for us to bring back to shore. I was not very comfortable to stay another night at the barges because the weather was getting worst and I had not packed my bag to travel back home.
Due to the seriousness of the cut on Muralli's finger, we decided to hurry the Dina Star crews to fix the hydraulic problem and sent Muralli to the shore clinic for treatment. At last, Alhamdulillah, the problem was fixed at 9 pm and we sailed to the GNPOC jetty safely. While waiting for the engine hydraulic system to be fixed, Zack had a large "Jenahak". The fish weighted approximately 5-6 kilogramme. With Allah mercy on us, the long wait on board the tug Dina Star was paid off and we didn't go back to shore with empty hand. It was a wonderful experience for the three of us. Muralli had several stitches and I was informed that he had recovered well.
After spending my R&R back home and returned to site, to my surprise, those friends and barges are still at the same location!!! This part of the world does not change much......
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