The Sure Swift casts off from the quay punctually at seven
o'clock. It is low tide. There are only a few centimètres of saltwater beneath the vessel's double hull. Richard Tibbs, the master,
sits on his upholstered seat like the captain of the USS Enterprise, and manoeuvres hisvessel serenely and astonishinglyquickly
out of the small Danish harbour. Afew métrés beyond the harbour
basin protected by jetties, he turns his vessel sharply westwards
into a deeper channel that meanders between the islands of Sylt
and Romo. There he rapidly accelerates and soon reaches his top
speed of around 25 knots which translates to over 45 kilométrés per hour. To starboard, Romo's wide beach quickly disappears while to portside a few houses can still be made out in the
dunes of Sylt. But in next to no time the coastline of Germany s
popular holiday island dips belowthe horizon.
And then there is only sea. On this day it is completely fiat and
sleek, no waves and hardly any swell. The horizon shimmers in
the haze rising in the early morning hours. After approximately 90
minutes the captain heads towards the most easterly point in the
Butendiek wind farm. First there is a small yellow dot in the blue
expanse, and then the transformer substation looms ever larger
until the Sure Swift carefully docks at one of the posts with a socalled boat landing on the jacket foundation almost underneath
the powerful, multi-storey building.
And it does so very sensitively, with just a light bump and the modified bow with its spécial fender is held exactly in position via
the vessel's autopilot. Akeem Aider, along with Tibbs one of the
two further members of the crew, is the first to go to the bow and
secures himself to the railing with a hook. He helps the offshore
technicians working for the day on the offshore transformer substation to step over from the vessel onto the boat landing ladder.
In the meantime, two employées each from the companies Baltic Taucher and Deutsche Windtechnik, remain on board. They
hâve a different place of work. By the end of the day they will hâve
climbed up and down the 20 métré ladder to the work platform of
the transition piece up to eight times. The job sheets for the socalled trouble-shooters include the following tasks: "Check bottom YoYo, fit new tag line System for bottom ladder, fit earthing
cable for temporary lighting, swap nuts on the gates, remove
rubbish and check cover for transition piece crâne".
"The North Sea is a real duck pond today", comments Alexander
Kôhler from Deutsche Windtechnik, looking forward to a comfortable day's work on the high seas before climbing over from the
crew vessel onto one of the transition pièces with his colleague
Andréas Klôpper. He beams from ear to ear. "It's incredible how
different it can be out here", says the 46 year-old. "Two weeks
ago it was still unbelievably cold, the wind roared in our ears
and metre-high waves came rolling in as the sea showed its remorselessly threatening side. Today you can hardly imagine how
unforgiving the sea can really be here".
After Captain Tibbs has manoeuvred the vessel to the foundation
structure, the two men move to their temporary place of work -
secured to the rope of the fall arrest System. Kôhler informs the
captain over the radio that everything is ok and that he will report
back when they hâve finished their work and want to be picked up
again. Tibbs painstakingly notes down the time, place and number of men who hâve climbed overboard - everything must be
done correctly. Then Kôhler gives the thumbs up. He climbs down
the ladder on the transition piece. Once he gets to work on replacing the safety rope for the fall arrest System - half sitting,
half hanging just above the surface of the seawater shimmering
in shades of green - Tibbs reverses his vessel.
This créâtes a small wave that nearly reaches the seat of the
technician's trousers. Tibbs smirks, Kôhler gesticulâtes with
his hands which seem to say, "Watch out when I corne on board
again later ..." At a safe distance Tibbs turns up the power and
leaves the area where the Deutsche Windtechnik man is working.
Kôhler's silhouette, whose yellow and black wet suit reflects in the
water, shrinks to a tiny dot on the tower in the middle of the sea.
Small person, large structures.
32
o'clock. It is low tide. There are only a few centimètres of saltwater beneath the vessel's double hull. Richard Tibbs, the master,
sits on his upholstered seat like the captain of the USS Enterprise, and manoeuvres hisvessel serenely and astonishinglyquickly
out of the small Danish harbour. Afew métrés beyond the harbour
basin protected by jetties, he turns his vessel sharply westwards
into a deeper channel that meanders between the islands of Sylt
and Romo. There he rapidly accelerates and soon reaches his top
speed of around 25 knots which translates to over 45 kilométrés per hour. To starboard, Romo's wide beach quickly disappears while to portside a few houses can still be made out in the
dunes of Sylt. But in next to no time the coastline of Germany s
popular holiday island dips belowthe horizon.
And then there is only sea. On this day it is completely fiat and
sleek, no waves and hardly any swell. The horizon shimmers in
the haze rising in the early morning hours. After approximately 90
minutes the captain heads towards the most easterly point in the
Butendiek wind farm. First there is a small yellow dot in the blue
expanse, and then the transformer substation looms ever larger
until the Sure Swift carefully docks at one of the posts with a socalled boat landing on the jacket foundation almost underneath
the powerful, multi-storey building.
And it does so very sensitively, with just a light bump and the modified bow with its spécial fender is held exactly in position via
the vessel's autopilot. Akeem Aider, along with Tibbs one of the
two further members of the crew, is the first to go to the bow and
secures himself to the railing with a hook. He helps the offshore
technicians working for the day on the offshore transformer substation to step over from the vessel onto the boat landing ladder.
In the meantime, two employées each from the companies Baltic Taucher and Deutsche Windtechnik, remain on board. They
hâve a different place of work. By the end of the day they will hâve
climbed up and down the 20 métré ladder to the work platform of
the transition piece up to eight times. The job sheets for the socalled trouble-shooters include the following tasks: "Check bottom YoYo, fit new tag line System for bottom ladder, fit earthing
cable for temporary lighting, swap nuts on the gates, remove
rubbish and check cover for transition piece crâne".
"The North Sea is a real duck pond today", comments Alexander
Kôhler from Deutsche Windtechnik, looking forward to a comfortable day's work on the high seas before climbing over from the
crew vessel onto one of the transition pièces with his colleague
Andréas Klôpper. He beams from ear to ear. "It's incredible how
different it can be out here", says the 46 year-old. "Two weeks
ago it was still unbelievably cold, the wind roared in our ears
and metre-high waves came rolling in as the sea showed its remorselessly threatening side. Today you can hardly imagine how
unforgiving the sea can really be here".
After Captain Tibbs has manoeuvred the vessel to the foundation
structure, the two men move to their temporary place of work -
secured to the rope of the fall arrest System. Kôhler informs the
captain over the radio that everything is ok and that he will report
back when they hâve finished their work and want to be picked up
again. Tibbs painstakingly notes down the time, place and number of men who hâve climbed overboard - everything must be
done correctly. Then Kôhler gives the thumbs up. He climbs down
the ladder on the transition piece. Once he gets to work on replacing the safety rope for the fall arrest System - half sitting,
half hanging just above the surface of the seawater shimmering
in shades of green - Tibbs reverses his vessel.
This créâtes a small wave that nearly reaches the seat of the
technician's trousers. Tibbs smirks, Kôhler gesticulâtes with
his hands which seem to say, "Watch out when I corne on board
again later ..." At a safe distance Tibbs turns up the power and
leaves the area where the Deutsche Windtechnik man is working.
Kôhler's silhouette, whose yellow and black wet suit reflects in the
water, shrinks to a tiny dot on the tower in the middle of the sea.
Small person, large structures.
32