ALT-1 Dangerous Jobs
The most dangerous jobs to-day is seafaring, those who work on the Sea.
We take an awful lot of things for granted in this country; people seem to forget that we are an island. We use the water around our shores for many different activities, winter or summer, some just enjoy the visit to the beach and sit on the sand enjoying the view , others enjoy the water more than sitting on the beach and venture into it, just for a swim or surf, and some others are able to afford a small craft that will take out further than they can swim, or even enable them to travel to other parts of the country around the coast, but when the weather gets bad and these people get into difficulties people (volunteers mostly) are ready to go and rescue them, and bring them home safely,(hopefully), and spare a thought for the Fisherman, who to do their job further from our shores. For days on end, they try to trawl the seas, catching our fish so we at home can have our fish and chips to night or may be the kipper you had a breakfast. (Hundreds have been seriously injured and many have lost their lives)
The weather around our island can be horrendous at times, to the north , the North Sea , the west between Wales and Ireland we have the Irish Sea, the west/south coast the Atlantic rolls in and the easterly corner English channel narrows to some twenty miles wide is the busiest waterway in the world , coupled together with changing weather conditions these areas alone can have mountainous seas, whipped up by high winds and rain, and if your unfortunate to be caught out in these conditions your life can be in serious danger, and with no one close to help, you have to ride out the storm, until you can be rescued thanks to the volunteers.
There is one other group in this dangerous job section that hardly ever gets a mention though, and that is the Merchant Seaman. They crew great Ocean liners, naval auxiliary ships, tankers, container ships, general cargo, bulk carriers and many other vessels' across the Great oceans of the world bringing home our fruit, gas, petrol, and almost everything that is not made in this country, and on completion of delivery of one cargo, they take out our exports, to the far off destinations around the globe.
This seems all pretty straight forward however when you are 2500 miles or more from shore and you have a fire, or breakdown, You are at the mercy of the elements and they can be very harsh, cold mountainous seas I have seen them over 50 feet high, with winds that blow you backwards, not many carry professional doctors and definitely no fire brigade. You practice emergencies once a week and hope you never have to deal with a situation but you never know when you do? sailing in war zones, looking out for pirates, the cargo can be hazardous , gas and petrol, and if you have too get off you only have a little boat and could wait days to be rescued.
