WEBVTT 1 00:00:00.240 --> 00:00:03.240 I've got a theory, and I don't know if I've 2 00:00:03.279 --> 00:00:08.279 never heard this from anyone else, but it's like, I'm 3 00:00:08.320 --> 00:00:10.640 not sure if I believe it, But the theory goes 4 00:00:10.720 --> 00:00:15.640 for Somali's gunfire isn't necessarily an attempt on your life. 5 00:00:15.759 --> 00:00:18.000 It's a form of dialogue. 6 00:00:17.600 --> 00:00:18.839 East African proverb. 7 00:00:19.160 --> 00:00:23.120 Yeah, so you could take it as that where you 8 00:00:23.160 --> 00:00:25.320 could take it. You know, us in the Western world, 9 00:00:25.320 --> 00:00:27.320 you know when someone shoots at you, like, okay, it's on. 10 00:00:27.600 --> 00:00:30.359 You mean to kill me, and I am emboldened to 11 00:00:30.519 --> 00:00:34.280 use the same measures against you. But for them, maybe 12 00:00:34.280 --> 00:00:36.119 it's not quite the same as that. Maybe it's just 13 00:00:36.159 --> 00:00:37.200 an escalation in. 14 00:00:37.159 --> 00:00:39.240 The dialogue or a way of saying, hey, I see 15 00:00:39.240 --> 00:00:45.439 you everyone. 16 00:00:45.679 --> 00:00:48.679 I'm Jack Murphy. This is the Team House and tonight's 17 00:00:48.759 --> 00:00:52.359 guest is Dave Leaning. Dave served as a Royal Marine 18 00:00:52.759 --> 00:00:55.079 and then he worked for a number of different private 19 00:00:55.119 --> 00:00:59.079 military companies doing counter piracy work in Africa. So this 20 00:00:59.159 --> 00:01:01.520 is sort of a UNIEK episode, and I think Dave 21 00:01:01.560 --> 00:01:05.959 has some pretty unique insights working the piracy issue, doing 22 00:01:06.000 --> 00:01:09.959 things like ransom deliveries, hostage recoveries, and all sorts of 23 00:01:10.480 --> 00:01:13.599 interesting anecdotes. As we go on. But Dave, welcome to 24 00:01:13.640 --> 00:01:14.959 the show. I'm happy to have you here. 25 00:01:16.000 --> 00:01:18.920 Thank you very much Jack for the introduction, and thank 26 00:01:18.959 --> 00:01:19.560 you for having me. 27 00:01:19.599 --> 00:01:22.480 It's a huge honor, and I definitely feel a little 28 00:01:22.480 --> 00:01:26.000 bit of imposter syndrome being here, given that you've had 29 00:01:26.040 --> 00:01:29.599 some very eminent guests and speakers on before me. 30 00:01:29.640 --> 00:01:33.040 But I'll try and do my best and sort of 31 00:01:33.640 --> 00:01:36.079 recount some of the experiences I had and hopefully have 32 00:01:36.200 --> 00:01:39.519 something to share with your audience and shed light on 33 00:01:39.560 --> 00:01:43.159 a subject which I don't think many people have covered before. 34 00:01:43.959 --> 00:01:46.239 So yeah, let's let's get into it. 35 00:01:47.079 --> 00:01:49.480 So start at the beginning. Tell us a little bit 36 00:01:49.519 --> 00:01:52.319 about what your pathway was into the Royal Marines. 37 00:01:55.239 --> 00:02:00.439 Yeah. So I've been to university college call it here, 38 00:02:00.599 --> 00:02:07.599 and I hadn't actually thought of joining until I found. 39 00:02:07.400 --> 00:02:09.840 Myself in a sort of a loss as to what 40 00:02:09.919 --> 00:02:10.280 to do. 41 00:02:10.520 --> 00:02:12.879 And my old man had been in the military, he 42 00:02:12.919 --> 00:02:17.599 had been an army commando, and yeah, I figured, why 43 00:02:17.639 --> 00:02:18.159 not give it a go. 44 00:02:18.240 --> 00:02:20.439 I don't do four years. See if I was as 45 00:02:20.520 --> 00:02:23.439 tough as my old man was, get green beret and 46 00:02:23.599 --> 00:02:25.520 see if I can, you know, get a war under 47 00:02:25.560 --> 00:02:27.560 my belt, because you know, there's a young man. All 48 00:02:27.560 --> 00:02:32.159 that kind of stuff seemed exciting and was definitely very appealing. So, 49 00:02:32.319 --> 00:02:35.199 you know, I showed up at a recruiting center, got 50 00:02:35.240 --> 00:02:38.120 fed all the lies about what great stuff I would 51 00:02:38.159 --> 00:02:41.560 get to do, and you know, showed up at Limpston 52 00:02:41.639 --> 00:02:45.680 Commando one day at that train station, that platform that 53 00:02:45.719 --> 00:02:49.039 you go through, and began the process for becoming a 54 00:02:49.199 --> 00:02:53.039 warm warning Commando. I you know, got through the commander course, 55 00:02:53.120 --> 00:02:56.479 I broke both my feet, had to spend twelve sixteen 56 00:02:56.520 --> 00:03:01.360 weeks in rehabilitation, and then rejoined a true and then yeah, 57 00:03:01.680 --> 00:03:05.240 went on did my service, did the minimum contract that 58 00:03:05.560 --> 00:03:09.159 four years, one month and one day, not that anyone 59 00:03:09.280 --> 00:03:12.080 was counting by that stage, And yeah, I got a 60 00:03:12.120 --> 00:03:15.120 tour of Afghanistan. It was an adventure. 61 00:03:15.240 --> 00:03:18.120 You know, we can we can circle back to commando 62 00:03:18.240 --> 00:03:22.159 training and that that experience and my time in Afghanistan, 63 00:03:22.800 --> 00:03:26.680 which interestingly enough, actually sort of intersects with one of 64 00:03:26.680 --> 00:03:31.719 your recent guests, Jay Jane Morton. Yeah, twenty second sas 65 00:03:32.199 --> 00:03:35.159 he was talking about the exact same places that I was. 66 00:03:35.879 --> 00:03:39.680 We relieved his company I think he was three Power 67 00:03:39.719 --> 00:03:42.879 and I was LEAMA Company four to Commando and it 68 00:03:43.039 --> 00:03:47.199 was Op Sarah the relief in place of three power, 69 00:03:47.919 --> 00:03:51.159 and so I know the exact position he was talking about, 70 00:03:51.360 --> 00:03:55.039 and he mentioned an orchard at that position in sangin 71 00:03:56.039 --> 00:03:57.919 me just cover up my opera there. 72 00:03:58.400 --> 00:04:02.719 That is that orchard? Wow? And the river that he 73 00:04:02.840 --> 00:04:05.840 mentioned that is that river? 74 00:04:06.280 --> 00:04:08.479 You would swim it in it? You guys are crazy. 75 00:04:08.960 --> 00:04:11.360 Yeah, you could bathe and you could wash your clothes, 76 00:04:11.520 --> 00:04:14.680 have a swim. The Afghan National Army would sit out 77 00:04:14.719 --> 00:04:15.560 there watching you. 78 00:04:15.840 --> 00:04:18.360 So we christened them cop watches after a while because 79 00:04:18.399 --> 00:04:21.040 they seem to drive enormous pleasure from watching. 80 00:04:21.199 --> 00:04:27.879 Marines stroking, stroking the whatever does it for them? 81 00:04:28.439 --> 00:04:29.759 Yeah? 82 00:04:30.360 --> 00:04:32.639 Really random to to watch that on your show a 83 00:04:32.720 --> 00:04:34.480 couple of weeks ago and see that and be. 84 00:04:34.480 --> 00:04:37.560 Like I was there, So tell us about Afghanistan with 85 00:04:37.600 --> 00:04:38.399 the Royal Marines. 86 00:04:39.079 --> 00:04:42.680 Uh, well, I figured I would skip past that and 87 00:04:42.720 --> 00:04:45.519 go to the unique selling point of my experience because 88 00:04:45.560 --> 00:04:48.720 you've had tons of guys with way more operational experience 89 00:04:48.759 --> 00:04:49.040 than me. 90 00:04:49.600 --> 00:04:52.759 And really, I mean, I got to see some cool stuff, 91 00:04:52.759 --> 00:04:54.360 but I can't really add anything to that. 92 00:04:54.439 --> 00:04:57.000 But what I can do is talk about the Parson thing, 93 00:04:57.040 --> 00:04:58.879 which is a bit more unique. 94 00:05:00.040 --> 00:05:02.319 Don't clicks on this because they wanted to know about. 95 00:05:02.519 --> 00:05:05.240 Right, we don't have to spend so much time dwelling 96 00:05:05.279 --> 00:05:07.040 on it. But if you want to share a couple 97 00:05:07.240 --> 00:05:10.720 like formative experiences in Afghanistan and we can move on. 98 00:05:12.079 --> 00:05:15.600 Okay, well, all right, first I'm going to have to 99 00:05:15.639 --> 00:05:21.000 do myself a little bit cerebral do vacation, and wouldn't 100 00:05:21.000 --> 00:05:22.879 you know it's an opportunity to show you a little 101 00:05:22.920 --> 00:05:25.199 relic from that time. Do you recognize one of these? 102 00:05:25.519 --> 00:05:29.839 Is that a mortar round or no, that's an RPG, 103 00:05:30.240 --> 00:05:31.399 that's an RPG rocket. 104 00:05:31.480 --> 00:05:35.680 Yeah, yeah, and that was I collected that from It 105 00:05:35.720 --> 00:05:39.240 was the morning after a contact, pretty decent one. And 106 00:05:39.519 --> 00:05:42.079 yeah I found that near opposition when a seven day 107 00:05:42.120 --> 00:05:48.879 freed us. And it's got a neat trick as well. Okay, 108 00:05:50.519 --> 00:05:52.959 so yeah, that was the shiftest business trip I ever 109 00:05:53.000 --> 00:05:55.160 went on. But I got a free free bottle opener 110 00:05:55.199 --> 00:05:55.480 from it. 111 00:05:57.639 --> 00:05:58.199 A good deal. 112 00:05:58.399 --> 00:06:05.319 You survived, Yeah, so yeah, I I didn't do an 113 00:06:05.360 --> 00:06:05.959 awful lot. 114 00:06:06.079 --> 00:06:08.079 You know, I got out on the ground, I saw 115 00:06:08.160 --> 00:06:12.399 sang In. I was there for a couple of months. 116 00:06:14.399 --> 00:06:18.680 I got like and like a the battle when we 117 00:06:18.720 --> 00:06:22.360 sort of relieved three power. You know, some of my 118 00:06:22.399 --> 00:06:24.519 friends were on the ground convoy coming in the ground 119 00:06:24.519 --> 00:06:26.040 convoy never quite made it in. 120 00:06:26.439 --> 00:06:30.160 We flew in on chinooks. Just flying in was pretty. 121 00:06:31.720 --> 00:06:34.399 It was pretty raw, Like they tore the seats out 122 00:06:34.399 --> 00:06:36.079 of the chinooks so they could pack in as many 123 00:06:36.079 --> 00:06:40.000 guys as possible. We were sitting like three, three side 124 00:06:40.000 --> 00:06:42.720 by side and as many deep as we could with 125 00:06:42.879 --> 00:06:45.199 each marine had his legs wrapped around the marine in 126 00:06:45.240 --> 00:06:48.279 front to squeeze the sit as tight as they could. 127 00:06:48.360 --> 00:06:50.600 So it was all very very intimate. 128 00:06:52.160 --> 00:06:56.199 And I remember a certain point the door gun has 129 00:06:56.240 --> 00:06:59.319 tested their guns as we were flying along, and the 130 00:06:59.399 --> 00:07:01.560 marine and left of me turned and smiled and we 131 00:07:01.560 --> 00:07:03.560 were punching each other thing. It's like, it's just like 132 00:07:03.600 --> 00:07:07.800 that movie. What's it called a full metal Jacket where 133 00:07:07.839 --> 00:07:11.959 the door go shooting it? Yeah, uh, it was. It 134 00:07:12.040 --> 00:07:13.759 was kind of like a movie. I'm probably going to 135 00:07:13.800 --> 00:07:16.160 say this a lot of times, but when when you 136 00:07:16.199 --> 00:07:19.240 grow up watching movies and TV and something happens and 137 00:07:19.279 --> 00:07:21.600 that's your only point of reference, you're like, wow, this 138 00:07:21.720 --> 00:07:24.279 is just like a movie. And so yeah, at a 139 00:07:24.279 --> 00:07:26.600 certain point, the load master told us to get up, 140 00:07:26.639 --> 00:07:28.800 stand up, and once again it was like that band 141 00:07:28.800 --> 00:07:31.120 of brothers where each man is lifting up the man 142 00:07:31.199 --> 00:07:34.519 behind them, and you have that moment where your eyes 143 00:07:34.519 --> 00:07:36.399 meet and you're like, Okay, for most of us, this 144 00:07:36.439 --> 00:07:37.600 is our first time going in. 145 00:07:37.920 --> 00:07:43.480 We know Sanging has been the hottest. 146 00:07:41.519 --> 00:07:44.600 The hottest patrol base in the whole of Helmet, and 147 00:07:45.160 --> 00:07:47.759 it's likely it's going to get hop on the way in, 148 00:07:48.360 --> 00:07:51.439 and you know, for most of our time there, and then, 149 00:07:51.759 --> 00:07:53.639 you know, maybe my mind is playing false with me, 150 00:07:53.720 --> 00:07:57.879 but I do distinctly remember one of the load masters 151 00:07:57.879 --> 00:07:59.839 calling out, or maybe it was just being dramatic, but 152 00:08:00.079 --> 00:08:03.120 hot ls hot els, and then starting to hear the 153 00:08:03.199 --> 00:08:06.800 sort of clack claque of of you know, rounds going 154 00:08:06.800 --> 00:08:09.839 off and grounds being fired in coming and out going, 155 00:08:10.399 --> 00:08:15.079 and feeling that helicopter start to sway and lurch and 156 00:08:15.120 --> 00:08:16.920 everyone sort of you know, trying. 157 00:08:16.720 --> 00:08:19.399 To grab one to the man next to them, and then. 158 00:08:19.279 --> 00:08:22.040 It coming in for that landing, the door going being 159 00:08:22.160 --> 00:08:23.439 I think the door was already down. 160 00:08:23.480 --> 00:08:25.040 The door was already down, of course it was. 161 00:08:25.439 --> 00:08:28.199 And then just seeing that orange haze and just being 162 00:08:28.199 --> 00:08:32.600 told go and running into it, and yeah, I didn't 163 00:08:32.639 --> 00:08:34.279 I didn't expect to be leading off with this. I 164 00:08:34.320 --> 00:08:36.879 thought I'd start with the paras and just thinking about 165 00:08:36.919 --> 00:08:37.879 it as giving. 166 00:08:37.639 --> 00:08:39.840 Me a little bit of a horrible bit of a flutter. 167 00:08:40.720 --> 00:08:45.440 But yeah, I had like a almost like I was 168 00:08:45.480 --> 00:08:47.360 on top of the fire support tower for a lot 169 00:08:47.399 --> 00:08:51.879 of the battle, and I saw I saw some pretty 170 00:08:51.879 --> 00:08:55.320 cool stuff. I remember seeing there was this one woodline 171 00:08:55.360 --> 00:08:56.320 call one back wood. 172 00:08:58.240 --> 00:09:00.559 The Powers had christened it, or the unit before christened 173 00:09:00.600 --> 00:09:03.000 it because they used to use these recallless rifles and 174 00:09:03.039 --> 00:09:08.399 known as wombats from that particular place. And I swear 175 00:09:08.519 --> 00:09:12.120 I saw a one of those French Mirage jets, the 176 00:09:12.200 --> 00:09:15.600 thing that has like a delta dagger type wing shape, 177 00:09:15.960 --> 00:09:19.759 dropping like I'm not even sure they were in Afghanistan 178 00:09:19.799 --> 00:09:22.399 at the time, but that's what I remember, and it 179 00:09:22.519 --> 00:09:25.000 flew over that tree line and dropped cluster bombs and 180 00:09:25.039 --> 00:09:28.519 seeing the crackle and burst like fire crackers like fireworks. 181 00:09:29.039 --> 00:09:29.960 That was pretty cool. 182 00:09:30.159 --> 00:09:33.279 And then one guy taking potshots at us from around 183 00:09:33.320 --> 00:09:37.360 the wall and just seeing water and anyone water dropped 184 00:09:37.440 --> 00:09:38.720 right on him and just seeing that. 185 00:09:39.159 --> 00:09:41.679 Disappear where he was disappear in a cloud. 186 00:09:41.440 --> 00:09:45.039 Of smoke, and you know, you know, hearing RPGs coming 187 00:09:45.039 --> 00:09:48.519 overhead Chinese one oh seven's being fired, running for cover 188 00:09:48.720 --> 00:09:51.039 falling down a staircase and landing at the bottom in 189 00:09:51.080 --> 00:09:53.840 a pilot, you know, in a disgusting pile of snot 190 00:09:53.879 --> 00:09:56.279 with a with a reporter I think who was actually 191 00:09:56.279 --> 00:10:00.399 from the Sun at the time. And and then there 192 00:10:00.440 --> 00:10:03.600 was even like some guy who was doing a camera 193 00:10:03.639 --> 00:10:06.360 piece on the rooftop to a news channel with a 194 00:10:06.360 --> 00:10:10.159 cameraman behind, almost like full metal jacket again. 195 00:10:10.879 --> 00:10:13.320 And I just happened to be in the background, and 196 00:10:13.360 --> 00:10:14.919 I thought, I'm gonna turn and look at the camera. 197 00:10:15.000 --> 00:10:16.240 I'm gonna turn and look at the camera and give 198 00:10:16.279 --> 00:10:18.440 it a thousand yards there. So I did. 199 00:10:18.679 --> 00:10:22.600 And that must have been broadcast because although I'd been 200 00:10:22.639 --> 00:10:24.879 lying to my dad saying no, I'm all right, I'm safe, 201 00:10:25.120 --> 00:10:28.200 I'm on Camp Bastard, my aunt saw it and said. 202 00:10:28.159 --> 00:10:31.840 I've seen him there. He's on Count Bastion anymore. He's 203 00:10:31.840 --> 00:10:33.639 been sent to the front line. Oh my god. 204 00:10:34.440 --> 00:10:39.120 But yeah, there was that, and yeah, the seeing the 205 00:10:39.159 --> 00:10:41.679 powers man. They've been there for almost their whole tour, 206 00:10:42.360 --> 00:10:46.759 and their uniforms were worn and faded. They all had beards, 207 00:10:46.799 --> 00:10:50.039 they were tanned, and we were just you know, all 208 00:10:50.120 --> 00:10:53.480 idea was fresh out of the issue of the stores 209 00:10:53.919 --> 00:10:55.679 not a spected dirt or dust on it. 210 00:10:56.039 --> 00:10:57.159 Every man was shaven. 211 00:10:57.399 --> 00:11:00.320 And then no, I guess you know, two months later 212 00:11:00.399 --> 00:11:02.440 we must have looked kind of like they did because 213 00:11:03.039 --> 00:11:04.600 well you can see in the in. 214 00:11:04.559 --> 00:11:08.000 The picture I had it had a good old operational 215 00:11:08.000 --> 00:11:08.840 beer going there. 216 00:11:09.519 --> 00:11:11.200 Yeah, yeah, your starter set. 217 00:11:11.799 --> 00:11:16.799 Yeah, but yeah it was. It was some pretty wild 218 00:11:16.840 --> 00:11:22.919 experiences and but yeah it was. 219 00:11:24.080 --> 00:11:26.639 I'm not being funny, but within the first seventy two 220 00:11:26.720 --> 00:11:31.120 hours of getting on the ground and talking to the interpreters, 221 00:11:31.480 --> 00:11:32.639 I almost called them terps. 222 00:11:32.639 --> 00:11:32.879 Again. 223 00:11:33.279 --> 00:11:35.799 I know it's kind of pseudo derogatory term for them, 224 00:11:35.799 --> 00:11:39.120 but yeah, talking to them and you know, having a 225 00:11:39.120 --> 00:11:41.399 surer with the locals, which of course I wasn't invited 226 00:11:41.440 --> 00:11:43.480 because you know, Lordly Marine. 227 00:11:43.519 --> 00:11:46.600 Was the you know, the officers who who would do that. 228 00:11:46.679 --> 00:11:49.200 But you could see the different types of people coming 229 00:11:49.240 --> 00:11:52.080 to the surer. You can see Afghans who were clearly 230 00:11:52.120 --> 00:11:56.879 talent ban marking your positions, calculating your fire power and numbers, 231 00:11:57.759 --> 00:12:00.200 and the hate was just rising off them almost like 232 00:12:00.200 --> 00:12:02.720 a like a like a shimmer, like a heat haze 233 00:12:02.799 --> 00:12:05.039 you see on a on a road on a hot day. 234 00:12:06.240 --> 00:12:08.879 And then you could see locals or low elders and 235 00:12:09.000 --> 00:12:11.440 you know, local leaders who were just in the middle 236 00:12:11.519 --> 00:12:11.960 trying to. 237 00:12:13.639 --> 00:12:17.320 Trying to figure out the way for everything to get 238 00:12:17.360 --> 00:12:20.519 done with as least housele as possible. And so it's 239 00:12:20.559 --> 00:12:22.519 like the three types that I came across, those who 240 00:12:22.519 --> 00:12:24.279 were just telling you what you what they thought you 241 00:12:24.320 --> 00:12:26.759 wanted to hear, those who hated you with the passion 242 00:12:26.759 --> 00:12:28.519 and wanted to see you dead, and those who would 243 00:12:28.559 --> 00:12:34.039 just go along to get along. And yeah, I'd been 244 00:12:34.080 --> 00:12:35.679 on the ground seventy two hours and I thought, I 245 00:12:35.679 --> 00:12:36.840 don't think this is gonna work. 246 00:12:37.720 --> 00:12:42.600 And twenty twenty one was rough. Man, I believe you did. 247 00:12:42.799 --> 00:12:44.080 You did a tour of gowns as. 248 00:12:44.000 --> 00:12:47.399 Well, much earlier, like four oh five. 249 00:12:48.919 --> 00:12:53.039 Yeah, and it was it was a foregone conclusion, I believe. 250 00:12:53.200 --> 00:12:55.279 I mean, I'm not just being smart about it. I 251 00:12:55.679 --> 00:12:59.960 do remember thinking that at the time, and like watching 252 00:13:00.039 --> 00:13:02.759 a train wreck in slow motion, final conclusion being it 253 00:13:02.879 --> 00:13:04.399 was twenty twenty on right it fell? 254 00:13:05.240 --> 00:13:07.919 That was twenty one or twenty two, Yeah, twenty one. 255 00:13:08.039 --> 00:13:08.960 Yeah, that was. 256 00:13:08.960 --> 00:13:14.720 Rough to see it happen. And yeah, I tried to 257 00:13:14.759 --> 00:13:17.080 make a rule for myself. If you can't say anything nice, 258 00:13:17.080 --> 00:13:19.279 don't say anything at all, so you know, we all know, 259 00:13:21.399 --> 00:13:24.039 we all know the school that we're there, so let's 260 00:13:24.120 --> 00:13:25.480 just draw a line under it and move on. 261 00:13:26.600 --> 00:13:30.360 And when you got back from Afghanistan, I were you 262 00:13:30.440 --> 00:13:33.399 pretty much dead, said on getting out of the Royal 263 00:13:33.440 --> 00:13:34.799 Marines at that point. 264 00:13:35.320 --> 00:13:37.159 Well, yeah, the Royal Marines. 265 00:13:38.240 --> 00:13:41.000 Made a huge mistake and losing me when they sent 266 00:13:41.039 --> 00:13:44.399 me on a scuba course in Egypt. And I've been 267 00:13:44.440 --> 00:13:45.840 trying to figure out what do I want to do 268 00:13:45.879 --> 00:13:46.840 when I get out of the court. 269 00:13:46.879 --> 00:13:48.240 You know, am I going to stay for four years, 270 00:13:48.240 --> 00:13:49.519 five years? Whatever? 271 00:13:50.159 --> 00:13:52.200 And then they sent me on this scuba course and 272 00:13:52.240 --> 00:13:53.919 I had like one of the best times of my 273 00:13:54.000 --> 00:13:58.039 life in this resort called Hugarda while We're doing a 274 00:13:58.039 --> 00:14:00.240 couple of paddy courses and I was like, well, that's it. 275 00:14:00.559 --> 00:14:02.440 I'm going to be a scuba instructor when I get out. 276 00:14:02.960 --> 00:14:07.000 That is all I aspired to, living by the sea, 277 00:14:07.240 --> 00:14:12.240 in the sunshine and teaching scuba diving to pretty girls 278 00:14:12.240 --> 00:14:16.039 in bikinis. I figured there was no higher calling in life. 279 00:14:16.240 --> 00:14:18.000 And yeah, I made plans. 280 00:14:17.679 --> 00:14:22.039 And positions, had an internship lined up in Gibraltar, so 281 00:14:22.080 --> 00:14:24.320 as soon as I got out, I used my post 282 00:14:24.320 --> 00:14:28.559 operational tour leave to get on that and yeah, I 283 00:14:28.559 --> 00:14:29.000 get going. 284 00:14:29.840 --> 00:14:32.600 So yeah, when I got out, I spent the summer 285 00:14:32.600 --> 00:14:36.320 there a first training as an instructor and then working 286 00:14:36.600 --> 00:14:41.200 and taking people out diving and working as a bouncer 287 00:14:41.200 --> 00:14:44.039 at a couple of bars and clubs. In Gibraltar itself, 288 00:14:45.080 --> 00:14:48.720 I was living on a dilapidated yacht that legend had 289 00:14:48.759 --> 00:14:51.639 It was owned by a former London gangster. 290 00:14:52.320 --> 00:14:53.840 I don't know if he really was or not. He 291 00:14:53.840 --> 00:14:55.559 would come out every night and again. The rest of 292 00:14:55.559 --> 00:14:55.919 the time. 293 00:14:56.399 --> 00:14:59.039 It was myself and a bunch of young people, backpackers 294 00:14:59.080 --> 00:15:02.919 from Australia Europe living on this yacht in the marina. 295 00:15:03.000 --> 00:15:05.600 They called it the party boat. We had a great time, 296 00:15:06.759 --> 00:15:10.159 loved diving, loved yeah, loved everything about it. It was 297 00:15:10.200 --> 00:15:14.960 the best post operational decompression you go through, and yeah, 298 00:15:15.039 --> 00:15:17.919 one of the best summers of my life did that, 299 00:15:18.360 --> 00:15:20.840 and at the end of it, I was like, you know, 300 00:15:20.879 --> 00:15:24.440 I really miss having that three sixty challenge. That's a 301 00:15:24.519 --> 00:15:28.039 challenge to mind, body and soul that to a certain 302 00:15:28.039 --> 00:15:32.440 extent you get from uniform service. And so I came 303 00:15:32.519 --> 00:15:34.320 up with this plan to try and ski the length 304 00:15:34.360 --> 00:15:40.120 of Norway. It's an accepted set of Norwegian challenge they 305 00:15:40.159 --> 00:15:42.720 call it Norge par Lands, where you start at the 306 00:15:42.720 --> 00:15:45.840 southern tip of Norway and then you ski. I thought 307 00:15:45.879 --> 00:15:48.960 it was eighteen hundred miles, but I read I was 308 00:15:49.919 --> 00:15:52.159 researching it before doing this, and I saw someone say 309 00:15:52.200 --> 00:15:55.080 it's actually sixteen hundred, so not as much as I thought. 310 00:15:55.080 --> 00:15:56.759 But it took me one hundred and twenty two days 311 00:15:56.759 --> 00:15:59.960 in the snow, and yeah, I got there. 312 00:16:00.120 --> 00:16:00.960 I didn't think I would. 313 00:16:01.000 --> 00:16:02.759 There was a few things along the way that you know, 314 00:16:02.840 --> 00:16:07.639 almost prevented me from doing it, And yeah, I had 315 00:16:07.639 --> 00:16:10.480 a huge sense of accomplishment from that, and I thought, 316 00:16:10.559 --> 00:16:13.000 right now it's time for another season of stuba diving. 317 00:16:13.960 --> 00:16:16.639 Went to a place called Antiparos, which is in the 318 00:16:16.639 --> 00:16:22.440 Ciplades Islands in Greece. Had a great summer, you know, 319 00:16:22.440 --> 00:16:25.720 another one of the best of my life. Beautiful island 320 00:16:25.799 --> 00:16:28.480 and if anyone is considering going on a diving holiday, 321 00:16:28.759 --> 00:16:32.360 anti Paros in Greece is a great destination. 322 00:16:32.440 --> 00:16:34.279 It's a really small island. It's only got like. 323 00:16:34.559 --> 00:16:38.000 A summer popular winter population of five hundred, so it's 324 00:16:38.480 --> 00:16:40.759 much smaller and intimate than some of your bigger places. 325 00:16:40.840 --> 00:16:47.240 Like Naxos or what's the one where you never mind? 326 00:16:47.440 --> 00:16:51.960 And yeah, great diving, great little town, nice tavernas, nice bars, 327 00:16:52.080 --> 00:16:56.200 nice square. Had a great time relaxed, and then got 328 00:16:56.240 --> 00:16:59.159 back home to my dad's house and said to myself, right, 329 00:16:59.159 --> 00:17:03.080 I'm in the mood for another challenge. And so I 330 00:17:03.080 --> 00:17:05.680 had this sort of embryonic idea to try and do 331 00:17:05.799 --> 00:17:09.240 something with the skills that the Corps had given me, 332 00:17:10.000 --> 00:17:12.559 to do something positive that was beyond politics, because of 333 00:17:12.599 --> 00:17:15.440 course Afghan left it a little bit of a bitter 334 00:17:15.480 --> 00:17:16.359 taste in the mouth. 335 00:17:16.240 --> 00:17:16.799 You could say. 336 00:17:18.119 --> 00:17:21.440 And I'd seen a few years before about how there 337 00:17:21.519 --> 00:17:25.359 was a sort of poaching wars going on in East 338 00:17:25.359 --> 00:17:30.160 Africa with you know, some former military guys trying to 339 00:17:30.279 --> 00:17:33.519 fight the poachers who were trying to kill the rhinos 340 00:17:33.559 --> 00:17:36.319 and the elephants for their the ivory and the horn. 341 00:17:37.200 --> 00:17:39.559 And I thought that would be a cool thing to do. 342 00:17:40.359 --> 00:17:46.039 And then I heard through the grapevine that a figure 343 00:17:46.160 --> 00:17:49.480 from my service who is going to crop off a 344 00:17:49.480 --> 00:17:52.319 few times in the story. I was involved in that, 345 00:17:52.359 --> 00:17:55.839 and this figure was the guy who was the colonel 346 00:17:55.920 --> 00:17:58.440 in charge of the Commander Training Center. When I passed 347 00:17:58.440 --> 00:18:03.599 through a very charismatic and inspiring man, a huge man 348 00:18:03.680 --> 00:18:06.839 as well, and he gives you your speech roup he 349 00:18:06.920 --> 00:18:10.079 gave to my intake the speech on your first day 350 00:18:10.119 --> 00:18:13.039 after you signed the form and you know, pledge your 351 00:18:13.759 --> 00:18:17.759 whatever to whatever. And then he was there at the 352 00:18:17.880 --> 00:18:20.799 end of the thirty miler and gave me the green 353 00:18:20.839 --> 00:18:23.680 beret when I completed that, and again when I passed out. 354 00:18:24.359 --> 00:18:26.880 And you know, he was a kind of a legendary 355 00:18:26.920 --> 00:18:30.119 figure in the British Commandos and he had also been 356 00:18:30.119 --> 00:18:33.279 in the SPS, and I believe he went on to 357 00:18:33.359 --> 00:18:34.480 command the SPS. 358 00:18:34.680 --> 00:18:36.079 And yes, yes, but. 359 00:18:36.440 --> 00:18:38.559 I'm not sure at least one of them, maybe both, 360 00:18:39.119 --> 00:18:41.240 but who's counting at that stage. He was a very 361 00:18:41.279 --> 00:18:44.519 accomplished soldier and kind of a legend in the British 362 00:18:44.559 --> 00:18:47.880 Commandos and British Special Forces. And anyone from my sort 363 00:18:47.880 --> 00:18:51.359 of generation who's been through will instantly know who I'm 364 00:18:51.400 --> 00:18:52.039 talking about. 365 00:18:52.680 --> 00:18:55.279 But I'm not going to mention him by name here. 366 00:18:55.440 --> 00:18:59.480 Please edit it out if I do so. 367 00:18:59.599 --> 00:19:02.359 Yeah, I heard he was involved in anti poaching work. 368 00:19:03.599 --> 00:19:06.559 I'd heard he'd been involved in East Africa and in 369 00:19:06.640 --> 00:19:12.559 the Congo, and I was able to dig up his 370 00:19:12.720 --> 00:19:14.880 number from somewhere and gave. 371 00:19:14.720 --> 00:19:16.680 Him a call out the blue, as you do to 372 00:19:17.119 --> 00:19:17.400 you know. 373 00:19:17.480 --> 00:19:22.079 The former commandant of Limbstone who you probably haven't seen 374 00:19:22.160 --> 00:19:25.240 him however many years and has no reason to remember you. 375 00:19:26.160 --> 00:19:28.880 But he said, no, I do remember you, which I 376 00:19:28.920 --> 00:19:30.920 thought was a lie at the time, But if we 377 00:19:31.319 --> 00:19:33.640 get the time later, I'll circle back to why. 378 00:19:33.680 --> 00:19:36.599 That probably was because you got in trouble and you 379 00:19:36.640 --> 00:19:37.440 had to go to his life. 380 00:19:38.480 --> 00:19:41.359 Oh I was in trouble enough, but not for that, 381 00:19:41.720 --> 00:19:46.640 not that type. And I said, hey, I'm I'm, I'm, 382 00:19:47.480 --> 00:19:49.599 I'm you know Marine Sons. You gave me a green 383 00:19:49.680 --> 00:19:52.839 ray one time, and you know, done this and that, 384 00:19:52.920 --> 00:19:56.000 And I heard you were involved in anti poaching and 385 00:19:56.000 --> 00:19:57.400 I'd really like to get involved. 386 00:19:57.759 --> 00:19:59.880 What are the what are the options, what are the opportunities? 387 00:20:00.799 --> 00:20:02.720 And he was like, yeah, i'd probably hook you up 388 00:20:02.720 --> 00:20:02.880 with that. 389 00:20:04.000 --> 00:20:05.720 You know, the sort of thing you'd be doing is 390 00:20:05.759 --> 00:20:09.359 managing a team of fifty rangers privately employed, and you 391 00:20:09.400 --> 00:20:12.480 know a half dozen land cruisers covering a conservancy the 392 00:20:12.519 --> 00:20:16.279 size of however many thousand miles up in this district, 393 00:20:16.319 --> 00:20:18.759 all this country, and yeah, yeah, send me a CV 394 00:20:19.960 --> 00:20:22.519 and I'll see what I can do I'll be in touch, 395 00:20:22.559 --> 00:20:25.079 and I was like, wow, I can't believe it, just 396 00:20:25.119 --> 00:20:28.799 talking to you know, Papa Green Moray here, and he 397 00:20:29.119 --> 00:20:32.160 actually was, you know, didn't just put down the phone 398 00:20:32.160 --> 00:20:34.279 on me or laugh at my face. So I sent 399 00:20:34.319 --> 00:20:38.680 off the CV and you know, took a moment and 400 00:20:38.880 --> 00:20:41.240 my heart was fluttering a bit. And he called me 401 00:20:41.319 --> 00:20:45.039 back fifteen minutes later and he said, I know you've 402 00:20:45.039 --> 00:20:46.160 never done anything. 403 00:20:45.880 --> 00:20:49.640 Like this, but would you be open to doing a 404 00:20:49.759 --> 00:20:54.200 job on the private security side. Now, when I'd left 405 00:20:54.240 --> 00:20:56.599 the military, I'd known about. 406 00:20:56.359 --> 00:20:59.880 Guys going to PSD details or our Afghanistan, the money. 407 00:20:59.599 --> 00:21:00.000 To be made. 408 00:21:01.160 --> 00:21:04.160 I had heard the stories and they even send they 409 00:21:04.200 --> 00:21:05.920 even sent one of them back to lecture us on 410 00:21:06.000 --> 00:21:09.160 why not to do it, obviously so that they could 411 00:21:09.319 --> 00:21:12.920 keep up their attention. Yeah, not that I put much 412 00:21:12.920 --> 00:21:14.839 faith in that. And I had said to myself, I'm 413 00:21:14.880 --> 00:21:16.640 never going to do that. I'm never going to go 414 00:21:16.640 --> 00:21:17.599 to private security. 415 00:21:18.000 --> 00:21:21.079 And it sounds dramatic, but I said, I'm never working 416 00:21:21.119 --> 00:21:24.759 with a gun in my hand again. So yeah, I 417 00:21:24.799 --> 00:21:29.039 know I'd become a hypocrite, and who doesn't, but wanting 418 00:21:29.079 --> 00:21:32.000 to work in anti poaching would obviously be breaking that rule, 419 00:21:32.039 --> 00:21:36.839 but mean I'll have to I'll have to sort of 420 00:21:38.839 --> 00:21:41.160 stretch my head and conscience around that somehow. 421 00:21:41.720 --> 00:21:44.400 So, yeah, I didn't think I would ever get involved 422 00:21:44.440 --> 00:21:47.640 in private security, promised myself I wouldn't, and here it 423 00:21:47.720 --> 00:21:48.519 was the opportunity. 424 00:21:48.599 --> 00:21:52.799 So Colonel said to me, can you can you be 425 00:21:52.880 --> 00:21:57.400 on a plane tonight? And you know, if you if 426 00:21:57.440 --> 00:22:00.200 you go to Heathrow right now and present yourself off 427 00:22:00.200 --> 00:22:02.400 of the you know, the check in desk for this airline, 428 00:22:02.839 --> 00:22:04.839 say you name, there will be a ticket for you. 429 00:22:05.640 --> 00:22:07.519 And you know, obviously I'll say what's the job? And 430 00:22:07.519 --> 00:22:09.440 he said, well, I can't tell you until you get here. 431 00:22:09.519 --> 00:22:13.000 Yeah, should I pack a coat? Or what are we doing? 432 00:22:13.119 --> 00:22:16.240 Yeah? He said it is. It is going to be 433 00:22:16.319 --> 00:22:19.640 taking a package from one location to another, exchanging that 434 00:22:19.680 --> 00:22:23.039 package for another package, and bringing it back out to 435 00:22:23.079 --> 00:22:27.839 another location. And if we if you get here and 436 00:22:27.880 --> 00:22:29.960 you don't want the job, I'll give you five thousand 437 00:22:30.119 --> 00:22:32.240 and a plane ticket back. That will be the end 438 00:22:32.240 --> 00:22:34.759 of it. As in, you know, once I tell you 439 00:22:34.839 --> 00:22:37.160 the details of what you'll really be doing and you're like, no, 440 00:22:37.160 --> 00:22:39.240 no time out, I don't want this, You'll get five 441 00:22:39.240 --> 00:22:42.559 thousand a plane ticket back. Fine. If for whatever reason, 442 00:22:43.000 --> 00:22:46.240 we get to the launch point and it's canceled, that 443 00:22:46.279 --> 00:22:50.279 will be ten thousand. If we get to the exchange 444 00:22:50.599 --> 00:22:56.000 and it's unsuccessful, that will be fifteen. 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That's 521 00:27:18.240 --> 00:27:23.200 q U I n CE dot com slash house for 522 00:27:23.279 --> 00:27:26.359 free shipping and three hundred and sixty five day returns. 523 00:27:26.759 --> 00:27:29.079 Quints dot com slash house. 524 00:27:31.680 --> 00:27:35.480 And like my inner twelve year old was sort of 525 00:27:35.480 --> 00:27:37.839 saying to me, like, I knew this was going to 526 00:27:37.880 --> 00:27:41.880 happen one day. I knew it. But at the same time, 527 00:27:41.920 --> 00:27:43.720 I was like, this is real. This isn't a movie. 528 00:27:43.799 --> 00:27:46.720 You know. Why what do they want with you? What 529 00:27:46.799 --> 00:27:50.559 skills do you have that no one else could fulfill? 530 00:27:50.640 --> 00:27:54.680 Because this guy has got to have a dozen former regiment, 531 00:27:54.880 --> 00:27:59.359 former Pool or former Heraford guys he could call on 532 00:28:00.000 --> 00:28:03.079 why do they want you? Like, what do you bring 533 00:28:03.119 --> 00:28:03.680 to the table? 534 00:28:04.920 --> 00:28:06.640 Sure you got one tour in a dream rate, but 535 00:28:06.680 --> 00:28:09.720 that is not what Anyway, I had a lot of misgivings. 536 00:28:09.839 --> 00:28:14.079 I was concerned. I thought maybe I was going to 537 00:28:14.119 --> 00:28:16.359 be roped in to be a patsy or a fall 538 00:28:16.400 --> 00:28:21.599 guy for something. I told my dad and you know, 539 00:28:21.720 --> 00:28:24.720 shared my misgivings with him, and he was like, yeah, 540 00:28:24.759 --> 00:28:26.599 I know, I've got the same misgivings. 541 00:28:26.640 --> 00:28:28.799 But if I was a young man like you, I'd 542 00:28:28.799 --> 00:28:32.960 probably go as well. So But the main thing that 543 00:28:33.039 --> 00:28:35.160 decided it for me was I thought the colonel would 544 00:28:35.160 --> 00:28:37.720 not betray one of his marines because one of the 545 00:28:38.359 --> 00:28:40.480 one of the main things that one of the main 546 00:28:40.519 --> 00:28:42.920 takeaways you would get if you met the man was 547 00:28:43.119 --> 00:28:46.559 his integrity and that kind of shone through in everything 548 00:28:46.599 --> 00:28:48.480 he said and did, And I thought, there's no way 549 00:28:48.960 --> 00:28:52.240 he would knowingly or willingly betray one of his marines. 550 00:28:52.319 --> 00:28:54.039 He's not setting me up to be the fall guy. 551 00:28:54.599 --> 00:28:57.359 This is genuine and I don't understand. 552 00:28:56.920 --> 00:28:59.640 Why or what for yet. So yeah, I got on 553 00:28:59.680 --> 00:29:00.000 the plane. 554 00:29:00.240 --> 00:29:03.759 I got on the train, got to Ethrow, and a 555 00:29:03.799 --> 00:29:05.319 part of me had been saying, no, this is a 556 00:29:05.359 --> 00:29:06.960 bite someone's having on it. 557 00:29:07.039 --> 00:29:08.160 Someone's putting your leg here. 558 00:29:08.599 --> 00:29:10.880 Like a few minutes after you sent your CV, he 559 00:29:10.960 --> 00:29:12.519 called up, you know, Paul. 560 00:29:12.279 --> 00:29:14.759 And asked, do you remember this guy? Do you remember 561 00:29:14.799 --> 00:29:17.440 this guy? Yeah? I know it's Dave, pull his leg, 562 00:29:17.480 --> 00:29:21.200 get on a bite. So I was genuinely surprised when 563 00:29:21.200 --> 00:29:22.680 I got to the check in desk and said my 564 00:29:22.759 --> 00:29:26.279 name and there was actually a ticket there, And yeah, 565 00:29:26.319 --> 00:29:28.599 I got on the plane. Obviously I didn't sleep on 566 00:29:28.640 --> 00:29:33.519 the flight. I remember looking down it was a night 567 00:29:33.559 --> 00:29:36.640 flight as it flew over Africa and seeing some of 568 00:29:36.640 --> 00:29:40.400 those little lights below and thinking, you know, this is 569 00:29:40.480 --> 00:29:45.039 like the deepest, darkest Africa, Like like, what's that book 570 00:29:45.039 --> 00:29:47.799 where the guy's going down the river to meet with. 571 00:29:50.039 --> 00:29:53.200 Now sorry, Apaly now. 572 00:29:53.759 --> 00:29:55.400 Pop Clyps now. But it was based on a book 573 00:29:55.400 --> 00:29:58.880 called Heart of Darkness. Yeah, I'd read Hard at Darkness 574 00:29:59.119 --> 00:30:02.359 and you know, the Darkest Africa and all the sort 575 00:30:02.359 --> 00:30:04.720 of mystery and fear that's. 576 00:30:04.559 --> 00:30:07.200 Associated with that. Now with the Marines, I had been 577 00:30:07.440 --> 00:30:09.519 on jungle training in West. 578 00:30:09.240 --> 00:30:13.720 Africa when I was Wrecky Troupe, and so I'd spent 579 00:30:13.839 --> 00:30:17.359 you know, six weeks there. But when you're sort of 580 00:30:17.680 --> 00:30:22.359 infolded in the bosom of the military, you're protected, you 581 00:30:22.559 --> 00:30:25.960 are you know that if you're a casualty, they'll get 582 00:30:26.000 --> 00:30:28.480 you out, they'll get you back one way or another. 583 00:30:28.519 --> 00:30:31.880 You have all the logistical sport, the commands, support and communications, 584 00:30:32.680 --> 00:30:33.400 the QRF. 585 00:30:33.920 --> 00:30:37.119 Yeah, everything is there. Well, there's a huge apparatus there 586 00:30:37.119 --> 00:30:39.920 to protect you and help you achieve your mission. And 587 00:30:39.960 --> 00:30:43.599 now I was going private, something I'd never contemplated doing before, 588 00:30:43.640 --> 00:30:45.319 and I'd just done it at the drop of a hat, 589 00:30:46.119 --> 00:30:46.440 and you. 590 00:30:46.440 --> 00:30:49.640 Know, sold my principles as well for a considerable summer 591 00:30:49.680 --> 00:30:50.880 money in two thousand and eight. 592 00:30:50.920 --> 00:30:53.079 That was quite a lot. That was enough to pay 593 00:30:53.119 --> 00:30:55.160 off my student loan and buy a motorcycle. 594 00:30:55.920 --> 00:30:59.880 Yeah. So well, anyway, this is what was going through 595 00:30:59.880 --> 00:31:02.519 my ahead, and the Colonel has said to me, when 596 00:31:02.559 --> 00:31:05.960 you get to the airport, there'll be a guy at 597 00:31:06.000 --> 00:31:08.079 the the you know, when you come out of the terminal, 598 00:31:08.119 --> 00:31:11.039 there'll be a guy with two numbers on a piece 599 00:31:11.079 --> 00:31:13.920 of paper, four and two. Just go with him, right. 600 00:31:14.319 --> 00:31:16.480 I was like, this is like some sort of spy stuff. 601 00:31:16.480 --> 00:31:18.160 It's like I've been dropped in the middle of Jason 602 00:31:18.160 --> 00:31:24.359 Born here and I'm just the comedy sidekick. But that's 603 00:31:24.440 --> 00:31:28.200 kind of how I felt at the time. So yeah, 604 00:31:28.279 --> 00:31:31.160 it was. It was kind of terrifying. And the guy 605 00:31:31.279 --> 00:31:33.480 was there at the airport. I got in his car, 606 00:31:33.880 --> 00:31:35.359 I said where we're going. He said, we're going to 607 00:31:35.440 --> 00:31:37.119 the Colonel's house. So that's where we went. 608 00:31:39.039 --> 00:31:41.960 And being in you know a West African sorry, in 609 00:31:42.039 --> 00:31:46.359 East African capital, it was you know, the sites and smells. 610 00:31:46.519 --> 00:31:48.880 If you have you ever been to. 611 00:31:48.200 --> 00:31:50.839 To Africa, West Africa, not East. 612 00:31:51.200 --> 00:31:53.960 Yeah, well, you know, burning trash has the same smell 613 00:31:54.000 --> 00:31:59.160 wherever you Yeah, and the call to prayer that's, you know, 614 00:31:59.279 --> 00:32:03.200 a a distinctive part of it. It's it's very different 615 00:32:03.200 --> 00:32:05.160 when you're in the Asia in the Middle East to 616 00:32:05.200 --> 00:32:07.839 when you're in Africa. They have a different cadence, if 617 00:32:07.880 --> 00:32:11.400 you could call it that, And yeah, it was. 618 00:32:11.640 --> 00:32:14.240 It was kind of overwhelming seeing you raff right outside 619 00:32:14.240 --> 00:32:15.160 the airport as well. 620 00:32:15.200 --> 00:32:19.240 On the drive and got to the colonel's compound I 621 00:32:19.240 --> 00:32:23.319 should say house, and met him, and yeah, he was 622 00:32:23.480 --> 00:32:25.839 just as imposing as I remembered, except he now had 623 00:32:26.119 --> 00:32:30.279 a beard. And he put me up in his his 624 00:32:30.359 --> 00:32:34.000 guest house on his on his property, and he took 625 00:32:34.039 --> 00:32:36.319 you know, took me to his office and he explained 626 00:32:36.359 --> 00:32:40.400 what the job was. It was taking ransom to Somalia 627 00:32:40.599 --> 00:32:43.319 and coming back out with not one, but. 628 00:32:43.319 --> 00:32:46.519 Two ships that have been held hostage by the pirates 629 00:32:46.519 --> 00:32:48.079 for the last couple of months. 630 00:32:48.680 --> 00:32:53.160 And you know, he confirmed the terms. I think I 631 00:32:53.240 --> 00:32:55.759 had a an NDA to sign. I think I had 632 00:32:55.960 --> 00:32:59.960 an insurance politic policy to sign, a which had a 633 00:33:00.079 --> 00:33:03.079 kidnapper ratsom claws to it, which said that there would 634 00:33:03.079 --> 00:33:06.880 be two hundred and fifty thousand in ransom if I 635 00:33:07.000 --> 00:33:10.240 was taking you know, hostage, that would be you know, 636 00:33:10.480 --> 00:33:12.319 a paid in order to get me out. 637 00:33:13.880 --> 00:33:16.839 And yeah, it was shown to this guest house. It 638 00:33:16.920 --> 00:33:21.400 was a pretty nice place, beautiful setting, which I became 639 00:33:21.519 --> 00:33:26.039 very familiar with in later years. The area rather than 640 00:33:26.119 --> 00:33:29.880 the house itself. And yeah, at a certain point he 641 00:33:29.960 --> 00:33:32.839 came out from the house with a couple of beers 642 00:33:32.880 --> 00:33:36.319 and we sat in his garden having beers, me and 643 00:33:37.440 --> 00:33:41.960 the former head of UKSF, which was well, you know, 644 00:33:42.680 --> 00:33:46.599 meeting your heroes. It was pretty heavy stuff. 645 00:33:46.440 --> 00:33:49.319 You know, just meeting him or speaking to him, but 646 00:33:49.400 --> 00:33:54.079 now being taken into his circle of trust, and you know, 647 00:33:54.480 --> 00:33:58.480 him telling me about the job, and he did confess, 648 00:33:58.519 --> 00:34:00.440 you know, we are a bit under gunned. 649 00:34:01.160 --> 00:34:04.359 There are some risks involved, but you know, we've done 650 00:34:04.359 --> 00:34:06.839 this once before and. 651 00:34:06.720 --> 00:34:09.840 It went okay, and we're hoping to do it again 652 00:34:10.239 --> 00:34:14.920 with the same formula. And you know, and later that night, 653 00:34:15.039 --> 00:34:18.320 I actually was invited to dinner with his family. His 654 00:34:18.519 --> 00:34:21.440 kids were there, his wife was there, and you know, 655 00:34:21.480 --> 00:34:23.519 after that, the kids went to bed, and the three 656 00:34:23.519 --> 00:34:25.920 of us, you know, a colonel, his wife, we set 657 00:34:25.960 --> 00:34:28.679 out on the on the grass, saw sunset. 658 00:34:29.440 --> 00:34:34.360 They were drinking wine. I think I had a beer, and. 659 00:34:34.400 --> 00:34:37.320 Yeah, he really you can say, took me into his 660 00:34:37.320 --> 00:34:39.559 family and made me feel. 661 00:34:40.760 --> 00:34:44.239 Made me feel very privileged to sort of experience that hospitality. 662 00:34:44.440 --> 00:34:48.880 And yeah, we talked about a lot of stuff. Tell you. 663 00:34:48.880 --> 00:34:51.039 At one point, and this is an insight into the 664 00:34:51.599 --> 00:34:52.239 man himself. 665 00:34:52.280 --> 00:34:53.840 At one point he went back to the house to 666 00:34:53.840 --> 00:34:57.400 get another bottle of wine, and his wife was a very. 667 00:34:57.440 --> 00:34:59.840 Very beautiful, graceful lady. 668 00:35:02.159 --> 00:35:03.880 It was just the two of us for five minutes, 669 00:35:03.920 --> 00:35:06.880 and she said to me, I don't suppose you can 670 00:35:06.880 --> 00:35:09.760 tell us where you're going, can you? Because I guess 671 00:35:09.800 --> 00:35:12.440 she knew something was coming, you know, she must have 672 00:35:12.519 --> 00:35:15.199 known that the colonel was going to be away for 673 00:35:15.239 --> 00:35:19.239 a few days. And then she said, I probably don't 674 00:35:19.239 --> 00:35:23.800 want to know, do I? And that one thing kind of. 675 00:35:24.079 --> 00:35:31.039 Illustrated to me how the colonel, with him his large 676 00:35:31.039 --> 00:35:35.840 and life personality, is sort of insane level of confidence 677 00:35:35.880 --> 00:35:39.519 and self assurance, which she might have come across some 678 00:35:39.840 --> 00:35:41.440 characters in the military who have this. 679 00:35:42.159 --> 00:35:45.800 It wasn't just an act with him. A man genuinely 680 00:35:45.880 --> 00:35:49.280 had ice in his veins because he hadn't even confided in. 681 00:35:49.239 --> 00:35:52.239 His wife where he was going with what he was doing. Now, 682 00:35:52.280 --> 00:35:55.360 for me, my wife, that's my best friend, that's my confident. 683 00:35:55.480 --> 00:35:58.000 I could not keep us something like that from her. 684 00:35:58.159 --> 00:36:00.599 I would have to share that kind of thing. I mean, 685 00:36:00.679 --> 00:36:01.280 I don't have. 686 00:36:01.440 --> 00:36:04.960 That level of crazy self confidence that I could just 687 00:36:05.039 --> 00:36:05.719 keep it to myself. 688 00:36:05.760 --> 00:36:09.519 I'd have to share it. He hadn't, I guess. 689 00:36:09.840 --> 00:36:12.280 I mean, you know, a guy who's done as many 690 00:36:12.360 --> 00:36:16.719 things as he has has probably found that formula by 691 00:36:16.760 --> 00:36:20.079 trial and error, and that it's probably safest to protect 692 00:36:20.159 --> 00:36:23.599 them by not telling your loved ones what you're doing 693 00:36:23.679 --> 00:36:24.960 or what you're going into. 694 00:36:24.880 --> 00:36:27.800 So they don't worry about it. But I just I 695 00:36:27.800 --> 00:36:29.239 had not made the same stuff. 696 00:36:29.280 --> 00:36:31.480 I would have to share that fear and my fears 697 00:36:31.519 --> 00:36:33.320 and doubts with my best friend. 698 00:36:33.760 --> 00:36:37.000 I could not do that. So yeah, to me, that's 699 00:36:37.079 --> 00:36:41.480 like that was the most the most amazing thing about it. 700 00:36:41.440 --> 00:36:44.760 Is he he It wasn't just an act that he 701 00:36:44.920 --> 00:36:46.320 dropped when he was with family. 702 00:36:46.719 --> 00:36:48.079 He was like that all the time. 703 00:36:49.199 --> 00:36:50.760 And yeah, it was kind of a kind of a 704 00:36:50.800 --> 00:36:53.360 chilling thing for me a little bit, but yeah, you know, 705 00:36:53.440 --> 00:36:54.119 he came back. 706 00:36:54.519 --> 00:36:56.480 Then the next day there was briefing. I met the 707 00:36:56.519 --> 00:36:59.280 rest of the team. It was very diverse, a mix 708 00:36:59.440 --> 00:37:06.880 of expats, Europeans and Africans, and the briefing was extensive 709 00:37:07.119 --> 00:37:11.199 and you know, and in it actions on what do we. 710 00:37:11.199 --> 00:37:14.559 Do if we are approached, what do we do if 711 00:37:14.559 --> 00:37:18.719 we're contacted? We were sailing in two tugboats from a 712 00:37:18.800 --> 00:37:23.559 port in East Africa up the coast. We had two 713 00:37:23.639 --> 00:37:27.480 ransoms we did which we didn't have on us at 714 00:37:27.480 --> 00:37:27.840 the time. 715 00:37:27.960 --> 00:37:33.880 It would meet us somewhere in transit. So yeah, then 716 00:37:34.039 --> 00:37:36.639 the team split. Half of us went by a ground, well, 717 00:37:37.239 --> 00:37:39.480 the bulk of us went by a ground to that port, 718 00:37:40.000 --> 00:37:43.639 embarked on the tugboats and all the stores on board. 719 00:37:44.239 --> 00:37:46.159 You know, we had to learn quite a few stores 720 00:37:47.000 --> 00:37:50.559 for both for ourselves for the voyage and for the crew. 721 00:37:50.599 --> 00:37:51.239 When we got there. 722 00:37:51.280 --> 00:37:53.719 We had to have food to supply them because they 723 00:37:53.719 --> 00:37:55.480 had been you know, starvation. 724 00:37:55.679 --> 00:37:58.960 I was going I was going to ask Dave, when 725 00:37:59.000 --> 00:38:00.920 you say you go there, you're going there to collect 726 00:38:00.920 --> 00:38:03.920 these two ships. I mean the crews are being held 727 00:38:03.960 --> 00:38:05.440 hostage as well, aren't they. 728 00:38:06.320 --> 00:38:10.440 Yeah, yeah, well, if we have time to go back 729 00:38:10.440 --> 00:38:14.559 and get into the of the economics of maritime ransom 730 00:38:14.719 --> 00:38:18.239 and can are we will. But it is a complex 731 00:38:18.280 --> 00:38:23.440 and labyrinth labyriantine, labyrinthine. It's it's messed up. 732 00:38:24.719 --> 00:38:28.079 The people who write the check are not really writing 733 00:38:28.119 --> 00:38:30.360 it for the people, sorry for the cruise. 734 00:38:30.760 --> 00:38:34.239 They're writing it for the asset, the hardware or its cargo. 735 00:38:36.079 --> 00:38:41.400 And yeah, that's that's just the business of private security. 736 00:38:41.440 --> 00:38:44.719 I'm afraid it's it's and I don't want to use the word. 737 00:38:44.719 --> 00:38:45.679 It's kind of mercenary. 738 00:38:46.679 --> 00:38:49.800 Is the way it worked that the shipping company hired 739 00:38:49.960 --> 00:38:53.800 the kernel security company to make this transaction. 740 00:38:55.639 --> 00:39:03.880 It was subcontracted. Okay, So in the as soon as 741 00:39:03.880 --> 00:39:08.079 the ship gets hijacked, everyone tries to put the blaye 742 00:39:08.360 --> 00:39:11.719 or the responsibility on everyone else. You have the trifecta 743 00:39:11.840 --> 00:39:17.320 of the shipowner who owns the hole, the ship management company. 744 00:39:17.480 --> 00:39:20.719 Uh oh, I got to try frozen, Okay. 745 00:39:21.480 --> 00:39:23.639 The shipowner owns the holes, the ship management company that 746 00:39:23.719 --> 00:39:25.800 runs the day to day and employs the crew legally, 747 00:39:25.920 --> 00:39:31.320 and the charter charterer sends the ship to whichever port 748 00:39:31.639 --> 00:39:34.239 to pick up whichever cargo based on the relative value 749 00:39:34.239 --> 00:39:36.440 of that particular cargo of that particular time on the 750 00:39:36.480 --> 00:39:38.559 stock market or the international exchange. 751 00:39:38.960 --> 00:39:41.079 So they're kind of gambling with is this going to 752 00:39:41.079 --> 00:39:41.719 go up or down? 753 00:39:41.840 --> 00:39:45.039 Let's move this to there, And when the ship gets hijacked, 754 00:39:45.440 --> 00:39:47.719 all three of them are like, no, not my problem, 755 00:39:47.760 --> 00:39:51.039 it's yours. And the only person you can really guarantee 756 00:39:51.159 --> 00:39:53.039 to step forward is the shipowner. 757 00:39:53.039 --> 00:39:56.880 They want to get their ship back. So the legal. 758 00:39:56.599 --> 00:40:00.679 Wrangling between all three of them lawyers is what takes 759 00:40:00.719 --> 00:40:03.760 up a lot of the time and effort before an 760 00:40:03.760 --> 00:40:04.760 agreement can be made. 761 00:40:04.880 --> 00:40:06.360 I'm still frozen. You still see me? 762 00:40:06.519 --> 00:40:08.000 Yeah, I got you just find. 763 00:40:07.800 --> 00:40:11.800 Ok and money actually ponied up, and then you've got 764 00:40:11.800 --> 00:40:13.920 to figure about the amount. 765 00:40:15.840 --> 00:40:19.480 But you know, in that whole time, the whoever the 766 00:40:19.519 --> 00:40:21.639 lawyers have agreed is actually going to lead this has 767 00:40:21.639 --> 00:40:25.440 got to a point a ken R negotiator and they 768 00:40:25.519 --> 00:40:27.519 might have an attached can art policy already on, it 769 00:40:27.599 --> 00:40:30.599 might not, probably not, and then that negotiator has got 770 00:40:30.639 --> 00:40:35.519 to make contact and start the process. And once again 771 00:40:35.559 --> 00:40:39.480 going back to the film analogy, the movie with Russell 772 00:40:39.519 --> 00:40:40.719 Crow and Meg Ryan. 773 00:40:41.280 --> 00:40:42.480 Proof of Life. 774 00:40:42.559 --> 00:40:46.440 That'sally a cool movie. But actually from although I was 775 00:40:46.440 --> 00:40:49.480 on the delivery side, I wasn't one of the brains. 776 00:40:49.519 --> 00:40:51.400 I was just one of the folk, sorry, one of 777 00:40:51.440 --> 00:40:56.920 the private security contractors who was part of the finals 778 00:40:57.039 --> 00:41:01.840 security around the delivery. But I gleaned little bits here 779 00:41:01.840 --> 00:41:03.920 and there over my course my career in. 780 00:41:03.920 --> 00:41:07.400 The industry that let me piece together a picture which actually, 781 00:41:08.599 --> 00:41:11.199 you know, says that the negotiation process that you saw 782 00:41:11.239 --> 00:41:13.440 in that movie is pretty much spot on, and I 783 00:41:13.480 --> 00:41:18.440 believe that movie was made with consultants from another company 784 00:41:18.480 --> 00:41:22.000 that I'm not going to name, who are the main 785 00:41:22.440 --> 00:41:24.840 worldwide renowned experts in the field. 786 00:41:24.599 --> 00:41:27.559 And you probably already know who I'm talking about. I 787 00:41:27.639 --> 00:41:30.480 like to say no names, and I believe they are 788 00:41:30.519 --> 00:41:33.719 also the appointee in this case, or the first one 789 00:41:33.760 --> 00:41:39.199 I did. And they then subcontracted the firm that the 790 00:41:39.280 --> 00:41:43.320 colonel was one of the heads off there were two heads, 791 00:41:44.599 --> 00:41:50.360 he was one, and that's where I got brought in. Now, 792 00:41:50.599 --> 00:41:53.199 so sort of clear up the mystery of why I 793 00:41:53.239 --> 00:41:55.719 was involved. It was because someone dropped out at the 794 00:41:55.800 --> 00:42:04.559 last minute. Yeah, still receiving seeing my frozen Someone dropped 795 00:42:04.599 --> 00:42:07.119 out at the last minute, and then I happened to 796 00:42:07.159 --> 00:42:11.239 call the colonel in the same you know a few 797 00:42:11.280 --> 00:42:15.000 moments that they handed in their spurs or whatever. 798 00:42:16.239 --> 00:42:20.000 And and then actually they they quit because they were 799 00:42:20.039 --> 00:42:23.360 concerned about the lack of firepower, which I alluded to 800 00:42:23.440 --> 00:42:25.679 before in my discussion with the colonel about it, and 801 00:42:25.719 --> 00:42:28.320 I will come back to later on. That's what I 802 00:42:28.400 --> 00:42:30.360 found out, but I wasn't told it at the time. 803 00:42:33.559 --> 00:42:37.360 So anyway, back to the timeline, we diverted a bit. 804 00:42:38.360 --> 00:42:44.239 We were loading the tongue boats in this port, and yeah, 805 00:42:44.280 --> 00:42:47.239 it was pretty atmospheric with the smells of rotting mangrove 806 00:42:47.320 --> 00:42:50.360 and the you know, the the dockyard smells, the rubbish, 807 00:42:51.119 --> 00:42:54.920 the sounds of the port city and and you know, 808 00:42:55.000 --> 00:42:57.679 all the all the all the all that's wonderful about 809 00:42:57.679 --> 00:43:01.840 being in East Africa. And eventually set Cell in the dark, 810 00:43:02.079 --> 00:43:05.480 and you know, the Colonel enjoined us just before we 811 00:43:05.519 --> 00:43:08.599 set Cell with a couple of suitcases, one of which 812 00:43:08.679 --> 00:43:09.280 we stowed. 813 00:43:10.320 --> 00:43:13.360 And yeah, we were we selled in the sort of 814 00:43:13.360 --> 00:43:17.280 loose convoy. I suppose these two tug boats, pretty dilapidated, 815 00:43:17.360 --> 00:43:21.840 with a mixed crew of East Africa, which represented most 816 00:43:21.880 --> 00:43:24.760 of the countries in East Africa from the crew side, 817 00:43:24.800 --> 00:43:28.119 and then the security team ourselves were about oh, I know, 818 00:43:28.920 --> 00:43:33.079 eight strong, I guess divided between the two boats about 819 00:43:33.079 --> 00:43:38.199 fifteen to fifteen. And yeah, it was rough. As soon 820 00:43:38.239 --> 00:43:41.440 as we got out to see I was seasick. One 821 00:43:41.440 --> 00:43:44.280 of the other European guys gave me a sea sickness 822 00:43:44.280 --> 00:43:47.960 tablet that pretty much knocked me out and fell asleep 823 00:43:48.000 --> 00:43:50.800 while this thing was bucketing around on the waves, and 824 00:43:51.519 --> 00:43:55.719 woke up the next morning and the sea sickness had passed, 825 00:43:55.800 --> 00:43:58.320 but you know, and it was a beautiful sort of 826 00:43:58.320 --> 00:44:01.840 sunrise out out at sea off the coast of East Africa. 827 00:44:01.920 --> 00:44:04.199 And came up to the bridge to find the colonel 828 00:44:04.280 --> 00:44:06.719 vomiting over the side. So I was a bit sort 829 00:44:06.719 --> 00:44:09.000 of I was kind of reassured that, you know, I 830 00:44:09.079 --> 00:44:12.519 wasn't the green horns showing myself up for being seasick. 831 00:44:12.639 --> 00:44:17.920 At least he was as well. But yeah, and then 832 00:44:18.280 --> 00:44:22.159 the next sort of these are the events that happened 833 00:44:22.159 --> 00:44:24.079 almost twenty years ago. So it's kind of like a 834 00:44:24.119 --> 00:44:28.239 string with knots in it at various intervals, and I 835 00:44:28.360 --> 00:44:31.599 might get the order wrong, and I might get details wrong, 836 00:44:31.679 --> 00:44:32.440 because a memory that. 837 00:44:32.480 --> 00:44:34.840 Old is more like a photocopy of a photocopy after 838 00:44:34.880 --> 00:44:35.320 so long. 839 00:44:35.400 --> 00:44:38.960 But there's certain things where you sort of mark them 840 00:44:39.000 --> 00:44:42.480 with a not because it you remember it because it 841 00:44:43.840 --> 00:44:47.719 evidence an emotional response. And the next one I remember 842 00:44:47.920 --> 00:44:52.199 is when we unwrapped the weapons and got those out. 843 00:44:52.480 --> 00:44:54.800 And I've been told in the briefing the corl said, 844 00:44:54.880 --> 00:44:55.480 are you a good shot? 845 00:44:55.559 --> 00:44:55.719 Dave? 846 00:44:55.880 --> 00:44:59.480 Yeah, I'm pretty good shot. Okay, good, you'll be getting 847 00:44:59.480 --> 00:45:02.320 a cigarette. I was like, oh, cool, sig rifle, maybe 848 00:45:02.440 --> 00:45:03.480 like a SIG five fifty. 849 00:45:03.559 --> 00:45:05.039 That's awesome, all right. 850 00:45:05.159 --> 00:45:09.039 Yeah, So it was wrapped in a blanket like a 851 00:45:09.079 --> 00:45:12.039 woolen military blanket, tied at both ends with a string. 852 00:45:12.119 --> 00:45:16.119 I still remember that detail, and tied it flung back 853 00:45:16.159 --> 00:45:20.320 the blanket and there was this bolt action single shot 854 00:45:20.400 --> 00:45:21.159 target rifle. 855 00:45:23.880 --> 00:45:27.119 And I hadn't been lied to so much. 856 00:45:27.360 --> 00:45:29.559 He had come straight out and said, yeah, I'm a 857 00:45:29.599 --> 00:45:31.000 bit concerned that we're on the gun. 858 00:45:31.960 --> 00:45:35.159 But you know I was. I was fangirling so hard 859 00:45:35.199 --> 00:45:37.960 over the colonel, over being you know, taken into his 860 00:45:38.039 --> 00:45:41.000 trust and you know, treated like family and asked to 861 00:45:41.000 --> 00:45:49.159 come on this cool international mysterious conspiracy piracy type I was. 862 00:45:49.519 --> 00:45:51.719 I was fangling so hard. I wasn't really listening to 863 00:45:51.760 --> 00:45:55.119 what I was being told. And besides, I don't know 864 00:45:55.119 --> 00:45:58.320 what I'd have done if I had realized what it meant. 865 00:45:59.039 --> 00:46:03.719 Yeah, single show bolt action seven six to two target rifle. A. 866 00:46:04.599 --> 00:46:08.199 It was called an SZIG STR two hundred and I 867 00:46:08.199 --> 00:46:12.800 think the STR stood for Scandinavian target rifle, no magazine, 868 00:46:13.280 --> 00:46:15.920 So you have to drop each round in the breach, push. 869 00:46:15.679 --> 00:46:16.480 It forward and down. 870 00:46:17.559 --> 00:46:21.599 And the sites were diopter sites and if you don't 871 00:46:21.639 --> 00:46:24.400 know what those are. It's a very narrow peep at 872 00:46:24.400 --> 00:46:28.320 the back and at the front is a hooded post 873 00:46:28.920 --> 00:46:33.480 and in the middle is like a London underground symbol 874 00:46:33.559 --> 00:46:37.079 of a circle with two arms either side. And if 875 00:46:37.079 --> 00:46:42.119 you're doing biathlon, which funny enough, I did do, then 876 00:46:42.199 --> 00:46:46.280 that will be very familiar to you. And they're great 877 00:46:46.400 --> 00:46:50.320 for shooting at round black targets twenty five to fifty 878 00:46:50.360 --> 00:46:50.880 yards away. 879 00:46:51.360 --> 00:46:54.159 They are not very good for your peripheral awareness because 880 00:46:54.199 --> 00:46:57.800 you're looking down this very narrow like the single shot 881 00:46:57.840 --> 00:47:00.079 target part is bad enough, but the darkter sites with 882 00:47:00.159 --> 00:47:02.119 the worst speech that you could ask for on a 883 00:47:02.159 --> 00:47:04.039 combat rifle. So yeah. 884 00:47:04.079 --> 00:47:07.800 In the other blanket was a shotgun, a Sporting twelve 885 00:47:07.840 --> 00:47:13.079 gage autoloader, and the last weapon that we got out 886 00:47:13.280 --> 00:47:16.639 was a sig sorry no, a glock pistol. It was 887 00:47:16.639 --> 00:47:22.360 one of those subcompacts that fired three five seven sorry, 888 00:47:22.360 --> 00:47:24.440 three fifty seven sig I think is the caliber. 889 00:47:24.920 --> 00:47:27.039 I've not come across it before since I know it's 890 00:47:27.079 --> 00:47:29.599 a thing, but not a user or a hero. And 891 00:47:29.639 --> 00:47:32.400 tolet are you still seeing this because I'm just seeing 892 00:47:32.400 --> 00:47:37.480 a frozen screen. Yep, okay, cool, So yeah, seeing that 893 00:47:38.199 --> 00:47:41.760 my heart absolutely sank like a stone and we're already 894 00:47:41.800 --> 00:47:45.000 out to see I can't exactly go whoaa time out, 895 00:47:45.440 --> 00:47:46.320 take me back to shore. 896 00:47:48.000 --> 00:47:50.719 I had to suck it up and yeah, it's like, 897 00:47:51.199 --> 00:47:55.000 welcome to the wonderful world of startup pmc's because it was, 898 00:47:55.079 --> 00:47:57.280 you know, it's at that stage still a startup PMC. 899 00:47:57.639 --> 00:47:59.599 It would go on to be one of the more 900 00:47:59.599 --> 00:48:05.599 respects more established companies in the industry later on, but 901 00:48:05.639 --> 00:48:08.079 at this stage it was a startup and it wasn't 902 00:48:08.119 --> 00:48:12.679 about you know, there was a few factors at play 903 00:48:12.719 --> 00:48:15.719 here as to why it was a rush job and 904 00:48:15.760 --> 00:48:18.679 why they were going with what hardware they had available 905 00:48:18.840 --> 00:48:23.039 legally available at short notice in East Africa without drawing 906 00:48:23.039 --> 00:48:27.719 too much attention to yourself, and you cannot rely on 907 00:48:27.760 --> 00:48:31.280 the law enforcement there. If they got wind of an 908 00:48:31.280 --> 00:48:35.559 event like that taking place, you know, they might arrest 909 00:48:35.599 --> 00:48:38.199 you on the pretext and then the ransom that was 910 00:48:38.239 --> 00:48:40.519 taken in as evidence would suddenly disappear in it and 911 00:48:40.599 --> 00:48:42.880 saying what ransom and you you know, it wouldn't matter 912 00:48:42.920 --> 00:48:45.199 to you because you'd be in jail for several months 913 00:48:45.239 --> 00:48:47.920 while lawyers wrangled over it. And yeah, it had to 914 00:48:47.960 --> 00:48:51.800 be done. With what was legally available at short notice 915 00:48:52.199 --> 00:48:53.599 without drawing too much attention. 916 00:48:53.800 --> 00:48:56.320 In this case, you guys got the money while you 917 00:48:56.360 --> 00:48:57.000 were out at sea. 918 00:48:59.199 --> 00:49:04.280 It arrived before we left board Oka. 919 00:49:07.039 --> 00:49:09.199 And I have my suspicions as to exactly where it 920 00:49:09.239 --> 00:49:13.000 came from, but yeah, I'll keep those to myself for now. 921 00:49:14.079 --> 00:49:16.800 And yeah, after that initial shock and the sort of 922 00:49:16.800 --> 00:49:22.519 realization and adjustment to it, you know, I started started figuring, 923 00:49:22.599 --> 00:49:24.679 let's work the problem. Let's try and come up with, 924 00:49:24.920 --> 00:49:29.239 you know, a plan and you know, run through through 925 00:49:29.320 --> 00:49:30.280 drills and what have you. 926 00:49:30.360 --> 00:49:31.280 With the team. 927 00:49:31.840 --> 00:49:34.519 The colonel took a step back and let me just 928 00:49:34.599 --> 00:49:36.800 you know, talk to the rest of the team and 929 00:49:37.519 --> 00:49:38.119 work with them. 930 00:49:38.159 --> 00:49:41.079 There was there was guys who had operational experience. There's 931 00:49:41.119 --> 00:49:42.199 guys who had had. 932 00:49:42.000 --> 00:49:47.320 Special Forces training from you know, different units in East Africa. 933 00:49:47.519 --> 00:49:50.599 And there was guys with no operational experience who had 934 00:49:50.639 --> 00:49:54.159 just been working in anti poaching or stuff like that. 935 00:49:54.800 --> 00:49:57.519 And so I sort of said, right, this is how 936 00:49:57.519 --> 00:49:59.599 we're going to run the century, this is how we're 937 00:49:59.599 --> 00:50:02.119 going to around the watch routine. This will be the SOPs. 938 00:50:02.639 --> 00:50:04.239 And they kind of just sort of stoop back to 939 00:50:04.280 --> 00:50:07.000 step back and let me run with kind of figuring 940 00:50:07.000 --> 00:50:10.119 out these procedures. And at one point we tested by 941 00:50:10.239 --> 00:50:10.840 the weapons. 942 00:50:10.880 --> 00:50:13.599 We had an empty oil cat plastic all count over 943 00:50:13.639 --> 00:50:15.960 the side on a rope and we tried to hit it, 944 00:50:16.440 --> 00:50:18.119 and I was pleased to see that I was the 945 00:50:18.159 --> 00:50:21.280 only fellow who could hit the ore can with the rifle. 946 00:50:21.800 --> 00:50:24.199 We all tried with the pistol and the shotgun. Shotgun 947 00:50:24.199 --> 00:50:26.800 we couldn't get working properly. It would not also look 948 00:50:27.119 --> 00:50:30.280 you could single load it. But we took it apart. 949 00:50:30.480 --> 00:50:33.199 We cleaned everything. We tried to oil the action with 950 00:50:33.239 --> 00:50:36.480 whatever oil we scrounged off the engine room and the tugboat. 951 00:50:38.639 --> 00:50:41.199 In the event when a contact happened, it did work. 952 00:50:41.559 --> 00:50:42.960 And I think it was because of the type of 953 00:50:43.000 --> 00:50:45.960 AMU amma we were using. We had several, several different 954 00:50:46.039 --> 00:50:48.639 random types. I knew nothing about shotguns on that stage, 955 00:50:48.679 --> 00:50:49.840 from having never been issued one. 956 00:50:49.840 --> 00:50:53.719 I used one. Anyway, we kind of, like say, after 957 00:50:53.719 --> 00:50:55.920 the initial shot, I worked the problem. I started coming 958 00:50:55.960 --> 00:50:56.920 up with plans. 959 00:50:56.599 --> 00:50:59.440 And trying to figure things out and come up with 960 00:50:59.480 --> 00:51:01.320 the best solution we could to the problem we had. 961 00:51:01.639 --> 00:51:04.719 And that's that's my that's my sort of that's how 962 00:51:04.760 --> 00:51:09.000 I deal with anxiety is by planning and attention to 963 00:51:09.079 --> 00:51:14.079 detail and figuring stuff out and being as prepared as 964 00:51:14.079 --> 00:51:16.360 I can. So that was how I approached that. As 965 00:51:16.360 --> 00:51:19.280 the voyage went on, day by day, the weather got better, 966 00:51:19.320 --> 00:51:22.760 it got worse. I got used to the seasickness. I 967 00:51:22.800 --> 00:51:23.840 got used to the food. 968 00:51:24.039 --> 00:51:27.440 It was pretty awful food like one of the one 969 00:51:27.440 --> 00:51:30.360 of the European guys call porn of Steve. He joked 970 00:51:30.400 --> 00:51:35.239 that it was goat cooked with dynamite and rice and 971 00:51:36.400 --> 00:51:39.559 what's that. There's a there's a sort of maze meal 972 00:51:39.679 --> 00:51:42.159 that is a staple diet in East Africa. I forget 973 00:51:42.159 --> 00:51:44.679 the name of it, but you can mash it up 974 00:51:44.679 --> 00:51:46.920 with gravy and meat and turn it into a semi 975 00:51:47.000 --> 00:51:48.840 palatable meal. 976 00:51:49.880 --> 00:51:53.000 I want to say cassava or anyway, it's kind of 977 00:51:53.000 --> 00:51:58.760 white like corn maize meal, mush. Yeah, the diet was 978 00:51:58.800 --> 00:51:59.519 an eye opener. 979 00:52:00.280 --> 00:52:05.440 This the the the diarrhea was a bit unpleasant. The 980 00:52:05.440 --> 00:52:10.599 toilet was disgusting riding, that's what Steve said. Trying to 981 00:52:10.679 --> 00:52:12.920 use the toilet when in a storm was like trying 982 00:52:12.920 --> 00:52:13.519 to ride one of. 983 00:52:13.440 --> 00:52:16.239 Those mechanical bills and stay on while you're being thrown 984 00:52:16.280 --> 00:52:18.199 around inside this little head. 985 00:52:18.079 --> 00:52:22.199 On the on the boat. Doing laundry was a challenge. 986 00:52:22.280 --> 00:52:26.599 Staying clean was a challenge. Just sleeping was a challenge 987 00:52:26.679 --> 00:52:29.559 until you got used to it. And you know, we'd 988 00:52:29.599 --> 00:52:32.000 started going on watches. What we once we get into 989 00:52:32.039 --> 00:52:35.519 Somali water, you know, keeping up a presence on the 990 00:52:35.519 --> 00:52:39.000 bridge all night, being armed. We had a we had 991 00:52:39.119 --> 00:52:42.239 night vision device like one of those monocles, but it 992 00:52:42.320 --> 00:52:44.159 was like a Gen one thing, so it was like 993 00:52:44.360 --> 00:52:47.760 almost worse than useless, but in certain like conditions it 994 00:52:47.800 --> 00:52:50.000 gave you a slight advantage, so we still used it. 995 00:52:51.519 --> 00:52:56.159 There was a radar working on this, this old dilapidated tugboat. 996 00:52:56.400 --> 00:53:00.000 I found the boiler the sort of the boiler player, 997 00:53:00.159 --> 00:53:03.559 whatever you call it. The maker's plate that gave its particulars, 998 00:53:03.559 --> 00:53:07.599 and it was manufactured in nineteen eighty four in I 999 00:53:07.599 --> 00:53:13.079 think Glasgow or Clydesdale or someplace in Scotland, and its 1000 00:53:14.199 --> 00:53:17.559 design speed was fourteen knots, but it was so old 1001 00:53:17.599 --> 00:53:19.920 and shot that it can only do a maximum of 1002 00:53:20.000 --> 00:53:23.760 nine point eight. And the other tugboat was a bit faster, 1003 00:53:23.840 --> 00:53:25.440 so they were always pushing to get ahead and we 1004 00:53:25.440 --> 00:53:27.519 were always having to tell them to slow down. We 1005 00:53:27.599 --> 00:53:30.480 had radio coms with them. The radar worked, but it 1006 00:53:30.519 --> 00:53:32.800 was a bit iffy. It wasn't that great. You know, 1007 00:53:32.880 --> 00:53:36.559 you try and track off the other tugboat to make 1008 00:53:36.599 --> 00:53:39.360 sure you could tune it, to make sure you had 1009 00:53:39.360 --> 00:53:45.960 the right settings for the conditions. Sometimes. One time, I 1010 00:53:46.000 --> 00:53:48.639 remember we had a radar contact coming the other way 1011 00:53:49.119 --> 00:53:51.679 in the night. We all stood two, we all got ready. 1012 00:53:52.039 --> 00:53:55.079 And it passed right between the two tugboats and went back, 1013 00:53:55.159 --> 00:53:58.159 you know, back the way we came, and it didn't 1014 00:53:58.159 --> 00:54:00.840 even see us. We saw no lights on board. We 1015 00:54:00.960 --> 00:54:04.880 got to understand how radar works. A system called AIS 1016 00:54:05.039 --> 00:54:07.719 which allows a blip to sort of come up on 1017 00:54:07.760 --> 00:54:11.280 your radar screen with information about the target and on 1018 00:54:11.400 --> 00:54:13.480 more advanced radars that I find later. 1019 00:54:13.400 --> 00:54:19.039 Give you coarse speed, TCPA, CPA, all that information about 1020 00:54:19.199 --> 00:54:21.320 where it came from, where it was heading in its cargo. 1021 00:54:21.920 --> 00:54:25.239 On this radar was just really basic. It might just 1022 00:54:25.320 --> 00:54:29.360 give you a name of the vessel. And a lot 1023 00:54:29.360 --> 00:54:32.320 of vessels running in those waters, running with their ai 1024 00:54:32.480 --> 00:54:34.679 is turned off, they're running dark, no lights. 1025 00:54:35.320 --> 00:54:37.760 So yeah, we had a few, you know, stand tunes 1026 00:54:37.840 --> 00:54:41.119 when we were concerned about vessels that we saw in 1027 00:54:41.159 --> 00:54:41.840 the day or. 1028 00:54:41.840 --> 00:54:44.280 In the night. Obviously it's a lot worse at night. 1029 00:54:45.199 --> 00:54:48.000 I remember some of those long watches at night, you know, 1030 00:54:48.079 --> 00:54:50.480 out to see there. There's no light, it's completely dark. 1031 00:54:50.519 --> 00:54:54.719 It's the darkest, blackest night you'll ever see. Males from 1032 00:54:54.800 --> 00:54:58.119 shore and the blanket of stars overhead was just amazing. 1033 00:54:58.199 --> 00:55:01.639 The milky way in all it's gool and you could 1034 00:55:01.679 --> 00:55:05.079 see the tug's mass just by where it was obscuring 1035 00:55:05.119 --> 00:55:09.280 the stars as it swung between them, and seeing the 1036 00:55:09.280 --> 00:55:11.559 odd shooting star where you sat out there smoking a 1037 00:55:11.599 --> 00:55:15.840 cigarette on watch, coming inside, checking the radar, going for 1038 00:55:15.880 --> 00:55:18.480 a walk around the back deck again. On the back 1039 00:55:18.480 --> 00:55:21.320 deck of the tug, the low deck, we'd strung ropes 1040 00:55:21.360 --> 00:55:23.119 across it to try and be a trip hazard to 1041 00:55:23.119 --> 00:55:25.920 anyone that came and boarded and tried to you know, 1042 00:55:26.000 --> 00:55:29.039 make their way towards the superstructure in the dark. That 1043 00:55:29.159 --> 00:55:30.880 was our biggest fear of being boarded in the dark 1044 00:55:30.920 --> 00:55:34.119 by someone. We didn't see herup or hear them coming. 1045 00:55:35.559 --> 00:55:38.079 But yeah, and as each day went on, you know, 1046 00:55:38.199 --> 00:55:40.760 the tensions arose a little bit like a ratchet as 1047 00:55:40.760 --> 00:55:43.039 we were getting closer and closer to the target area, 1048 00:55:43.960 --> 00:55:48.679 and occasionally we'd encounter a curlish and worship and I'd 1049 00:55:48.719 --> 00:55:52.199 been designated by the colonel as the sort of communicator. 1050 00:55:52.800 --> 00:55:56.360 I don't know, maybe I had a clear, precise RP 1051 00:55:56.800 --> 00:56:01.480 voice or whatever you want to call it. But sometimes 1052 00:56:01.480 --> 00:56:03.000 when a curlition warship would. 1053 00:56:02.760 --> 00:56:04.960 Hail us, they would they didn't know what we were 1054 00:56:05.000 --> 00:56:06.440 doing there, and they'd be like, hey, you know, you 1055 00:56:06.480 --> 00:56:07.400 should get out of this area. 1056 00:56:07.400 --> 00:56:10.119 It's really dangerous. You should make your way to you know, 1057 00:56:10.360 --> 00:56:12.400 safe waters as soon as possible. There's a threat in 1058 00:56:12.480 --> 00:56:15.280 the area. And I be like, okay, yeah, sorry, thanks 1059 00:56:15.280 --> 00:56:17.719 for the heads up. We are we're lot of fuel, 1060 00:56:17.719 --> 00:56:19.760 we've got injured problems. That's why we're heading for the 1061 00:56:19.760 --> 00:56:23.119 place of safeboart. Thanks for the advice, will definitely heed that. 1062 00:56:23.199 --> 00:56:28.199 But we are making best speed for wherever I said. Lied. 1063 00:56:28.920 --> 00:56:32.400 And then sometimes another coalition warship we'd go great past 1064 00:56:32.480 --> 00:56:32.800 us and. 1065 00:56:32.760 --> 00:56:34.440 Not say a thing, and it's like they were going, 1066 00:56:34.480 --> 00:56:38.000 like so that was that was kind of funny. And 1067 00:56:39.960 --> 00:56:42.079 then yeah, and are you. 1068 00:56:41.960 --> 00:56:42.840 Still with me? Yeah? 1069 00:56:42.960 --> 00:56:44.800 So how many days did it take you to get 1070 00:56:44.880 --> 00:56:46.079 to the destination. 1071 00:56:47.880 --> 00:56:50.280 Well, the whole thing there and back was twenty one, 1072 00:56:50.800 --> 00:56:54.199 So provide that by two yeah, I guess it was 1073 00:56:54.239 --> 00:56:57.199 nine to ten days, and then for the fucking round 1074 00:56:57.199 --> 00:57:00.280 that we had to do once we were there, I'd 1075 00:57:00.320 --> 00:57:04.719 say at least forty eight maybe, yeah, forty eight, forty 1076 00:57:04.760 --> 00:57:05.719 eight hours. 1077 00:57:06.000 --> 00:57:10.360 So what happened once you arrived. 1078 00:57:09.280 --> 00:57:12.320 Well, when we got to the first one, the first 1079 00:57:12.320 --> 00:57:16.079 ship was a like a pretty small one. It was 1080 00:57:16.079 --> 00:57:21.920 like a ten or twenty thousand tons product tanker. I 1081 00:57:22.000 --> 00:57:28.719 believe it had a Western captain but an Asian crew. 1082 00:57:30.159 --> 00:57:34.400 And the other tugboats stayed back over the horizon and 1083 00:57:34.440 --> 00:57:39.960 we went in made contact over the radio. I can't 1084 00:57:39.960 --> 00:57:41.840 remember if there was the first or the second one 1085 00:57:42.000 --> 00:57:44.719 that I remember, the voice of the negotiated coming over 1086 00:57:45.159 --> 00:57:47.119 and making the hairs on the back of my neck 1087 00:57:47.239 --> 00:57:50.559 rise up because you could tell he'd been Western educated. 1088 00:57:51.320 --> 00:57:54.880 He might be a Somali, but he had spent at 1089 00:57:54.960 --> 00:57:57.960 least some time being educated or working in the West 1090 00:57:58.039 --> 00:58:02.400 because of how good his English was, and just made 1091 00:58:02.440 --> 00:58:05.639 you think, you know, this guy has been seen our society, 1092 00:58:05.719 --> 00:58:06.360 been a part. 1093 00:58:06.199 --> 00:58:11.599 Of it, and chosen the path he's chosen. I shouldn't 1094 00:58:11.639 --> 00:58:15.599 be surprising at all, but you know, there's a certain 1095 00:58:15.639 --> 00:58:18.360 fear of the unknown and the cultures and the things 1096 00:58:18.360 --> 00:58:21.880 you don't understand about Africa, and you know, I'd never 1097 00:58:21.920 --> 00:58:24.760 lived there at this point, so just hearing that kind 1098 00:58:24.760 --> 00:58:27.760 of gave me gave me the shutters, I suppose you 1099 00:58:27.760 --> 00:58:31.920 could say, and like say, I can't remember if this 1100 00:58:31.960 --> 00:58:33.719 is the first one or the second one. I'm probably 1101 00:58:33.719 --> 00:58:37.199 confusing them. But we got close enough, we got in visual. 1102 00:58:37.000 --> 00:58:42.320 Range, and then you know, I like the day before, 1103 00:58:42.400 --> 00:58:44.280 the colonel had told myself and Steve to go and 1104 00:58:44.320 --> 00:58:44.960 count the money. 1105 00:58:45.639 --> 00:58:50.400 And if you've never been in the room with two 1106 00:58:50.440 --> 00:58:54.320 million dollars, it's it's like being in the room with 1107 00:58:54.320 --> 00:58:56.119 a beautiful living thing. 1108 00:58:56.239 --> 00:58:58.800 You know that movie Pulp Fiction where he opens the 1109 00:58:58.840 --> 00:59:01.519 suitcase and there's that yellow glow coming out of it. 1110 00:59:03.599 --> 00:59:05.719 And so I've been told to count this and box 1111 00:59:05.760 --> 00:59:07.119 it up because he didn't even want to give him 1112 00:59:07.119 --> 00:59:09.199 a suitcase, you wanted to give him a cardboard box. 1113 00:59:11.639 --> 00:59:14.880 So Steve and I took a brick each and counted 1114 00:59:14.920 --> 00:59:18.119 the brick and it came to fifty dout and then 1115 00:59:18.159 --> 00:59:20.280 we couldn't be bothered to count each individual notes, so 1116 00:59:20.320 --> 00:59:22.079 we just counted the bricks after that, and it came 1117 00:59:22.119 --> 00:59:23.400 to the figure we had been given. 1118 00:59:23.840 --> 00:59:26.480 So it was you know, it was complete. It was legit, 1119 00:59:26.559 --> 00:59:28.599 and no one had screwed us over along the way. 1120 00:59:29.679 --> 00:59:32.360 I wasn't an expert in money at the time. I 1121 00:59:32.599 --> 00:59:36.679 sort of am now, but yeah, it looked legit. So 1122 00:59:36.719 --> 00:59:38.719 I packed it in this box, taped the hell out 1123 00:59:38.719 --> 00:59:42.679 of it with gaffer tape, sorry, duct tape, and put 1124 00:59:42.679 --> 00:59:44.480 a rope on it and lashed it so that it 1125 00:59:44.559 --> 00:59:48.280 wasn't gonna come free. And I had that ready and 1126 00:59:48.320 --> 00:59:53.719 waiting underguard. And yeah, once we got close enough, the 1127 00:59:55.440 --> 00:59:59.599 a skiff came out from the hijacked ship that what 1128 00:59:59.639 --> 01:00:03.159 I'm going to called art ship, and the Colonel got 1129 01:00:03.159 --> 01:00:05.920 in it and went back and man, I remember looking 1130 01:00:05.960 --> 01:00:08.400 down and thinking he looked incredibly small as he went, 1131 01:00:09.599 --> 01:00:13.079 Oh damn, I'm a bad narrator. I skipped past some 1132 01:00:13.119 --> 01:00:17.440 of the coolest stuff. Are you still with me? Okay? 1133 01:00:18.320 --> 01:00:23.480 So I can't believe I skipped past that bit. Like 1134 01:00:29.480 --> 01:00:32.920 when we were coming in after we'd made contact on radio. 1135 01:00:32.719 --> 01:00:38.880 And we were moving into the final RV, the colonel 1136 01:00:39.280 --> 01:00:42.239 asked me to strap his ankle holster on with a 1137 01:00:42.280 --> 01:00:45.800 sink pistol in it with subcompact I mentioned earlier, I know, 1138 01:00:46.079 --> 01:00:48.239 bad back or whatever, so he was sat there on 1139 01:00:48.239 --> 01:00:51.760 a couch on the bridge, and I was, you know, 1140 01:00:51.880 --> 01:00:54.960 kneeling down in front of him to strap the ankle 1141 01:00:55.000 --> 01:00:56.840 holster on and seat it in there, and you know, 1142 01:00:57.639 --> 01:00:59.119 make sure it's tight enough for your cares. 1143 01:00:59.159 --> 01:01:02.239 That good boss is a right, okay, good fine. And 1144 01:01:04.320 --> 01:01:09.920 I started whistling a tune and it was it was 1145 01:01:09.960 --> 01:01:14.320 Bob Marley, I want to know you and treat you right. 1146 01:01:15.360 --> 01:01:18.800 I want to love you every day and every night. 1147 01:01:18.840 --> 01:01:21.599 I was just whistling the tune and the colonel heard 1148 01:01:21.639 --> 01:01:27.079 it and he started singing the lyrics and and like 1149 01:01:27.280 --> 01:01:29.840 we've been other people have been doing stuff another corner 1150 01:01:29.880 --> 01:01:31.960 of the bridge, you know, making ready this or checking that, 1151 01:01:32.119 --> 01:01:36.480 and then everyone just stopped and and we're just sort 1152 01:01:36.480 --> 01:01:39.320 of vibing to this tune together, and we started singing 1153 01:01:39.360 --> 01:01:40.039 along together. 1154 01:01:40.880 --> 01:01:44.800 We'll be together, don't help me out. How does it 1155 01:01:44.840 --> 01:01:49.199 go here? We'll share the same room of my single bed. 1156 01:01:49.920 --> 01:01:52.880 And yeah, we sang it through to the end and 1157 01:01:53.360 --> 01:01:56.840 just like shared that weird little moment of sort of 1158 01:01:57.239 --> 01:02:02.800 camaraderie or togetherness bonding over this this cool board Marley tune, 1159 01:02:03.280 --> 01:02:04.519 and it just broke the tension. 1160 01:02:04.519 --> 01:02:08.239 And I don't know what that says about us or 1161 01:02:08.320 --> 01:02:11.519 guys who were going into a tense situation. But he 1162 01:02:11.679 --> 01:02:14.559 just kind of like had that little moment of shared 1163 01:02:14.800 --> 01:02:17.920 togetherness and it was it was kind of cool. And yeah, 1164 01:02:17.920 --> 01:02:19.920 I didn't want to tell the story without relating that 1165 01:02:20.119 --> 01:02:23.440 one that one moment that that was kind of good. 1166 01:02:23.800 --> 01:02:26.400 But yeah, he was going across with a pistol in 1167 01:02:26.440 --> 01:02:27.199 an ankle holster. 1168 01:02:28.599 --> 01:02:32.760 And I remember, you know, talking to him about what 1169 01:02:32.880 --> 01:02:36.280 he was doing, and and he happened to mention casually, 1170 01:02:37.159 --> 01:02:40.239 you know, if things go wrong, you know, I'll have 1171 01:02:40.280 --> 01:02:43.679 an AKA pretty soon, so you know, and he just 1172 01:02:44.119 --> 01:02:47.079 mentioned it so casually. I couldn't believe that he was 1173 01:02:47.159 --> 01:02:51.000 doing this, going into this situation with these heavily armed guys, 1174 01:02:51.039 --> 01:02:52.960 and he was going to be the only one going across. 1175 01:02:53.480 --> 01:02:55.519 And now you sort of understand why when I look 1176 01:02:55.559 --> 01:02:57.280 down and saw him on the boat going across, he 1177 01:02:57.920 --> 01:03:00.440 looked awfully small to me, at least that's the feeling. 1178 01:03:00.440 --> 01:03:04.519 I remember. Yeah, he got across, he had a walkie talk, 1179 01:03:04.559 --> 01:03:09.239 he talked back to me, He verified the hostages were there, 1180 01:03:10.000 --> 01:03:13.159 the crew was safe, they were unharmed, you know, and 1181 01:03:14.119 --> 01:03:16.000 then he asked for Steve to come across, which I 1182 01:03:16.039 --> 01:03:19.239 thought was a bit strained, but Steve came across. I 1183 01:03:19.280 --> 01:03:22.440 guess you know, it was one of his lieutenants. He 1184 01:03:22.480 --> 01:03:25.360 wanted Steve to sort of get some experience in and 1185 01:03:25.400 --> 01:03:27.559 around them because he might have to be doing it 1186 01:03:27.599 --> 01:03:31.760 the next time. And then he asked for the doctor 1187 01:03:31.840 --> 01:03:32.360 come across. 1188 01:03:32.400 --> 01:03:35.639 We had a we had a medic from a from 1189 01:03:35.679 --> 01:03:39.119 a from an East African country who'd been in the military, 1190 01:03:39.960 --> 01:03:43.199 and he went across next. So this this little skiff 1191 01:03:43.280 --> 01:03:45.639 was going back and forth taking people across. He wanted 1192 01:03:45.639 --> 01:03:48.440 the medic to check out the crew, to make sure 1193 01:03:48.440 --> 01:03:51.199 they're okay, you know, to make sure they were right. 1194 01:03:51.920 --> 01:03:54.559 And so I started feeling uneasy at this point because 1195 01:03:54.559 --> 01:03:58.880 there was only myself and one other guy who'd been 1196 01:03:58.880 --> 01:04:03.079 in the East African Special Forces. There was only two 1197 01:04:03.119 --> 01:04:05.159 shooters left on the tugboat. 1198 01:04:06.079 --> 01:04:09.159 We only had two guns, so it's actually approached for 1199 01:04:09.159 --> 01:04:12.719 the best, but yeah, I was I was starting to 1200 01:04:12.719 --> 01:04:15.880 feel that we were putting ourselves in a tactically vulnerable position, 1201 01:04:15.960 --> 01:04:19.719 having so many of our guys over there, you know, under. 1202 01:04:19.519 --> 01:04:23.039 Their control and potentially in harm's way, rather than back 1203 01:04:23.079 --> 01:04:25.599 on the togboat. And I had other tasks that I 1204 01:04:25.639 --> 01:04:28.760 was busy with. I was communicating with the ship owners 1205 01:04:28.880 --> 01:04:32.159 and the you know people who were holding their hands 1206 01:04:32.199 --> 01:04:35.400 through the final neotiation. And then the signal came across 1207 01:04:35.480 --> 01:04:40.159 right passed the ransom over, and the tugboat came in. 1208 01:04:40.199 --> 01:04:43.159 I told the captain, you bring us alongside, and I 1209 01:04:43.199 --> 01:04:48.880 went up with the box and came underneath the vessel, 1210 01:04:48.960 --> 01:04:53.840 underneath its railings, and I was in the sort of that's. 1211 01:04:54.400 --> 01:04:56.840 The area around the tug bridge. It's a bit higher 1212 01:04:56.880 --> 01:04:59.800 than the deck. And I looked up and saw these 1213 01:04:59.800 --> 01:05:02.599 two pirates looking down at me. Obviously all of our 1214 01:05:02.639 --> 01:05:04.840 weapons were out of sight. We weren't arrowing any kind 1215 01:05:04.880 --> 01:05:08.079 of military clothing, fatigues or whatever, just a T shirt, 1216 01:05:08.079 --> 01:05:11.360 a pair of slacks, and I had the rope the box, 1217 01:05:11.760 --> 01:05:12.519 threw the rope up. 1218 01:05:12.599 --> 01:05:14.960 They caught the rope and then they started putting on it, 1219 01:05:15.000 --> 01:05:16.719 and I lifted it up, and that was the ransom 1220 01:05:16.760 --> 01:05:20.199 on its way, and then we pulled back and then 1221 01:05:20.320 --> 01:05:22.519 just hung out while they counted it all. 1222 01:05:22.679 --> 01:05:25.480 And it took them several hours to count it all. 1223 01:05:26.199 --> 01:05:28.000 And part of the things that we'd set across with 1224 01:05:28.079 --> 01:05:31.320 each skiff, with the guy that went over was cigarettes 1225 01:05:31.480 --> 01:05:32.159 and liquor. 1226 01:05:34.400 --> 01:05:38.079 I'm not sure about the wisdom of sending liquor across. 1227 01:05:38.079 --> 01:05:40.679 But while the pirates were all gathered in the conference 1228 01:05:40.760 --> 01:05:42.480 room on the ship, they were counting the money. They 1229 01:05:42.480 --> 01:05:47.039 were sharing the liquor there, smoking the cigarettes and divvying 1230 01:05:47.079 --> 01:05:49.760 it up between all of them. And I'll go into 1231 01:05:49.760 --> 01:05:52.119 the economics of the trade and who got what and 1232 01:05:52.639 --> 01:05:55.519 held them the ransom was split up. But they waited 1233 01:05:55.599 --> 01:05:59.440 until dusk before they got off that ship. And at 1234 01:05:59.440 --> 01:06:01.480 the time, waiting and waiting and waiting, and I had 1235 01:06:01.519 --> 01:06:03.960 other jobs to do, the communication bit and what have you. 1236 01:06:04.719 --> 01:06:09.679 And it was really fraying on the nerves, not knowing 1237 01:06:09.719 --> 01:06:13.039 what they were waiting for, and then realizing that after dusk. 1238 01:06:13.039 --> 01:06:15.159 They were waiting for dusk so that that would cover 1239 01:06:15.239 --> 01:06:18.719 their them going back to shore, because other gangs would 1240 01:06:18.719 --> 01:06:21.679 be watching this from the shore and they would love to, 1241 01:06:22.559 --> 01:06:25.840 you know, meet them at the shore and ask if they'd. 1242 01:06:25.599 --> 01:06:27.719 Like to share their spores. I guess so that that 1243 01:06:27.840 --> 01:06:29.519 was the reason for waiting for dusk, and that's what 1244 01:06:29.559 --> 01:06:31.559 they always did. I learned that would the pack wait 1245 01:06:31.599 --> 01:06:34.559 for dusk, parts get up after dusk, and then the 1246 01:06:34.599 --> 01:06:38.079 ship could get underway. After they were being cleared, and 1247 01:06:38.119 --> 01:06:42.840 so we got underway, you know, they went, they left. 1248 01:06:43.280 --> 01:06:46.320 They had to restart the engines, and I went through 1249 01:06:46.320 --> 01:06:49.840 this process subsequently a couple of times, and so it's 1250 01:06:49.880 --> 01:06:54.559 not easy restarting a ship's engines after so many months dormant, 1251 01:06:55.639 --> 01:06:57.639 and it takes time. And the whole time you're worried, 1252 01:06:57.719 --> 01:06:59.440 is there going to be another gang coming out from 1253 01:06:59.440 --> 01:07:01.840 the shore, is there going to be more skiffs. You're 1254 01:07:01.920 --> 01:07:04.280 staring at a radar screen like your life depends on it. 1255 01:07:04.440 --> 01:07:06.639 You're looking out into the darkness. You're covering it with 1256 01:07:06.679 --> 01:07:11.039 a nod. Eventually they got ship chends and engines started. 1257 01:07:11.079 --> 01:07:13.559 They got out to see the other tug. Bert came 1258 01:07:13.599 --> 01:07:16.119 and joined us to es scored us right out as 1259 01:07:16.119 --> 01:07:20.320 we're heading out, and at this point my memory gets 1260 01:07:20.320 --> 01:07:25.000 a little bit hazy, the sequence of events and my 1261 01:07:25.159 --> 01:07:27.760 mixing it up with the first and the second one. 1262 01:07:28.360 --> 01:07:31.519 At a certain point, you know, we said, all right, 1263 01:07:31.760 --> 01:07:33.840 we've got them so far out, that's what was in 1264 01:07:33.880 --> 01:07:36.480 the contract way, goodbye. 1265 01:07:36.159 --> 01:07:38.920 And they're on their way. Everyone came back across to 1266 01:07:38.960 --> 01:07:41.719 the tug and then we said about the next task 1267 01:07:41.800 --> 01:07:44.760 the next day, and I think the other tug had 1268 01:07:44.760 --> 01:07:49.559 split off and gone over to meet the new gang 1269 01:07:49.960 --> 01:07:53.039 while we were still escorting them further out. Because the 1270 01:07:53.039 --> 01:07:56.880 next morning when we came to rejoin them, by the 1271 01:07:56.920 --> 01:08:01.679 time we did rejoin them, they the Ratsom had already 1272 01:08:01.719 --> 01:08:04.159 been exchanged. They had already been through that whole rigmarole, 1273 01:08:04.320 --> 01:08:08.320 that whole tense situation. When we caught up one of 1274 01:08:08.360 --> 01:08:12.039 the guys, incredibly brave, younger guy like my, same same 1275 01:08:12.159 --> 01:08:16.079 sort of age as me, but an expat living in 1276 01:08:16.319 --> 01:08:18.960 East Africa who had grown up there, you know, well 1277 01:08:19.880 --> 01:08:24.520 actually a and an East Africa and someone who was 1278 01:08:24.520 --> 01:08:27.680 born in East Africa but was of European origin. Put 1279 01:08:27.680 --> 01:08:31.880 it that way, not an extpat incredibly bravely went across 1280 01:08:31.880 --> 01:08:35.039 on on his on his own without the colonel just 1281 01:08:36.319 --> 01:08:39.840 did the did the did and you know, sent radsm 1282 01:08:39.880 --> 01:08:43.000 across and when we arrived it was already on board. 1283 01:08:43.399 --> 01:08:44.920 But when we got there, I'm going to finish this 1284 01:08:45.039 --> 01:08:51.800 note and a new one mm. When we got there, 1285 01:08:53.760 --> 01:08:57.840 you could tell there was a different atmosphere. The previous 1286 01:08:57.880 --> 01:09:02.159 group of pirates we've dealt with, while well being you know, pretty. 1287 01:09:02.479 --> 01:09:06.399 Well being pirates and horrible and mean, and you know, 1288 01:09:06.479 --> 01:09:08.960 having all the aks and the pkms and the RPGs 1289 01:09:09.000 --> 01:09:14.000 and whatnot, and looking like you'd expect. They hadn't been 1290 01:09:14.800 --> 01:09:18.399 overly aggressive, but the atmosphere coming off this new gang 1291 01:09:19.039 --> 01:09:23.279 was different. I think the first ship, the Irene then 1292 01:09:23.279 --> 01:09:26.399 had maybe a dozen pirates there. Part of them as 1293 01:09:26.439 --> 01:09:29.279 a security datail that's beefed up for the exchange, and 1294 01:09:29.319 --> 01:09:31.000 part of them is the guards that had been there 1295 01:09:31.039 --> 01:09:33.079 to watch the ship and the crew while it was 1296 01:09:33.199 --> 01:09:35.399 you know, being while the. 1297 01:09:35.399 --> 01:09:38.840 Ransom was negotiated. The other ship it was called the 1298 01:09:38.840 --> 01:09:40.720 Stellar Marie, and you can look this up. 1299 01:09:40.800 --> 01:09:44.159 I mean from my recollection. The date of the release 1300 01:09:44.279 --> 01:09:46.119 was a bit off from what you can find. 1301 01:09:45.880 --> 01:09:50.239 Online, but Stellar Marie was sixty five thousand ton bulk 1302 01:09:50.439 --> 01:09:54.159 or carrier, big ship, beautiful, pretty new, had an all 1303 01:09:54.199 --> 01:10:01.039 Filipino crew, and there were forty parts on board. They 1304 01:10:01.079 --> 01:10:04.920 had brought on reinforcements because they were especially afraid of 1305 01:10:05.000 --> 01:10:09.600 us because a few months before there'd been a French 1306 01:10:10.560 --> 01:10:14.960 yacht and special for you know, they'd gone in with 1307 01:10:15.920 --> 01:10:18.560 nominally the ransom to exchange it and you know, do 1308 01:10:18.640 --> 01:10:22.039 what we were doing, but French commandos had actually been 1309 01:10:22.079 --> 01:10:24.279 there and raided it and killed the pirates and blot 1310 01:10:24.359 --> 01:10:27.239 them out without paying their ransom. So that had raised 1311 01:10:27.279 --> 01:10:30.439 the stakes, and this particular gang didn't want that to 1312 01:10:30.439 --> 01:10:33.640 happen to them. There were forty heavily armed parrots on board, 1313 01:10:34.359 --> 01:10:37.479 and they were really aggressive and they wanted to fight. 1314 01:10:38.319 --> 01:10:40.640 Like you could just feel in the communications a different, 1315 01:10:41.079 --> 01:10:44.079 a different vibe coming off them, and see it watching 1316 01:10:44.119 --> 01:10:48.359 them that they were, you know, there were fingers on triggers. 1317 01:10:48.479 --> 01:10:51.640 They were. They wanted an excuse to kill us. Almost 1318 01:10:53.000 --> 01:10:56.319 So after we caught up with the second tugueboat and 1319 01:10:56.359 --> 01:10:59.680 the Colonel went across, I could hear his voice was 1320 01:10:59.720 --> 01:11:03.760 different and at time, and the Doc went across as well, 1321 01:11:03.800 --> 01:11:06.119 and Steve went across again, and I was having my 1322 01:11:06.159 --> 01:11:09.439 misgivings once again about putting us at this tactical disadvantage, 1323 01:11:09.439 --> 01:11:12.439 and so many of our guys there, and Steve told 1324 01:11:12.479 --> 01:11:14.520 me at one point one of the negotiators said to 1325 01:11:14.560 --> 01:11:18.119 the colonel, you know, I have the ransom, I have 1326 01:11:18.199 --> 01:11:19.359 the ship, and I have you. 1327 01:11:20.880 --> 01:11:25.800 What's your leverage ship? You know, he was basically threatening. 1328 01:11:26.960 --> 01:11:30.159 And when things got tense, the Doc told me and 1329 01:11:30.199 --> 01:11:33.359 at one point a part was detailed to mark the 1330 01:11:33.439 --> 01:11:36.840 colonel and stand behind him and he was basically about 1331 01:11:36.840 --> 01:11:39.800 to plug him. And what you're about to hear what 1332 01:11:39.960 --> 01:11:43.520 happened that he raised the stakes even further, and the 1333 01:11:43.560 --> 01:11:45.439 whole time I was doing the other parts of my job, 1334 01:11:46.520 --> 01:11:49.840 and the communication bit back to I think it was 1335 01:11:50.199 --> 01:11:53.680 somewhere in Japan where the handholder had gone to go 1336 01:11:53.760 --> 01:11:56.159 at the company offices as the ship owner to be 1337 01:11:56.279 --> 01:11:59.319 there for the final stage of the negotiation, and I 1338 01:11:59.319 --> 01:12:03.239 think that's when the ship owners realized why this part 1339 01:12:03.279 --> 01:12:06.079 of the operation was so expensive. When they were getting 1340 01:12:06.119 --> 01:12:08.560 the updates, I was sending them and hearing how things 1341 01:12:08.560 --> 01:12:11.880 were unfolding and how tense it was. And at one stage, 1342 01:12:11.960 --> 01:12:14.600 right in the middle of this, another gang of pirates 1343 01:12:14.640 --> 01:12:19.000 came out from the shore in their skiffs and they 1344 01:12:19.039 --> 01:12:23.600 came out and I was on this tugboat with the 1345 01:12:23.720 --> 01:12:27.960 guy that the ex the East African Special Forces guy 1346 01:12:28.000 --> 01:12:31.079 were the only two left apart from the tugboat crew, 1347 01:12:32.159 --> 01:12:35.159 and I knew if the gang that was coming out 1348 01:12:35.960 --> 01:12:38.760 on the skiffs, if they came alongside, or if they 1349 01:12:38.800 --> 01:12:41.600 tried to board us, and we fired in self defense, 1350 01:12:41.960 --> 01:12:44.720 not at the pirates on the ship, but at the 1351 01:12:44.720 --> 01:12:46.560 parts from the other gang that were coming out to 1352 01:12:46.600 --> 01:12:49.680 try and you know, into the ransom or you know, 1353 01:12:49.720 --> 01:12:51.199 try and snatch it. If they thought it was still 1354 01:12:51.239 --> 01:12:54.800 in play, they would instantly execute our guys on the ship. 1355 01:12:55.359 --> 01:12:57.800 So I told the captain and the chief engineer, get 1356 01:12:57.800 --> 01:12:59.880 the engine going, get this thing moving as fast as 1357 01:12:59.920 --> 01:13:02.399 you can, use the ship to shield us. 1358 01:13:02.319 --> 01:13:03.800 From the pirates coming out from the shore. 1359 01:13:03.840 --> 01:13:05.720 So it's kind of like Tom and Jerry where they're 1360 01:13:05.720 --> 01:13:08.560 trying to chase each other around the table and get 1361 01:13:08.600 --> 01:13:10.920 the ships and get the tug moving as fast as 1362 01:13:10.920 --> 01:13:12.640 possible to get it around the other side of the 1363 01:13:12.640 --> 01:13:15.479 ship so that we wouldn't be in the in harm's 1364 01:13:15.520 --> 01:13:19.399 way when these guys reached us. 1365 01:13:21.720 --> 01:13:24.880 And that's when things were definitely their tensest. 1366 01:13:25.079 --> 01:13:29.159 And once those skiffs came out from shore, they actually 1367 01:13:29.199 --> 01:13:32.159 started a gun battle between the pirates on the ship 1368 01:13:32.279 --> 01:13:34.920 and the other gang that had come out to try 1369 01:13:34.960 --> 01:13:35.960 and see what was going on. 1370 01:13:36.239 --> 01:13:40.920 They were shooting at each other with pkm's. I don't 1371 01:13:40.920 --> 01:13:43.199 know if they were hitting anything. And I've got a theory, 1372 01:13:43.199 --> 01:13:46.119 and i don't know if I've never heard this from 1373 01:13:46.119 --> 01:13:50.960 anyone else, but it's like, I'm not sure if I 1374 01:13:51.039 --> 01:13:55.279 believe it, but the theory goes this, for Somali's gunfire 1375 01:13:55.479 --> 01:13:59.640 isn't necessarily an attempt on your life. It's a form 1376 01:13:59.640 --> 01:14:01.199 of diegue. 1377 01:14:03.319 --> 01:14:04.600 East African proverb. 1378 01:14:07.199 --> 01:14:11.159 Yeah, so you could take it as that, or you 1379 01:14:11.199 --> 01:14:13.359 could take it. You know, us in the Western world, 1380 01:14:13.399 --> 01:14:15.359 you know, when someone shoots at you like okay, it's on. 1381 01:14:15.640 --> 01:14:17.399 You mean to kill me, and I am you know, 1382 01:14:17.720 --> 01:14:22.039 emboldened to use the same measures against you. But for them, 1383 01:14:22.079 --> 01:14:24.039 maybe it's not quite the same as that. Maybe it's 1384 01:14:24.079 --> 01:14:27.119 just an escalation in the dialogue or a way of saying, hey. 1385 01:14:27.000 --> 01:14:31.800 I see you off. I don't know, that's just a 1386 01:14:32.800 --> 01:14:34.439 that's just a thought that occurred to me, and I've 1387 01:14:34.479 --> 01:14:37.279 never sort of really expressed it out now and maybe 1388 01:14:37.319 --> 01:14:43.880 some anthropologist, cultural specialist so whatever can can comment and 1389 01:14:43.880 --> 01:14:47.600 the comments about the validity of that that theory. 1390 01:14:47.880 --> 01:14:50.840 Anyway, they were they were having a gird each other 1391 01:14:50.880 --> 01:14:53.520 with belt feds, and I was very glad to be 1392 01:14:53.560 --> 01:14:57.479 around the other side of the bulk of the ship. 1393 01:14:57.319 --> 01:14:59.520 So that that shielded us from that little gun battle 1394 01:14:59.560 --> 01:14:59.920 going on. 1395 01:15:00.600 --> 01:15:04.199 And then after they pissed off back to shore, there 1396 01:15:04.239 --> 01:15:07.239 was a gunshot came out from the ship and when 1397 01:15:07.279 --> 01:15:09.039 I eventually got in the radio and raised one of 1398 01:15:09.039 --> 01:15:12.319 my buddies there it was the dock, and he was like, yeah, 1399 01:15:12.319 --> 01:15:13.840 one of the pirates just shot another one. 1400 01:15:15.760 --> 01:15:20.159 So yeah, yeah, whether it was deliberate or not. 1401 01:15:20.279 --> 01:15:24.039 And see, just just telling the story almost twenty years later, 1402 01:15:24.159 --> 01:15:27.199 I was starting to feel that that that tension and 1403 01:15:27.399 --> 01:15:29.640 you know, oh god, I need a twigg at this 1404 01:15:29.640 --> 01:15:35.000 speer out. Yeah, it's been a long time since I 1405 01:15:35.039 --> 01:15:39.079 relived this, and telling it it's like going through it again almost. 1406 01:15:39.800 --> 01:15:42.600 But yeah, one of the pirates shot another one while 1407 01:15:42.640 --> 01:15:44.479 they were getting ready to disembark. 1408 01:15:45.520 --> 01:15:49.600 Eventually they did. They pissed off back to shore, and 1409 01:15:49.640 --> 01:15:53.840 then we had to we had to pump fuel onto 1410 01:15:53.840 --> 01:15:56.279 the Stellar Marie because they'd run out of fuel. 1411 01:15:57.800 --> 01:16:00.520 I think they called it bunker fuel, and and we 1412 01:16:00.560 --> 01:16:02.039 had to pump other things. I think we had to 1413 01:16:02.039 --> 01:16:04.319 pump fresh water on they'd run over that. We had 1414 01:16:04.319 --> 01:16:06.760 to use the cranes to loads stores on. We tried 1415 01:16:06.800 --> 01:16:07.560 to do it well. 1416 01:16:07.880 --> 01:16:10.880 After they got the engines moving, we tried to pump 1417 01:16:11.000 --> 01:16:14.000 fuel while we were like attached to them and being 1418 01:16:14.039 --> 01:16:16.279 towed by them, and it was too dangerous because the 1419 01:16:16.279 --> 01:16:19.760 tug was kind of like meandering. Yeah, that was there 1420 01:16:19.840 --> 01:16:22.560 was a lot of crazy, stupid seafaring stuff that we 1421 01:16:22.640 --> 01:16:25.680 did but you probably shouldn't. And I can't remember if 1422 01:16:25.680 --> 01:16:28.720 that was the day after the night, but yeah, as 1423 01:16:28.760 --> 01:16:29.159 soon as we. 1424 01:16:29.199 --> 01:16:32.199 Got it going, we headed out to see you know, 1425 01:16:32.399 --> 01:16:35.079 ship tugboat either side, trying to provide some sort of 1426 01:16:35.439 --> 01:16:37.399 you know, protection to it in case someone. 1427 01:16:37.159 --> 01:16:42.680 Else came out. And then the next morning colonel was like, yeah, Harry, 1428 01:16:42.680 --> 01:16:46.079 I want you to come on the ship. Oh Harry, my, 1429 01:16:46.920 --> 01:16:48.720 the colonel said to each of us in this in 1430 01:16:49.079 --> 01:16:52.079 the briefing, you've all got to have a non You've 1431 01:16:52.079 --> 01:16:55.039 already got to have a pseudonym or a non de guere. 1432 01:16:55.680 --> 01:16:59.560 And I chose the name Harry Maskers because that had 1433 01:16:59.600 --> 01:17:00.920 been the I. 1434 01:17:00.960 --> 01:17:04.000 Know, have you ever heard of Harry Maskers, Harry Black. 1435 01:17:05.479 --> 01:17:09.479 It is the British military term for black duct tape. Oh, 1436 01:17:09.560 --> 01:17:13.319 black masking tape. You know, the the universal panacea without 1437 01:17:13.319 --> 01:17:15.880 which military units would grind to a halt in twenty 1438 01:17:15.920 --> 01:17:18.560 four hours. It's used to fix and make just about 1439 01:17:18.560 --> 01:17:23.199 everything in the British military. Harry Maskers is the yeah, 1440 01:17:23.399 --> 01:17:25.279 the nickname for black duct tape. 1441 01:17:25.439 --> 01:17:26.960 I think you call it like one thousand mile an 1442 01:17:26.960 --> 01:17:27.399 hour tape. 1443 01:17:27.399 --> 01:17:29.399 What's yeah, one hundred mile an hour tape. 1444 01:17:29.760 --> 01:17:32.960 Okay, yeah, one hundred mile an hour. So yeah, everyone 1445 01:17:33.039 --> 01:17:36.319 knew me as Harry and so on the radio, especially 1446 01:17:36.359 --> 01:17:38.680 when we're talking to each other, we were using pseudonyms, 1447 01:17:39.399 --> 01:17:41.119 and I was Harry and he was like, Harry, I 1448 01:17:41.159 --> 01:17:42.399 want you to come on board. I want you to 1449 01:17:42.479 --> 01:17:46.039 see what the ship's like and meet the crew. And 1450 01:17:46.079 --> 01:17:51.199 you know, it's like, oh yeah, I was still fan 1451 01:17:51.319 --> 01:17:54.239 going hard at this point. You have to understand, in 1452 01:17:54.279 --> 01:17:57.920 spite of everything and because of everything that had happened, 1453 01:18:00.159 --> 01:18:04.239 So yeah, jumping across from the tugboat to the ship, 1454 01:18:04.319 --> 01:18:07.880 that was really dicey. I had to talk to the 1455 01:18:07.920 --> 01:18:10.039 captain of the tugboat and saying, you know, how do 1456 01:18:10.039 --> 01:18:13.399 you do this? What's the procedure? And he was like, okay, 1457 01:18:13.439 --> 01:18:16.319 we'll come alongside. And then at a certain point, because 1458 01:18:16.359 --> 01:18:17.960 we're still moving, we're heading out to seat, we're trying 1459 01:18:17.960 --> 01:18:20.159 to get away from the you know, the coast as 1460 01:18:20.239 --> 01:18:22.680 fast as possible, and the ship can only make a 1461 01:18:22.720 --> 01:18:25.880 fraction of its design speed because of all the marine 1462 01:18:25.920 --> 01:18:29.359 growth that's been encrusting it for months has caused an 1463 01:18:29.359 --> 01:18:31.760 imbalance on the propeller. So it's shaking too hard if 1464 01:18:31.800 --> 01:18:33.359 it tries to make maximum speed. 1465 01:18:33.800 --> 01:18:38.279 So yeah, it's reduced speed, but we're still heading out 1466 01:18:38.279 --> 01:18:41.560 as fast as we can in this formation. And the 1467 01:18:41.600 --> 01:18:44.680 tugboat captain explained, as soon as we get close enough, 1468 01:18:44.760 --> 01:18:48.199 the draft of the ship will suck us in and 1469 01:18:48.239 --> 01:18:50.520 when it does, will hit and you have to time 1470 01:18:50.560 --> 01:18:56.720 your jump just right because if you jump after the hit, 1471 01:18:57.560 --> 01:18:59.560 then the momentum will be lost and you'll. 1472 01:18:59.359 --> 01:19:02.199 Just like hit the and be smeared along the side. 1473 01:19:02.439 --> 01:19:04.640 And if you jump too soon, and then the opposite 1474 01:19:04.680 --> 01:19:06.720 will happen and you'll be screwed. And if you go 1475 01:19:06.800 --> 01:19:10.239 in the water, I will steer the tougueboat nose in 1476 01:19:10.600 --> 01:19:13.159 so the stern will go out so you won't be. 1477 01:19:13.159 --> 01:19:15.600 Chopped up by my propellers. Then all you have to 1478 01:19:15.600 --> 01:19:18.279 worry about is to get away from the propellers of 1479 01:19:18.319 --> 01:19:21.000 the ship as they come alongside and not get sucked 1480 01:19:21.039 --> 01:19:24.279 under by the draft. So swim, you know, that way, 1481 01:19:24.359 --> 01:19:26.800 as fast as you can and hope for the best. 1482 01:19:27.840 --> 01:19:30.760 So I was making this jump with the rifle on 1483 01:19:30.800 --> 01:19:33.479 my back and a backpack with some ammunition and some 1484 01:19:33.560 --> 01:19:37.159 other stuff and the camera. Oh yeah, I've been asked 1485 01:19:37.159 --> 01:19:39.760 to bring a camera across to photograph the crew and 1486 01:19:39.800 --> 01:19:44.840 the state of the ship and whatnot. And yeah, the 1487 01:19:46.319 --> 01:19:51.039 sort of standing on top of that railing and waiting 1488 01:19:51.079 --> 01:19:54.039 for that collision and timing my jump just right. There 1489 01:19:54.079 --> 01:19:56.199 was a couple of crewmen, the Filipino crewman and would 1490 01:19:56.239 --> 01:19:59.960 come down and was standing in the railing just opposite me. 1491 01:20:00.279 --> 01:20:03.439 And as I jumped, and sort of. 1492 01:20:05.000 --> 01:20:06.920 I wish I'd had it in slow motion or something, 1493 01:20:07.000 --> 01:20:09.399 but yeah, as I jumped, they grabbed me and I 1494 01:20:09.479 --> 01:20:12.079 banged my shins on the on the railing and kind 1495 01:20:12.079 --> 01:20:13.840 of made it over and they dragged me over the 1496 01:20:13.880 --> 01:20:16.720 top of it. But I was terrifying as hell. I mean, 1497 01:20:16.760 --> 01:20:19.199 with everything that happened before, I still remember that. It 1498 01:20:19.239 --> 01:20:23.520 was one of the most tense moments that that that jump. Yeah, 1499 01:20:23.560 --> 01:20:26.159 but then I got to meet the crewmen, and that 1500 01:20:26.279 --> 01:20:28.399 was another thing in itself. These guys have been held 1501 01:20:28.439 --> 01:20:28.920 for months. 1502 01:20:29.119 --> 01:20:31.960 I mean I remember exactly the last ship I did, 1503 01:20:32.039 --> 01:20:33.000 they were five months. 1504 01:20:33.399 --> 01:20:35.479 This ship, I can't remember how many months they had 1505 01:20:35.520 --> 01:20:38.680 been held, they told me. I'm sure in my head 1506 01:20:38.680 --> 01:20:40.960 I want to say it was three months, but it 1507 01:20:41.800 --> 01:20:44.000 you know, memory plays you false after so many years. 1508 01:20:44.000 --> 01:20:48.640 But meeting them, telling my name, They're like, oh, Harry, Harry, Harry, 1509 01:20:48.840 --> 01:20:49.920 like like the Prince Harry. 1510 01:20:50.000 --> 01:20:54.279 Right. I was like, yeah, like Prince Harry. Sure, And 1511 01:20:54.319 --> 01:20:58.640 they were so friendly and so enthusiastic and so delighted 1512 01:20:58.680 --> 01:21:04.319 to meet us, and all of us on the security team. 1513 01:21:04.840 --> 01:21:07.319 We went to the conference room and we had like 1514 01:21:07.560 --> 01:21:09.560 a debrief while we were still heading out to see 1515 01:21:09.560 --> 01:21:14.880 about what worked, what didn't work, and what happened, so 1516 01:21:14.920 --> 01:21:19.079 we all understood the how things that unfolded and the 1517 01:21:19.680 --> 01:21:25.319 lessons that we could learn from this. And while that 1518 01:21:25.399 --> 01:21:30.000 was happening, these Filipino crewmen they cooked us dinner. They 1519 01:21:30.039 --> 01:21:33.840 cooked us no, it was lunch at midday, and they 1520 01:21:33.960 --> 01:21:38.079 had hidden in the freezer while they were captives to 1521 01:21:38.159 --> 01:21:40.479 try and you know, feel that they had a secret 1522 01:21:40.520 --> 01:21:43.039 and they weren't giving up everything. They had hidden some 1523 01:21:43.199 --> 01:21:47.760 steaks inside this freezer and they the first meal they cooked. 1524 01:21:47.760 --> 01:21:50.600 It wasn't for themselves, it was for us. And this 1525 01:21:50.680 --> 01:21:52.920 steak it wasn't anything special, you know, it'd been frozen 1526 01:21:52.920 --> 01:21:53.800 for months. 1527 01:21:54.079 --> 01:21:56.079 But it was steak and it was better than anything 1528 01:21:56.079 --> 01:22:02.159 I'd eaten in weeks, and felt so meaningful that the 1529 01:22:02.199 --> 01:22:06.520 first meal that they cooked after they cleaned up themselves 1530 01:22:06.520 --> 01:22:08.199 and the galley and got everything running again. 1531 01:22:08.319 --> 01:22:11.439 Was for us that was like such a powerful gesture 1532 01:22:11.439 --> 01:22:18.600 and made me feel completely what's the word I'm searching for, inadequate, 1533 01:22:19.279 --> 01:22:22.239 you know. I just they thought we we were something 1534 01:22:22.279 --> 01:22:25.680 special and I'd just shown up for money, and yeah, 1535 01:22:25.720 --> 01:22:29.840 I was intrigued like this, Yeah, it meant something to them. 1536 01:22:29.880 --> 01:22:33.840 And and to have someone say thank you and really 1537 01:22:33.920 --> 01:22:39.159 mean it, that is something I've seldom experienced a couple 1538 01:22:39.199 --> 01:22:42.600 of times like this, but it leaves its mark on you. 1539 01:22:43.960 --> 01:22:48.319 And it was it was it was something special and 1540 01:22:48.399 --> 01:22:50.119 something really powerful and I felt it at the time 1541 01:22:50.159 --> 01:22:52.920 and I still feel it now recounting it. That steak 1542 01:22:52.960 --> 01:22:55.560 dinner with a couple of leaves of salad. I don't 1543 01:22:55.560 --> 01:22:57.640 know where the salad came from or how they got it, 1544 01:22:58.439 --> 01:23:02.720 but yeah, the steak Carrod do Rember, and the warmth 1545 01:23:02.840 --> 01:23:06.079 that they showed us, and the thanks and I remember 1546 01:23:06.119 --> 01:23:08.279 at one point the colonel got more together on the 1547 01:23:08.439 --> 01:23:10.439 one of the the decks at the side of the 1548 01:23:10.479 --> 01:23:15.239 bridge and for a group photo and was like, give 1549 01:23:15.319 --> 01:23:19.119 us a we are alive. And they just weren't feeling it. 1550 01:23:19.159 --> 01:23:21.199 They were they had they were happy in their own way. 1551 01:23:21.239 --> 01:23:23.680 They weren't going to be inspired by someone giving them 1552 01:23:23.720 --> 01:23:27.239 a speech. I remember taking that picture. I don't have it. 1553 01:23:27.279 --> 01:23:30.119 I had to, you know. That was Colonel's Cameron gave 1554 01:23:30.159 --> 01:23:34.640 that up. But yeah, it was. That was a picture 1555 01:23:34.960 --> 01:23:37.720 and that was It was something special to see them, 1556 01:23:37.760 --> 01:23:40.359 even though they didn't quite respond to the attempts to 1557 01:23:40.439 --> 01:23:44.560 sort of enliven them. They were going through. They were 1558 01:23:44.600 --> 01:23:49.199 going through something in their own headspace that only they'd 1559 01:23:49.239 --> 01:23:52.479 been through, and you could see that they were unwinding 1560 01:23:52.520 --> 01:23:56.920 and processing it in their own way and anyway long 1561 01:23:56.960 --> 01:23:59.760 and the short of it was the Colonel said, I, 1562 01:23:59.760 --> 01:24:02.760 I don't think the captain is able to command his 1563 01:24:02.880 --> 01:24:05.439 ship and I need one of us to go with 1564 01:24:05.560 --> 01:24:08.159 him to the port that they're going to head forward 1565 01:24:08.159 --> 01:24:10.640 and talk at after we peel off and head back, 1566 01:24:11.560 --> 01:24:16.640 and Dave, would you do it? And I was like, no, 1567 01:24:16.880 --> 01:24:18.199 I want to stay with the team. I want to 1568 01:24:18.239 --> 01:24:19.479 see this through to the end. 1569 01:24:19.600 --> 01:24:22.239 You know, we've we've been working together and for me 1570 01:24:22.279 --> 01:24:25.000 to be split off now is it kind of feels like, 1571 01:24:25.439 --> 01:24:27.800 I mean, this is an unexpected honor and what have you. 1572 01:24:27.880 --> 01:24:31.760 But oh, I want to stick with the team that 1573 01:24:31.800 --> 01:24:35.039 has been through all this together and see the job through. 1574 01:24:35.039 --> 01:24:39.760 As originally you know, as originally sold to me. 1575 01:24:40.600 --> 01:24:43.560 And he said, all right, fine, I'll go. And he said, actually, 1576 01:24:43.680 --> 01:24:48.520 it's a good thing you don't go, because because I've 1577 01:24:48.520 --> 01:24:52.319 got two passports and you don't, which is a very 1578 01:24:52.359 --> 01:24:56.560 good thing because then it might have involved as it 1579 01:24:56.640 --> 01:24:58.479 worked out. Well, it's a good thing that I didn't 1580 01:24:58.479 --> 01:25:00.359 go and put it that way you used to with me. 1581 01:25:00.399 --> 01:25:03.000 I still can't see anything, okay, So. 1582 01:25:03.000 --> 01:25:05.399 Yeah, what was what was sort of the next job, 1583 01:25:05.439 --> 01:25:07.600 the next counter piracy job after that one. 1584 01:25:09.960 --> 01:25:16.159 It's not over. This job isn't over yet. So yeah, 1585 01:25:16.159 --> 01:25:20.239 we split off. You know, the release ship went went 1586 01:25:20.279 --> 01:25:21.840 on its way, I think it headed north. 1587 01:25:22.479 --> 01:25:24.079 Two tug boats and the rest of the team we 1588 01:25:24.079 --> 01:25:27.640 split off and headed back down south. And you know, 1589 01:25:27.760 --> 01:25:30.119 aside from the seasickness and the crap food and the 1590 01:25:30.920 --> 01:25:33.439 you know, rewatching the same stuff on the DVD over 1591 01:25:33.479 --> 01:25:35.840 and over again and rereading the same crap books that 1592 01:25:35.880 --> 01:25:38.279 I'd read the week before over and over again, it 1593 01:25:38.319 --> 01:25:39.920 was pretty uneventful. 1594 01:25:40.239 --> 01:25:44.520 Until that is, we were almost across the border or 1595 01:25:44.560 --> 01:25:49.640 almost out of Somali waters, and then we got bumped 1596 01:25:49.640 --> 01:25:50.560 by another gang. 1597 01:25:52.920 --> 01:25:55.359 And I remember being up on the bridge because I 1598 01:25:55.399 --> 01:25:58.600 was still there, you know, boy scout, still being on 1599 01:25:58.680 --> 01:26:00.680 watch when everyone else was start into relax. 1600 01:26:01.960 --> 01:26:08.159 I'm talking to the captain and he was like, nah, 1601 01:26:08.199 --> 01:26:10.600 we're almost safe now. I don't think there'll be any 1602 01:26:10.720 --> 01:26:11.560 any more danger. 1603 01:26:12.760 --> 01:26:17.399 I was like, okay, And they went back to the 1604 01:26:17.439 --> 01:26:19.920 wheel and then turned around a moment later and his 1605 01:26:20.000 --> 01:26:21.479 eyes were as wide as saucers. 1606 01:26:21.560 --> 01:26:22.439 I'll never forget it. 1607 01:26:22.800 --> 01:26:28.079 And he just says one word, and yeah, grab the binoculars, 1608 01:26:28.119 --> 01:26:30.520 look at the radar low and behold. On the horizon, 1609 01:26:30.600 --> 01:26:32.520 there is a mother ship and it's just in the 1610 01:26:32.560 --> 01:26:36.039 process of detaching a couple of skiffs and they start 1611 01:26:36.119 --> 01:26:39.560 coming in towards us, and so we stand to get 1612 01:26:39.600 --> 01:26:40.119 on the radio. 1613 01:26:40.119 --> 01:26:41.279 Alert the other vessel. 1614 01:26:41.439 --> 01:26:44.880 It's behind us, you know, a couple of hundred yards behind. 1615 01:26:45.399 --> 01:26:52.239 Everyone goes to their positions, Everyone gets ready. Steve's in command. 1616 01:26:52.279 --> 01:26:58.159 He says, you go there, Sure, you go there, and 1617 01:26:58.680 --> 01:27:01.880 the drill had bin. We let them come in and 1618 01:27:01.920 --> 01:27:04.079 we show them we have weapons. We don't want to 1619 01:27:04.079 --> 01:27:06.079 start a fight because we might have to do business 1620 01:27:06.079 --> 01:27:09.439 with these guys a couple months down the line, and 1621 01:27:09.560 --> 01:27:15.000 Somalis are definitely remember a vendetta and never pass up 1622 01:27:15.000 --> 01:27:17.920 an opportunity to return the favor if they lose one 1623 01:27:17.920 --> 01:27:18.359 of their own. 1624 01:27:19.880 --> 01:27:24.760 So yeah, we were very cognizant of that, and to 1625 01:27:24.920 --> 01:27:29.479 use force only after you know, polite dissuasion had failed. 1626 01:27:30.399 --> 01:27:32.399 But I was thinking, man, if they get on board, 1627 01:27:32.479 --> 01:27:36.800 or if they get our advantage is keeping them at 1628 01:27:36.920 --> 01:27:41.600 arm's length. Our advantage is my rifle and my accuracy, 1629 01:27:41.720 --> 01:27:43.720 which I can keep at arm's length. 1630 01:27:44.159 --> 01:27:45.760 Their advantage is volume of fire. 1631 01:27:46.439 --> 01:27:49.279 Once they're getting close, my advantage is nullified and their 1632 01:27:49.319 --> 01:27:50.600 advantage is maximized. 1633 01:27:52.079 --> 01:27:54.880 I told you, I go through things in my head. 1634 01:27:54.920 --> 01:27:58.079 That's my way of you know, working through anxiety or whatever. 1635 01:28:00.199 --> 01:28:03.039 So yeah, I was most concerned about them getting inside 1636 01:28:03.039 --> 01:28:06.359 my envelope, getting inside my ability to keep them away. 1637 01:28:06.720 --> 01:28:12.520 And and they came in and we never got time 1638 01:28:12.560 --> 01:28:13.640 to go through there. 1639 01:28:13.800 --> 01:28:15.520 You know that the escalation. 1640 01:28:15.199 --> 01:28:19.279 Levels of warnings and whatnot, because the other tongue opened fire, 1641 01:28:21.199 --> 01:28:23.960 I guess a little bit less discipline than us. And 1642 01:28:24.079 --> 01:28:27.920 after they opened fire, the Pirates open fire, and you 1643 01:28:27.960 --> 01:28:31.640 know you've you've heard the incoming incoming fire. And when 1644 01:28:31.680 --> 01:28:37.279 you start hearing the the you know they're getting close 1645 01:28:37.600 --> 01:28:42.399 and you know, that was that was something. And Steve 1646 01:28:42.399 --> 01:28:44.159 says to me, right, give me one warning shot. Day, 1647 01:28:44.239 --> 01:28:45.359 give me a warning shot. 1648 01:28:45.199 --> 01:28:48.560 Like thirty degrees off axis, so they know we're not 1649 01:28:48.600 --> 01:28:49.680 going to take this line down. 1650 01:28:50.239 --> 01:28:52.720 So I gave him one warning shot, and you know, 1651 01:28:53.119 --> 01:28:55.239 the chain of command had been established. I had to 1652 01:28:55.279 --> 01:28:58.960 respect it. I did, and then. 1653 01:29:00.640 --> 01:29:03.359 I was the dynamic in my head was I've got this, 1654 01:29:03.439 --> 01:29:09.000 can our policy quarter of a million to get me back? No? No, no, 1655 01:29:09.039 --> 01:29:11.800 this before we open fire. That was what went through 1656 01:29:11.800 --> 01:29:13.840 my head before they open fire. That was what went 1657 01:29:13.880 --> 01:29:15.199 through my head. 1658 01:29:15.600 --> 01:29:19.199 And I was thinking, you know what if if they 1659 01:29:19.239 --> 01:29:23.680 take us prisoner, if we get taken hostage, you know, 1660 01:29:24.319 --> 01:29:25.960 barring accidents. 1661 01:29:25.439 --> 01:29:26.680 I will get to go home. 1662 01:29:26.800 --> 01:29:31.000 I will live because I've got this kid kidnap aroundom policy. 1663 01:29:31.159 --> 01:29:35.479 So but if we fight and are captured, we'll probably 1664 01:29:35.479 --> 01:29:38.399 be dark. We'll probably be executed, or if we're not killed, 1665 01:29:38.439 --> 01:29:40.479 in the in the in the capture itself. 1666 01:29:41.000 --> 01:29:42.439 So I was thinking, what are we going to do? 1667 01:29:42.479 --> 01:29:44.640 You know, if I don't fight, if I put my 1668 01:29:44.680 --> 01:29:47.479 hands up, I will almost certainly live, but I'll have 1669 01:29:47.520 --> 01:29:51.039 a very unpleasant three months and a story to tell 1670 01:29:51.039 --> 01:29:54.760 my grandchildren about but if I do fight, there's a 1671 01:29:54.800 --> 01:29:58.159 decent chance I will die, a more than decent chance 1672 01:29:58.680 --> 01:30:01.720 considering the you know, the disparity in fire about. 1673 01:30:03.079 --> 01:30:05.600 So that was the dynamic going for my head. And 1674 01:30:05.640 --> 01:30:07.279 that's when the other boat opened fire. 1675 01:30:07.279 --> 01:30:10.960 And it's like, okay, the the the mechanics and the 1676 01:30:10.960 --> 01:30:12.840 whys and the watts and the ifs and where wars 1677 01:30:12.920 --> 01:30:13.800 are taken out of it. 1678 01:30:14.119 --> 01:30:16.560 Now the firefights started. And that's when Steve said, right, 1679 01:30:16.600 --> 01:30:20.199 give me a warning shot. Thirty degrees did it. And 1680 01:30:20.239 --> 01:30:23.399 then I was like, oh, fuck this, Fuck these warning shots. 1681 01:30:23.760 --> 01:30:27.399 I'm going to shoot to kill. So chambered one, put 1682 01:30:27.399 --> 01:30:35.079 it home, took aim, took the shot, and within within 1683 01:30:35.119 --> 01:30:37.359 a few moments, I don't remember how many, because time 1684 01:30:37.399 --> 01:30:39.640 sort of dilates and stretches out and compresses in a 1685 01:30:39.640 --> 01:30:41.600 firefight and those high stressed situations. 1686 01:30:42.119 --> 01:30:45.000 But it was almost like I remember us. Pretty soon 1687 01:30:45.039 --> 01:30:48.760 after that shot, they turned around and they stopped shooting, 1688 01:30:49.119 --> 01:30:52.039 or they were just firing hot shots over the stern 1689 01:30:52.079 --> 01:30:56.479 as they were retreating. But I don't think I hit 1690 01:30:56.520 --> 01:31:00.920 any one that day. In fact, I'm almost I didn't. 1691 01:31:01.119 --> 01:31:03.520 I just I just didn't feel the vibe. 1692 01:31:04.279 --> 01:31:07.560 And as you know, if I get onto that part 1693 01:31:07.640 --> 01:31:09.279 of the story, I know what that vie feels like. 1694 01:31:09.359 --> 01:31:12.039 So I don't think that's what happened. 1695 01:31:12.079 --> 01:31:14.079 But maybe I just got close enough to make them 1696 01:31:14.119 --> 01:31:17.039 change their mind, and I think that's what probably happened. 1697 01:31:17.399 --> 01:31:21.319 But yeah, they turned around, they went back. I went 1698 01:31:21.359 --> 01:31:23.960 and looked at the superstructure of the towboat afterwards. I 1699 01:31:23.960 --> 01:31:25.399 couldn't see any hits. 1700 01:31:25.920 --> 01:31:28.600 But when someone's been firing, you know, fully automatic in 1701 01:31:28.640 --> 01:31:33.680 your direction, You've been hearing that, you've been in seeing 1702 01:31:33.680 --> 01:31:36.199 the splashes, you know it was. It was coming close 1703 01:31:36.319 --> 01:31:39.119 enough to to make you sit up and pay attention. 1704 01:31:39.399 --> 01:31:43.319 And and when it's over, then you you feel a 1705 01:31:43.359 --> 01:31:47.640 certain certain satisfaction that having sort of got through that, 1706 01:31:47.680 --> 01:31:51.800 and there's certain ah, you know certain. 1707 01:31:55.119 --> 01:31:55.199 Well. 1708 01:31:55.239 --> 01:31:57.600 I think Winston Churchill said it first when he said 1709 01:31:57.680 --> 01:32:01.119 to be to be shot at without incident is one 1710 01:32:01.119 --> 01:32:02.960 of the most exhilarating experiences. 1711 01:32:03.199 --> 01:32:08.079 And I can certainly second that. And straight afterwards we 1712 01:32:08.119 --> 01:32:12.439 took a picture myself and sure, and I'm going to 1713 01:32:12.479 --> 01:32:16.720 try and share that if I can. Oh, my screen's back, 1714 01:32:16.800 --> 01:32:20.640 all right, start share? Only the host can share in 1715 01:32:20.680 --> 01:32:28.479 this meeting up? Sorry, can we fix that? Yeah? Or 1716 01:32:28.520 --> 01:32:30.279 I can send it to you after this and you 1717 01:32:30.319 --> 01:32:31.600 can just splice it in show. 1718 01:32:31.680 --> 01:32:33.960 Okay, yeah, yeah, email it to us afterwards. 1719 01:32:34.640 --> 01:32:36.560 I sent that picture at one point, I think to 1720 01:32:36.560 --> 01:32:39.119 try and hook your interest. But yeah, I'm in flip 1721 01:32:39.119 --> 01:32:44.880 flops posing alongside Share with my bolt action rifle and 1722 01:32:45.000 --> 01:32:48.479 his sporting shotgun. And that was taken right after the 1723 01:32:49.600 --> 01:32:53.880 pirate attack, and right off we saw it off and yeah, 1724 01:32:53.960 --> 01:32:55.720 I don't think anyone will hurt to either side, so 1725 01:32:55.680 --> 01:32:59.239 the best possible outcome really just gonna. 1726 01:33:00.640 --> 01:33:03.279 So yeah, let's let's move it along to the next 1727 01:33:03.800 --> 01:33:05.920 piracy job you had. 1728 01:33:06.239 --> 01:33:09.039 Okay, Well, there's a sort of a PostScript. When we 1729 01:33:09.119 --> 01:33:12.439 got back into Port, you know, a few days later, 1730 01:33:12.520 --> 01:33:17.279 because we were quite close at that stage, Steve had 1731 01:33:17.319 --> 01:33:20.520 been scheduled to go to a wedding, and he said, 1732 01:33:20.600 --> 01:33:22.159 do you want to come along? You know, I can't 1733 01:33:22.199 --> 01:33:24.319 get you in the wedding, but you know, the part, 1734 01:33:24.439 --> 01:33:27.800 the pre party and what have you. We booked a hotel. 1735 01:33:27.920 --> 01:33:30.520 My my family's coming down. We're going to stay in it, 1736 01:33:30.600 --> 01:33:36.279 and so I said, sure, you know, crack, not exactly 1737 01:33:36.319 --> 01:33:41.279 wedding crashed, but crashed one of the parties, and we 1738 01:33:41.319 --> 01:33:44.800 within hours of getting off the boat and leaving the port. 1739 01:33:45.079 --> 01:33:50.359 I was at a beach party, this beach nightclub, you know, 1740 01:33:50.479 --> 01:33:54.479 with this music pumping out. I mean I tried to socialized, 1741 01:33:54.520 --> 01:33:55.760 and I tried to have a beer or two, but 1742 01:33:55.800 --> 01:34:00.159 I was just exhausted, emotionally exhausted after this whole thing. 1743 01:34:01.199 --> 01:34:04.319 And I just remember sitting down in the sand with Steve, 1744 01:34:04.680 --> 01:34:06.840 with a couple with a couple of beers between us, 1745 01:34:07.520 --> 01:34:15.800 a little bit away from from the action, just saying, like, dude, 1746 01:34:15.800 --> 01:34:20.960 did that just fucking happen? I still and I still 1747 01:34:21.039 --> 01:34:24.199 can't believe it, Like almost twenty years later, did that 1748 01:34:24.279 --> 01:34:30.079 really happen? The whole thing was like like a movie 1749 01:34:30.159 --> 01:34:34.800 and start to finish, And sometimes I sometimes I ask myself, 1750 01:34:34.840 --> 01:34:38.560 am I did I hallucinate it? Am? I? Like, like Walter, Missy, like, 1751 01:34:38.640 --> 01:34:41.359 you know, just imagining things that happened to me. But 1752 01:34:41.920 --> 01:34:45.119 I've got the pictures. I hope the audience is going 1753 01:34:45.119 --> 01:34:48.479 to see the pictures to to you know, get some 1754 01:34:48.479 --> 01:34:51.880 some something concrete to say, yeah, it actually happened. But 1755 01:34:52.159 --> 01:34:54.720 it's it's still wild looking back at it, and that 1756 01:34:54.720 --> 01:34:57.399 that beach party, that that time sitting down in the 1757 01:34:57.399 --> 01:34:59.199 sand and just talking about it. And reliving it and 1758 01:35:00.159 --> 01:35:03.159 talking about it with Steve was that was wild. So 1759 01:35:03.279 --> 01:35:05.640 that was the the interesting PostScript and the sort of 1760 01:35:07.399 --> 01:35:13.239 the the final epilogue to that that particular adventure. How 1761 01:35:13.239 --> 01:35:14.039 are we doing for time? 1762 01:35:14.119 --> 01:35:18.000 I feel, Oh, I mean we're we probably can do 1763 01:35:18.119 --> 01:35:19.560 like another half hour or so. 1764 01:35:20.000 --> 01:35:22.199 Oh boy, I used up? 1765 01:35:22.800 --> 01:35:28.039 Yeah, yeah, half hour of five minutes or something like that. 1766 01:35:29.159 --> 01:35:32.840 So after that I made some good contacts, you know, 1767 01:35:33.039 --> 01:35:36.720 I there was a there was a brief sort of 1768 01:35:36.840 --> 01:35:37.560 after party. 1769 01:35:38.119 --> 01:35:41.359 I got given a bonus above and beyond what would 1770 01:35:41.439 --> 01:35:43.000 what had been, you know, agreed. 1771 01:35:43.840 --> 01:35:46.279 I was sent back with a you know, pil of 1772 01:35:46.319 --> 01:35:49.680 cash paid off my student loan. I can't remember if 1773 01:35:49.720 --> 01:35:51.920 I did another job straight after that. Yeah I did. 1774 01:35:52.399 --> 01:35:55.439 I did the cruise ship and that was well. When 1775 01:35:55.479 --> 01:35:58.399 they were starting convoys through the through the Red Sea, 1776 01:35:58.520 --> 01:36:03.880 through the Battle Mendeb you know, escorted by coalition warships, 1777 01:36:03.920 --> 01:36:06.880 and on that particular cruise ship job with another team, 1778 01:36:06.960 --> 01:36:08.640 some of whom I had worked with before, on some 1779 01:36:08.680 --> 01:36:12.760 of them I hadn't. I witnessed another ship just ahead 1780 01:36:12.760 --> 01:36:17.239 of us being hijacked, and listening to that was pretty wild. 1781 01:36:17.319 --> 01:36:19.399 Over the radio, they were calling for help. They were 1782 01:36:19.439 --> 01:36:21.520 screaming there were pirates attacking, their coming in for us. 1783 01:36:21.640 --> 01:36:25.560 They're shooting, their shooting. And then after a moment's pause, 1784 01:36:25.720 --> 01:36:26.520 you know, after. 1785 01:36:26.319 --> 01:36:30.359 They'd been calling out that what had been happening, another 1786 01:36:30.439 --> 01:36:32.279 voice came on the radio and said, there are no 1787 01:36:32.439 --> 01:36:35.600 pirates here. And then the ship changed course towards the 1788 01:36:35.600 --> 01:36:39.399 Somali coast and it was like, oh boy. And through 1789 01:36:39.399 --> 01:36:43.119 a friend I made later on another transit, he knew 1790 01:36:43.199 --> 01:36:45.199 that the guy who had been on that ship and 1791 01:36:45.239 --> 01:36:47.239 he actually jumped overboard. 1792 01:36:47.680 --> 01:36:50.880 It had been another It had been a marine who 1793 01:36:50.920 --> 01:36:53.319 was actually you know, sold a couple of books off 1794 01:36:53.319 --> 01:36:55.960 of the experience of failing to stop a pirate attack 1795 01:36:56.039 --> 01:37:01.800 and jumping over board. Like I said, I wouldn't say 1796 01:37:01.800 --> 01:37:06.199 anything mean, but yeah, I. 1797 01:37:04.960 --> 01:37:07.760 Failed to secure any publishing rights or any agent for 1798 01:37:07.880 --> 01:37:09.760 my story when I tried to write it, and I 1799 01:37:09.800 --> 01:37:13.880 thought that was a little bit of a disparity in 1800 01:37:14.079 --> 01:37:18.920 the breadth sort of depth of your experience versus the 1801 01:37:18.960 --> 01:37:19.680 ability to. 1802 01:37:19.680 --> 01:37:26.399 Sell it anyway. So I went on to do several transits. 1803 01:37:26.439 --> 01:37:29.600 I think I got nineteen transits of the high Risk 1804 01:37:29.600 --> 01:37:34.239 garry on various cargo ships, bulk or carriers, car carriers, 1805 01:37:34.319 --> 01:37:37.479 container ships going up and down left right, across the 1806 01:37:38.039 --> 01:37:42.399 across the Indian Ocean to Sri Lanka, or up into Amman, 1807 01:37:43.079 --> 01:37:48.640 or up into Fujero, or into the Gulf of or 1808 01:37:48.720 --> 01:37:53.239 Proud the Straits of muz to the UAE side bit 1809 01:37:53.279 --> 01:37:57.600 top them now and once doct in Aiden. But I 1810 01:37:57.680 --> 01:37:59.960 never got off the boat. I wish I had was 1811 01:38:00.079 --> 01:38:02.640 before the sort of whole moofy thing happened. 1812 01:38:04.319 --> 01:38:09.960 And yeah, I interspersed a season of diving with an expedition, 1813 01:38:10.520 --> 01:38:13.239 and then some more anti piracy worked top up the 1814 01:38:13.279 --> 01:38:16.560 bank accounts. I was just living a life up until 1815 01:38:17.079 --> 01:38:21.359 up until I turned thirty. Well, anyway, there was one 1816 01:38:21.520 --> 01:38:25.359 other voyage which deserves a bit of a bit of 1817 01:38:25.439 --> 01:38:27.880 exposure because it was the second time I was attacked 1818 01:38:28.119 --> 01:38:29.119 and I was a team leader. 1819 01:38:29.199 --> 01:38:32.159 This time I went switched horses, went to work for 1820 01:38:32.199 --> 01:38:38.079 another company, a company which would later on go on 1821 01:38:38.119 --> 01:38:43.000 to implode. I can't go bankrupt, but at the time 1822 01:38:43.039 --> 01:38:48.359 I didn't know that, and I went across as a 1823 01:38:48.359 --> 01:38:51.479 team leader straight away without even an interview, purely on 1824 01:38:51.520 --> 01:38:55.560 the basis of my association with the colonel's company because 1825 01:38:55.560 --> 01:39:00.479 of the reputation they had gained. And yeah, my first 1826 01:39:00.560 --> 01:39:05.359 job was the Vogue Dignity, and I met a guy 1827 01:39:05.399 --> 01:39:06.920 who was my two ic for. 1828 01:39:07.319 --> 01:39:14.760 Many jobs together, really good friend and a guy whose 1829 01:39:15.039 --> 01:39:16.159 instincts I came to. 1830 01:39:16.159 --> 01:39:22.239 Trust initially when we went When I went on board 1831 01:39:22.239 --> 01:39:24.600 this ship, you know, the three of us who went 1832 01:39:24.600 --> 01:39:27.319 on who had met the airport and you know, shared 1833 01:39:27.359 --> 01:39:30.880 a few stories and talked about our experiences and this deployment, 1834 01:39:30.920 --> 01:39:33.319 that deployment, what have you. And when we got there, 1835 01:39:33.359 --> 01:39:35.279 there was this guy who was like, oh my ms 1836 01:39:35.399 --> 01:39:38.199 Nie on former says, I'm the team leader here. And 1837 01:39:38.239 --> 01:39:40.720 I was like, well, boss, he said, I'm the team leader, 1838 01:39:40.840 --> 01:39:42.359 so you know, we better get them on the phone 1839 01:39:42.359 --> 01:39:44.319 to try and figure this out. And I was like, 1840 01:39:44.359 --> 01:39:46.800 what's your experience and you've done antipirasy stuff before. He 1841 01:39:46.880 --> 01:39:49.880 was like, well no, yeah, well I was SAS, so 1842 01:39:50.000 --> 01:39:52.760 you know, you were just just a marine. So you 1843 01:39:52.760 --> 01:39:55.159 know you're gonna have to learn off me for a bit. 1844 01:39:55.800 --> 01:39:57.760 I'll take them on my way school you a bit. 1845 01:39:57.800 --> 01:40:00.359 And I was like, I know you've done this and that, 1846 01:40:00.439 --> 01:40:02.760 and that's cool, but if you've never been on board ship, 1847 01:40:02.800 --> 01:40:04.479 you don't have to work the radar systems. 1848 01:40:04.800 --> 01:40:07.319 You don't know the lingo or how to communicate with 1849 01:40:07.439 --> 01:40:12.720 the officers or the helmsman, or or or work or 1850 01:40:12.760 --> 01:40:15.880 fight the ship, or talk the captain's language. 1851 01:40:16.199 --> 01:40:18.640 You're not going to be that much used as a 1852 01:40:18.640 --> 01:40:20.600 team leader. And so we were. We had a little 1853 01:40:20.640 --> 01:40:24.199 bit of a you know, a clash of personalities there 1854 01:40:24.840 --> 01:40:27.399 until I eventually got the one of the bosses on 1855 01:40:27.439 --> 01:40:29.279 the phone on the SAT phone and was like, come on, 1856 01:40:29.840 --> 01:40:32.520 who's going to be the boss here? And they said, okay, 1857 01:40:32.560 --> 01:40:36.560 you are. Eddie's going to be the two ic And 1858 01:40:36.640 --> 01:40:38.520 Eddie didn't like this, so he packed his bags and 1859 01:40:38.600 --> 01:40:40.439 left the next day. 1860 01:40:40.279 --> 01:40:42.720 They have found out that he might not have been 1861 01:40:42.760 --> 01:40:48.600 everything that he claimed to be, and that happens a 1862 01:40:48.600 --> 01:40:52.319 lot in the private security industry, and I'm afraid to 1863 01:40:52.319 --> 01:40:56.920 say I've experienced it a lot since leaving. And yeah, 1864 01:40:57.039 --> 01:41:00.199 that's it's it's a thing that you have to keep 1865 01:41:00.239 --> 01:41:01.039 your eyes out for. 1866 01:41:01.279 --> 01:41:03.680 And I never expected that to be a thing, but 1867 01:41:03.840 --> 01:41:08.319 it is. Anyway, that left me and and either too, 1868 01:41:08.319 --> 01:41:12.359 I see, and one other guy that showed up, and 1869 01:41:12.399 --> 01:41:15.199 that was our team. We went from this port to 1870 01:41:15.239 --> 01:41:18.000 that port. We got to know the crew, the great crew, 1871 01:41:18.319 --> 01:41:23.159 Indian officers, Filipino sailors, one of the best combinations you 1872 01:41:23.199 --> 01:41:23.840 can hope for. 1873 01:41:24.359 --> 01:41:27.279 Really friendly guys. They all bring something to the table. 1874 01:41:27.760 --> 01:41:30.920 All the cultures work well together. It was a great experience. 1875 01:41:31.319 --> 01:41:34.479 We got to know each other. We drilled, we trained, 1876 01:41:34.800 --> 01:41:37.800 we ran through simulations, and at one point there was 1877 01:41:37.840 --> 01:41:40.119 a sort of whole side person at times. At the premium, 1878 01:41:40.560 --> 01:41:43.479 we had to get some extra ammunitions, so we bought 1879 01:41:43.520 --> 01:41:48.119 it under what might have been questionable legality circumstances. 1880 01:41:48.680 --> 01:41:51.600 That was kind of like the you haven't seen that 1881 01:41:51.680 --> 01:41:53.560 movie Ronn where they go and do the deal under 1882 01:41:53.600 --> 01:41:56.920 the bridge for the money for the Oh god, it was. 1883 01:41:57.000 --> 01:42:00.760 It was tense and then there and it turned out 1884 01:42:00.880 --> 01:42:02.680 that one of the guys that met me at the 1885 01:42:02.720 --> 01:42:04.880 meet was one of the guys I worked with before. 1886 01:42:04.920 --> 01:42:07.039 But it wasn't until halfway through the exchange that was 1887 01:42:07.079 --> 01:42:09.920 like don't I know you? I know you from somewhere. 1888 01:42:10.000 --> 01:42:11.520 That was like I know who you are, you are 1889 01:42:11.520 --> 01:42:13.920 so and so. From there it was like, oh, yeah, brother, 1890 01:42:14.000 --> 01:42:17.800 I remember you. We did this. But for a moment 1891 01:42:17.920 --> 01:42:19.880 it was like so tense. Well I was thinking, oh 1892 01:42:19.920 --> 01:42:21.760 my god, these are under a policeman. I'm gonna get 1893 01:42:21.800 --> 01:42:22.399 the other I know. 1894 01:42:23.119 --> 01:42:27.840 But yeah, it came out okay, and it turned out 1895 01:42:27.840 --> 01:42:31.199 to be the same ammunition we had offloaded from those 1896 01:42:31.239 --> 01:42:36.319 two tongue boats on the first job. Because I remember 1897 01:42:36.319 --> 01:42:40.800 wrapping it with share the other the other Eastaff and 1898 01:42:40.840 --> 01:42:44.159 Special Forces guy, and we'd wrapped it with extra tape. 1899 01:42:44.239 --> 01:42:47.279 We joked about how whoever I wrapped it after us 1900 01:42:47.600 --> 01:42:49.319 was going to have a hard time getting it open. 1901 01:42:50.079 --> 01:42:53.520 It was the same boxes. It was the same guy 1902 01:42:53.760 --> 01:42:57.479 who was cropped up elsewhere in the industry, and that 1903 01:42:57.560 --> 01:43:04.359 ammunition getting getting used a second time anyway. So we 1904 01:43:04.520 --> 01:43:07.000 carried on with the voyage with some more ammunition, some 1905 01:43:07.279 --> 01:43:10.680 seven six to us, some twelve gauge, and then we 1906 01:43:10.760 --> 01:43:14.359 got bumped. Ut. I used to have the coordinates in 1907 01:43:14.399 --> 01:43:15.680 my head, and I used to have the date in 1908 01:43:15.680 --> 01:43:18.479 my head. I want to say, eleven degrees north, fifty 1909 01:43:18.479 --> 01:43:21.560 eight grades east or one variation of that, you know, 1910 01:43:22.359 --> 01:43:25.399 And it was Andy, who's well first we picked it 1911 01:43:25.479 --> 01:43:27.680 up on the radar, and on a good radar, good 1912 01:43:27.680 --> 01:43:29.560 ship's radar, you have the X band in the S 1913 01:43:29.640 --> 01:43:32.479 band and they are either side of the bridge, and 1914 01:43:32.520 --> 01:43:35.359 they they're good for slightly different conditions and different things. 1915 01:43:35.359 --> 01:43:38.399 I've forgotten now, but if that's a good setup. You 1916 01:43:38.439 --> 01:43:41.720 can get I think called the CPA, which is the 1917 01:43:41.720 --> 01:43:44.079 closest point of approach from any particular contact. 1918 01:43:44.119 --> 01:43:46.600 It gives it a vector and it calculates stuff in there. 1919 01:43:46.840 --> 01:43:49.760 Then you get a TCPA time to closest point of approach. 1920 01:43:50.479 --> 01:43:53.319 So we saw this contact, you know, the latest of 1921 01:43:53.399 --> 01:43:57.479 many contacts that we had tracked, and then Andy saw 1922 01:43:57.520 --> 01:44:01.199 them on the binoculars. He had great eyes, he had 1923 01:44:01.239 --> 01:44:05.600 been wrecky, he had been a color sergeant in the cavalry. 1924 01:44:06.119 --> 01:44:09.960 I trusted him implicitly, and you know how sometimes professionally 1925 01:44:09.960 --> 01:44:12.279 you can have two guys who just fit together and 1926 01:44:12.319 --> 01:44:15.680 work together great. He was like, he was like my spock. 1927 01:44:16.560 --> 01:44:18.920 He was. He was a great guy, and he his 1928 01:44:19.039 --> 01:44:21.199 eyes were better than anyone else's on the bridge, and 1929 01:44:21.199 --> 01:44:25.199 he was like, yeah, that's a dow. It's lowering a skiff. 1930 01:44:25.760 --> 01:44:29.079 I couldn't see this detail. He could. It's peeling off 1931 01:44:29.079 --> 01:44:30.760 and it's coming for us. 1932 01:44:31.479 --> 01:44:34.199 And I was like, okay, this is this is the 1933 01:44:34.319 --> 01:44:37.359 strongest indication on any boys since the last attack that 1934 01:44:37.399 --> 01:44:38.600 I've had that we're going to get attacked. 1935 01:44:39.560 --> 01:44:43.720 And I must admit I was I was kind of like, 1936 01:44:45.399 --> 01:44:49.279 I think what this will do for my career. It's 1937 01:44:49.319 --> 01:44:54.439 an uncharitable thing to feel going into what you know 1938 01:44:54.600 --> 01:44:56.039 is going to be a firefight. But I knew this 1939 01:44:56.159 --> 01:44:58.239 was going to boost my career with the next company 1940 01:44:58.279 --> 01:45:02.000 as well, and I knew that I could probably handle this. 1941 01:45:03.279 --> 01:45:06.159 And one looking at the radar and the TCPA, it 1942 01:45:06.239 --> 01:45:09.439 was like twenty five minutes at the current speed, it 1943 01:45:09.560 --> 01:45:11.319 was going to be on us. So I said to 1944 01:45:11.359 --> 01:45:17.039 the captain, all right, changed course to this. I'm going 1945 01:45:17.079 --> 01:45:19.840 to my cabin. And my cabin was just behind the bridge. 1946 01:45:20.079 --> 01:45:21.199 I had the pilot's cabin. 1947 01:45:22.279 --> 01:45:25.880 And you might think that's a little tactically naive or 1948 01:45:26.359 --> 01:45:30.720 maybe reckless, but I thought, I'm about to get in 1949 01:45:30.760 --> 01:45:35.000 a firefight and I really need a poop, so I 1950 01:45:35.000 --> 01:45:37.520 don't want to ship myself in the firefight. 1951 01:45:38.800 --> 01:45:42.800 So so yeah, I don't know what it is, but 1952 01:45:42.840 --> 01:45:45.560 my bladder and my bows sometimes are like the best 1953 01:45:45.600 --> 01:45:48.840 indicator that the firefight's about to happen, because whenever it's 1954 01:45:48.880 --> 01:45:51.079 kind of like going to kick off, or maybe there's 1955 01:45:51.079 --> 01:45:52.680 no indicators yet there's going to kick. 1956 01:45:52.600 --> 01:45:56.479 Off, I need to go. So that that happened. I 1957 01:45:56.560 --> 01:45:59.640 went to my cabin quickly. Well, if you've been in 1958 01:45:59.640 --> 01:46:00.880 the middle tree bit of the Marines. 1959 01:46:01.000 --> 01:46:03.319 You know how to use the bathroom real quick, so 1960 01:46:03.359 --> 01:46:06.800 I did quick white wipe done. Then I was like, 1961 01:46:06.880 --> 01:46:08.920 do you know what, if I'm going to be a firefight, 1962 01:46:09.000 --> 01:46:09.800 I'm going to die. 1963 01:46:10.479 --> 01:46:12.880 I'm going to die with a clean asshole. So I'm 1964 01:46:12.880 --> 01:46:17.760 gonna have a shower. So on the shower, off, clothes 1965 01:46:17.840 --> 01:46:21.039 in water, rintse rits off, dry off, back clothes on, 1966 01:46:21.600 --> 01:46:23.640 put on the Lucky trousers and the Lucky t shirt 1967 01:46:24.680 --> 01:46:29.960 and back out. And Okay, I probably did that in 1968 01:46:30.000 --> 01:46:33.119 like two minutes, three minutes tops, because if you've been 1969 01:46:33.119 --> 01:46:34.520 in the military and you know how to get ready 1970 01:46:34.520 --> 01:46:37.399 and wash yourself and ADDM in yourself fast, you can 1971 01:46:37.479 --> 01:46:43.560 do it a lot quicker than you realize. Came back 1972 01:46:43.600 --> 01:46:44.880 out onto the bridge. Oh. 1973 01:46:44.960 --> 01:46:46.960 The last thing I did before I left my cabin 1974 01:46:47.279 --> 01:46:50.800 was put on sunglasses because I didn't want anyone to 1975 01:46:50.800 --> 01:46:52.079 see the fear in my eyes. 1976 01:46:52.560 --> 01:46:54.720 And I was scared that if my eyes were like 1977 01:46:54.800 --> 01:46:57.479 big and scared and like sources like that, like the 1978 01:46:57.520 --> 01:47:00.479 Todd captains had been, then people wouldn't be listening to me. 1979 01:47:00.520 --> 01:47:03.920 So so you know, I wanted to be like cool, 1980 01:47:03.960 --> 01:47:07.159 calm and collected this is my first time as a 1981 01:47:07.159 --> 01:47:11.159 team leader, as you know, leading the bridge team fighting 1982 01:47:11.199 --> 01:47:14.199 the ship, and I was I was very aware, you know, 1983 01:47:14.239 --> 01:47:16.279 I didn't want to poot myself, didn't want to show 1984 01:47:16.319 --> 01:47:20.560 my fear. I wanted to be calm collected. So I 1985 01:47:20.560 --> 01:47:23.399 gave myself quick grin in the mirror, came back out 1986 01:47:23.439 --> 01:47:26.159 onto the bridge, and when I stepped foot on that bridge, 1987 01:47:26.239 --> 01:47:30.439 I could feel the panic rising. People were calling a 1988 01:47:30.520 --> 01:47:33.680 crowd see each other. The captain was, you know, saying 1989 01:47:33.720 --> 01:47:35.880 what are we going to do? What's the next course 1990 01:47:35.880 --> 01:47:38.720 of action? Members of my team were like, we need 1991 01:47:38.720 --> 01:47:41.239 to do this, or we need to do that. You know, 1992 01:47:41.279 --> 01:47:44.199 you could hear the panic rising and different people shouting 1993 01:47:44.199 --> 01:47:47.880 across each other, and the sort of conflagration and no 1994 01:47:48.079 --> 01:47:51.319 clear plan, no one taking the lead. I was like, okay, 1995 01:47:51.359 --> 01:47:54.199 maybe maybe the ship show routine wasn't such a great idea. 1996 01:47:54.800 --> 01:47:56.680 But I thought, I've got to get I've got a 1997 01:47:56.800 --> 01:47:59.119 moment to get control of this situation. 1998 01:47:59.239 --> 01:48:03.399 I've got a moment and to start. 1999 01:48:02.840 --> 01:48:06.039 You know, re establishing calm and re establishing my authority 2000 01:48:06.159 --> 01:48:08.920 and you know, starting to lead this team and fight 2001 01:48:08.960 --> 01:48:11.439 the ship. So what I did is I went over 2002 01:48:11.520 --> 01:48:15.000 to the telephone that you can dial up any particular 2003 01:48:15.039 --> 01:48:18.000 department of the ship, and I dialed down to the 2004 01:48:18.039 --> 01:48:24.960 galley to the mess man and everyone saw me doing. 2005 01:48:24.760 --> 01:48:29.319 This and picking up the telephone, and I was like, hello, 2006 01:48:29.439 --> 01:48:30.600 mess man, how you doing. 2007 01:48:30.840 --> 01:48:34.239 Yeah, stay up on the bridge. Yeah, I'm kind of thirsty. 2008 01:48:34.319 --> 01:48:35.640 Would you mind sending me. 2009 01:48:35.680 --> 01:48:38.000 Up a coke? Yeah? 2010 01:48:38.079 --> 01:48:41.399 I feel like a coke, Captain, would you like a 2011 01:48:41.439 --> 01:48:44.199 coke as well? And by this stage everyone to stop 2012 01:48:44.239 --> 01:48:46.479 what they're doing and saying, and they're paying attention to 2013 01:48:46.520 --> 01:48:52.199 me and wondering what the fuck I was doing. And 2014 01:48:52.199 --> 01:48:54.159 I was like, okay, yeah, the captain wants a coke 2015 01:48:54.199 --> 01:48:59.199 as well. Helmsman. First off, so you want coke, Steve. 2016 01:48:59.000 --> 01:49:00.800 You want to coke as well? A right? Bring what? 2017 01:49:01.199 --> 01:49:03.359 Just bring up a whole Slaber cokes for us, chilled 2018 01:49:03.359 --> 01:49:07.279 if possible. And he was like, yeah, we don't have coke, 2019 01:49:07.319 --> 01:49:09.359 We only have fanta. I was like, okay, no fans 2020 01:49:09.439 --> 01:49:12.680 is good, bring up Slaber fanta. Okay, all right, thanks 2021 01:49:12.720 --> 01:49:15.319 a lot as soon as you can. Jeers By put 2022 01:49:15.359 --> 01:49:19.479 the phone down. Bridge had gone completely quiet and everyone's 2023 01:49:19.520 --> 01:49:22.600 just looking at me, and I felt that crackle, that 2024 01:49:22.800 --> 01:49:23.319 thrill of. 2025 01:49:23.479 --> 01:49:27.039 Oh my god, I'm in the moment and I'm the man, 2026 01:49:29.119 --> 01:49:32.039 and what I say and do is gonna next is 2027 01:49:32.079 --> 01:49:35.600 going to determine the how this unfolds. And I felt that, 2028 01:49:35.680 --> 01:49:40.119 like that thrill of I'm Captain fucking Cook, I can 2029 01:49:40.159 --> 01:49:42.279 fucking do this, all right. 2030 01:49:42.960 --> 01:49:46.880 So I started off by saying, I once again, memory 2031 01:49:46.880 --> 01:49:49.880 plays you false. And the details of what I said 2032 01:49:49.920 --> 01:49:52.640 next I don't remember, but the gist. 2033 01:49:52.359 --> 01:49:54.760 Of it was, all right, what's on course and speed? 2034 01:49:54.840 --> 01:49:57.199 All right, very good, let's cool down to the engine 2035 01:49:57.319 --> 01:50:00.920 and make sure they've got max revolutions. I remember from 2036 01:50:00.920 --> 01:50:04.760 that that movie Hunt for the Red October when Red Raimius, 2037 01:50:04.840 --> 01:50:08.439 you know, played by Sean Connery, says, increase the flank. 2038 01:50:09.119 --> 01:50:11.920 I don't know what that means. I have no idea, 2039 01:50:11.960 --> 01:50:14.279 but I think I just said, increased speed to flank 2040 01:50:15.880 --> 01:50:18.079 because he's trying to avoid the torpedoes and stuff. 2041 01:50:18.359 --> 01:50:21.880 Yeah, anyway, whatever it was, I said, they increased speed 2042 01:50:21.880 --> 01:50:22.359 to max. 2043 01:50:23.159 --> 01:50:27.880 I'll I'll send you the pictures. Because we we had 2044 01:50:27.920 --> 01:50:32.000 planned out the response. We started off. I was like, like, 2045 01:50:32.439 --> 01:50:36.399 start the fire hydrants, start all the hoses, start the pumps. 2046 01:50:36.640 --> 01:50:39.199 I want all the fire hoses pumping over the side. 2047 01:50:39.479 --> 01:50:42.000 I want to flood the deck so that anyone gets 2048 01:50:42.039 --> 01:50:43.920 on there, they'll be slipping around. 2049 01:50:44.199 --> 01:50:48.279 We'd already put raise the while around it. We'd already 2050 01:50:48.279 --> 01:50:50.920 put dummies at key places on the stern of the ship, 2051 01:50:51.279 --> 01:50:54.319 dummies wearing you know, helmets and with like dummy rifles, 2052 01:50:54.319 --> 01:50:57.600 so it looked like there's people there. I was like, yeah, right, 2053 01:50:57.800 --> 01:51:01.760 you inform ukmt O that we have a possible probable 2054 01:51:01.800 --> 01:51:05.800 pirate inbound, you know, tcpas this, so we're gonna get 2055 01:51:05.840 --> 01:51:09.479 hit around this time. You start unwrapping bandages, start prepping 2056 01:51:09.479 --> 01:51:13.239 the aid station, get everything ready there you I want 2057 01:51:14.079 --> 01:51:16.439 I want you. This was to the Boston and I said, 2058 01:51:16.439 --> 01:51:18.920 I want you to go down and pull the circuit 2059 01:51:18.960 --> 01:51:22.079 breakers from every floor. Make sure all the outside hatches 2060 01:51:22.119 --> 01:51:25.279 are secured, all the windows secured, all the curtains are drawn. 2061 01:51:25.479 --> 01:51:27.560 Because if you pull the circuit breakers to every non 2062 01:51:27.640 --> 01:51:30.279 essential floor, if anyone gets in, it's gonna be dark. 2063 01:51:30.319 --> 01:51:32.880 They can't turn on the lights, they're gonna be disorientated. 2064 01:51:33.039 --> 01:51:35.439 We'd already harden the ship. We'd already welded bars on 2065 01:51:35.880 --> 01:51:39.239 windows and doors and locks that you could pull down 2066 01:51:39.319 --> 01:51:41.439 so that every door would be secured. Site. 2067 01:51:41.720 --> 01:51:45.159 I was like, all right, activate the mustard alarm, all 2068 01:51:45.159 --> 01:51:47.479 the non essential crew, muster in the muster point, and 2069 01:51:47.479 --> 01:51:49.720 then head over to the citadel. The citadel is a 2070 01:51:49.760 --> 01:51:52.279 partner the ship that you'd hardened and put, you know, 2071 01:51:52.760 --> 01:51:55.399 placing around so that as a last resort you'd get 2072 01:51:55.399 --> 01:51:58.319 in there, lock yourselves in, and then call u q 2073 01:51:58.520 --> 01:52:01.399 mto and basically asked for a helicopter with ninjas to 2074 01:52:01.479 --> 01:52:03.039 come and you know, rescue. 2075 01:52:04.560 --> 01:52:06.880 That wasn't necessary as it happened. So yeah, all the 2076 01:52:06.960 --> 01:52:09.479 non essential crew mustard, including the captain's wife and this 2077 01:52:09.560 --> 01:52:11.279 three and a half year old daughter who were along 2078 01:52:11.359 --> 01:52:16.319 for the voyage, and then they went over to the citadel. 2079 01:52:16.920 --> 01:52:18.520 So all the non essentials were out of the way. 2080 01:52:18.680 --> 01:52:20.359 We just had the bridge team. We just had the 2081 01:52:20.439 --> 01:52:25.239 security team. And I had gone through firing off those. 2082 01:52:25.399 --> 01:52:27.159 I wish I could remember the sequence of it, but 2083 01:52:27.640 --> 01:52:29.199 I was killing it, man. I was just saying, you 2084 01:52:29.319 --> 01:52:31.800 do this, you do this, Has that been done? Has 2085 01:52:31.800 --> 01:52:35.560 that been done? And I had that that moment of 2086 01:52:35.640 --> 01:52:39.119 feeling like, damn, I am killing it, man, I don't 2087 01:52:39.119 --> 01:52:41.920 know how this is going to turn out, but it 2088 01:52:42.079 --> 01:52:47.439 sounds good. And then they were coming in. They were 2089 01:52:47.479 --> 01:52:51.159 inside three hundred yards, and you know, I went out 2090 01:52:51.199 --> 01:52:54.920 onto one of the bridge rings. I gave my camera 2091 01:52:55.039 --> 01:52:57.079 to the captain and said, take some pictures. I wish 2092 01:52:57.159 --> 01:52:59.880 i'd said, take video some of those pictures you've seen, 2093 01:53:00.000 --> 01:53:02.079 and so I guess we can splice in. I don't 2094 01:53:02.119 --> 01:53:04.039 have time to try and pull them up like we agreed. 2095 01:53:04.079 --> 01:53:10.560 But yeah, and then it was comical what happened next. 2096 01:53:11.239 --> 01:53:15.760 So I detailed one guy, a really good South African soldier. 2097 01:53:15.800 --> 01:53:18.399 I said, you go prone on that corner, and you know, 2098 01:53:18.479 --> 01:53:21.840 I'll be on the wing. Last man was a little 2099 01:53:21.880 --> 01:53:24.359 bit unsure of himself with weapons. He had been a 2100 01:53:24.399 --> 01:53:29.079 police officer in an eastaff in an African country. I 2101 01:53:29.159 --> 01:53:31.560 actually took his weapon off him because I was concerned, 2102 01:53:31.680 --> 01:53:33.159 more concerned that he would be a danger to the 2103 01:53:33.239 --> 01:53:36.359 team than the pirates. So I had the shotgun on 2104 01:53:36.439 --> 01:53:39.039 my back while I was having the seventy six to 2105 01:53:39.159 --> 01:53:42.000 two self loading rifle in my hands. 2106 01:53:42.079 --> 01:53:43.319 And you'll see that in the picture. It was a 2107 01:53:43.359 --> 01:53:45.600 bit better than the bolt action from the first one. 2108 01:53:46.560 --> 01:53:49.479 I was like, right, first thing we'll do is five flares. 2109 01:53:50.039 --> 01:53:53.359 Fire a flare, high up, second flare. 2110 01:53:53.399 --> 01:53:55.560 I am a bit closer and the skiff actually had 2111 01:53:55.600 --> 01:53:58.800 to veer out the way to avoid the flare. We 2112 01:53:58.880 --> 01:54:01.239 were going as fasts we could everything. All the hoses 2113 01:54:01.279 --> 01:54:04.239 were activated, all the all the procedures and the drills 2114 01:54:04.279 --> 01:54:06.880 were put in place, has been activated and one was 2115 01:54:06.920 --> 01:54:08.640 as ready as we could. So this was, you know, 2116 01:54:08.760 --> 01:54:11.279 coming down to the final moments. I was right, right, 2117 01:54:11.840 --> 01:54:15.119 let's fire you and me Andy. That's fire like three 2118 01:54:15.159 --> 01:54:18.199 shots in the air so they know we've got multiple 2119 01:54:19.000 --> 01:54:22.119 self loading weapons to give them an idea of the 2120 01:54:22.159 --> 01:54:25.760 firepower they're about to face. So we fired three shots each. 2121 01:54:28.880 --> 01:54:31.520 But when I said get ready to fire three shots, 2122 01:54:32.000 --> 01:54:33.680 he didn't say here to get ready by. He just 2123 01:54:33.760 --> 01:54:35.720 fired them and I wasn't ready for it. So I 2124 01:54:35.800 --> 01:54:38.399 was like, oh, damn, man in my ears, and it 2125 01:54:38.520 --> 01:54:40.920 was like the you're only supposed to blow the bloody 2126 01:54:41.000 --> 01:54:43.399 doors off moment, you know. It was. It was kind 2127 01:54:43.439 --> 01:54:46.600 of a comical moment of levariety in the middle of 2128 01:54:46.720 --> 01:54:51.840 the tense situation that was that was unfolding, and I 2129 01:54:51.960 --> 01:54:54.640 was like, right, you and me, Andy, let's fire three 2130 01:54:54.760 --> 01:54:57.600 rounds in the water off axis so they know we're 2131 01:54:57.640 --> 01:55:00.199 not aiming at them, so they know that this not 2132 01:55:00.279 --> 01:55:01.640 meant for them. This is a demonstration. 2133 01:55:02.159 --> 01:55:04.680 So yeah, six rounds went in the water, nice big 2134 01:55:04.840 --> 01:55:08.000 plumes of spray come up, and that's when they opened 2135 01:55:08.039 --> 01:55:11.760 fire and I was like, okay, you've you know, you're 2136 01:55:11.800 --> 01:55:12.800 firing directly on us. 2137 01:55:12.840 --> 01:55:15.640 Now our warnings have gone unheated. 2138 01:55:15.760 --> 01:55:18.159 That's when we can, you know, flip the switch and 2139 01:55:18.239 --> 01:55:21.439 go over to use of lethal force to defend ourselves 2140 01:55:21.720 --> 01:55:22.960 as we're legally allowed to do. 2141 01:55:23.840 --> 01:55:26.039 So Yeah, I just remember for the next. 2142 01:55:27.600 --> 01:55:31.479 For the next few moments, just pumping rounds into that 2143 01:55:31.600 --> 01:55:34.600 skiff as it was coming. And I remember as clear 2144 01:55:34.640 --> 01:55:36.000 as day, the first one. 2145 01:55:36.920 --> 01:55:39.920 Setting up plume of water, the after the side, and 2146 01:55:40.000 --> 01:55:43.520 the second one sending splinters off the gunnal of the skiff. 2147 01:55:44.439 --> 01:55:48.000 And then after that there's like a gray blob over 2148 01:55:48.119 --> 01:55:50.880 the occupants of that that skiff, and I have no 2149 01:55:51.880 --> 01:55:55.039 recollection or memory of anything that was there or anything 2150 01:55:55.079 --> 01:56:00.000 that was hit. And I've had that gray blob before 2151 01:56:00.359 --> 01:56:02.000 once when I was in a fight when I was 2152 01:56:02.039 --> 01:56:05.560 in college, when someone was strangling me. And when you're 2153 01:56:05.560 --> 01:56:08.600 close to blacking out, you get these gray fingers coming 2154 01:56:08.640 --> 01:56:12.039 in from the edges, obscuring your vision until it comes 2155 01:56:12.079 --> 01:56:14.479 down to a like a tunnel and it was the 2156 01:56:14.600 --> 01:56:17.680 exact same kind of gray that I remember, like over 2157 01:56:17.720 --> 01:56:19.399 the top of those guys and the skiff that we 2158 01:56:19.479 --> 01:56:22.359 were shooting at. So truthfully, I really don't know if 2159 01:56:22.399 --> 01:56:26.399 I hit anything that day, But the only explanation I 2160 01:56:26.439 --> 01:56:29.479 can come up with is that my mind was somehow 2161 01:56:29.560 --> 01:56:32.800 trying to erase or edit those memories to shield from me, 2162 01:56:33.520 --> 01:56:35.960 shield me from whatever. 2163 01:56:35.720 --> 01:56:39.640 I saw or did. And the one of the one 2164 01:56:39.680 --> 01:56:42.600 of the I think it was the helmsman who had 2165 01:56:42.600 --> 01:56:45.560 actually been through a previous Iranian missile crisis and been 2166 01:56:45.920 --> 01:56:49.319 missile in another ship. He was watching through the monoculars 2167 01:56:49.319 --> 01:56:51.840 and he said he saw two of those guys go down. 2168 01:56:52.800 --> 01:56:56.560 So the South African guy never heard the word of 2169 01:56:56.560 --> 01:56:59.439 command when I when I when I gave the word 2170 01:56:59.479 --> 01:57:02.000 of command, I said, I shouldn't let him have it. 2171 01:57:02.039 --> 01:57:05.239 I should have mentioned that, but yeah, and he never 2172 01:57:05.319 --> 01:57:06.880 heard it, so he never opened fire. It was just 2173 01:57:07.000 --> 01:57:10.000 me and Andy that loosed off, you know, mag each 2174 01:57:10.039 --> 01:57:12.079 into them. So it could have been him, could have 2175 01:57:12.119 --> 01:57:16.920 been me, but I, you know, I wouldn't have my 2176 01:57:17.000 --> 01:57:19.319 mind wouldn't have edited that unless there was something that 2177 01:57:19.399 --> 01:57:21.760 it was trying to protect me from. That's a strange 2178 01:57:21.800 --> 01:57:23.039 little idiosyncrasy. 2179 01:57:23.039 --> 01:57:26.039 I'dn't know if any of the other veterans who've been 2180 01:57:26.159 --> 01:57:29.680 described contacts they've been in have ever expressed anything similar 2181 01:57:29.760 --> 01:57:32.680 about that that Grave blog not quite like that. 2182 01:57:32.880 --> 01:57:36.720 But I think what you're describing is it necessarily uncommon 2183 01:57:36.880 --> 01:57:39.960 that there's like a certain level of stress in your 2184 01:57:40.039 --> 01:57:41.720 mind kind of blanks some things out. 2185 01:57:43.560 --> 01:57:46.640 Yeah, it was very It was very weird. How I 2186 01:57:46.800 --> 01:57:50.920 just could not access those memories afterwards. And yeah, the 2187 01:57:50.960 --> 01:57:53.680 skiff turned around, so there was evidently someone still alive 2188 01:57:54.159 --> 01:57:57.239 at the helm. They went back to the mothership, we 2189 01:57:57.399 --> 01:58:01.239 sailed on. We updated ukmto nearest ship with ours sit 2190 01:58:01.359 --> 01:58:08.560 rep and yeah, checked everyone, no casualties, no damage, stayed 2191 01:58:08.600 --> 01:58:11.560 on watch, stayed up, you know, everyone on stations for 2192 01:58:11.680 --> 01:58:17.399 a good while. And Yeah, eventually sort of calmed down. 2193 01:58:17.520 --> 01:58:21.920 And I remember afterwards, I went up to the top 2194 01:58:21.960 --> 01:58:24.239 of the ship to the what's can known as the 2195 01:58:24.279 --> 01:58:28.760 Monkey Island and held onto the the rigging and stood 2196 01:58:28.800 --> 01:58:32.119 on top of the railings, and just like it was. 2197 01:58:34.000 --> 01:58:35.680 It was weird. It was like a release of emotion. 2198 01:58:35.800 --> 01:58:40.119 I just started laughing into the wind. Yeah. 2199 01:58:40.960 --> 01:58:44.680 Never never really had anything like that since before or since, 2200 01:58:45.560 --> 01:58:48.239 And I guess I was just like super glad to 2201 01:58:49.039 --> 01:58:50.840 have gotten through it. When you think about it, it's 2202 01:58:50.880 --> 01:58:53.640 really not that hard in contact to be in because 2203 01:58:53.680 --> 01:58:56.159 you're up high, they're down there, they're on a skiff. 2204 01:58:56.520 --> 01:58:59.279 You're on a stable firing platform. But but for me, 2205 01:58:59.399 --> 01:59:01.640 I was really satisfied with the fact that I had actually, 2206 01:59:01.760 --> 01:59:05.640 you know, led a team in a contact and I 2207 01:59:05.760 --> 01:59:09.119 knew I'd done my job and done it well and 2208 01:59:09.800 --> 01:59:13.039 you know, held everyone together through my I guess you 2209 01:59:13.159 --> 01:59:16.600 call it leadership. But it wasn't that challenging of a situation, 2210 01:59:16.760 --> 01:59:18.720 but it was. It was definitely a first for me. 2211 01:59:18.880 --> 01:59:22.399 And yeah, yeah, it was. It was. It was something. 2212 01:59:22.520 --> 01:59:24.680 It was something to be that, oh yeah, they needed 2213 01:59:24.720 --> 01:59:29.960 somebody to man up. After that, you went and were 2214 01:59:30.000 --> 01:59:32.399 you doing some freelance work in West Africa. 2215 01:59:33.399 --> 01:59:40.479 Well, it was all technically freelance. So final, final chapter. 2216 01:59:40.680 --> 01:59:45.479 I guess we're getting onto that now. I went back 2217 01:59:45.560 --> 01:59:47.920 to the UK. I tried to, as I put it, 2218 01:59:48.079 --> 01:59:51.560 go straight for a few years after I turned thirty, 2219 01:59:51.600 --> 01:59:53.479 I started panicking, like, you know, I've had all this 2220 01:59:53.680 --> 01:59:56.319 this head and listed sort of existence for the last 2221 01:59:56.359 --> 01:59:59.479 few years. I've had a great time, some cool experiences, 2222 02:00:00.079 --> 02:00:02.479 a little last, but I have no savings, I've got 2223 02:00:02.560 --> 02:00:05.760 no career, I've got no plan, I've got no mortgage. 2224 02:00:05.920 --> 02:00:08.680 And I started panicking and thinking, you know what, woman 2225 02:00:08.760 --> 02:00:11.680 is going to be interested in a long term relationship 2226 02:00:11.720 --> 02:00:13.600 with me unless I get like a real job, a 2227 02:00:13.720 --> 02:00:16.880 stable job. So I tried to go straight. I tried 2228 02:00:16.960 --> 02:00:20.159 to get away from the security industry. I tried a 2229 02:00:20.199 --> 02:00:28.000 few different things. I tried adventure, travel, tourism. I tried 2230 02:00:28.039 --> 02:00:33.399 starting my own app for six months. Didn't work out. 2231 02:00:33.800 --> 02:00:36.399 It makes money, but it wasn't enough to get it 2232 02:00:36.520 --> 02:00:39.239 over the line to make it, you know, super profitable. 2233 02:00:39.800 --> 02:00:44.000 I tried being a recruitment consultant for six months, and 2234 02:00:44.439 --> 02:00:48.079 I spectacularly failed to hire a single person in that time. 2235 02:00:50.439 --> 02:00:52.399 And one of the things they said to me is 2236 02:00:52.720 --> 02:00:55.560 you lack the killer instinct. I'm afraid you don't have 2237 02:00:55.680 --> 02:00:59.960 what it takes in this history. Oh, by the way, 2238 02:01:00.239 --> 02:01:03.960 recruitment consultants, I said, I wouldn't say anything mean about anyone, 2239 02:01:04.199 --> 02:01:06.600 but watch out for them. They will get you in 2240 02:01:06.720 --> 02:01:10.840 for interviews and then they will ask you who you've 2241 02:01:10.920 --> 02:01:11.760 been interviewing with. 2242 02:01:13.720 --> 02:01:15.039 And you know, because you don't want to seem like 2243 02:01:15.119 --> 02:01:17.000 you're nobody and you haven't been doing nothing. You don't 2244 02:01:17.039 --> 02:01:18.319 want to seem like you're sitting on your hand. 2245 02:01:18.359 --> 02:01:20.479 So, so I had this interview with this company, and 2246 02:01:20.520 --> 02:01:22.920 this interview with this company, and they'll be like, oh, so, 2247 02:01:23.199 --> 02:01:25.680 did you interview with so and so that I know 2248 02:01:25.800 --> 02:01:28.159 from them? And you'll be like, no, No, the hiring 2249 02:01:28.239 --> 02:01:31.600 manager was this guy. Five minutes after you're out the door, 2250 02:01:31.840 --> 02:01:33.560 they'll be on the phone to them, looking them up 2251 02:01:33.600 --> 02:01:35.720 on LinkedIn, saying I hear you're hiring. I've got a 2252 02:01:35.800 --> 02:01:39.560 few candidates you might want. Yeah, they will screw you. 2253 02:01:39.920 --> 02:01:43.359 And I just couldn't. I'm not saying I'm an especially 2254 02:01:43.520 --> 02:01:48.319 moral or upright or whatever person, but I wasn't cut 2255 02:01:48.359 --> 02:01:51.279 out for that industry didn't make it did in the 2256 02:01:51.399 --> 02:01:54.640 last six months. And then you know, I was applying 2257 02:01:54.680 --> 02:01:54.840 for this. 2258 02:01:54.960 --> 02:01:57.359 I was applying for that, and I put the colonel 2259 02:01:57.359 --> 02:01:59.279 down as a reference, and I said, can I use 2260 02:01:59.319 --> 02:02:00.760 you as a reference? And I was like yeah, sure. 2261 02:02:01.199 --> 02:02:02.920 And I didn't get that job. And I was like, damn, 2262 02:02:03.000 --> 02:02:05.479 did he screw me on that? Because I really thought 2263 02:02:05.520 --> 02:02:07.840 I was going to get this thing. I called him 2264 02:02:07.920 --> 02:02:09.399 up and I said, did you you know did you 2265 02:02:09.640 --> 02:02:10.479 give me the reference? 2266 02:02:10.560 --> 02:02:12.159 Did you screw me? And he was like, no, I 2267 02:02:12.239 --> 02:02:14.439 gave you one. I'm sorry you didn't get it. So 2268 02:02:14.640 --> 02:02:15.720 you're looking for work, aren't you? 2269 02:02:21.039 --> 02:02:22.640 Do you want to move out to Africa and live 2270 02:02:22.640 --> 02:02:26.279 here full time and be on my you know, management team. 2271 02:02:26.520 --> 02:02:29.279 You know, you know that that Ron in movie they 2272 02:02:29.359 --> 02:02:32.479 talk about laboral management. The Jo Reno character says, were 2273 02:02:32.520 --> 02:02:35.039 you laboral management? I'd been labor up until that point, 2274 02:02:35.119 --> 02:02:37.600 and then I sort of moved onto the management side 2275 02:02:37.640 --> 02:02:40.159 of the thing for a for a good while. 2276 02:02:40.319 --> 02:02:43.039 You know. I was with that management team for six 2277 02:02:43.119 --> 02:02:46.239 months and putting in bids and planning contracts and doing 2278 02:02:47.359 --> 02:02:51.560 doing all the operational sort of fixing for executive protection 2279 02:02:51.720 --> 02:02:56.760 tasks from VIPs visiting East Africa, going on Safari oil contracts, 2280 02:02:57.000 --> 02:03:00.319 security for drilling site, security for crew change is, for 2281 02:03:01.880 --> 02:03:05.000 seismic survey ships, all kinds of stuff. 2282 02:03:05.000 --> 02:03:07.159 And it was fascinating and it was high stakes and 2283 02:03:07.239 --> 02:03:10.520 it was well, I wouldn't say especially, it was high stress, 2284 02:03:10.600 --> 02:03:11.560 That's what I wanted to say. 2285 02:03:11.960 --> 02:03:14.000 And it was during that time living in East Africa 2286 02:03:14.079 --> 02:03:17.720 that I met my wife, my only wife so far, 2287 02:03:18.279 --> 02:03:23.920 And yeah, she was working for the United Nations from 2288 02:03:24.079 --> 02:03:27.039 a girl from Philly, which I was always to find out, 2289 02:03:27.199 --> 02:03:29.720 is it means that they have, you know, like all 2290 02:03:29.800 --> 02:03:33.399 the bad language and all the attitude, know how to 2291 02:03:33.520 --> 02:03:37.079 talk to people that cross them in whees they don't 2292 02:03:37.199 --> 02:03:39.199 like and yeah, shout out to all the Philly girls 2293 02:03:39.239 --> 02:03:45.359 and the Philly people, You're something else. And yeah. So 2294 02:03:48.039 --> 02:03:50.600 after the oil price fell through the floor a few 2295 02:03:50.640 --> 02:03:53.800 months later, I had to go freelance again. I ended 2296 02:03:53.880 --> 02:03:58.960 up working for I worked for a guy who started 2297 02:03:59.000 --> 02:04:04.199 a legitimate mers keeney Meeni services. Have you ever heard 2298 02:04:04.239 --> 02:04:08.319 of them? He went on to found another company who 2299 02:04:08.840 --> 02:04:12.159 were semi you know, no, they were legitimate by that stage, 2300 02:04:12.239 --> 02:04:16.239 but his origins was definitely definitely on the other side 2301 02:04:16.239 --> 02:04:18.840 of the de fence. I actually had lunch with him 2302 02:04:19.000 --> 02:04:25.279 at a nice sort of suburban cafe in East Africa 2303 02:04:26.079 --> 02:04:29.039 before a job that we went on in Somalia to 2304 02:04:29.239 --> 02:04:32.359 do almost the opposite of what I'd done before, but 2305 02:04:33.000 --> 02:04:36.439 on the side of the good guys it was. 2306 02:04:36.560 --> 02:04:39.119 It was a weird situation. I ended up getting dysentery 2307 02:04:39.119 --> 02:04:41.720 in morged issue for about a week, but still paid 2308 02:04:42.439 --> 02:04:45.119 reasonably well without the job actually happening. 2309 02:04:45.439 --> 02:04:51.359 And then I did surveys in France. I did one 2310 02:04:51.439 --> 02:04:53.439 really nice job in Marseille that was just you know, 2311 02:04:53.560 --> 02:04:58.399 paperwork and presentations. Oh and I forgot to tell you 2312 02:04:58.520 --> 02:05:00.479 one of the one of the last part of jobs 2313 02:05:00.520 --> 02:05:02.439 I did while I was still working for the Colonel 2314 02:05:03.720 --> 02:05:04.760 was the. 2315 02:05:06.720 --> 02:05:12.319 Fair Cam Bogie, And yeah, that was my last ransom run. 2316 02:05:12.640 --> 02:05:14.880 I never found out what the ransom was because after 2317 02:05:14.960 --> 02:05:18.600 the tense situation that happened with the Cela Marie and 2318 02:05:18.760 --> 02:05:24.399 they almost went wrong handover, they switched to no more 2319 02:05:24.439 --> 02:05:28.800 face to face handovers. It was dropped by parachute, So 2320 02:05:28.920 --> 02:05:31.439 the ransom would be dropped by parachute with like a 2321 02:05:31.560 --> 02:05:34.760 GPS thing that would basically steer it onto the coordinates 2322 02:05:34.880 --> 02:05:37.039 and it would be picked up, so no more face 2323 02:05:37.079 --> 02:05:40.000 to face, and then the security team would come alongside 2324 02:05:40.119 --> 02:05:42.399 and only get on when the parks got off. 2325 02:05:43.079 --> 02:05:44.720 And they did a lot of these without me, and 2326 02:05:44.800 --> 02:05:46.399 then I joined for my last. 2327 02:05:46.279 --> 02:05:51.520 Job on the fair Cam Bogie, and the wages gone 2328 02:05:51.560 --> 02:05:53.239 down by that stage, so you didn't get the same 2329 02:05:53.319 --> 02:05:57.399 bonuses that you got because as every security industry sort 2330 02:05:57.439 --> 02:06:00.039 of happens, explodes matures. 2331 02:05:59.680 --> 02:06:00.880 And then tails off. 2332 02:06:01.319 --> 02:06:05.720 They started hiring a lot of third country nationals and 2333 02:06:06.000 --> 02:06:08.079 you know, when you were making one thousand dollars a day, 2334 02:06:08.199 --> 02:06:09.800 suddenly you're making two fifty. 2335 02:06:11.159 --> 02:06:14.119 Yeah, yeah, it was like that. But the company was 2336 02:06:14.159 --> 02:06:17.760 still paying good money still, you know, at the at 2337 02:06:17.800 --> 02:06:22.199 the at the good end of the industry. And yeah, 2338 02:06:22.239 --> 02:06:25.000 I did that last job. The r ansom was dropped. 2339 02:06:25.359 --> 02:06:27.920 I'll send you some of the photos. You can see. 2340 02:06:28.840 --> 02:06:31.199 The condition of the ship after the pirates got off 2341 02:06:31.399 --> 02:06:32.560 was diabolical. 2342 02:06:33.479 --> 02:06:35.560 Oh man. Meeting that crew that had been held for 2343 02:06:35.680 --> 02:06:42.960 five months was it was incredible. The captain like they 2344 02:06:43.000 --> 02:06:47.199 were hijacked almost inside a safe port after their security 2345 02:06:47.199 --> 02:06:50.880 team had got off to go ashore via a tender. 2346 02:06:51.479 --> 02:06:53.439 The parks have been waiting. I don't know if they'd 2347 02:06:53.520 --> 02:06:57.159 specifically clocked them and worked out the security team got 2348 02:06:57.199 --> 02:06:58.960 off or if it was just luck. But they were 2349 02:06:59.039 --> 02:07:01.960 almost inside a port in a man I want to 2350 02:07:01.960 --> 02:07:05.640 say Solana, but I might be mixing that up. Now, 2351 02:07:05.800 --> 02:07:09.319 hijacked and then sail back to Somalia. The crew had 2352 02:07:09.359 --> 02:07:13.560 gone into lockdown that but one of the ensigns had 2353 02:07:13.600 --> 02:07:17.680 been in the in the battle of the ship, and 2354 02:07:17.800 --> 02:07:22.079 so they they had him and they forced the rest 2355 02:07:22.119 --> 02:07:24.880 of the crew to open up the citadel because they 2356 02:07:24.960 --> 02:07:28.720 had that one ensign to use his leverage. All the 2357 02:07:28.800 --> 02:07:31.279 defenses they'd put up, the pirates had managed to overwhelm 2358 02:07:31.359 --> 02:07:32.000 and get past. 2359 02:07:33.560 --> 02:07:36.119 They'd endured torture. 2360 02:07:37.359 --> 02:07:44.479 And privation, starvation, beating up, bullying. The pirates had tried 2361 02:07:44.600 --> 02:07:48.600 to convince some of them to go onto other ships, 2362 02:07:48.680 --> 02:07:51.880 to use them as mother ships, to go out on 2363 02:07:52.039 --> 02:07:56.640 pirate missions, to try and take other to hijack other ships. 2364 02:07:56.800 --> 02:07:59.800 It would and anyway, this was all to come when 2365 02:07:59.840 --> 02:08:04.000 I when I met the crew. But yeah, the ransom 2366 02:08:04.079 --> 02:08:07.199 hand over went okay, you know, we went until the 2367 02:08:07.439 --> 02:08:10.800 dusk we came on alongside we got on board. 2368 02:08:11.039 --> 02:08:13.159 The sea state was incredible. 2369 02:08:13.239 --> 02:08:16.960 It was so rough that going across by some nets 2370 02:08:17.279 --> 02:08:18.800 or ladders would have been impossible. 2371 02:08:19.000 --> 02:08:23.119 They actually had to use the ship's crane to send 2372 02:08:23.199 --> 02:08:25.560 over a basket that we then got on and hung 2373 02:08:25.600 --> 02:08:28.880 on too whilst we were swung across. So I can 2374 02:08:29.079 --> 02:08:31.000 legitimately say that I swung on the end of a 2375 02:08:31.119 --> 02:08:33.720 road a landing on a pirate ship, just like an 2376 02:08:33.720 --> 02:08:38.720 Aeroflynn movie. But yeah, that's stretching a point slightly, but 2377 02:08:39.279 --> 02:08:43.479 I did it. And then as soon as we got there, 2378 02:08:43.600 --> 02:08:44.359 we just saw. 2379 02:08:44.239 --> 02:08:49.000 The state the dilapidation, the trash everywhere, the cat leaves 2380 02:08:49.479 --> 02:08:52.600 because the pirates they chew this leaf called cat that 2381 02:08:52.800 --> 02:08:53.760 is like a stimulant. 2382 02:08:54.159 --> 02:08:56.119 I never tried it. I didn't know what to compare 2383 02:08:56.159 --> 02:09:00.800 it to. Thought I wouldn't know. So, yeah, those leaves 2384 02:09:00.840 --> 02:09:04.159 were everywhere, and the crew they all they had left 2385 02:09:04.279 --> 02:09:06.760 was their overalls or a few rags clothes that they'd 2386 02:09:07.439 --> 02:09:09.880 managed to maintain. They'd all been kept on the bridge. 2387 02:09:10.359 --> 02:09:12.319 They'd all been sleeping on mattresses up there while the 2388 02:09:12.399 --> 02:09:15.399 parts slept in their cabin and then had a terrible, 2389 02:09:15.520 --> 02:09:20.000 terrible time. But yeah, we pumped across fuel stores, supplies, food, 2390 02:09:20.079 --> 02:09:23.399 whatever we loaded across, got the ships started. 2391 02:09:23.680 --> 02:09:26.800 Oh, myself and myself and my buddy from the East 2392 02:09:26.800 --> 02:09:31.600 African Special Forces had to go through every compartment and 2393 02:09:31.720 --> 02:09:36.000 clear the whole space. And that was like a I'd 2394 02:09:36.039 --> 02:09:37.039 never done VBSS. 2395 02:09:37.199 --> 02:09:40.119 That one of those ships for two games. 2396 02:09:40.880 --> 02:09:43.720 Yeah, I'd never done the official VBSS training course. 2397 02:09:43.880 --> 02:09:48.039 I was just figuring it out, and yeah, taping taping 2398 02:09:48.119 --> 02:09:50.600 flashlights to the end of your rifle to have some 2399 02:09:51.479 --> 02:09:53.680 some means of checking the corners and everything that was. 2400 02:09:54.600 --> 02:09:56.720 That was pretty nightmarish and by the time we were 2401 02:09:56.760 --> 02:09:59.840 finished clearing everything and verifying no parts were left on board. 2402 02:10:00.600 --> 02:10:03.279 You know, they'd managed to clean it up a bit, 2403 02:10:03.800 --> 02:10:06.760 get the engines started and start getting it out to see. 2404 02:10:08.000 --> 02:10:09.880 I hope I'm not missing anything, and I'm not going 2405 02:10:09.920 --> 02:10:12.960 to come back and say, oh sorry, I forgot but yeah. 2406 02:10:14.760 --> 02:10:17.760 And we sailed north to Salala, and then I shared 2407 02:10:17.880 --> 02:10:21.399 watches with the I think he was the third officer, 2408 02:10:23.359 --> 02:10:29.359 and he just poured out everything. There was a time 2409 02:10:29.479 --> 02:10:35.039 when when myself and the Kent, the East African Special 2410 02:10:35.079 --> 02:10:37.960 Forces guy, had been clearing one of the corridors down 2411 02:10:38.039 --> 02:10:41.439 in the Indian engine room when we'd come across these 2412 02:10:41.520 --> 02:10:46.720 bloodstains on the wall, and the torchlight illuminated it and 2413 02:10:46.920 --> 02:10:48.079 it was someone who had. 2414 02:10:47.960 --> 02:10:54.000 Written in blood, we are only twenty one. And I 2415 02:10:54.159 --> 02:10:56.600 found out one of the crewmen told me this was 2416 02:10:56.640 --> 02:11:01.800 the captain. When the pirates broken into the superstructure and 2417 02:11:01.960 --> 02:11:04.800 got all the crew out of the citadel, they were 2418 02:11:04.880 --> 02:11:07.560 hitting the captain around their head with rifle butts and 2419 02:11:07.640 --> 02:11:09.479 he was bleeding from it and trying to explain to 2420 02:11:09.560 --> 02:11:10.840 them we're only twenty one. 2421 02:11:10.880 --> 02:11:13.479 We're only twenty one. This is everyone. There's no one left. 2422 02:11:13.880 --> 02:11:16.479 So he took the blood coming from his scalp and 2423 02:11:16.640 --> 02:11:18.640 just wrote on the wall we are only twenty one. 2424 02:11:19.680 --> 02:11:21.479 And that's what I saw. I mean, a few hours 2425 02:11:21.560 --> 02:11:23.720 later the crew had cleaned it off, but I saw it. 2426 02:11:24.000 --> 02:11:25.319 Wow, And. 2427 02:11:27.239 --> 02:11:29.479 That was like some sort of intro to a horror. 2428 02:11:29.319 --> 02:11:32.680 Movie or something, you know, going down through the decks 2429 02:11:32.720 --> 02:11:34.800 of the ship with flashlights and one other guy and 2430 02:11:36.039 --> 02:11:39.199 finding this and not knowing what the backstory was. 2431 02:11:39.279 --> 02:11:42.720 And it was you know, obviously filled in later, but damn, 2432 02:11:42.840 --> 02:11:44.800 that was that was pretty real. 2433 02:11:46.279 --> 02:11:50.079 So the captain still had the scars from when they'd 2434 02:11:50.199 --> 02:11:54.680 tortured him by putting ropes, you know, like Baylor twine 2435 02:11:54.720 --> 02:11:57.560 around his wrists and pulling them apart. 2436 02:11:58.319 --> 02:12:01.279 It's a common tactic they would use, be to to 2437 02:12:01.359 --> 02:12:03.800 get the ship owners and the negotiators on the satellite 2438 02:12:03.880 --> 02:12:07.000 phone and torture one of the crew in the background 2439 02:12:07.000 --> 02:12:09.399 while they're trying to negotiate, to try and use that 2440 02:12:09.479 --> 02:12:09.760 as you. 2441 02:12:09.800 --> 02:12:12.640 Know, listen to the screams of your man. This is 2442 02:12:12.680 --> 02:12:18.600 what your delays are causing. And yeah, that was that 2443 02:12:18.760 --> 02:12:20.920 was pretty wild. And you know, you'll see the picture 2444 02:12:21.000 --> 02:12:24.920 I thought about, you know, covering the faces. But if 2445 02:12:24.960 --> 02:12:26.920 you put it off if you use it at your discretion. 2446 02:12:27.279 --> 02:12:29.239 I know, if you want to, you'll see the looks 2447 02:12:29.279 --> 02:12:33.239 on those faces and the story they tell. And just 2448 02:12:33.359 --> 02:12:36.800 in the corner, peeking out behind the bridge winging bridge door, 2449 02:12:36.880 --> 02:12:40.680 you can see me, you know, me in my yeah, twenties. 2450 02:12:40.760 --> 02:12:44.079 I guess, bit of mileage since then, bit of middle 2451 02:12:44.119 --> 02:12:49.479 aged spread, but you know it's I was there. And man, 2452 02:12:49.920 --> 02:12:54.920 the story that that third officer told me of the 2453 02:12:55.079 --> 02:12:57.720 five months he had been due to get married, he 2454 02:12:57.800 --> 02:13:00.840 had been engaged. And in India, you know, postponing a 2455 02:13:00.880 --> 02:13:04.359 wedding is a big deal. Yeah, because it's between the families. 2456 02:13:04.399 --> 02:13:08.239 It's a match. It's not like a huge So he 2457 02:13:08.479 --> 02:13:08.960 was worried. 2458 02:13:09.039 --> 02:13:11.840 He was thinking that their family might have called it off. 2459 02:13:13.039 --> 02:13:15.079 And he told me about torture. He told me about 2460 02:13:15.119 --> 02:13:20.640 the starvation, the captivity, the beatings, and how the captors 2461 02:13:22.000 --> 02:13:22.680 had said to some. 2462 02:13:22.720 --> 02:13:25.439 Of them, look are you Christian or are you Muslim? 2463 02:13:25.720 --> 02:13:28.720 And they'd been like, no, no, we're Hindi, We're Hindus. 2464 02:13:30.319 --> 02:13:34.840 So are you Christian or Muslim? There was no in between, 2465 02:13:35.079 --> 02:13:35.800 either one or the other. 2466 02:13:37.039 --> 02:13:41.680 And yeah, the privation and suffering they had endured, and 2467 02:13:41.760 --> 02:13:45.239 the doubt and wondering if his family was going to 2468 02:13:45.239 --> 02:13:46.920 be decided, if he was going to get to marry 2469 02:13:46.960 --> 02:13:49.159 this woman that he had only met a couple of times. 2470 02:13:50.000 --> 02:13:51.600 You know, I'd been eating up on him and he 2471 02:13:51.680 --> 02:13:54.680 said to me, you know, the day you came twenty one, 2472 02:13:54.800 --> 02:13:59.439 men were born again. Up until then, from five months, 2473 02:13:59.520 --> 02:14:02.439 we were in a space of in between alive and death, 2474 02:14:03.119 --> 02:14:05.880 not knowing what what we would come out as. 2475 02:14:07.359 --> 02:14:10.800 So, yeah, that was it was really really intense listening 2476 02:14:10.840 --> 02:14:13.600 to him and burdening his soul over that that voyage 2477 02:14:13.640 --> 02:14:16.039 north to Salala, and when we got into the port, 2478 02:14:16.119 --> 02:14:19.319 dolphins came out to meet us, and all sailors believe, 2479 02:14:19.359 --> 02:14:21.680 you know, dolphins are a lucky sign and it was 2480 02:14:21.800 --> 02:14:24.960 just beautiful to see those and docking that was like 2481 02:14:25.079 --> 02:14:28.399 a that was an emotional moment. There were minibuses there 2482 02:14:28.920 --> 02:14:32.279 take the crew off. You know, we made our way 2483 02:14:32.920 --> 02:14:36.560 the security team back to whatever agents came along, took 2484 02:14:36.560 --> 02:14:40.279 the weapons or bonded them and whatever, sent them back 2485 02:14:40.279 --> 02:14:43.640 to whatever armory. But that was my last time on 2486 02:14:43.760 --> 02:14:46.479 a ship. That was my last trip. So I went 2487 02:14:46.560 --> 02:14:47.199 back to London. 2488 02:14:47.439 --> 02:14:49.239 Yeah, tell us about you know, kind of where you 2489 02:14:49.319 --> 02:14:50.760 are today, what you're doing now. 2490 02:14:51.600 --> 02:14:54.159 Well, there's a there's an epilogue to this that the 2491 02:14:54.239 --> 02:14:56.880 story wouldn't be complete without, you know. I went back 2492 02:14:56.920 --> 02:14:57.279 to London. 2493 02:14:57.359 --> 02:14:58.840 I went through that whole period of trying to go 2494 02:14:58.920 --> 02:15:00.920 straight because I thought that was my last job before 2495 02:15:01.359 --> 02:15:04.159 I eventually went back to East Africa to work for 2496 02:15:04.199 --> 02:15:07.880 the colonel. And a few months into the thing whatever 2497 02:15:09.159 --> 02:15:11.199 in Devor, I was trying to make work in eventure 2498 02:15:11.239 --> 02:15:12.560 travel or luxury travel. 2499 02:15:13.439 --> 02:15:15.920 I hear from an I hear from the third officer, 2500 02:15:16.960 --> 02:15:21.000 I'm getting married. The married. The wedding is on. That's awesome, 2501 02:15:21.079 --> 02:15:26.079 and I want you to come. And I was like, oh, man, 2502 02:15:26.199 --> 02:15:29.319 can I do this? Yeah, I can do this. And 2503 02:15:29.399 --> 02:15:32.760 they'd been a they'd been a girl, an American as 2504 02:15:32.760 --> 02:15:36.439 it happens, that i'd met like ten years ago on 2505 02:15:36.520 --> 02:15:39.279 a dockside in Tangier that I had like a fling 2506 02:15:39.399 --> 02:15:43.720 with in southern Spain and whatever, and I'd stayed in 2507 02:15:43.800 --> 02:15:46.920 touch with her long distance, and she got married and 2508 02:15:47.000 --> 02:15:49.560 got divorced, and I was like, man, I wonder if 2509 02:15:49.600 --> 02:15:52.880 she'd come to this wedding with me. So I asked 2510 02:15:52.880 --> 02:15:57.760 her and she's like, yeah, I'll come, crazy girl. So 2511 02:15:58.199 --> 02:16:02.000 we went as guests of honor to this wedding in Deli, 2512 02:16:03.199 --> 02:16:07.119 and their family treated me like a god. I was 2513 02:16:07.720 --> 02:16:09.760 put up with them. I didn't stand in any hotels, 2514 02:16:09.960 --> 02:16:12.439 I didn't eat any restaurants. They put me up for 2515 02:16:12.560 --> 02:16:18.039 like ten days. An Indian wedding has like so many 2516 02:16:18.199 --> 02:16:20.800 levels and layers to it. There's like three different ceremonies 2517 02:16:21.159 --> 02:16:24.840 spaced out by a week, and yeah, we were there 2518 02:16:24.880 --> 02:16:28.439 for all of it. They bought me, like I forget 2519 02:16:28.479 --> 02:16:31.680 what it's called, like a like a tunic with these 2520 02:16:31.760 --> 02:16:33.959 golden buttons. You'll see it in the picture. I don't 2521 02:16:34.000 --> 02:16:36.280 want to try and fuck around with the pictures right now, 2522 02:16:36.360 --> 02:16:39.639 but if you splice it in, there's a wedding photo 2523 02:16:39.760 --> 02:16:42.639 with the third officer in the middle, myself on one side, 2524 02:16:42.719 --> 02:16:44.799 the American girl who came along with me on the other. 2525 02:16:45.520 --> 02:16:50.159 And yeah, man, at that wedding, I danced until dawn 2526 02:16:50.520 --> 02:16:53.520 and it was like a like an emotional sort of 2527 02:16:54.799 --> 02:16:56.079 epilogue to the whole. 2528 02:16:58.000 --> 02:16:59.200 Yeah, yeah, big time. 2529 02:16:59.479 --> 02:16:59.680 Yeah. 2530 02:17:00.200 --> 02:17:04.159 And and I I have to say, if I hadn't 2531 02:17:04.239 --> 02:17:08.639 had that positive experience through that journey I went on 2532 02:17:08.719 --> 02:17:11.920 through private security, if I had just finished Afghanistan and 2533 02:17:11.959 --> 02:17:15.959 that was it, and I hadn't you know. 2534 02:17:16.040 --> 02:17:20.200 Afghanistan was a kind of an unresolved, unfinished No one 2535 02:17:20.360 --> 02:17:22.239 really got the ending they wanted to out of it. 2536 02:17:23.000 --> 02:17:27.600 But I I kind of I kind of got something 2537 02:17:27.760 --> 02:17:32.079 back through this whole party experience, and that I thank 2538 02:17:32.200 --> 02:17:34.639 you that the crew said to me, and that first 2539 02:17:34.680 --> 02:17:37.200 ship of suba marine, and that the experience of meeting 2540 02:17:37.840 --> 02:17:40.840 that third officers family, and that the thanks I got 2541 02:17:40.879 --> 02:17:43.520 from them, and the seeing that marriage and being there 2542 02:17:43.559 --> 02:17:49.079 for that, and if it was like a it was 2543 02:17:49.319 --> 02:17:52.840 it was a very much a healing experience from the 2544 02:17:54.239 --> 02:17:58.879 the unpleasantness that that Afghanistan was. And I feel like 2545 02:17:59.040 --> 02:18:03.079 a lot of the you know, my brother soldiers and 2546 02:18:03.120 --> 02:18:08.239 comrades who went through that, they never got that that ending. 2547 02:18:09.079 --> 02:18:12.399 It's like a sense of closure. Yeah, yeah, yeah. 2548 02:18:13.079 --> 02:18:14.959 And I was saying to my you know, I've been 2549 02:18:15.000 --> 02:18:16.479 thinking for the last couple of months, what am I 2550 02:18:16.520 --> 02:18:18.559 going to say in this this interview, this thing we're doing. 2551 02:18:19.200 --> 02:18:20.760 And I was having a walk with my wife and 2552 02:18:20.799 --> 02:18:22.920 I said, I don't know what kind of person I'd 2553 02:18:22.959 --> 02:18:26.680 be today if I didn't get that that happy ending. 2554 02:18:28.120 --> 02:18:30.120 That sounds so corny. I have difficulty saying it. 2555 02:18:30.159 --> 02:18:33.440 Out loud, but well, if you point out, you don't 2556 02:18:33.440 --> 02:18:35.239 always get one in this profession. 2557 02:18:35.399 --> 02:18:38.000 So she said to me, I don't know if you'd 2558 02:18:38.000 --> 02:18:42.120 even be alive today, right, Yeah, well I thought you 2559 02:18:42.200 --> 02:18:43.600 had a little bit more faith in me than that. 2560 02:18:43.760 --> 02:18:48.920 But final take that, I guess. So, so, yeah, it 2561 02:18:49.079 --> 02:18:52.879 was the epilogue, the wedding. It was a big deal 2562 02:18:53.399 --> 02:18:57.920 and yeah, sorry, I I I didn't know. 2563 02:18:58.000 --> 02:19:00.520 Yeah, just to just to start wrapping up, tell us 2564 02:19:00.600 --> 02:19:02.760 you know about what you're up to nowadays? 2565 02:19:04.159 --> 02:19:08.479 Oh man, So yeah, freelance Africa. Worked for an embassy. 2566 02:19:09.280 --> 02:19:13.040 I kind of got to go straight after all. Did 2567 02:19:13.079 --> 02:19:15.760 the embassy work for a year, and then I was 2568 02:19:18.159 --> 02:19:22.600 the wife and I we pulled stumps and we quit 2569 02:19:22.680 --> 02:19:26.840 our jobs and moved back to the States. And I've 2570 02:19:26.879 --> 02:19:30.520 been living here now for almost ten years. I'm a 2571 02:19:30.639 --> 02:19:35.520 US citizen. I've had two sons born here. They now 2572 02:19:35.600 --> 02:19:43.239 have triple nationality. And yeah, moving to the States has 2573 02:19:43.280 --> 02:19:47.200 been a trip. You know, it's been an adventure in itself. 2574 02:19:47.239 --> 02:19:52.200 It deserves a whole chapter in itself. I love being here, 2575 02:19:52.559 --> 02:19:56.040 I love the country, I love the people, and I've 2576 02:19:56.079 --> 02:20:00.000 been working in corporate security ever since. It's not high arctane, 2577 02:20:00.239 --> 02:20:01.760 you know, it's not it's not. 2578 02:20:03.360 --> 02:20:06.719 See to the pants stuff. But it's been steady, it's 2579 02:20:06.760 --> 02:20:09.000 been flexible. I get to do fun stuff. 2580 02:20:08.760 --> 02:20:11.440 Every now and again we can and again I do 2581 02:20:11.479 --> 02:20:13.920 a bit of executive protection as part of the job. 2582 02:20:14.719 --> 02:20:20.719 And Yeah, it's been cool. I've been luckier than I 2583 02:20:20.840 --> 02:20:24.079 have any right to deserve or expect. And I'm truly 2584 02:20:24.159 --> 02:20:26.479 grateful for the people who've given me the opportunities that 2585 02:20:26.559 --> 02:20:32.079 I've had. I'm truly grateful for, you know, the people 2586 02:20:32.120 --> 02:20:34.959 in this country, the friends, the neighbors that I've made, 2587 02:20:35.239 --> 02:20:40.200 and the you know, being being felt, being feeling like 2588 02:20:40.280 --> 02:20:43.680 I'm I'm a part of it, and it's awesome. 2589 02:20:44.079 --> 02:20:47.479 Is there a place where people can go to find you, Dave, Like, 2590 02:20:47.559 --> 02:20:50.200 are you on LinkedIn? Or if people wanted to reach 2591 02:20:50.280 --> 02:20:52.520 out and procure your services so to speak. 2592 02:20:53.399 --> 02:20:56.639 No, I'm I'm corporate now and I have to get 2593 02:20:56.680 --> 02:20:58.559 someone's permission to do anything outside of that. 2594 02:21:01.680 --> 02:21:06.040 But gosh, I used to have a No. I mean, 2595 02:21:06.079 --> 02:21:08.760 you can just find me on LinkedIn. I guess if 2596 02:21:08.799 --> 02:21:09.520 you really want to. 2597 02:21:11.440 --> 02:21:15.840 Yeah, these days, you know, I'm definitely in middle age, 2598 02:21:17.120 --> 02:21:21.040 late forties, and I guess, you know, I still find 2599 02:21:21.200 --> 02:21:24.479 time to try and blow my hair back occasionally, although 2600 02:21:24.760 --> 02:21:27.680 having responsibility, you can't be quite as reckless as I 2601 02:21:27.879 --> 02:21:30.440 used to be. So I found I found a way 2602 02:21:30.479 --> 02:21:33.399 to you know, blow my hair back every now and 2603 02:21:33.399 --> 02:21:38.000 again by doing shooting competitions and a couple of marathons. 2604 02:21:38.000 --> 02:21:42.360 I've got one coming up in November, and yeah, looking 2605 02:21:42.360 --> 02:21:46.520 forward to that. I tried the I dabbled in night 2606 02:21:46.600 --> 02:21:50.639 vision shooting competitions and I had a little bit of success. 2607 02:21:51.639 --> 02:21:55.399 I came last year, I came second in the largest 2608 02:21:55.440 --> 02:21:58.399 one in the US, the EVE. For that, I think 2609 02:21:58.440 --> 02:22:02.399 I came second as well. So yeah, I've I've found 2610 02:22:02.399 --> 02:22:07.319 a little niche there and enjoy doing the odd the 2611 02:22:07.440 --> 02:22:12.280 daytime competitions or or whatever comes my way. And yeah, 2612 02:22:12.280 --> 02:22:14.799 I'm just really glad to be here and sort of 2613 02:22:16.879 --> 02:22:19.079 really grateful for the opportunity to come and share this 2614 02:22:19.200 --> 02:22:21.040 story because it's been a while. Man. 2615 02:22:21.319 --> 02:22:24.600 Yeah, no, thank you for thinking of us. And these 2616 02:22:24.639 --> 02:22:27.879 are some like really unique experiences. It's an insight into 2617 02:22:29.680 --> 02:22:31.799 you for a couple of different reasons. Partly because it's 2618 02:22:31.840 --> 02:22:34.319 private security and another that it's out in the middle 2619 02:22:34.319 --> 02:22:37.319 of the ocean, so people don't really have visibility on it, 2620 02:22:38.280 --> 02:22:41.440 so we really appreciate these sorts of like unique experiences 2621 02:22:41.559 --> 02:22:42.639 and you sharing them with us. 2622 02:22:44.159 --> 02:22:45.639 Well, I know I haven't been the best guest and 2623 02:22:45.680 --> 02:22:49.360 I've chopped in chains. No, no, it's buddled the order. 2624 02:22:49.440 --> 02:22:54.000 But hopefully you can edit into something something halfway legible 2625 02:22:54.159 --> 02:22:58.920 and something that will be interest and hopefully entertainment to 2626 02:22:58.959 --> 02:23:01.639 your audience. And it's been fun. Man, it's been a 2627 02:23:01.719 --> 02:23:04.760 lot of fun just recounting it. How many minutes did 2628 02:23:04.799 --> 02:23:06.159 we actually clock up in the end. 2629 02:23:07.639 --> 02:23:13.840 I don't know. Yeah, oh okay, so yeah, I'll do 2630 02:23:13.920 --> 02:23:17.159 a quick I'll do a quick outro here and we 2631 02:23:17.239 --> 02:23:22.360 can get going. So thank you Dave for joining us 2632 02:23:22.440 --> 02:23:24.399 on the show today. We'll have some links down the 2633 02:23:24.479 --> 02:23:27.360 description if you want to find him on LinkedIn. And 2634 02:23:27.559 --> 02:23:30.639 I hope all you guys enjoyed this sort of unique 2635 02:23:30.680 --> 02:23:34.399 insight into private security on the high seas and we 2636 02:23:34.520 --> 02:23:37.719 will see you next week. So until then, take care. 2637 02:23:37.920 --> 02:23:40.079 Thanks man. Thanks to the audience for sticking it out 2638 02:23:40.159 --> 02:23:41.399 this long. It's been emotional. 2639 02:23:41.639 --> 02:23:42.239 Thank you Dave. 2640 02:23:44.280 --> 02:23:47.079 Hello everyone. If you're hearing this you are not a 2641 02:23:47.239 --> 02:23:51.360 member of the Patreon, you can get your hands on 2642 02:23:52.120 --> 02:23:55.040 ad free episodes that come out early and you can 2643 02:23:55.120 --> 02:23:57.360 ask us questions, maybe we'll answer them. You can also 2644 02:23:57.440 --> 02:24:01.159 watch the Team House podcast completely the ad free and early, 2645 02:24:01.239 --> 02:24:03.319 and you can also watch it live as we interview 2646 02:24:03.399 --> 02:24:07.120 our guests, and it's the best way to support the channel, 2647 02:24:07.280 --> 02:24:09.360 so if you can, if you're open to it, you 2648 02:24:09.440 --> 02:24:12.479 can go to patreon dot com slash the Teamhouse. That 2649 02:24:12.639 --> 02:24:16.319 link is in the description. We appreciate the supporters and 2650 02:24:16.719 --> 02:24:19.159 we hope you would consider being one. So it's patreon 2651 02:24:19.239 --> 02:25:21.639 dot com slash the Teamhouse. Thanks guys, passsssssssssssssssss.