Generally, when we talk of drilling rigs we talk of the rig crews and perhaps the water hauler or service crews but not often do we talk of the women and men that make up the camp staff , its as if they are a necessity that are just miraculously there. To begin, I will write about the staff here in Canada and their responsibilities I had the pleasure of visiting some of the camps, as Bawden/Noble had their own and for many years the staff were directly hired by the company, we were all on the payroll and covered by the same benefits plans, received the same service and safety awards, all part of the same family.
The 1st cook's day would start around 5AM, responsibilities were meal planning and menus for the week ahead, inventory, grocery ordering, keeping track of billable meals for non-company visitors and managing a well organized camp which would feed on an average 20 - 25 people a day.. duties of the 2nd cook were prepping for all meals, baking, desserts and perhaps bread making, the camp attendant was responsible for doing dishes, changing bedding twice a day as the morning/afternoon crews would share the beds, doing the laundry, washing floors and keeping the showers and bathrooms clean. Everyone pitched in on grocery delivery day. unloading, unpacking and putting everything away. The camps crew change was the same as the rig crews either 2 weeks on and 1 week off or 3 weeks on and 1 week off.
It wasn't all sweat and toil there were some very funny stories, as an example here are a few pictures of a "mock trial: on rig E1501. Lyle McKain was the judge wearing his mop benchwig, Kevin "killer" Gunter is the accused and Scott Engele was the crown prosecutor. William Stewart was testifying and placed in the witness protection program (wearing a box his head) to hide his identity.
First Cook Sandy Mottus and camp attendant Sylvia Boyd were with others in the court galley.
It was a very different schedule for the International offshore kitchen staff. This staff would be on a contract which generally has them on the rig for two years, with a month off after completing 11 months of employment and following that, generally would get a weekend off the rig every three months to visit whatever city the heliport was located in or near.. I'm told there is a kitchen staff of approx. 25 - 30 who, on an average were responsible for cooking and cleaning for 150 - 220 people. Their duties also included doing laundry 4 - 6 times a day, with all personnel clothing being placed in a mesh bag identifying the owner and returned to them the same day.. There would be over 200 beds a day changed and laundered,.
Our Western cuisine was not common as the cooks were nationals so your palate needed some training. Philip Beaulieu, a former Noble employee related that it didn't matter if the cook was from Nepal, India or Angola there was always that one chicken curry or stew that was amazing, crews named it fire-cracker chicken On the rig in the Middle East the kitchen would offer up either a western or Indian dish for breakfast, most opting for the western dish. The groceries and camp supplies came out in refrigerated C-cans on the supply boats, this is a very busy day for the galley boys.
this is just an abbreviated version of the duties of domestic and international offshore camp staff. I'm very sorry to say that I don't have any photos of the offshore group.
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