Page 18 - RADC Bulletin 2018

ADVENTUROUS TRAINING
Exercise Solent Serpent – 201 (Northern) Field Hospital Major Kate Hitchcock RADC
For one week during August 2017 over thirty personnel from the Newcastle based 201 Field Hospital participated in Exercise Solent Serpent, an adventurous training week of sailing in the Solent. Six 34-
foot Victoria Yachts were chartered from JSASTC in Gosport Hampshire.
“Lambis”, skippered by the experienced Captain Rhys Jenkins and supported by five shipmates including the Dental Officer Major Kate Hitchcock, spent the week practising the drills and skills found in the competent crew syllabus whilst enjoying sailing the Solent, dodging the ferries and exploring the waters around the Isle of Wight. Competent Crew skills include man overboard (using a bucket rather than the dentist), dropping the anchor, mooring to an anchor, even how to
GENERAL INTEREST
winch a person to the top of the mast in the Bosun’s Chair, a skill which had to be used for real, later on in the week.
The Lambis Team enjoyed reasonable weather, good sailing, and excellent and interesting food – who would have thought “Spam Curry” would taste so delicious!
The Solent is one of the busiest shipping channels in the world. The accommodation on board a Victoria is, in Estate Agent speak, “Cosy or Snug“– however realistically it is cramped, so good personal admin is essential to make your own life and that of your shipmates more comfortable. Living on board in such close proximity, in a challenging and uncomfortable environment, with people you may be deployed with, is interesting and relevant training. I would
definitely recommend a weeks sailing as adventurous training for anyone who hasn’t given it a try.
Sunflower Competition,
Dental Centre Catterick ITC
Major Kate Hitchcock RADC
Dental Centre Catterick ITC are proud
to report on the sunflower growing competition which was held over the summer months of 2017 in the newly reclaimed back garden, adjacent to the dilapidated porta-cabins otherwise known as Surgeries 5 and 6!
This was a team event, where all participants contributed £2 into “The Sunflower Fund”. This formed the prize money once the seeds, pots and compost had been purchased. The prize was to be awarded for the tallest sunflower at the end of the summer.
The sunflower seeds were divided up giving each person 5 seeds, which were planted at home, at their own convenience on a date of their choosing. Once the weather had warmed and their plants were established, they were returned to the dental centre and planted out. Only one sunflower plant per person was to be entered into the competition.
It transpired that the younger generation were unsure how to plant seeds or grow plants... (not mentioning any names Miss Becca Jones!).
In early May Mrs Sigi Thompson, our only German contestant, took an early lead by being the first person to plant their sunflower out in the garden. Sure enough her sunflower was the strongest and tallest plant for many weeks and she was already planning on what to do with the winnings.
The spring and early summer found a total of 11 sunflowers planted around the perimeter of the ITC garden. One morning in June the author was dismayed to find
the head of her sunflower had been cut off and discarded – sabotage was suspected... however no one was found guilty of the crime so the wind was blamed (peculiar how the wind only damaged one plant
– just saying!). Owing to his springtime deployment to Kenya, Major Henry Walker was unable to nurture his own plant, so on his return he adopted one of Becca’s cast off plants. Unfortunately this strategy was unsuccessful as his plant died prematurely without flowering.
The Yorkshire summer progressed with brief spells of warm sunshine interrupted by strong winds and rain. Despite this, the sunflowers all grew steadily – Mrs Bonni
Batty’s plant was the first to flower and proceeded to have five other flowers – (a genetic mutant?) while Mrs Kirsty Pollard’s flower boasted the largest head.
Weekly measurements during August and September confirmed Mrs Sigi Thompson’s sunflower remained the tallest, as it had done all summer, until the final 3 weeks of the competition when Mrs Tracy Hunters plant shot up, eventually overtaking Sigi’s in the final 2 weeks. Who would have thought that a plant growing competition could have proved so exciting?
So the winner of the Dental Centre Catterick ITC 2017 Sunflower Competition, with an incredible height of 239 cm (7 ft. 10 in) went to... Mrs Tracy Hunter. Lt Col Alex Jess, the SDO, presented the prize on Friday 22nd Sept at his annual BBQ.
16 RADC BULLETIN 2018