Cookie

That's a weird rotation. 4 days off in the middle of 48 days of working then no doubt spending the 21 days off trying to recover and not looking forward to the long rotation again.

My OH works in the Kearl Field and is on a 10/10 day rotation. Typically it's a 12 hr working day with travel from the camp to the sands and during the winter months the cold sucks the life out of you. 7500 people living on camp. Awake at 3.45am for breakfast and travel. Not back at camp until 6.45pm.

Check out the camp accommodation blocks
Having said all that he says he works with a great crew. He worked 18 years on rigs in the North Sea and says the commaraderie is much the same.

Edo

How refreshing is it to be reminded of that

gryphea

It is a weird shift. On sites I am familiar with, I think they cap rotations at 21 days for safety reasons.

tweed_wearer

That video is sucking the life out of me. I mean, I live in a pretty crap bit of Leeds at the mo, but even after an apocalypse I couldn't imagine it being that depressing!

I'd do it for the money though. Anybody know what the 'office' field jobs are like? Procurement/contract drafting etc?

Cookie

I think it's better looking than the offshore rigs but only just lol

Jingsamichty

Bit late to this thread, so don't know if the OP is still around any more.

I've been working on a camp-based oil sands project for the best part of the past 5 years (the only people who actually work IN the camps are the camp operating personnel - like hotel staff). I know the Wapasu camp in the video above very well.

There are as much drugs and prostitution in the camps as there are in any work place... i.e. hardly any. 99% of the people who work up here work very long hours to earn very good money and are quite content to save their partying for their "off" time. My day starts at 03:45 and I am in bed asleep by 20:00. Most people simply do not have the time nor energy for partying, even if booze was available.

On many but not all camps, alcohol is banned. Security is very strict, you are searched while boarding the plane and there are frequent and random dog searches of the rooms to check for alcohol & drugs. (Maybe they can sniff out hookers too?)

Fort McMurray itself is a different kettle of fish. As well as the town-based workers, you've also got the shady hangers-on, the chancers, and the folks who know they're not able to stick to the rules of camp life.

Don't worry about your husband going to camp - he will be too knackered to get into trouble, and probably couldn't even find it anyway. His rotation sounds dreadful by the way.

Having said all that, I am very relieved to know that, at loooooong last, I am in my final ever trip up here. 40 days to go and I AM OUTTA HERE!!!

iaink

Off to buy your own private Caribbean island?

Enjoy your retirement!

Jingsamichty

Retirement? Dream on!

Plan is to finish up here early October, take a few months off and then look for a project closer to home.

Novocastrian

Shouldn't you be slaving over a hot tar pit?

Jingsamichty

Shouldn't you be marking some homework, or are you still en vacances?

Anyway, you're finishing up here soon too, aren't you?

Novocastrian

En vacances toujours. Yes, I'm finishing up in about 250 days. Well, a bit less probably, I'm somewhat impatient by nature.

Jingsamichty

I plan to be out of here before the first snowflake. 2 Calgary and 5 Fort McMurray winters have been quite enough for me, danke tres much.

Novocastrian

Ja, ich understanden tres bien. Leider j'ai viel mehr Kanadische hivers hinter me.

Es gibt seulement encore ein.

Gott sei thanked.

Jingsamichty

That sounds just like Gazza's statement to the coppas yesterday.

Novocastrian

I used to be his language coach you know.