By Bruce S. Kershaw

     Brian Eleser

     Here’s a story for those who have grown weary of working the old nine-to-five.

     Check out what BYYB member, and Weekender builder, Brian Eleser does for a living. I’ll let him   tell it...

     “I work for Shell Exploration and Production Company on an offshore oil production platform  in the Gulf of Mexico. I am a Control Room Operator on the Ursa TLP (Tension Leg Platform). It is a floating platform that is tethered to the sea floor in 3,800 feet of water, about 70 miles off the coast of Louisiana.

     As a CRO, I monitor the production facilities from a central control room, and assist the other operators and technicians in the operation and troubleshooting of the platform. I also hold a USCG license as a Ballast Control Operator, and monitor the stability of the TLP, as it is a floating vessel.

     I have been with Shell for 10 years, and have been on the Ursa project for 4 years. I have been on the operations team through the design, construction,  commissioning, installation, start-up, and operating phases. It has been a very interesting process.

     The  construction and commissioning for the topside modules took place in Morgan City, Louisiana. The hull, in Taranto, Italy. The installation of the topsides onto the hull took place in  Curacao, one of the Netherlands Antilles Islands, off the coast of Venezuela. We then towed the whole thing from there to the Gulf of Mexico. We work a 14 days on / 14 days off schedule.”

     I asked Brian what it was like to be out there in the middle of a hurricane. (That part of the Gulf gets more than it’s fair share.)

     “I can’t answer your question”, he said, “because we always high-tail it out of there before the thing even gets close to us. Because of the fact that we are a floating platform, and so far out, (minimum 45 minute chopper flight) and we usually have from 100 to 130 people on board, we start evacuating early.

     We’ve been lucky the past few years. This season we started evacuating “non-essentials” quite a few times, but the storms were usually far enough away that we were able to keep a handful of people to keep it running. Shell is a very safety minded company, and will evacuate down to the last person if it looks like it’s coming our way. But they watch hour by hour to make that decision, because it’s a big decision to pull the plug on 4 million dollars a day worth of production (give or take a few dollars ;).

     We have seen wind and waves from your average storm, but we’re so big and so high off the water, that it’s not like being in a boat or ship. We’re attached to the bottom, but 4,000 feet of pipe will stretch, so we do feel some movement, but nothing drastic.”

     Back on shore is Brian’s family.

     “My wife’s name is Rosa, and we have been married for 10 years. We have two wonderful boys. Justin is 5, and Kyle is 3. My boys like to “help”, so I try to include them in whatever I am doing. Justin will tell people “I’m helping my daddy build a sailboat.” and we have a cute picture of Kyle attempting to drive a screw with his Fischer-Price drill.”

     Rosa is a full time student, and gives him a hand on the boat when he needs it.

     About his sons Brian says, “I am hoping to get them both interested in sailing at a young age. It appears to me that people who start sailing as kids, tend to stick with it.”

     The Elesers live in Ponchatoula, Louisiana, were Brian has lived all his life. It is a small town about an hour’s drive north of New Orleans. Ponchatoula is known as the Strawberry  Capital of the world, and he says they do grow the best. According to Brian, it’s a nice little town, with a large surrounding rural population.

     Brian will be doing most of his sailing on Lake Ponchartrain, a very large, brackish water lake, which extends from just a few miles south of Ponchatoula, to New Orleans, to the south, and from Lake Maurepas, to the west, to Lake Borgne, and then on to the Gulf, to the east.

     “I can launch directly into the lake about ten miles from home, or into the Tangipahoa River, which empties into the lake about 8 mile below the boat launch, which is about 2 mile from my home. I would also like to do some sailing in the Gulf, over around Biloxi, Mississippi, which is about an hour and a half from home. There are several barrier islands that are anywhere from a few miles, to 12 miles off the beach. A friend of mine lives there, and is restoring a 28 foot Marinette cabin cruiser. When we are both through with our boats, we plan to take them out to one of the islands for a weekend trip. There are also a few spots on lake Ponchartrain that are good for camping too. I plan on daysailing until I build up my skills and confidence. I have always been interested in anything nautical, and have been around boats all my life, although the only sailboats I had ever been on  were the few times I rented Hobie Cats over on the beach in Biloxi. They were allot of fun, but it was embarrassing when we couldn’t get back to the beach. I knew we were supposed to tack, but couldn’t quite figure out how.

     A few years ago, a friend of mine who worked offshore with me, invited us to go sailing with him and his wife. He lives on Mobile Bay, in Alabama. He has a 30ft Newport, and has been sailing all his life. We spent the whole day on the bay, sailing all the way to the Gulf. I was hooked.

     Instead of just taking us out sailing, Andy explained everything as we went, and let us help with everything. He is a good teacher, and loves to share his love of sailing. We have since gone out with them several more times. He is now retired, and has been preparing his boat for an extended cruise. He doesn’t know where they are going, only that they are heading south.

     After that first trip with Andy, I started looking on the Internet for a small boat that I could build myself. A friend at work turned me on to the Mother Of All Maritime Links website. The Stevenson’s site was one of the first ones I looked at. I immediately fell for the looks of the boat, with it’s classic lines. All the other plans and kits I looked at looked complicated, but the Weekender looked relatively easy to build.  

     I started in March of last year, and got off to a good start. I got a lot done in a short time, mainly, since I have 14 days off at a time. Once the heat of summer came, I didn’t get much done, and it took me a while to get back to work on it. I never suffered from “first cut fever”, but I guess I had “mid-way fever”. I finally got back to it, but kept putting off the glass work.”  A friend of mine builds fiberglass boats for a living, so I had him glass it for me. I am now in the process of finishing up the details and rigging, and will hopefully have it in the water soon.

     I have found that if you can keep the boat protected without having to cover it up or move it around, you will get more done a little at a time. Despite having as much time off as I do, I usually have so many things going on that I am pressed  for time. If I find myself with short periods of free time, I am more apt to work on my boat if I don’t have to uncover it, move it, or drag out a bunch of stuff that is stored away. A little work here and there adds up.”

     He started building in his garage, but has since sold the house. He is now building a large workshop type building with an apartment above it, on their property out in the country. He says the shop has to come first, before the house, or it might not get built for a while, if ever.

     Besides sailing, Brian enjoys anything outdoors... Gardening and landscaping, hunting and fishing. (Louisiana is known as the Sportsman’s Paradise.) Brian and his wife are both certified scuba divers, and he enjoys spear fishing around the many oil platforms in the Gulf.

     While he admits to not being very “active” on the board, Brian follows it closely and has gotten a lot of good ideas and help from others. He is looking forward to attending get togethers, and getting to know other members.  Brian would love to make it to the get together the Stevensons are planning, and likes the idea of a national gathering once a year.

     Feel free to E-mail him. He would enjoy hearing from other members.

     Brian Eleser;  bdeleser@shellus.com

     Thanks Brian. See you on Bourbon Street.

      For more information on the Ursa, Tension Leg Platform, Brian says there is a good article in the October issue of Fast Company Magazine.

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