Who am I?
Well as you have probably worked out by now, my name is Alistair Baillie and this is my little home on the web where you can follow my travels as a deck officer, download some programs I wrote or browse my web design portfolio and pictures.
I was born on the 22nd of January 1985 which makes me 24 years old. I was born in Scotland, that's a country in the United Kingdom which is in Europe. I attended Coltness High School until I was 17 and then moved onto the University of Strathclyde where I studied Software Engineering. I decided about half way through my second year that the course wasn't for me and changed course to the Science Studies degree offered at Strathclyde which suited me better, I graduated from Strathclyde in 2005 with a BSc in Science Studies (Computer Science).
Like a lot of graduates I found myself unsure what I wanted to do and randomly discovered the Merchant Navy training scheme run by Island Cruises, applied and got a place as a deck officer trainee (cadet) with them.
I started at Warsash Maritime Academy in September 2006 and went away to sea on my first ship, the M/V Island Star in January 2007 for 6 months. I then returned to Warsash for around a year before joining the Island Escape in June 2008 for 4 months and then returned to the Island Star in November through to the end of the ship in March 2009.
I completed my training at Warsash Maritime Academy in July 2009 and gained my Officer of the Watch licence from the MCA shortly after that. I then joined my first ship, MV Minerva as a third officer in October 2009 and remained onboard until mid December.
I am presently at home, scheduled to return to Minerva as a second officer at the end of January 2010, where I will end up after that remains a mystery!
Now, you might think that I have lead a rather random life so far, however, I am thoroughly enjoying being at sea and visiting lots of new places as well as working with people from all over the world.