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Wow. Well it's now 2.50pm and around seven hours after we set sail. We are still here, right up against the pontoons that surround the Faslane nuclear weapons base – and just some 150 metres away a Trident submarine is sitting there… I keep staring at it… It's a large beast but it's still weird to think that something of that size can carry enough nuclear missiles to wipe out hundreds of thousand of people at the touch of a button…
It's been a mad old morning. As we left Greenock and steamed towards the base - even though I have total faith in our crew onboard - I thought, "there’s no way we are going to be able to blockade that base". We've been sitting around the corner in Greenock for days, on a Greenpeace ship with NO NEW NUCLEAR WEAPONS written down the side, so I was guessing the base would be more than prepared for us. But no, for ages just one police launch and one police inflatable (with one man onboard) was all we encountered. They must have been on a coffee break.
Our inflatables launched, canoes went in the water and there was a brief flurry of activity as they headed towards the subs. They tried to get over the pontoons and onto a sub to protest – to send the message that we aren’t going to have more nuclear weapons built in our name. It's time to take decisive action on our very own weapons of mass destruction. Tony Blair can't tell states like Iran and North Korea that they can’t develop nuclear weapons while ordering a brand spanking new set for his own legacy!
Right now, we're in a stand off – there have been three tug boats, several police boats and countless police inflatables buzzing around us for hours now. Some 18 Greenpeace people (those on the inflatables and canoes) have been arrested. Three boats have been seized. A while back, we thought we were going to be boarded imminently; now looks like they’re off on coffee break again, so there's time for a quick blog.
One thing that's really struck me today and since I got onboard a few days ago is what a great crew we have on the Sunrise. Despite all the chaos kicking off all around us everyone is calmly doing their job – keeping the ship safe and functioning, getting photo and video out, the cook has even made lunch in the midst of it all! And no-one is getting stressed out - there’s a real sense of camaraderie.
Everyone onboard is so passionate about this issue; I'm sitting here (I'm usually a law abiding kind of a gal, having only been arrested once in my seven years at Greenpeace) thinking I don’t mind so much if I get arrested. A part of me wants to go to court and challenge Tony Blair's plans to once again breach international law. I want to stand up and say what I passionately feel – that nuclear weapons are cold war relics that have no place in our defence. That building yet more nuclear bombs will make the world and the UK more dangerous, not safer. This is one issue I'm prepared to stand up and be counted for.
Just as well really, as the chances are we will be arrested some time soon…
