Ann: New Seaclem 1 - Spud - Progress Report , page-36

re: Ann: BUY: New Seaclem 1 - Spud - Progress... Bruce.

I do not know a great deal about telescopes but if that is what you can see with basic camera with 16 times zoom then I expect you may be able to see general operations on the rig with a decent telescope - if you can get your hands on one.

A boat outside the exclusion zone is a much better option, with less haze, but would be costly over several days.

You could possibly hitch a ride with some protesters. :)

Without going in to much detail yet - if you can actually see the derrick clearly you do not need a progress report.

You do not have to be a rig expert to get an idea of the type of activity. For starters you just need to be able to see pipe movements in / up to the derrick and the general sizes.

Even to the untrained eye, casing is easily distinguishable when compared to drill pipe. The movement of these in the derrick can be used to identify rig activity and, if drill pipe, calculate rate of penetration.

It all sounds very James Bond but for a rig worker this would be very simple.