"I've always wanted to meet someone from Greenpeace. Are you one of those nutters who climbs stuff?"
"Unfortunately not." I had to explain sheepishly to Paul – my newfound friend in Old Blackfriar's, an Aberdeen pub – that not all of us at Greenpeace are daring heroes who can nimble up Arctic oil rigs.
Behind those taking action in front of the camera, there are loads of others in the background: from cooks to deckhands, from radio operators to - in my case - web geeks. Together, we're a veritable army of activists.
Army is something Paul knows about. He tells me that he spent three tours out in Iraq as part of Scotland's Black Watch regiment. However, after losing a couple of friends in the war he decided it was time to lay down the rifle and find a new vocation.
Now he's back in the UK working as a digger in a quarry, looking for work on one of the oil rigs off the Scottish coast. He's not had any luck so far and says the recession's to blame - there just aren't enough jobs out there.
I tell him about a report out last month, which shows that there are potentially tens of thousands of jobs out there in the Scottish wind energy sector.
Paul lights up at the chance of new work possibilities, but when I talk about needing the government to help to kick-start the change, he shakes his head. It seems he's more cynical about politicians than me – and that's saying something.
Our conversation turns back to Greenpeace, and Paul asks me what it's like on the ship. "I really have no idea", was my honest reply. I'd barely put my bags on board when my colleagues brought me out for a birthday drink.
"31 today, eh?" said Paul and went over to the bar to buy me a whisky, admitting in a hushed tone that he actually prefers vodka – not the drink of Scottish nationalists.
The friendly banter continued and a while later I was saying goodbye to Paul and his girlfriend, quietly pleased that the first couple of people I'd met in Aberdeen were not only incredibly friendly, but supportive of the work we're doing.
I'll admit that earlier in the evening a small part of me was worried that saying I worked for Greenpeace would make people around here hostile. I'm pleased to say I couldn't have been more wrong.
Waking this morning and navigating the maze of stairways and narrow corridors on the ship, I'm beginning to get to grips with this new floating world, and trying to focus on the next stage of the 'Go Beyond Oil' tour.
But as we leave Aberdeen in the next few days, I'll be thinking of Paul and others like him looking for work off the Scottish coast.
Will our politicians leave them to chase jobs in a dying industry that has to dig deeper and take more risks to keep its oil lifeline? Or will they support clean energy industry that can provide a wealth of new jobs without threatening our environment or the climate?
I really hope it's the latter.
-- James
Over the next few weeks I'll keep you posted of our progress on the Esperanza and what life's like on the ship. If there are things you'd like to know or see, let me know – here in the comments, or on Facebook or Twitter.
