The first sight of clouds over a calm Bay of Biscay were warmly welcomed by an HMS Ledbury crew who have had their fill of Middle Eastern sun.

Talking to crew members around the ship, the move to a dockyard refit means big changes to their everyday lives and the chance to return to some normality with their families.

One man who will still have his hands full later this year is Paul Claridge, who will become the father to twins.

The marine engineer officer (MEO), known to all as Chats, is a key member of the team and responsible for keeping a ship well in need of an overhaul going.

Chats has served 26 years in the Royal Navy but made his first visit to the Gulf in HMS Ledbury, which he only joined the day before she sailed.

He will be able to swap Gulf stories with his 20-year-old son David, who served with HMS Liverpool, accompanying one of his father's old ships, HMS Ark Royal. After the war, Liverpool was detached for a tour to the Far East and is not due back until today (Friday).

However, David was able to return early and beat his father back to Portsmouth.

"I told him to bring his car to the dockyard and he can carry my bag," smiled Chats.

A keen Chelsea fan and member of the ship's rugby side, Chats is originally from Essex but has been a long time resident of Gosport in Portsmouth.

He has been fortunate enough to be able to see his wife during the deployment.

"She came out to Dubai to see me at the end of May, which was right at her limit to be able to fly, but it was nice to see her," he said.

Perhaps the most startling life change during the deployment came from clearance diver Ben Winter - he met his wife and married in Las Vegas inside two months.

Ben, originally from Bristol and now living in Portsmouth, met American Stacy Spears, from Kentucky, in Bahrain, where she was serving as part of the base's security.

When she returned to the States, he used his leave to go and see her and then married her.

"She's come over here now, we've just moved into the married accommodation and are finding our feet," he said.

Leading chef Paul Williams has been in the unique position of being able to see his fiance on a regular basis. Paul, from Cardiff, is planning to marry Sharon Joyce next year and she is currently serving in one of Ledbury's sister ships HMS Grimsby.

Ledbury and Grimsby sailed together on January 20 and have been in company ever since - Grimsby came into Portsmouth just a few minutes ahead of Ledbury.

During the refit, Paul will join the retinue pool where admirals will be among the people to enjoy his excellent cooking. On Ledbury he has kept the crew going with three meals a day, plus drinks, on under £2 a man per day.

Alongside him in one of the crew's rest areas was Will Carlin, who works in Ledbury's communications room. Will was one of the crew who managed leave during the deployment, rejoining the ship at Muscat in Oman.

Will, from Durham, has been in for five years and leaves Ledbury to further his training at HMS Collingwood in Fareham, just outside Portsmouth, after her return.

"We thought we were going to be deployed in the Gulf before Christmas but we got Christmas with our families, which was nice," he said.

Clearance diver James Napthine will bring his six-and-a-half years naval service to an end after this deployment.

James, 27, from near Lowestoft in Suffolk, is planning to undergo further training and hopes to work as a diver on North Sea oil rigs.

James said e-mail and the ability to contact family more easily had been a massive and positive change from previous deployments. Without e-mail, crew members have a haphazard post and an allowance of 20 minutes a week on a satellite phone.

"It's not really enough," he said