Smoking at Sea.

[Keith Tindell]

Des 19, we used to call that Pithy as youngsters, it was a vine that grew up the tree, tasted horrible, but thought it made us look grown up. kt

[j.sabourn]

In my early years of smoking, and on the advent of tips on cigarettes , you were considered a pansy if smoked such, and if landed with a packet of same was usual to snap off the filter and throw away. Tips were considered for women. And until time and people’s minds changed to accomodate the fact they had a good use was so. A smoker of the old school didn’t worry about if he was upsetting someone’s dietary system, you smoked take it or leave it. Cheers JWS

[John Arton]

After struggling up the gangway of, to me, a massive tanker berthed at Tranmere oil jetty along with a huge suitcase stuffed full of mainly useless uniform gear supplied by those well known Liverpool merchant navy outfitters Greenberg's, I was shown to the ships hospital ( my cabin being occupied at the time by an extra c/o onboard for the discharge). I was sitting there wondering what to do ( remember it was my first trip to sea and no pre sea training), when the door opened and the chief steward threw in a carton of Benson and hedges saying "I suppose you smoke" and promptly left, leaving me still wondering what I was meant to be doing. The next thing the door flew open and this sergeant major type threw a pair of work boots and said "5 minutes, meet me in the control room". I got into the boiler suit, put on the boots and then spent the next 10 minutes wandering around the ship trying to find this "control room". Eventually found a room full of levers, dials and switches were I was met by the sergeant major type (actually the chief officer) who shouted at me for being late and told me to follow him. Off he went like a sprinter and the next thing I was swinging huge valve wheels in the Bolton level of a very noisy and hot pump Room (as I was told later it was called), then it was back up onto the deck to swing even more valve wheels. This went on for the next 6 hours until I was told I could knock off. I returned to hospital absolutely knackered. It was 2 days of 6 hour shifts dashing up and down the pump Room and deck swinging valves or humping stores from the deck to store rooms before we sailed and I was able to move into my cadets cabin, with that carton of days still unopened. It was only after I got over my bout of sea sickness that I was able to open them and try one. Massive coughing fit but shortly after found I was hooked and to this day am still a smoker.
Rgds
J.A.

[Bill Cameron]

While I served on the Llandaff, a tanker, with no booze on board but only for the Captain, we were a motley crew, Deck Officers and deckhands Welsh , majority of catering staff were Scots, all the engine room staff were shipped from Belfast, senior Engineers were Welsh too, I was the engine room Steward
.we sailed for the Persian Gulf, to pick up a cargo of “Slack Wax”. On reaching Rastanura, we were told the we were heading for Balikpapan, first reaction was where the hell is that? After finding out it was in Borneo, over three weeks away, the Chief Steward informed us all that we had our last issue of cigarettes, until we reached Singapore
All hell broke out, aft, we started saving our ciggy buts to reroll, this lasted about 10 days, then the fights started, everyone was on edge all the time, this lasted for the next 14 days until reaching Singapore, where the captain took on a bond. Once we had an issue calm resumed, it was not a nice trip at all.

[happy daze john in oz]

There was a ciggy from Rhodesia, as it was then, available from the ships bond on UCL.
They looked fine but had a filter made of tobacco dust, very odd indeed.
Fine if you lit one up, but get it the wrong way around which was easy as the tip was not so obvious, and you got a lung full of what could only be described as worse than smoking wood shavings.

[Rodney Mills]

I was an on-again-off-again smoker for years. My first trip on the "Port Jackson" I was on-again. The big thing of an evening was a game of "Brag", if I remember correctly it was a three card form of poker, but stand to be corrected. The coin of the realm was ciggies. We hunched around in someone's cabin with an empty shoe box in the middle on the deck. I think it started with five cards and you threw two away and bet on the remaining three.

Everyone sort of started with a can of fifty, and tossed in, say five fags for openers. Yesterdays winner played with his winnings, a bunch of loose fags. And the bluffing and betting began. At the end of the trip, the big trip winner could have as much as say five hundred: assorted brands, well used, and most dried out with half the tobacco like dust in the bottom of a shoe box. Then, how do you get them ashore? I think we were allowed 200 duty free. The big winner probably dumped them and took fresh ones home.

I stopped playing half way homeward bound. Tempers were raising because one of the players was a persistent winner. Accusations of cheating were made and a big punch-up started. All over a pile of dried up ciggies. That ended both cards and gambling for me. The last time I was on-again was thirty odd years ago.


Rodney

[Jim Brady]

Yes when I was a bellboy we played cards for cigs and used the cigs to throw in,when older put 20 cigs in the kitty and played with 20 matches you had to watch that some smart ass didn't sneak a few more matches into his pot.

Did a run job to London on the Rippingham Grange usually about a day and a half run,she kept on breaking down so ended up taking about four days I think (or a least three)all hands ran out of smokes.We were like the rummage squad turning the ship upside down hoping somebody had planted a carton and didn't have the chance to pick it up.We had office bums and their wives aboard and they had been given a ciggy issue we used to keep them talking till they pulled their cigs out take one and ask can I take one for after.Anyway I lifted my mattress up and there was a heap of loose tobacco about the size of half a football and it was fresh also.Stewards didn't normally smoke roll ups so we had to ask the deck and engine lads for papers,the word went out the stewards have got tobacco,all hands turning up with their papers plenty for everyone what a find that was.I remember docking around about 7am there was a pub close by which opened at 6am I think it was all hands were over there for a packet of fags.

Regards.
Jim.B.

[Trevor Bodiam]

I'm still a smoker, but prices in Hungary are very cheap compared to other countries and subsequently i would imagine that here the majority of people still smoke. A packet of 20 Lucky strikes is 1230 forints which is less than $ 7.00 Australian whereas in Aus i'm told they are now over $40 a packet.
First 3 ships i sailed on were all B.P. tankers and still remember the red lines on deck that stated 'NO SMOKING BEYOND THIS POINT ' which was strictly adhered to.
When flown out to Japan to pick up the new T.T. Bedford tanker found very few cigarettes in bond as Captain was non smoker and think everyone given issue of just 100 for gulf to Rotterdam things were desperate and i even tried rolling up tealeaves once. Not satisfying or recommended.
Walked off in Rotterdam as rumour was no bond was coming so ended up with VNC and got ferry home.

[Captain Kong]

Try to give it up Trevor,
Lungs and arteries were not designed to be poisoned by smoke.
It will shorten your life by several years.
If I had Not given up 30 years ago I know I would be dead by now, No future in that.
Fear stopped me.Instantly, All my mates who did not stop are all dead.
Brian