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Thread: S.s.athenic

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    Talking S.s.athenic

    Any of you out there who sailed on the 'ATHENIC' in 1969 , it would be good to hear of your thoughts and reminiscences. I made 2 trips on her, the last one being down to Kiwi ,back up to the States & Montreal in Canada. From there we sadly took the old girl to scrap in Kaohsiung in Taiwan. I remember spending some memorable nights in Taipei prior to flying home via Bangkok, Karachi,Istanbul, Frankfurt, Ostend and finally paying off the ship in Stanstead Airport. A couple of days flying time I seem to remember. One of the chaps I remember was a Dutchman called Finn Boxon , he lived in Kiwi and signed on in Auckland. He wanted to make a surprise visit to his mother in Amsterdam whom he hadn't seen for a lot of years.

    The first trip I sailed on her I remember us getting an S.O.S. from a Greek Passenger Boat , can't remember whether it was ( The Fairsea, The Fairstar or The Fairsky. ) any way one of em. We ended up working all day on deck on a Sunday securing a tow , only to be told when we got to her to standby for a yankee boat to take over. The salvage money would have been nice. I think the boat ended up being towed to Panama. Any of you out there remember any of this , it would be great to hear from you.

    Happy Days
    Bob MacIntyre ( R859849 )

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    Hi Bob, that would have been Sitmars Fairsea which caught fire en route to Panama. She was taken in tow by Louise Lykes, and laid up Balboa until sold to breakers and towed to Italy for demolition. I was in contact with a guy from last trip, Dave Smith i think his name was. Will have to find old emails. Lives Canvey Island these days i think. Wonder how much L.L crew got for tow!! Cheers Aussie

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    bob iwas on the athenic that trip as an edh we got the sos by the galipagos and went through the islands to make good time bosun was i believe jimmy bird??after taking all those massive ins wires aft and connecting to the bits and talking about retiring on the salvage we got told to stand by untill dawn and then leave for panama i was told that the captain of the ship (sitmar) shot himself after arriving in balboa???on this ship was also dave share author of oceans of time but he never mentioned this in his book the captain of athenic was capt hayward nicknamed (turkey legs) by the crew and foxy fowler was chief mate what rank were you my name was bob dunkley maybe you can remember me read oceans of time and theres a chapter on that trip

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    Smile SS.Athenic

    Quote Originally Posted by Bob Dunkley View Post
    bob iwas on the athenic that trip as an edh we got the sos by the galipagos and went through the islands to make good time bosun was i believe jimmy bird??after taking all those massive ins wires aft and connecting to the bits and talking about retiring on the salvage we got told to stand by untill dawn and then leave for panama i was told that the captain of the ship (sitmar) shot himself after arriving in balboa???on this ship was also dave share author of oceans of time but he never mentioned this in his book the captain of athenic was capt hayward nicknamed (turkey legs) by the crew and foxy fowler was chief mate what rank were you my name was bob dunkley maybe you can remember me read oceans of time and theres a chapter on that trip
    Hiya Bob,
    Thanks for the reply. I'd signed on as a D.H.U. It was my very first trip. I remember Jimmy Bird the bosun, he was from Hull always wore a white peaked cap. I remember him saying to me when we got the orders to steam towards the Fairsea, ( you lucky b----r I've waited 40 years for one of these and you get one on your first trip).
    I well remember dragging that insurance wire from forrad. The bosun nicknamed me 'prof' for some reason. I don't know if maybe that rings a bell with you Bob. Any way it was a real shame that we didn't cop for the salvage.Other crew names I remember were Alec ( lamptrimmer) always wore a beret, chippy was a welshman who was doing his last trip and going back ashore to work for Trinity House. Some others were 'Brian','Pickwick',
    (he had long thick sideburns), both were edh's, another edh was a Charlton Athletic supporter whose name escapes me. I well remember Dave Share , he was an AB a dark skinned chap not that tall. I'll definitely search out his book. I still have quite a few photos from that trip Bob, maybe you feature on some of them.
    Unfortunately I can't put a face to your name. I'll try to send you a couple in the next week or so. You'll have to bare with me on that one as my computer skills are not that good. Happy Days.

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    Talking SS Athenic.

    Quote Originally Posted by aussie View Post
    Hi Bob, that would have been Sitmars Fairsea which caught fire en route to Panama. She was taken in tow by Louise Lykes, and laid up Balboa until sold to breakers and towed to Italy for demolition. I was in contact with a guy from last trip, Dave Smith i think his name was. Will have to find old emails. Lives Canvey Island these days i think. Wonder how much L.L crew got for tow!! Cheers Aussie
    Hi Aussie, great to hear from you. Thanks! I well remember Dave Smith, his brother Terry was also on that trip. I seem to remember them both signing on in either Aussie or Kiwi, Aussie I think. They'd both been working on a dredger in Melbourne and wanted to work their passage back to the U.K. I remember Dave had a bit of a hobby putting ships in bottles ( always empty Grants Standfast bottles for their triangular shape).Dave was very keen when he got back to the U.K. to join the R.A.F. and work with Alsatian dogs. I wonder whether he managed it?
    It would be great if you could let me have Daves' 'e' mail address.It would be nice to make contact after all these
    years. I've still got some photos from that trip. Maybe you feature on some of them. Did you work on deck Aussie. Happy Days! Cheers Bob.

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    Hi Bob,

    Just found old email from Dave. Lost a few ages ago but one still there from 2007 so will P.M his email to you. Hioefully still using it. Yes his brother Terry was also on Athenic as you say. He lived in suburb of Melbourne,time of Ronnie Biggs in melbourne(lived around corner from Terry!!) and as i am in Melbourne sent him pictures of his street he lived in and Hotel he drank at etc. he said a young kiwi guy signed on as messman??? I wasnt on Athenic Bob. Didnt join Merch till 71. Think i had some imfo or something on Athenic and emailed him and thats how i got in contact. If you find him say hi from me. I have located a few old shipmates through site so good luck. All best from downunder. Cheers Aussie

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    Bob icant put a face to your name so if you send photos etc i will know then bob i was the charlton supporter my cabin mate was pickwick and the one with side boards was brian rodgers , who is now a 2 or 3 mate on the aussie coast,also on board was Billy Herd 2 deck boys from Rotherham harpo and his mate??might have been norma .Was you the bob who wrote letters to my girlfriend in good hand writing ??there was also an ab with a massive todger we called him pops.any case bob send what you got and ill reply take care Bob dunkley

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    Bob I can definitely put a face to your name now. I was the guy who wrote the letters to your girlfriend for you, although I'm not sure about the good hand writing bit.Your beloved Charlton Athletic have gone through a few successes and failures since those days. I remember you were a big fan of Billy Bonds, others we use to talk about were Chris Cattlin and did Derek Parkin play as The other full back? Or have I got that bit wrong? You were right about the two deck boys Harpo & Norman. Was Billy Herd the fella with a mole on his cheek & came from a place called Robertsbridge? The AB with the massive todger must have been the tall guy with black hair must have been in his late thirties or early forties then. Jimmy bird the bosun had a few nicknames he use to like to call us. Can you remember 'The Hollywood AB' as Jim use to call him? A good looking bloke I think he came from Blackpool way on. I seem to remember he jumped ship in Auckland. Jims' nickname for me was 'Prof'. Maybe that rings a bell ! I can remember a few of the bars we drank in on that trip, namely The Montgomery Hotel in Fremantle and no-one forgets 'The snake pit' and 'Ma Gleesons' ( later re-named 'The Harbour View Tavern' ) I think !
    Reading your Navy career Bob looks like you did a fair old stretch, 25 years or so. What did you get up to when you left the sea? From 1975 onwards I ended up working for a brewery for 35 years. I retired in June 2010. I've got two children a son & daughter. Daughters lived in Barcelona for the last 8 years. I hope we keep in touch Bob. I'll send you the photos when I seek them out. Take care Bob MacIntyre.

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    Bob just a quick reply after leaving british ships iwent onto Norwegian ships ,so iwas doing 3/4 months scaffolding and 4/5 months on nowegian ships we emigrated to aus in 81 came back in 82 iwas scaffolding on the rigs in north sea and started a scaffolding company ,which i still run in dartford kent ithink the fella with mole was billy herd he had friend with long blonde hair and they both come as you say from Robertsbridge billy now lives in aus so ive been told and Dave Share and pickwick along with Brian Rodgers live in N.Z.I still go to Charlton home and a lot of away games to where are you now.I have 2 sons and a daughter and 3 grand kids send the photos bobn it will be good to see them take care bob dunks one other face i remember was Dave Shares nephew???

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    bob one more thing Montgomerys was in sydney ,it was Cleos bar that was in Fremantle bob dunks

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