Travel times: London to Amsterdam

[cappy]

on a british tanker an ab had had enough .......he was a pain and a bum ....after about 8 months he had beento the old man and asked to pay off anywere the old man .... areal gent gave him short shrift .....he then proceeded to rub aviation fuel constantly on his foot until it was a hell of a mess .......when he could hardly walkhe went to see a doctor who got him sighned off and sent home dbs......I heard later he lost part of his foot ....but cannot verify that for sure......truth sometimes stranger than fiction

[Roger Dyer]

Gentlemen, whilst I realise that by asking this I risk being sent back to the 'naughty chair', I make this appeal if only to show that not all seamen are crude and ill-mannered as many in society might still think. When seeking our help, Samantha explained that she was researching for a novel she intended to write. Surely, on this occasion, we should make some effort to suppress our tendency to drift away from a thread subject (even if the deviation on this occasion has been only 45 degrees instead of the usual 90 or 180). Perhaps, we can at least try and remain more focused to the needs of this lass who has, politely, sought our assistance.

...........Roger

[robpage]

You could have a Turkish master speaking Urdu to the polynesian mate and the Peruvian second mate if it is a strategic ship , if non strategic , then you could get a right mixture . I woud believe this came in by the hand of Lord John , but I even blame him for hurricanes and fog so I may be being unfair. What happened to the days when if you wanted to be a Chief Engineer you had to be a Jock and if you wanted to be Master you had to have been sunk in at least one war

[j.sabourn]

#53 Roger I like everyone else assumed that Samantha was writing a novel. However she states book. Whether this is of the fiction or non fiction variety I believe she will have gained as much information as she will probably need. In fact think she could write a novel by just putting all the statements made on here together and could be another comedy like the one about the Scottish Puffer. However most have had an input to this and has brought back many memories for some. You will never get two people to agree exactly to the same facts, and you must have had the exact same thing happen when you were a police officer and taking witnesses statements. Is even harder here as we are going back 50 years and many ships. When we are all finished elaborating on the past I am sure she will say something to close the matter. Cheers John Sabourn

[alf corbyn]

well lads after reading all these enjoyable and educational posts, i'm glad i was a steward. i hope samantha has recieved much information along with all the reminitions. also i agree with roger

[Roger Dyer]

Thank you, John, for your prompt response. As I understand it, it is indeed a novel that Samantha is planning to write. Her initial inquiry focused on the time it would take one of Fred's coasters to travel from London to Amsterdam. I gained the impression that any additional information we could give her about life and conditions on such a vessel would be of assistance to her. Although an intended work of fiction, I should point out that during the past thirty or forty years there has been a trend amongst many writers to give their novels a greater authenticity than was previously the case. Some even manage to blend fact with their fiction, by including in the plot actual people with whom the reader can identify. I only mention this to demonstrate that by being dismissive (unintentionally, I'm sure)of Samantha's needs simply because her intended book is a novel, we then deprive her of our collective experience which may well enhance the quality of her book. John, please do not think for one moment that this post is a direct criticism of you or any other poster on this thread - it is not. I know that like me and most other former seamen on this site, no matter whether they were Captain or Cabin Boy, Chief Engineer or Sailor's Peggy, you hold within a certain pride in having been a member of the British Merchant Service, and rightly so.
This lady has come to us seeking our assistance, because she believed we are the best people to provide her with the information she requires, which is probably the truth. All I ask is that we extend to her the same willing assistance that I know we would offer the prospective author of a factual work..............and in case you're wondering, Samantha is not a relative or friend.


..........Roger

[j.sabourn]

Samantha... If you are still reading these posts and are a bit out of your depth understanding the repartee that is going on, please accept our apologies for being a bit disrespectful, it is totally unintentional, we do have some gentlemen on the site unfortuanetly I am not one of them, please accept my apology. I think the distances and time taking for the passage that you wanted can be more or less gleaned from the various posts. Shipboard life is not like shore life as you will also have learnt from some of the posts also. Work on board ships on such short passages could cover anything from cleaning wheelhouse windows to cleaning holds and bilges. Chipping and painting and the general running and maintainance of the vessel. You will have gathered that different ships had different strokes, you mentioned the Felicity, I assumed this was one of a certain company who were nicknamed the yellow perils, but looking again at your post this maybe a ficticious name. In general my thoughts on what you maybe looking for as regards manning of a coaster of that era would be a skipper and Mate , a Ch,Engineer and 2nd, Engineer, 3 or 4 ABs and a cook/stwd. However their are some posts up by persons who spent more time on the coast than me, and I would take their information as fact. If you are writing a novel and is of the humerous variety, I would suggest as did earlier, if you haven't already to read, some of the Para Handy novels about a Scottish what they called puffers. Is very funny and a TV series was made years ago from it. Any further information you require we will attempt to answer with more brevity. Don't give us up as a bad lot and a bad job. Best Regards John Sabourn.

[John Arton]

Guys
As per usual I reckon Samatha is getting far more info. than she needs but all power to us all for giving an outsider a true picture of life at sea.
After pondering for a while I realised that I was a bit over the top regarding the manning of the fictional ship.
My first command was all of 79 metres long, total crew 11 and we carried 3000 tons of chemicals.
Samatha also wanted info on loading and discharging procedures so for her, here are some thoughts.
Samatha
remember a ship is never fully empty unless it is on the builders slipway. Once launched it will have dedicated ballast and fuel tanks that required to be filled with sufficient fuel for the voyage and the ballast tanks filled with sea water so as to ensure the safety of the ship and crew, reduce stress on the ships hull, immerse the propeller so it is working effectively, etc.
The amount of ballast the ship carries is determined by International Regulations and Classification Society rules. Within the confines of the ships hull space has to made for these tanks which leads to a reduction in the space available for cargo I.E. the amount of money earning space.
Whilst the ship is carrying cargo it will not have any ballast on board (in the main) so one of the prime procedure for when a ship is in port and loading cargo, is to ensure that all the ballast is pumped out (using dedicated ballast pumps) to ensure that the maximum amount of cargo can be loaded. When discharging the reverse happens, as cargo is discharged ballast is pumped in to maintain the ships drafts and stress limits.
It is he Captains duty to ensure that the ship is loaded correctly to ensure that the ship is not over stressed which could lead it to break up.
Cargo comes in may forms but can be generally broken down into liquid (carried in dedicated tanker ships), general (nowadays usually carried in containers and mainly on dedicated container ship and finally bulk cargoes. This means that the ship is filled to her maximum carrying capacity with a single cargo such as grain, coal, iron ore, cement etc.
These cargoes are usually poured into the ship by means of conveyor belts and loading spouts and discharged either by grabs or vacuum suckers. These bulk cargoes come with there own particular hazards too numerous to mention here but basically if they do not completely fill the cargo space before the ship is loaded to her load line, then they must trimmed level and if necessary have bags of the cargo placed on top of them to prevent the cargo shifting which could result in the ship developing such a list to one side that it could capsize.
That is just a very short resume of the loading and discharging procedures that have to be adopted on board your ship and the work and knowledge required to safely load and discharge a ship cannot be put fully into an email message. To get an accurate picture needs in depth research coupled with any information that our members can give you.
Finally in closing please remember that virtually every single item that you wear/cook/buy/ etc. has at one time had either the whole or its consistent parts transported by sea from raw materials to finished product and without the efforts and work of seafarers of any nationality, many of whom to this day, still spend months away from their families and often work for unscrupulous ship owners who pay them minimum wages (if they do actually get paid) in poor conditions on board whilst at the same time facing the dangers caused by power of the seas, which until you have actually experienced it, is impossible to describe.
rgds
JA

[cappy]

Guys
the dangers caused by power of the seas, which until you have actually experienced it, is impossible to describe.
rgds
JA

very interesting john......most important also is she a good feeder......regards

[Jim Brady]

I know it was suggested that we don't hijack the ladies post but after her #5 I don't think that we will hear from her again,as Hugh recently said some people come on and ask for advice and never come back on to say thank you.Two posts on here interested me regarding things some people will do to get paid off.John S mentioned the guy hitting his foot with a 28lb maul and cappy told us of the guy with the aviation fuel.Two I heard of when I was at sea a deck cadet who absolutely hated going away to sea I think he was pitchforked into it by his family as it was family tradition.Good eye sight is a must as we all know.this lad got right up to a lamp with one eye open,the lamp being right up to his eye.He was blinded in that eye I dont know if permanent but he had to be paid off.Another one I heard of and I wonder if it would work.In the storeroom we had dehydrated fruit,apples and what was the other one about the size of a peach.These were brought up the day before required and soaked over night to re hydrate them and they did swell up.Story go's this guy ate a load of the dry stuff then drank loads of water,result was his stomach blew up (not exploded).The captain and the doctor did'nt know what he had done so he was paid off.I know when i was on a King boat and the shortest trip it had done was 13 months being married at the time i did'nt want to be away that long and I used to lay in my bunk thinking up schemes as it happened we were only away 5 months.Does anybody know of anymore actions taken to pay off.
Regards.
Jim.B.
PS.if the lady does come back onto the thread maybe she will get some ideas for her book.