Skinning Out on the Australia and New Zealand coast

[j.sabourn]

Rodney when they came looking for me already had been at sea for over 2 years. However on return to UK had to show my face at the BSF and be issued with a green card of exemption from NS. Which I would have not been averse to doing as would probably have been an easier existence. A school friend of my sons who had a French father, not sure about his mother, who had lived in England most of his life and didn't even speak French, could not after he was 18 go back to France as would have been arrested for not reporting in for his French NS. However that was a lot of years ago now. I rather think that Norway still has some form of national service. JWS

[happy daze john in oz]

Jumping ship here in Oz back in the 50's and 60's was fairly easy. So many companies needed workers so plenty of jobs around. As long as you could find somewhere to live and stay out of trouble you had it made. May a guy made his fortune here by doing just that.

[Colin Wood]

Good question, though you will never get an accurate answer. In the late 1800's early 1900's Port Philip bay and Sydney Harbour were full of ships looking for crews, some even needing Masters. Where were the crews?? Fossicking for gold. Some things never change.

[Captain Kong]

This is from my story of the Nicholas K, London Greek, the most diabolical ship afloat. In Seafaring Stories thread, page 1, in Swinging the Lamp Forum,
So bad the Captain, Mate and Chief Engineer skinned out in OZZY. .................................
..................
..............We sailed then light ship to Port Lincoln in the Spencer Gulf in Australia for a cargo of wheat. The ship had a contract for two years to take wheat to Calcutta and then load iron ore in Vizaghapatam, down the coast from Calcutta, for the Steel works in Whyalla, again in the Spencer Gulf. We were going demented over that, two years, we were innocent men, what had we done to deserve a sentence like that.
We arrived in Port Lincoln and anchored on a Friday morning. They would take us along side on Monday.
That afternoon, the Captain told us to lower a boat , he, the Mate and the Chief Engineer were to go to the Agents Office. We rowed them ashore to the pier, they were each carrying a small bag.
Don`t wait for us, the Captain said, we will get a boat from ashore to bring us back.
We took the boat back to the ship and hoisted it back inboard.
A nice peaceful weekend at anchor, no work to do, lovely.
On Monday a tug came out to us with a Pilot. Where was the Captain, Mate and Engineer?. The Second Mate was running around like a scalded cat. No sign of them, in the end he decided to take it alongside. When we berthed the Agent came on board and said he had never seen the three of them. They had obviously skinned out and disappeared.
It must have been a bad ship when the Captain, Mate and Chief Engineer jump ship.
We loaded the grain in bags and when we had completed and battened down the Second Mate and Agent had been on to the owners about the loss of these men. The Second Mate had a Masters Certificate, so he went as Master, the Agent found a Mate who had jumped ship in Adelaide and was awaiting deportation so he was brought up to Lincoln by the Immigration man and put on board...................
Brian