Ship funnels

I found the few Americans I sailed with ok Keith,apart from having to get used to their expressions. Suppose in their own way they were correct saying right and left for starboard and port, a bottle screw was a turning buckle , and a buoy was a booooeeeey. Most of the OIMs on the rigs were from the Southern States and had a different view on life than the Yankees. Apart from the vagrancy problem which every country seems to have , I always liked America as a destination. The likes of New York although we read stories about the crime and violence are no different than other parts of the world. The only 2 things I didn’t like was this incessant tipping , and the state government tax they seemed to add after you had bought an item . Cheers JS

Thanks for your kind response. I agree wholeheartedly with your observations but i have to admit US requirements standards/difficulty level for Qualification as Sailor or Mate are way short of what they used to be for the UK. Testing is done by the Coast Guard and the examiner might be a Office Civilian who never stepped aboard an Ocean going vessel except as a Cruise Passenger. Seriously, for AB Certification practical exam the examiner did not know how to tie the required knots — said “It looks right so okay”. I would like to see any of the year 2000 and up sailors pass the UK EDH (Efficiency Deck Hand) test that was introduced in the 1950’s. Funny thing though, all but one of the seven US Masters I recently sailed with really impressed the heck out of me. Three of them came up through the hawsepipe and one an ex Bering Sea Fishing Pilot, and each in their 40’s so something works very well for sure as i was quite proud of how they handled their ship and themselves. Our Sailors Union is very strong and application of Contract restrictions no doubt caused the Mate and the OldMan headaches and frustration at times.
For me, it was interesting to have a sailors view of the goings on on the bridge while on the wheel or up there on heavy weather look out. Biggest surprise to me was having an armchair for the Captain at all times. Only saw a chair on the bridge on the North Atlantic Liners and only for the Captain. You guys wont believe this — we even had a high chair for the helmsman — am not kidding!
The one thing the young sailors had over me was that every one of them was a dab hand at setting up and/or changing the varied attachments on the myriad of power tools we used in ship maintenance work. Took me a while to get used to using rollers for EVERY paint job — actually got to like it ! Also, although they have got rid of lead based paints, the substitutes are far more lethal to ones skin, especially the additives mixed just before use. No more cotton waste dipped into paint when brushes were scarce.
If anyone cares to look in the PSNC reference in the right column on this sites Home Page there is a photo of me as a Cadet painting on the house fore part. Am standing on the bulwark and leaning back against a single rope secured to adjacent stations. Can’t see it but my can of paint is hanging on that same rope and i have one hand for me, gripping the deck head beam and the other a paint brush. Those were the days ! Ha,ha, on one of the Military Sealift Command ships i stood by on, the Bosun wouldn’t let me go out on the yard arm to grease the sheaves and feed new halyards, even with a harness ! Said it had to be done from a shore crane bucket so it wasn’t done — he told the Mate it was too dangerous !

Certification ... like yourself grew up with the old British curriculum for certification. On the strength of which I received no problem the equivilants of master of any power driven ship of Liberian, Cayman Islands, Panamanian ,
Certificates . The Liberian certificate if had of had to sit for it , think it would have been half a day at the Liberian Consulate and was oral I believe. I think I have had other certificates for other nations ships but never saw them but they were all issued on the strength of the British one ,and of course the Australian one which had the same basics as the British. The Liberian one would be the closest to the American one I would surmise . I sailed with a philipino crew in the late 60s , and every man jack had a certificate which smelt and looked like what one would imagine a US cert.would look like , photos and everything. As the US has a strong influence in the history of the Philippines this is to be expected I suppose. Personally I preferred to sail with Chinese rather than philipinos , but others may have found different. There is one thing I am sure of though seamanship as I saw it during my sea career was better in the early days than the latter years. This also applied to the officers or mates and engineers as they were formerly called . Cheers JS

Every thing you say I agree with. One cannot discriminate against one small ethnic group of people , but only as you find in your own experience. Myself I have always preferred to sail with a British crew , but there again I am prejudiced , because I understand them the best. The first thing one learns at sea is to work with what you have, and try to foresee the future mishaps that may occur, one reason why I carried half a ton of cement. JS

PS ref. To that post cement was also handy for weighing down bodies before burial at sea .JS.

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Originally Posted by Keith Adams

HI TERRY, I know the US is a very mixed ethnic population but i think the crew of the 5BC SEATTLE appear to be Indonesian … please don’t blame the US for every stupid nautical work activity.

In my day it wasn’t uncommon for two guys at logger heads (having a good brawl earlier in the trip) ended up being the best of pals by the time we turned for Home ! Our World is not changing for the better that i can see.

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Hi Kieth, This is what i am talking about and its happening the world over, Seaman on today's passenger and just about every other type of ship are cheap labor, A lot of Peruvian Indonesian and many more country's fishermen are getting jobs aboard these ships a lot of them have not only never learnt the ropes, But have language barriers they cant speak English. Looking at that set up on the ships deck to tickle up paintwork that wont as we both know last 5 minutes once the ship puts to sea. Seems an absolute waste of time if i have offended you i apologies its not the American seaman that went through pretty much the same learning curve that we Brits did its the cheap labor and shoddy seamanship i cant accept. Regards Terry.

Been there Lew, An old Haines tre boat, 3 on Deck were West Indian to mention just 3 Terry. :thumbsup:

MSC Virtuosa cruise ship on the Liverpool waterfront (Image: Colin Lane/Liverpool Echo)
Rob can speak eight languages and prepares signature cocktails, with each served in a custom-designed futuristic glass that guests can collect as a lasting souvenir of the MSC Starship Club experience.

MSC Virtuosa is also home to the largest retail area at sea, two bowling alleys, two F1 simulators, 975-seater theatre with West-End style original productions, 164 slot machines and 12 tables in the Red Gem Casino and more. My point Rob has only been in one ship this one ????? :headscratch:

AS to ships ladders, well.
There we were in port, Durban, and we were told there would be boat drill for catering crew.
Easy, get into the boats and the deck hands would lower them down.
Great fun and no oars just the Fleming gear.

Pull away lads went the cry, but then another cry, one of the lads got his leg caught between the lever of the Fleming gear and the thwart, painful.

OK lads enough rowing, back to the ship.
What are you saying, we have to climb back up the Jacobs ladder.
Easy lads we do it every time came the reply.

So off we go in a very slow manner, not going too bad until it hit.
Half way up one of the guys froze. what now.

He stayed there for about five minutes, hanging on like grim death until he was very nicely told, stay there until we sail and maybe we can get you off then.

He did eventually climbed up. got on board and collapsed and had to be taken to the medical center.

Thanks Ted. In no way was i offended — i appreciate your candor and, may i say your frequent knowledgeable posts — is why i enjoy this site so much. Cheers, Keith.

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As for #63 Post. Aww Lewis — you are too much ! Am still laughing. Keith