A cold day in cornerbrook

[Des Taff Jenkins]

Coldest place I was ever in a a port in Norway just above the Artic Circle, name escapes me , but we tied up stern to which was just as well as we had to run the ropes along the deck they were like iron bars.
Des

[happy daze john in oz]

Des, we were up there back in 2019, far north as you can go, Norlan or some similar name.
Not far from where one of the big WW2 sea battles took place.
It was late June, midnight sun, about 8 degrees with a wind chill factor of about -5
So there I was going across the tundra to look at some statues wearing my normal clothes, shorts, tee shirt, short sleeved jumper and Jesus shoes.
Most were rugged up like bloody Eskimo's, no stamina, met a Yank dressed the same, 'shorts in the artic, way to go;' was all he said.

[Roger Metcalf]

My first port of call St John New Brunswick on my first trip as an apprentice. Steam to the winches to prevent icing up. Constant foggy air. Spent much time in the Seamans Mission around the pot belly stove. Saw kids in a park doing ice hockey really well.
Pub at night and had to knock on door to be let in as a bit illegal in those days.

[Gordon Gray]

Henry was the 3/0 on the ship a geordie named Peter Benison? I ask because I joined the Queen of Bermuda in Nov 1956 and a junior 3/0 joined us in New York either from the Hamilton or the Avalon, he hated all the B/S of passenger ships and was busting his gut to get back to the Avalon or the Hamilton. We had a brilliant run ashore in Havana during a cruise and Pete and I had a whale of a time in the girlie bars and at the "movies". He told me that the R/O on one of those ships was having such a great time in Newfie with nurses that he refused to be relieved when his time became due. I remember also that Magnus Musson was relieving master of both those ships as well as staff captain on the Queen. cheers Gordon

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Henry was the 3/0 Pete Bennison, a geordie?

[Des Taff Jenkins]

Hi Roger.
You are right there was no booze allowed in St John, had to get a card from the police to buy a few bottles, but i think you had to be over 21 at the time, we still got pissed and ended up in the lockup, but they didn't lock the doors otherwise we would have to have gone before the beak.
PS.
How is Whangarie these days? hope the Covisd isn't there, we left there nearly twelve years ago, lived in Onerahi.
Des

[happy daze john in oz]

I remember in Lulea grog was in short supply, Sweden was almost a dry country.
Wine was available in restaurants and the only beer we could get ashore was , 'near beer' less then 1% alcohol.
Told by locals it was because of the driving rules, too many accidents on the road.

Last time I was there was in 2019 and so many pubs all over the place.

I see that in Lulea they have made some steel using Hydrogen rather than coal for the furnace.
Early days yet but may be possible to make quantity that way.

[John Arton]

We were iced in in uddevalla where we were loading the sections of a medical cold store bound for Jeddah. Astern of us was a Hoegh autoliner loading Saab cars for the USA, all the drivers must have been ex rally drivers as the speed they drove on the ice and snow covered roads was frightening yet not one car was damaged.
Rgds
J.A.

[Ivan Cloherty]

. Astern of us was a Hoegh autoliner loading Saab cars for the USA, all the drivers must have been ex rally drivers as the speed they drove on the ice and snow covered roads was frightening yet not one car was damaged.
Rgds
J.A.

John, I was a supt of one of Ugland's auto carriers, those car jockeys are something else again, god help the the person who purchased the last car to board whose location was in a restricted space, the jockey with deft use of the handbrake, clutch, stirring the gear lever and high revs could make it jump sideways into a very small space, Lashing on short trips was minimal, you never mixed models, as long as a deck batch was all the same model they would all bounce on their springs/hydraulics in the same direction, Normal spacing was 6" fore and aft and 9" thwartships. This was the 70's think things have changed a bit since then and probably much easier altering deck heights to accommodate trucks outwards and cars inwards on short hauls.

[Keith Tindell]

Can remember seeing those Ugland ships in Southampton, well named in my opinion, they must be the ugliest ships afloat, the windage must be huge , kt

[happy daze john in oz]

Saw some being loaded in South Korea one night.
It was like a stream of never ending lights going up a ramp and vanishing into some gigantic mouth.
The number appeared to be endless and speed was not a problem for them.
Funny thing is, saw the cars go in but never saw a driver come out, must have used a side door.