cruise ship hits bridge

[Ivan Cloherty]

John,

Why someone did not keep a conventional cargo ship (BF for Ivan!) on the Mersey and train our youngsters might of helped. A british training ship. Japanese still have sail and conventional.

Bill

EH BILL I hope "BF" stands for Blue Flue and not something else !

[j.sabourn]

Bill, before I retired and home on leave one time, I volunteered to go as crew on the Leeuwin a sailing vessel registered here in Fremantle. We had 50 or so youngsters on board and were only out for the day. The only 3 paid crew were the skipper the engineer and the cook. The skipper was a retired deep sea master and knew I was at sea, so told me to take her out doing the steering, and whilst out in the roads to show the youngsters how to steer. These 2 particular kids 1 boy and 1 girl hung around me all the time. The boy was an arrogant little S.O.B. and if he had been my son would have received a good hiding. However after a couple of hours outside and doing some of the steering with the sails up his total demeanour changed. The girl and him were fighting to do the steering coming back into port and had to chase them both off the wheel. They must have been under 15 as werent allowed to go aloft. However on reberthing the boy came up to me and apologised for his previous behaviour and said he only wished his father had been there to see him. He said it had been the best day of his life, he obviously came from a priviliged background. It made the whole exercise worthwhile. Such training for youngsters does bring out some of the better things in some youngsters. Cheers John Sabourn.

[Gulliver]

ITV VIDEO TODAY, a new cruise ship hits bridge in China, loses chimney in the process, there words not mine, said Captain did not allow for having no passengers or cargo on board, cargo ? ? how much difference would passengers make to her draft ?

Chimney...probably yet another of those ridiculous Blue Funnel 'anomalies' we keep hearing about in these threads.
Blue Funnel.gif

[Capt Bill Davies]

Chimney...probably yet another of those ridiculous Blue Funnel 'anomalies' we keep hearing about in these threads.
Blue Funnel.gif

Only ridiculous to people who never sailed in BF and not even at sea when the company was indeed Blue Funnel. It would also help if they could interpret the anomalies

[Capt Bill Davies]

EH BILL I hope "BF" stands for Blue Flue and not something else !

It does indeed Ivan.

Brgds

Bill

[Gulliver]

Only ridiculous to people who never sailed in BF and not even at sea when the company was indeed Blue Funnel. It would also help if they could interpret the anomalies

Oh For God's Sake-remove that pompous head from up that backside of yours.....

[Tony Wilding]

i can appreciate and understand company traditions, IE American Naval terms, right full rudder, flank speed , ect, but but Blue Funnel signals for turning to Port or Stbd mystify me. i thought they were international by law, ? rooms and columns, no problem, americans say smokestack, RN gives speed in revolutions, americans say back i/3 rd, but to change signal blasts to opposite the norm is downright dangerous. surely giving one blast gives wrong signal to a ship approaching?

[Capt Bill Davies]

Tony,

I recall responding to this one very recently elsewhere on the site. The philosophy is based on priority and what do we do when ships are on the stbd side? I wont belabour the rest. Two bells to stbd gives more emphasis/alert than the one. Similar arguments for why is the Masters cabin on the stbd side.

Brgds

Bill

[Jim Brady]

Bill,should that not be masters ROOM.
Regards.
Jim.B.

[Capt Bill Davies]

Well done Jim.

Thats what happens when you go drinking with ex BF shoregang men
We might make a Blue Funnel man out of you yet.

Bill