I was on the Sydney Bridge in 1971,lovely ship only her 2nd trip Bosun was a Pole, not enough ports of call for me.
Printable View
I was on the Sydney Bridge in 1971,lovely ship only her 2nd trip Bosun was a Pole, not enough ports of call for me.
John Gill I believe Vittoria was here maiden loading port,i imagine she did many trips there during her career.I joined her in Rotterdam rotterdam i think went to Norfolk Virginia loaded coal for Tobata Japan,then on to Dampier inAustralia iron ore for Port Talbot and pay off. A lovely ship with good food,accomodation and crew but as i said not enough ports for a young red blooded boy.
You wouldn’t have seen much in Dampier apart from the bar in the Mermaid travel lodge. Tobata and Vittoria plenty to see or do and plenty of time to recuperate between ports, and to save up for the next one. Cheers JS
In 70, did a run up the west coast, starting at Adelaide, Kwinana, Port Hedland (only 2 bars then) Dampier (no one went ashore- looked desolate), Wyndham 3 day on board party. Darwin, number of crew got locked up, one apprentice fell over a cliff ended up in hospital.
Overall a good trip up the coast.
Dampier is a big harbour as you know Tony, if you were there for ore you would be at the southern end if for LNG at the northern end , and if on an offshore ship at the North end also nearer to the LNG berth. I assume you were loading ore in which case you would have been within walking distance of the Mermaid Tavern which was close to the small yacht club there. The only advantage of going there was for a beer and imagine what the barmaids legs were like , if you asked her she may even of shown you. To get into Karatha was a taxi ride where there were a couple of more bars and a hotel. The airport was in Karatha and I used to see it twice every 6 weeks, once in and once out. It was also a taxi ride to the Mermaid if at the northern end of the harbour. Cheers JS
Wyndham now theres a place there was a bar a hundred yards along the jetty , big rise and fall there, if nipping ashore for a grog was best to take a flashlight with you in case you bumped into a croc coming back who may dispute your right of passage.
JS
Dampier was my first Port in Australia working out of, and that was December 1991, so well after your time Tony. You must have been there during the time of the Red Dog . Did you see the movie, if you did that pub where the action took place was a good replica of the Mermaid Tavern and I thought it was, but apparently not, they even had a cattle dog and when I spent one night there and used him as a pillow, the scenery outside was genuine though and the film brought back memories . If you see that area in the summer it is all red, in the winter with water and greenery looks totally different. Australia is a country of many contrasts , and if 20 years younger may of even had the urge to go walkabout . However working out here for 11 years have seen more of it than the average real Ozzie. Today I like my home comforts too much. Cheers JS
It was in the early 701's when LPG for vehicles came about.
Lot of problems in the beginning but it flourished.
Still being used today though by fewer vehicles.
Dedicated LPG vehicle stopped production about 10 years ago.