Where are you ?

[Louis the fly]

I don't know how many members this site has but there must be a great many seamen and ex seamen , plus those with an interest in ships and the sea.
Where are you ? This site provides a discussion forum for all like minded people , doesn't have to be sea related , just interesting thoughts , ideas , experiences etc.
Recently it has become boring , predictable and childish. The same or similar posts repeated over and over again. Come on men of the sea we can do better than this.

[Chris Allman]

Hi Louis as from today I believe we have 19,375 members.

[j.sabourn]

People come on to sites like this for various reasons. A lot to try and trace people. Most however come on for sheer nostalgia trying to retain some of their lost or distant memories. Some didn’t make a full life time career out of the sea and probably think they missed something by not doing so. There are numerous reasons why they come and go. The last 20 years at sea I spent a lot of time looking forward to retiring and working out how I could afford to do so. The sea was not a bed of roses for some of us as we like to remember it. It was a marriage and family breaker up for many. One didn’t see too much of family growing up , it was purely a. Money earner to many of us, many jumped ship because they saw a better life elsewhere. One is drawn to sites like this because one recognises oneself in others , all their hopes and ambitions. At the end of the day however we all finish up old people and only have memories to sustain us , most of which we put on a brave face and say it was great, where in a lot of cases it was purgatory. We only remember what we want to remember and think others should know. All I can say is most of us have seen life in all its different forms, more so than a person restricted in their country of birth, we were travellers when people didn’t travel too much, however we all travelled steerage. JWS.

[Louis the fly]

Could not agree more John we only remember the good times.

[Keith at Tregenna]

Today alone, site stats show: 1960 guests.

There is a lot of interest.

K.

[happy daze john in oz]

Whilst there are numerous members over the years the main contributing list has some what diminished. Many have gone to Fiddlers Green, others are too sick to be involved any longer, some move and find it hard to get good reception.

There are many reasons why only the sturdy few continue.
But Louis I can to some extent agree with your sentiment that maybe more should become engaged in the site.

But also there is the companionship aspect of this great site for which I am sure all members thank Brian for.

There are other sites out there but none compare with this one for friendliness and willingness to take in new members.
It is the best site to find old mates we knew so many years long past, be genuine and no questions asked.


It is also good for those who want a light hearted look at the past and who can laugh at their own mistakes.
Remember there are many who may look in on a daily basis without actually partaking of any conversations taking place, they gain their enjoyment in their own way.

It takes all manner of persons to make a site good and believe me Louis when I tell you this is the very best.
ENJOY!

[John Pruden]

louis it shows the difference between sites I put a similar post on another site{no names I would not even mention its name} that the site was quiet lately then a member posted lets help john pruden that's all?? then it turned into a slagging match between other members when I asked the mods could they please close the thread as I didn't like members slagging each other in my name I had a private message telling me if I didn't like it then go? why should I it was a reasonable request before I knew it 5000 post were deleted I could not get any messages from friends and a post was put on the site by a mod saying due to ill health I would be taking a rest and would be back? it was not until I had e mails of friends asking after my health that the truth came out and members left that site and some are still here. that is the difference from that to this great site and well done to the people behind the scenes for keeping our enjoyment going?? jp

[Louis the fly]

I could google the answers to these questions but prefer to ask those with more knowledge than I .

In the recent TV program on the voyages of Captain Cook his ship was at sea for 5 months before sighting land in the Pacific. How was the water, stored in barrels, kept fresh enough to drink ?
I presume the water would be rationed as they did not know when they would next make land with a fresh water source. The crews of these ships must have been crawling with lice and with rotted teeth. How did they wash their clothes ?
How did they cook their food ? A cooking fire on a wooden ship would be dangerous . In the paintings of the discovery ships there is never a thunder box hanging over the stern so there must have been a race for the bucket especially if suffering from dysentery from food poisoning.
Can you imagine the stench of a slave ship ? No wonder the press gangs were kept busy.

[j.sabourn]

As regards the water situation would imagine every advantage would be taken of rain collection. We even did this in. My early days at sea prior to evaporator and distillers. We used to block the scuppers take off the air pipes for theEngine room feed water tanks, was surprising how much could collect. Won’t say how much fuel was used chasing rain clouds over the ocean though. Fresh water was like gold when most of us went to sea. The more water you carried the less cargo and guess what the ship owner preferred. However that was with deadweight cargoes and rarely arose with general cargo. Sometimes the problem was on certain types of ships they were built without the fresh water tank capacity. Today there is. Fresh water every where on deep sea vessels as modern ships make their own. The first FG ship I was on had no deep freezers so fresh fruit was soon gone, and due to Cooks experiences we were rationed with lime juice. Would imagine as regards washing in Cooks time it was all salt water. As to the lice think they probably had those ashore as well. Maybe where Curry and lice came from . Cheers JWS

[cappy]

##potato lockers used on 2 tramps i was in had potato lockers slatted facing forrard to let air through ..they were both on the boat deck and served there purpose ......jws even had apple barrels when he sailed with jim lad ..it was located just aft of the main sail ...near where the animals that came aboard two by two were kept .....lol cappy