Life in the coastal trade

[Ivan Cloherty]

Albert,
Following on from my initial post it would appear that accidents on the smaller, coastal vessels was more common. This, of course could be be down to the fact that they are in and out of port more often, over familiarity etc and the inevitable label 'human error'

Bill

Bill, it wasn't so much over familiarity, most times it was exhaustion and perhaps a little bit of lack of maintenance, on one ship we did 54 ports in 84 days, then in port the hatches were opened/closed frequently depending on cargo and weather. When loaded no chance of maintenance you were like a submarine most of the time, in ballast you were busy washing out the holds for the next cargo. One trip coal, next grain, next cement clincher then back on coal, no contamination allowed. Then there was the scenario upon completion of loading or discharging "Get a move on or we'll miss the tide" a cardinal sin on a coaster!, after all this malarkey you then had to keep watches, mostly "five on/five off" so no chance of a deep sleep. No health and safety then. The hatch wheels, runways, pins and dogs were our priority when given the chance, but the owners still expected their vessels to be chipped and painted, somehow we managed !

[Capt Bill Davies]

Thanks for your response Ivan. I really have no knowledge or experience of coasters and always regretted not having at least achieved this end. Smallest ship I ever sailed in was a Blue Funnel 'A' boat. I used to pass the port of Watchet many years ago and wonder at the ships discharging PMP , dry at Low Water,and the crew painting the ships bottom. I often wondered on just how much I missed out. Ports like Dunballs Wharf on the Parrett. I imagine it was a hard life.

For our non deck members, these coasting vessels taking the botton would be employed on NAABSA terms. Not Always Afloat But Safely Aground

Bill

[Ivan Cloherty]

Yes Bill. it was hard work, coasting men had no need of a Gym, even less so when the hatches were king and queen beams and dominoes and thats just not on the small coasters 3 and 4 hatch vessels had this system and crew numbers were sadly lacking and all officers including the Master at times mucked in so that we didn't miss the tide.

Spent a lot of time deep sea before and after my couple of years on the coast and was surprised at the disdain some deep-sea navigators had for coasting men, when what they should have had was profound respect, yes these coasters did get into north sea, atlantic round to WC Ireland, Baltic and Bay of Biscay, what they didn't have was speed! navigation equipment and at times we would be steering 4 points off course to maintain the course line. In bad weather when it was our duty to keep clear we had to think carefully about altering course, especially when loaded, otherwise we could easily become a proper submarine. What the deep sea boys didn't realise with their 15 knots plus and height of eye, they could see us long before we saw them I always took that fact into consideration when I went back deep sea and tried to avoid putting the wallowing coaster into a dangerous position, at 15/16 knots it's easier to get back on track.

I always thought that upon completion of indentures or cadetship it may have been beneficial for the candidates to spend sometime on the coast, learning navigation skills that would stand them in good stead in the event when they went back deep sea they had an appreciation of the other side of the coin, and if they got their ticket then that time served would be credited to their sea time for their next ticket.

The Coasting men were a hardy cheerful bunch and always willing to do your watch aboard if you were anywhere near your home port, which wasn't always the case, spent nearl 4 months on one coaster without getting home. But did I enjoy it, I certainly did, Hi Bill I think you did miss something, I wouldn't have missed it for the world, going back deep sea seemed like luxury four on/eight off............... beam me up Scotty

[Capt Bill Davies]

Well that's settled it Ivan, you have me hooked. I think we need a dedicated thread 'Life in the Home Trade'

Bill

[Capt Bill Davies]

Most will have followed posts between Ivan and myself on another thread.

Interested to hear about life and experiences of members in subject trade.

Arklow Shipping, Everards, et al.,

Bill

[John Arton]

Bill
I spent nigh on 20 yrs. in the coastal trade on chemical tankers. Our longest trip used to be 2 days between ports unless we got the odd run down the Medi. or to Northern Spain. The ships were around 5,000 dwt and 100mtrs long, just the wrong length for N.Sea storms where the wave lengths were such that in bad weather it could get really nasty. Very occasionally ( at most once a year) we actually used to get one of our ships across the Atlantic to Canada or down to Angola. The work was damm hard as ballast passages meant intensive tank clleaning in all sorts of weather, whilst loaded passages were used for catching up on maintenance and training. Total number on board was 11 but the company increased it to 12 or 13 (if sufficient accomodation) once the work/rest hours regs. came in. The best thing about it all was that as Master you did nearly all your own shiphandling.
Coming from a deep sea training it was a bit of a shock at first but I quickly settled in and count the time I spent coasting as the most enjoyable time of my seagoing career, even though I was usually the only Brit on board. Although most of our regular ports were pretty mundane, Rotterdam/Antwerp etc. we used to also have some great regular calls at the likes of Rouen, the Manchester Ship Canal (which I found fascinating knowing its history), the River Shannon etc.
To anyone considering it I would ssay you definatley have to try it. The idea that coastal people are somehow lower qualified or less of a seaman is absolutley B.S. All my officers had full STCW licences and all the deck and engine crew were fully qualified deep sea ratings.
If anyone is to swap deep sea for life on the coast they have to be prepared to get their hands dirty. As Master, even though we had 3 watch keeping Officers, with the Chief Off. being so heavily engaged in tank cleaning etc. you had to step in and take part in bridge watch keeping. We only had a Chief and 2nd Eng. so on the engineering side the Chief was still heavily involved in day to day hands on maintenance. On the catering side we only had a Chief Cook so you were heavily involved in the catering side ensuring that there were sufficient stores etc. on board at all times.
The only down side of it all was the amount of paperwork. Just because you are on a small ship with a small crew does not mean that the amount of paperwork is smaller. You are treated by all and sundry shore authorities etc. as if you had just come from deep sea with a crew of 30. Without the old puter where you could store templates etc. of all the necessary forms etc. it would have been a nightmare.
My record was three ports in two countries in 24 hours with each port needing at least 5 different forms in duplicate such as crew list, crew declaration, waste mangement, bond stores list, etc.
On top of all this we also had all the usual vetting inspections, Port State Control, all Statutory Annuals etc. plus whatever reporting that the owners wanted (and they wanted loads so as to ensure ISM and TESMA compliance). All in all if you ever got a day to yourself in the 2 month trips we did, you were damm lucky.
In conclusion I can only say that I throughly enjoyed my time on the coast despite the lack of sun and exotic foreign ports and I take my hat off to all those guys who work on the coast.
rgds
Capt. John Arton (ret'd)

[Capt Bill Davies]

Interesting post John, look forward to more like that.
What about calling into these Cornish, Irish Ports?

Bill

[Tony Wilding]

i had about 18 months on coasters, had virus pnuemonia pool doctor said fit for coasting only for 6 months, was Donkeyman on MV Corncrake GSNC 640 tons, was a shock after deep sea, but enjoyed it, totally different ER routines, going to ports where we dried out, filling forpeak with seawater to cool generator, befor the tide went out, after about 8pm in port the gennie was shut down, ran off battery power, by 6am they were dead, needed a torch to go down below to start a gennie, and put it on the board, coal galley stove, had a cook/steward, food was excellent, very friendly atmosphere on board, went to some interesting small ports in france and spain, mostly Brandy cargoes, some good perks, even the Customs were more than lenient, a few stories best left untold. she was so slow, not good in the Bay of Biscay, a totally differnt world.

[corrientes]

Ref Post #6 - John, the "coastal life " you speak of is a very long way from the "real" coastal trade of the 250/500 ton vessels which used to abound around our
coasts and those of the near continent. Eleven crew with three watchkeeping officers was another world. Five men (Max) and a dog with the possibility of one of the men being substituted by the Master/Owner's wife was more the norm. No engineer. Master, mate and three hands was totally normal. A real gem of a life. From a very early age, it opened my eyes wide and taught me things about seafaring I would never have picked up elsewhere. Ivan made a very valid point about visibility. I can recall vividly even now, running almost submerged from one side of the Irish Sea to the other, no radar, no nothing. In the beginning, chain steering and an open bridge. On arrival - big smiles and a huge fry up!! Back out the same day. Yep, possibly many long term deep sea mariners have indeed missed out. What is good for the goose however, is not always ok for the gander.

[Ivan Cloherty]

Credit should go to Captain Bill for starting this thread, I had requested Tony to move some posts from Hatch covers to this thread which he very kindly did, so thank you Tony and thank you Bill.

There were some characters on the coast, some ships sailing completly bereft of any kind of certificates both on deck and in the engine room, but bloody good navigators they were and good engineers, ingenuity being the order of the day down the engineroom to keep things running, ladies bras as heavy duty fan belts and nylons for lighter duties, those are just two that stick in the mind, the items kindly donated by the ladies in the Bars where ever you were. Some of these guys were the forerunners of automation, had one chief engineer who cut candles to a certain length and had worked how long they would burn before going out. He would sit at the bar where he could see the lamp strung up on the mast, when the candle went out he'd return to the ship knowing there was sufficient water for cooling now alongside to start the main gennie. Many engineers knew these tricks. Many a deep sea had a cultural shock when the first joined a coaster, but they came to love it, but going back deep sea did seem like luxury and those of us who sailed the south Americas, Caribbean and southern Pacific certainly missed those glorious days when the sun was shining, the sea was smooth and all seemed right with the world. It seemed so much better when at the time you were crawling up one wave and then plunging into an abyss, on the crest you could see ships on the way down you were saying "Come on girl you can do it"

Memories, hopefully they can never be taken away from us, it gets to a stage where you don't bother talking about them to landlubbers (bless em!) as they think you are making it all up, but we know the truth