hatch boards

Bilges.. Went full length of hold each side, had to be cleaned out and cement washed prior to loading grain. The Limber boards covered with burlap and tacked down with wooden lathes. All this before you had to consider loading grain and the construction of shifting boards and feeder boxes, this all had to be worked out depending what types of grain. Again this a doddle on Bulk carriers. Bilges a little hat box usually in after end of hold. No shifting boards or feeders necessary, due to shape of hold and coamings, also the upper wing tanks could be utilized as feeders if necessary. The advent of bulk carriers was a boon, the advent of the container ship was disaster. John S

MacGregors, on one ship I was on an A.B. lost his life due to trying to climb out of the cargo hold after purloining some cargo. Instead of using the booby hatch he decided to climb ver the hatch coaming and his head came level with the track way at the same time as the MacGregor panels reached the same spot...ugh!!!!! messy.
Tween deck hatch boards a nightmare getting the hatch beams into place in the first instance especially if you had a maniac driving the union purchase rig winch, plus getting the beams in the right order and that was before you started lugging the hatch boards around that over time had more jagged edges on them than a saw blade to splinters (spelks) were a constant danger along with all the other dangers of working over an open lower hold.
rgds
JA

If you can hold of old clean hatch boards they can be made into lovely tables.
MacGregor covers are not so so good for this!

remember one ship i was on we had slabs for the hatch 2 man job the winch and pair of legs i was on winch the help the other guy latched another one on went to winch turened around he was not thear he had steped back and fell down to the tween deck shouted for help he was flat out hurt his back played on it rest of trip magregore s loworing the wheels with the bar used to jump out of my hands some times had to watch it easy to loose afinger or two:cool:

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Originally Posted by robpage

I saw a couple of near miss accidents with McGregor hatches , I used to give them a very wide berth when they were moving

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Rob, We had the misfortune of a crewe boy getting killed in exactly the scenario you mention aboard the Kano Palm down the West Coast. Terry.

Another nightmare of a job after discharging general cargo was after the mate had inspected the Spa Ceilings if you remember they were all numbered was to go down the hatch and help the chippie repair them some of them were that battered you couldn't get the timbers out of the cleats all in a days work lads Terry.:faint:

The one I remembered the hatch lid missed the mate by his shirt thickness he lived , but was to inches away , the thing ran wild .

It's all coming back to me now ! Bay Fisher 1959, 1 hatch, 17 beams, 270 hatchboards, 6 tarpaulins, 2 locking bars, 6 wire straps, 4 ten ton derricks, 1 25 ton jumbo, 1 75 ton jumbo, ( the jumbos were usually left on the quayside at Whitehaven when on the Casablanca phosphate run, but were used to unload Euclid earthmovers in Lisbon, and whisky tanks in Invergordon), now if you will excuse me, I have to go and rest.

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Originally Posted by Ron Kendall

It's all coming back to me now ! Bay Fisher 1959, 1 hatch, 17 beams, 270 hatchboards, 6 tarpaulins, 2 locking bars, 6 wire straps, 4 ten ton derricks, 1 25 ton jumbo, 1 75 ton jumbo, ( the jumbos were usually left on the quayside at Whitehaven when on the Casablanca phosphate run, but were used to unload Euclid earthmovers in Lisbon, and whisky tanks in Invergordon), now if you will excuse me, I have to go and rest.

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Ron, Todays Able Seaman wouldn't understand a word you were talking about let alone were to begin Terry. :thumbsup:

[QUOTE=Ron Kendall;157768]It's all coming back to me now ! Bay Fisher 1959, 1 hatch, 17 beams, 270 hatchboards, 6 tarpaulins, 2 locking bars, 6 wire straps, 4 ten ton derricks, 1 25 ton jumbo, 1 75 ton jumbo, ( the jumbos were usually left on the quayside at Whitehaven when on the Casablanca phosphate run, but were used to unload Euclid earthmovers in Lisbon, and whisky tanks in Invergordon), now if you will excuse me, I have to go and rest.[/Q
you got me going now rigging the jumbos had to drag great big blocks out of the mast house and get them aloft hell of a job but i loved it proper abs job cheers ron :cool: