Pay off Day

[John Arton]

Most of us can recall pay off days, catching the train home with a wad of cash plus the stuffed Camel/Voodoo Mask/Assegai Spear/Genuine Rolex Watch etc. that we had purchased during the trip. Then along came repatriation by flight and the dreaded baggage allowance meant a big reduction in number and size of mementos, being replaced by expensive duty free perfume purchased in Airport duty free shops.
But who has experienced the full crew change of Indian crews?
Stories abound of them raiding 2nd hand shops purchasing old sewing machines etc. for resale when there ship got back to India but with flights being used to repatriate them obviously things had to change, or did it.
I was mate on a Panamax bulker in Rotterdam when the whole Indian crew were changed. The Captain told me there was no need to search or check their baggage as they were excellent fellows employed by the reputable? J.M. Baxi Company.
So early next morning a coach turned up to take 20 odd Indian sailors and stewards/cooks and engine room guys off to Schipol Airport. It took a good hour or so to load innumerable cardboard boxes of gear, all wrapped up in sacking and twine onto the coach along with hand shakes and protected goodbyes from secunnies, etc.
For some reason the plan was for the coach to take the off signing crew to the airport then return to pick up the on signing crew from the seamans mission, they having flown in the night before. After some 4 hours with no crew we eventually received a frantic phone call from the coach company saying that when they had arrived at the Mission half the on signers were not there as they had gone sightseeing. Some 6 hours after the off signers had left the new crew eventually turned up and as we were unloading them from the coach we received a further phone call from a very harassed check-in desk manager who explained that he had 20 Indians with huge amounts of excess baggage which they were claiming would be paid for by the Company. I was delegated to go to the Airport to sort it all out so off I goes to be greeted at Schipol by mayhem. Surrounded by 20 crew members and harassed check in staff all talking at once. On examining all their luggage by ordering them to open up the cardboard boxes, more much voluble shouting and screaming, I found them to contain innumerable bars of ships soap and tea, one box had the contents of all the coloured rag box in it compressed tighter than a hydraulic press could have managed, even parts of an old radar set in an other one. The excess baggage charges for all their luggage was going to amount to more than the airfares!!! After many telephone calls I eventually managed to get a compromise whereby all these boxes would go air freight with the company agreeing to pay for it but recovering 50% of the cost from the crew members. This compromise caused even further heated and voluble arguments but by this time both the airport staff and myself were getting weary of it all and the compromise was agreed with the crew when they realised that in order to catch their flight home they had no other alternative but to agree to it if they wanted to see their gear again and still catch their flight that day. Further argument would have resulted in them missing their flight, been classed as illegals and having to spend the night in immigration lock up until they could be put on a flight home.
The whole episode took from around 0700 in the morning and is was 2300 before I eventually got back on board, totally knackered, half deaf from having people shouting in my ears for hours and still having to get the new crew settled in a ready to start hatch cleaning.
So paying off for some is great for most but can be a nightmare for others.
rgds
JA

[Ivan Cloherty]

Sounds wonderful John!! you have my sympathy. In another post I recounted change of flag experience in Australia, Greek crew to Yugslavs and Bengali's involving guns, knives, iron bars, police and the WWF of course stirring the pot. Even the engine room Yugos were fighting the deck Yugo's and you're supposed to be able to blend them into a working team, the Greeks hated the Yugos the Yugos hated the Bengalis and the WWF hated all of us, and people think we have it easy, but you do see the world! Happy days

[j.sabourn]

The Pollies dont seem to have any trouble, just let them all in together in same country and stir with big ladle. Called intergration. JS

[Doc Vernon]

Bit far back to recall those lovely days,but they were good as I remember faintly !LOL

However the PAY Off day I do recall is the last one I worked here in Aussie,Retirement! Yea!!!
Big wad of cash,but not on me of course,in the Bank (Frank as the saying goes) Yipeeeee!!
Cheers

[happy daze john in oz]

The Pollies dont seem to have any trouble, just let them all in together in same country and stir with big ladle. Called intergration. JS

Good idea John but it would neber work, they would not all be able to decide on the type or size of the ladle.