Cant remember this being done!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Des Taff Jenkins]

HI All.
Best one I witnessed, we had come back from Canada had West African Cardiff firemen who had hidden their usual four hundred ciggys, when the customs found two hundred under the mooring ropes they approached the firemen and said we have found you cigarettes, one of them said where did you find them? he said under the ropes, ha ha they are not ours, ours are under there, pointing to the scupper running under the fair leads.
Cheers Des

clapping2 (1).gif

[Doc Vernon]

Hi Vernon
--.
Cheers
Brian.

As I do know you so well Capt, I certainly will not dispute what you say!

However that seems rather unlikely that you were the only Whites around?
Cannot say that I have ever known Cape Town to be too hostile,yes that have had their fair share I know but of late things although changed have to me and many many others changed in Cape Town for the best!
When I was last there in 2012 I found the City very entertaining with all the Stalls around,the atmosphere was really good and I was never worried by any of the Blacks crowding me to try and flog stuff,except for one who although approached me was very polite about it! He tried to sell me what he sais was Gold Chains ,LOL little did he know I knew more about Gold than he would ever dream of!
He soon let me on my merry way!
There were not thousands of Whites around but there were Hundreds walking around doing their day to day things etc!
I have never felt afraid in Cape Town not even at Night,but cannot say the same for Durban or Jo'burg these days,as a matter of fact Jo'Burg was always a place of real Crime!

So to end Capt all I can say is possibly you may have had a bad day there,and I would say to anyone that wants to Visit Cape Town ,it was voted as one of the best places for a Holiday ,the increase in Visitors has grown by leaps and bounds!

You can feel safe there believe me,if you just go about the normal way of life!
The only drawback that I can say in any place these days no matter where,keep your valuables safe ,and keep an Eye open for the crafty Pickpockets!
The worst I have found funnily was in Paris,they are really good there,but as you know "I love Paris in the Springtime" etc etc Song!!
All the best and have yourselves a Merry Xmas!
Cheers
Vernon

[John Arton]

Re. Docking Bottles and Ciggies for seamen.
If you are a tourist or citizen entering the U.K. from a non EU country you have an ALLOWANCE to bring in 200 ciggies and ! bottle of spirits per person of DUTY FREE goods.
Prior to 1999 this ALLOWANCE also applied to entry from EU Countries.
It has and still is, a CONCESSION that seafarers paying off their ships and returning home on leave can bring 200 cigarettes and 1 bottle of Duty Free items plus £35 worth of perfumes or gifts that are Duty Free back with them.
As the duty and tax on tobacco and alcohol varies in most countries U.K. customs will allow a person up to 3200 cigarettes per person so long as they are TAX PAID in country of origin so long as they are for Personal use.
In 1999 The EU changed the laws regarding bonded goods {i.e. Duty Free} which put an end to the so called Booze cruises out of places such as Dover where the ferries once out of U.K. territorial waters could sell Duty Free goods to all passengers. A pal of mine was on the P and O ferries doing Southampton to Le Havre and prior to 1999 P & O could have let al passengers go for free as the profits they made un the Duty Free shops on board more than covered the ships running costs, the same applying on the Dover-Calais run.
U.K. customs are linked to a number of other EU countries Customs via the internet and share information regarding ships bonds. A pal of mine, a Belgium ships chandler told me this when he was explaining the rigmarole and paperwork he had to go through when taking goods out of a bonded warehouse to supply to ships. Saw what happened to ships who tried to flog duty free cigarettes when a small sea snake U.K. registered coaster, that was on a regular run between Antwerp and King Lynn was in the locks with us going into Antwerp. The minute it was tied up in the locks it was boarded mob handed by Belgium customs and the ship was arrested and Customs were seen taking large quantities of cigarettes off the ship. Due to the often short turn around in Antwerp and the amount of business my chandler had along with the huge distances they had to travel delivering goods, it was not uncommon for the chandler to come on board in the locks to collect his payment for the bonded stores from me, especially if we were only shifting from the docks on the right bank to those on the left bank and this was the case here. I asked the chandler what was going on with the customs on the small 7 man coaster alongside us and he said that the captain had been buying 14,000 cigarettes each call in Antwerp and declaring only a couple of thousand on his manifest upon arrival in Kings Lynn. With the ship calling weekly in Antwerp and purchasing such a large amount of cigarettes each week for such a small number of crew the Belgium customs became suspicious. Here was this small ship purchasing large amounts of cigarettes yet only having a small amount in its bond when arriving back in Antwerp a week later. Even when customs had physically checked the bond locker at both ends its contents had tallied with the captains customs declaration when the customs in both countries had been in contact with each other.
As the ship did not need to take a pilot up to Kings Lynn as the master had an exemption, it turned out that during the passage from sea to berth at King Lynn a contact the master had with a small boat owner meant that he was transferring large amounts of his bond contents to this boat during the passage up the river for sale in the pubs etc. around the area but this time a combined exercise between the U.K. and Belgium customs meant his little enterprise was snaffled. The Belgium chandler who had been supplying him with all the cigarettes was also nabbed for supplying such large quantities on such a regular basis.
We also had an Italian captain nabbed by customs in the MSC for cigarette smuggling in my last outfit. His ship was raided in Eastham where customs found thousands of undeclared cigarettes hidden on board and not declared. He was fined £4000 which he immediately paid by going up to the local Barclays bank where he had an account and withdrawing the fine from his account there. How an Italian citizen had an account in a local branch of a U.K. bank without having a U.K. address I do not know but when all this came to light apparently he had been smuggling cigarettes for a number of years and making a tidy sum out of it. He tried to put the blame for the cigarettes on the Filipino crew but was done in when the customs found his signature on the receipt invoice for the cigarettes purchased in Antwerp, again.
He was promptly sacked by the Company and a strict instruction was sent around from the head office regarding the amounts of bond we were allowed to purchase in future.
rgds
JA

[Captain Kong]

Hi Vernon
It must have been on a bad day in Cape Town,
It really was intimidating, not too bothered myself but felt responsible for Anne`s safety.
I was once mugged on Adderley Street. Ten Skolies surrounded us as the Bosun and I were walking down the Street towards our car. three in front three behind and two either side closing ranks as we walked and then moved around a corner and then the fight started, They ran off with the Bosun`s jacket containing his wallet and money and credit cards. They got nothing off me only a few busted noses. It was a bit scary tho`.and didn't want that happening when with Anne.
In 1976 I got caught up with the riots on Adderley Street and got the tear gas, I ended up in OK Bazaar, blinded and pouring copious quantities of water into my eyes in their washroom.
Apart from all that I still like Cape Town, I had aunts, uncles and cousins living on Regent Road in Sea Point since the 1920s. and have spent a long time in there and seen the changes over the years, first time there was in 1953. Then spent three months flying with Court Helicopters as Observer from Green Point, good memories of that.
Cheers
Brian.

[happy daze john in oz]

JA #53, here in Oz we buy our duty free at the airport on return. You may order and apy before leaving if you wish and it will be reday for you on your return. We are allowed two litres per person, but the smokes allowance has been cut to just 50each. Gov tell sus smoking is bad for us, not for them as the revenue from them goes up twice a year, so only 50 at a time.

[Bob Hollis]

When importing my dope I used to carefully open the bottom end of a box of soap powder, pour some out, put in dope and glue it shut.
Worked well and specially with the fingers we used to buy in South Africa, they fitted perfectly.
On a different note ... remember reading in a local (Royal Docks area) newspaper of a docker being fined for stealing a bottle of whisky costing
2 shillings and sixpence and a further charge of evading revenue duty of 17 shillings and sixpence.

[Shaun Gander]

Not quite the same but kind of nautical...

As a kid I remember the school day trips to Dieppe, France from Newhaven on the Sealink ferries.

I recall friends (not me - I was sweet, innocent and rule abiding) who used to buy the long French bread sticks, hollow out the soft centre and fill with bangers and then insert some of the bread back in to hide them.

SDG

[Doc Vernon]

Shaun
Sounds a bit like the old Bunny Chow we used to get in South Africa!
Half a loaf of Bread,take the Centre out fill with Curry and the put the Centre back!
Yummy
Cheers

[Don Rafferty]

On a different note ... remember reading in a local (Royal Docks area) newspaper of a docker being fined for stealing a bottle of whisky costing
2 shillings and sixpence and a further charge of evading revenue duty of 17 shillings and sixpence.

Back when my dad had a Wine merchants/Off-licence, round about budget time every year were the usual complaints about the cost of a bottle of Scotch, he put a bit of masking tape on the side of the bottle and marking all the costs and profits that made up the cost, most were miniscule amounts at the bottom with the duty making up the largest proportion.

[j.sabourn]

When working in the North sea was often called across to Rotterdam for various lifts and maybe the odd tow. Used to buy a bond but used to ask for everyone to write down what they wanted, was then put in the Bond Locker and they drew out as required. My fine by the customs in Yarmouth was such the case when the bond door fell off and I stuck the 5 packets of tobacco in the safe for safe keeping and forgot about them. I never as said trusted a customs officer again. The searchers or 1 ringers as they were known was how they got promotion on how many seafarers they could fine, unfortuanetly I was one of them. For those who know Torrey Dock in Aberdeen is on the South Side of the port got the usual pack of hounds on board, told them I was shifting ship in half an hour or whatever it was , half hour came and I cast off and shifted to the north side of the harbour there were still a team of searchers on board, kicking up, I said I gave you ample warning, they had a 40 minutes walk back around the harbour to get to their transport. Tough Titty. They didn't find anything in any case. JS