Shore Leave in the USA

Best story I was told was during my first deep sea trip. I was a pier head jump and joined the M/V Dumurra in Liverpool in 1969. We sailed for West Africa and ended up after discharging, we loaded for east coast ports USA. On the way across the Atlantic the Electrician related a story about his first trip to the LAND of the FREE (LOL)
They were interrogated by US Immigration early hours? The conversation the Lecky told me went like this.
What is the purpose of your visit to the USA, I am on this ship to do a job, Immigration guy !! I see you have been to Russia? yes!! Why were you in Russia, I was doing what I do here on this ship doing a job!!! Immigration guy, are you a communist? NO!!! why ? Immigration guy okay , Is there any insanity in your family? Yes !!! Immigration guy, which member of your family is insane? My oldest sister!!! Immigration guy, in what way was she deemed to be insane? Well she married a YANK!!! Boom boom, stamp stamp, NO SHORE LEAVE PERMITTED, on his visa landing pass+ he says armed guard at the bottom of the gangway.

To be fair lewis I have to be honest paying off sick was unavoidable as I had hepatitis , I was ashore in a port in Indonesia ( Belawan ) we were in a bar close to the dockside doing what we did back then having a few beers , we sailed for Singapore I was still OK, once we left Singapore I started to become sick and quite delirious I was quite put out that the old man didn't get shot of me on the way to Shanghai I could be well wrong here but I would have thought he could easily have dropped me off in Hong Kong but he chose to take me on to Shanghai .
JS mentioned the mooring buoys in Shanghai I know for a fact I was put ashore from there I can still remember having to get my clothes on to go ashore to see the doctor , again I remember the old man coming down to my cabin (2 berth ) and he gave me a right going over for looking scruffy he made me put my suit on I think we all had a suit in those days the third mate was feeling unwell also so he was taken ashore as well although he was not kept in the hospital , when I got back to the UK I had to attend the seaman's hospital in Greenwich the doctor said to me if I had a bed free I would admit you as I had lost so much weight he the doctor thought I had picked it up from the ice that they put in our drinks if you remember they used to chop ice from a great big lumps of ice , but then again the doctor was only guessing by using the information that I gave him I was the only one that payed off sick there so I might have picked it up some other way but at the time it was the only thing I could put it down to ,I no longer have ice in drinks but to be honest I can't really be sure how I got it there is still quite a few yarns wrapped round my stay in hospital best wishes Dave .

Hi Dave.
With respects to John he will will know you haven't wandered of the subject other than to tell something that happened in a port in a place other than the USA, it's something we all do as seamen we remember a thing we did and have to share it like we did at sea.
Your posts were great, how many people ashore would have had the adventures we had. I watched a cooking program on a video last night,it was about Goa, I remember playing a football match there in the 50s, my wife wanted to know all about it.
Cheers Des

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Dave
#17 & 19 going off thread....no problem, we all do.
I had a couple of run ins with U.S. Immigration whilst sailing. Once in Jacksonville where a comment made by the Immigration officer regarding one of the wives on board led to a near riot and another time anchored in the Mississippi River waiting to load grain. The Immigration officers refused to come on boars as his fat body could not get up the gangway of a 105,000 ton bulker in ballast. We tried everything to get him to board in order that we could get clearance, even down to hiring a helicopter to fly him to the ship.
How did we get cleared inwards eventually.
Well he agreed to half of us going in a crew boat to meet him in an air conditioned hut at the nearest landing stage where he would process us, followed by the other half. So we all actually entered U.S. soil illegally!!!!!!!!!
rgds
JA

John you have started something you mention the Mississippi river that straight away made a memory come back to me ,when I joined the old Athenic we did quite a few ports in the USA on our way to Montreal from Kiwi one being New Orleans we were painting the rails and at the same time listening to music coming from an open porthole I suppose we were trying to keep out of the way just in case we got lumbered with some hard work just before knocking off to go ashore ,next thing there is a news flash on the radio I can still here the words anyone caught looting in Baton Rouge will be shot blooming Norah I thought at the time I don't think I will bother going ashore just in case it spreads anyhow next o I know is as I step over a storm step into the accomadation I slipped and sprained my ankle before I knew it an ambulance was on the quay to cart me off to hospital after an X-ray which showed I had indeed sprained my ankle i was put in a taxi and sent back to the ship as we are travelling along I saw a site I have never seen before there was this great big truck transporter on top of this was a house and on the roof of the house were 2 fellas lifting cables across the chimney I was glad to get back aboard in case the next thing I saw was a flying pig anyhow after numerous ports up the east coast we reached Montreal only to be given the news that she was going to the breakers and it was T bone steaks all the way you wanted 2 eggs no problem after all she had taken enough stores aboard in Kiwi to get her back to the UK and round the coast so whatever stores were left when we arrived in Taiwan belonged to the new owners nowvinthink to myself after moving house a few times now that's what you call moving house there you go John i have done it again but as you know we start telling a yarn but as we are telling it something we might say brings another yarn to mind regards Dave .

Hi Kurutai.
When we lived in NZ in the 50s I had taken a shore job for a break and was walking up to get the bus early in the morning, I thought it was odd that all these lights were around the bus stop; when i got there there was this huge house on a truck with a car rammed underneath it, the car had been speeding, in those days probably doing about 65 and had been confused by all the lights around the truck, I think the driver died. they used to move houses a lot in NZ in those days, the trouble had been that the highway had three lanes what we called the death lane as traffic both ways could use it, then suddenly it turned into two lanes without warning. Don't know if you remember a company called Hayes Housing when you were there, they used to build houses in a yard and truck them to your site.
Cheers Des

John #13, when I retired I took up voluntary work three days a week. good therapy and keeps me fit. This morning had to drive to a hospital out of town, blue sky and could see forever across the landscape and as you know we have some of the greatest there is. I got to understand why so many by a caravan and just go. But as I drove there was a mad passion inside of me to be back at work.

Never had any real problems with immigration apart from Heathrow airport. Twice I have been challenged and questioned by them as to why I was there!
To add insult to injury one was a Jamacian or similar, the other Indian. I thought I was in a foriegn country and it was only a couple of years ago.

LOved the stories of officers who had sailed on Prince Lines round the world service from New York. Apparently the names on the articles never changed but the faces did in New York and people like the mate etc would wake up to new steward and just put their hand under the pillow for the envelope.

Re USA welcome mat, put the Australian authors name 'Mem Fox' into google and read her account of LA airport immigration. Quite frightening but very believable.