The urge to go to sea

[Richard Quartermaine]

Absolutely Johnf. I remember coming back on leave from Fiji to Sydney in 1961 and we went to see a lady and her husband and family who were very kind to me when I fled the nest at fourteen. They had just acquired a new TV and the light was out and we might as well not have bothered going to see them.
Richard

[John F Collier]

I used to make a point of turning the TV off if we had company otherwise it would kill any conversation, I can remember being in a taxi going through Sydney when I saw a big crowd gathered outside a shop window and the driver said it was a
shop with demo TV's in the window so they must have just been arriving, not sure what year that was. Cheers John F

[Richard Quartermaine]

We were married in Sydney mid 57 and I recall TV started here late in 56 in black and white when we had just got betrothed.
Cheers, Richard

[j.sabourn]

Richard they reckon when TV appeared on the scene that the birthrate flattened out and started to go downhill. I was married in 1962 but endeavoured to get the system going again. Cheers JWS

[Brian Charles Williams]

I recall the same thing happened to me but in Melbourne .I was walking going to the movies in fact and thought there had been an accident ,but it was a crowd watching TV in a shop window, can`t recall for sure but I think it could have been mid 1955. Regards Brian W.

[Brian Charles Williams]

We are an island nation with a very strong connection to the sea ,with none of us any further than some 60 miles of the sea.
I too had this silent urge ,but what fascinates me is the fact that whether you have been to sea for 25 months or 25 years ,that urge you had when young and the feeling of loss when you come ashore for keeps never ,ever leaves you, and the outlet for that loss is to talk and meet fellow seafarers would you agree with that John ?

[j.sabourn]

One of the biggest losses at the time at sea was when they stopped ringing the bells every half an hour, although when they did ring them you used to curse at times if couldn't sleep. For a long time after they stopped ringing them couldn"t sleep in any case as lay awake waiting for them to ring, and they never did, so was always putting bunk light on to see what time it was. Couldn't win. This also brings to mind other changes such as ringing the telegraph at noon as a time check with the engineroom. The advance of clocks almost daily or the retarding of same. Always the 2nd. mates job. Who did this on passenger ships where there must have been hundreds of clocks in staterooms and ballrooms etc.?? They wouldn't of had the sophistication of remote control years ago. As regards post 18, I only feel real comfortable when there are some seafarers present in the company, one of the many meetings I go to there is an old Port Line Electrician, and even though his name is Davey Jones is always a welcome sight. Cheers JWS

[Brian Charles Williams]

John, I too was only on cargo/tankers but read something somewhere years ago that the passenger ships that were on the Aust/NZ runs lost so much silver ware ie., knives & forks that `winger` threw overboard or down **** chutes in the late 40s & 1950s ,put end to end they would circle the globe twice !..........The silver ware not the stewards !.............Brian W.

[Keith Tindell]

Brian, it was said that at the Union Castle berth in Southampton there was enough crockery etc on the seabed from the board of trade wash up on pay off day, it's a wonder they never ran aground. Also for anyone who was on deck of Castle boats, the jersey issue commanded good money ashore if skint.kt

[Richard Quartermaine]

JWS, In the two years before we got a transfer to Fiji in '59 we didn't have a TV. It was 1962 before our first came along. Damn sporting of you to get things moving. cheers
Richard

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Brian, that was a well known fact. And if the shipowners could nab the stewards in the act they'd have been alongside the silverware and crockery.
Richard