I've been around the world

[Captain Kong]

I have been through the Magellan Straits twice,
Once on the Urmston Grange, of Houlders in 1958, Very interesting with snow covered mountains and glaciers,
and again on the Queen Mary 2, we rounded Cape Horn and up the Beagle Channel to Ushiaia on Tierra del Fuego, and then Punta Arenas then onto the Pope Pius 1V Glacier., we had a big block of ice that was floating past, placed at the entrance to the Dining Room, I chipped a piece off and put it into my glass of whisky and it fizzed, tasted good to.
The Straits is a truly fascinating place,
Many cruise ships now do the run from Valparaiso tp Buenos Aires and reverse.

[Ivan Cloherty]

John. . He told.me a tale about a skipper, who, to save the company and himself the expense of navigating the Panama canal decided to use the Magellan route instead.

Going via Magellan instead of Panama to save money, would stick another 5000-8000nmiles on a voyage equating to 20 to 33 days extra steaming on a 10knot vessel and depending where your voyage was from A - B , so with all the fuel consumed, victuals and crew wages, definitely a miscalculation of expenses, unless you were going say from Japan area to B.A. or Montivedeo etc.

[Keith Tindell]

As seamen, and i was only in the MN a dog watch 7 years, i travelled far and wide, and for those at sea for much longer must have explored virtually every corner, In terms of canals, i was lucky and did Suez, Panama, Kiel, and only once Corinth, kt

[Richard Quartermaine]

Pounding the docks looking for my first trip in 1946 I came across the four masted barque 'Pamir'. As I went to the gangway a kindly old sailor leaned on the rail and asked "vot do you vont, sunny" I said I was looking for a job. He gave me a friendly smile and said they had all their crew. She was about to sail from Sydney for Europe around 'The Horn' with a bulk load of wheat and I often wonder how I would have coped if I had got a berth and was in the deck department.. I cannot stand anywhere close to unprotected heights.
Richard

[Tony Taylor]

I think my interest was kindled when I was 13. I went to stay with family for "holiday" in Helensburgh. I used to go down to the jetty where an old landing craft was tied up. They would not let any one on board for a look round.
I was friends with some of local boys who spent a lot of time down there and we became acquainted with the guy who ran the little ferry from Helensburgh to Gourock and he allowed us on board to do little odds and ends like polishing brass in the engine room.
My uncle was in the RN on HMS Maidstone, a submarine depot ship and he wangled me a visit on board and a guided tour around HMS Olympus.
I was fascinated, and the final decider was a trip from Craigendoran down to Dunoon on the Waverly. I think it was the smell of hot oil and steam in the engine room that did it.

[j.sabourn]

Across the way from Helensburgh was custom house quay at Greenock. We used to Berth there on a naval party vessel , whilst the Navy divers came out of saturation. Went across in the ships launch one time to Helensburgh for a change of scenery with the second engineer and 2 wrens who were visiting the ship. It was low water and had to climb up the timbers on the wooden jetty. . Came back and it was about half tide but this time wasn’t so sober and fell in the drink.climbing back up the barnacle ridden wooden timbers was like crawling up over razor blades and got cut up over the belly and chest. The 2 wrens had a good giggle, it was very embarrassing . Apart from that never tried to go to Helensburgh again. Cheers JS

[Tony Taylor]

HA HA John, I remember them well, I used to play round them.
One day, one of the boys fell in and would have drowned if we had not managed to drag him out.
Two of the boys legged it up the jetty and we thought they had taken fright; far from it, they came back later with half a crown which the local paper paid them for the story.
The same two boys earned money on Friday and Saturday nights by shopping drunken sailors to the shore patrol for sixpence. At that time there was always a few naval ships anchored off and the little ferry boat made a few bob from running guys ashore.

[vic mcclymont]

My first sea trips were on the Clyde Steamers in the summers. Always wanted to be an electrician.
Dad, was a ship manager in Lithgows, he took me onboard the Shell Tanker Axina which was being fitted out. Noticed one of the cabins was for an Electrician. Mind was made up electrician and go to sea.
Vic

[j.sabourn]

#17 Went up to Faslane a few times but was on the ship itself. When they lost a stingray torpedo about 1979 at the southern end of loch fyne they also lost the world war 11 submarine which was the target. A Commander Littlejohn was the officer in charge of the recovery he was the captain of Britain’s latest nuclear deterrent In The form of a nuclear submarine . I tried following his career after retirement and he finished up as an advisor to America’s submarine service. Unfortuanetlly at that time loch fyne was about the only place in UK for the catching of herring , so there were large complaints from the Scottish fishermen. Cheers JS.

[j.sabourn]

#18 Vic I sometimes see a bloke out here who was an AB out of I think NZ Shipping Co. he finished up going as a diver working for the Glasgow council as a diver old fashioned type brass helmet weighted boots and everything , he still remembers parts of the Clyde many of us will never see. I well remember the old Waverley plowing up and down the river with the sightseers on board . Think my total knowledge today of electrics is volts equals amps times ohms or something similar. JS