British Ship Repairing

[j.sabourn]

#16 Its back in the shed for you Cappy if Pat hears you. JS

[thomas michael]

sorry to say this but the landing stage liverpool the boilermakers were taking as much as 6 weeks to patch a hole in one pontoon and disrepair to the whole stage followed we would still have the old landing stage today if maintenance was kept up? jp

hi john pruden
boiler makers smells of cammel lairds, and most likely a whole library could be written of scams that went on there
tom

[Keith Tindell]

Of course we have gone the other way now, thats why a lot of businesses are not wanting to leave the EU, an endless supply of cheap labour from Eastern EU. Go and stay in a hotel, they are chokka with them, basic pay, and will work all the hours demanded of them, sure we always imported labour to pick in the fields, but now its everywhere cashing in. I stayed in one of the big hotel chains in Norfolk recently, i saw the hours they worked, the girl behind the bar was falling asleep, she had been the cook in the kitchen that morning for breakfast, all the food it seemed came from Lidl on a daily basis. After Jan 1st hopefully this endless supply of workhouse labour will stop, kt

[cappy]

thats interesting keith ....we are sure well supplied with cheap labour specially in the hotel and catering trades .....yet compared to europe as a whole hotel accomodation is i think very expensive in the uk .....yet catering wages are very low ......my grandaughter is off to uni next year ,,,,god willing and is at the moment working in morrisons in the chemists department......she can if wanting to earn 450 to five hundred per week,,,,,,,if the virus was not here and she was with a boyfriend earning the same amount ......i think that is not a small amount between them 45 to 50 grand a year at 19 .....the supermarkets in yorkshire are crying out for workers ......ok a very repetitive job mainly ......but certainly not hard work .....ps iwas also in norfolk for a week for my birthday ....in a fine place on the beach in waxham called shangri la ......it was truly that ....where were you perhaps we crossed paths cappy

[cappy]

#16 Its back in the shed for you Cappy if Pat hears you. JS

sadly i am speaking from the shed

[cappy]

i jooined a tanker to work by in palmers hebburn ...so naturally went down to look at my accom ....very basic table iron bunk locker .....2 birth .....there was at least 4 possibly 6 guys playing cards and at my arrival .......jeez we didnt know who you where ......i stated its no prob i am not kipping aboard.....as i was staying in shields at night till i decided to sign on or not.....each morn i arrived 7 30am to turn to and for many days the cabin was used.....4 or 6 mens wages day after day ......no company can pay that......the answers are there .....the writing on the wall that was dec 59 ....bad management yes ......guys skiving yes result all gone now cappy

[Keith Tindell]

I was in great Yarmouth Cappy, certainly not shanghai la, it was in February by coach, an Easterly wind that chopped the nuts of the brass monkey, dismal town from what i saw of it. The most interesting thing that happened , well funny now, was after breakfast the last morning, coach leaving at 0900, and my dear wife decided to have a shower with 30 mins to go. Heard the water running , and then an urgent call out to me, with the words *oh no, i,ve got nose bleed *, well i looked in the shower , it was like the texas chainsaw murder !!, it was everywhere, up the shower walls, etc etc. We could not stop the bleeding, so she sat in a chair until it slowed, and i attempted to clear up in the shower. Eventually we got it to stop, and packed all our own towels in our backpack to take on the coach incase it started again.When i boarded the coach i told the driver she had had a bad nosebleed, and i had lots of towels with us, but he might have to stop, his reply was i don't want blood on my coach !!, so i read his history to him in fluent seamen speak, and bang went his tip. So not a pleasant holiday in Norfolk, kt

[cappy]

I was in great Yarmouth Cappy, certainly not shanghai la, it was in February by coach, an Easterly wind that chopped the nuts of the brass monkey, dismal town from what i saw of it. The most interesting thing that happened , well funny now, was after breakfast the last morning, coach leaving at 0900, and my dear wife decided to have a shower with 30 mins to go. Heard the water running , and then an urgent call out to me, with the words *oh no, i,ve got nose bleed *, well i looked in the shower , it was like the texas chainsaw murder !!, it was everywhere, up the shower walls, etc etc. We could not stop the bleeding, so she sat in a chair until it slowed, and i attempted to clear up in the shower. Eventually we got it to stop, and packed all our own towels in our backpack to take on the coach incase it started again.When i boarded the coach i told the driver she had had a bad nosebleed, and i had lots of towels with us, but he might have to stop, his reply was i don't want blood on my coach !!, so i read his history to him in fluent seamen speak, and bang went his tip. So not a pleasant holiday in Norfolk, kt

now thats tuff keith i was a bit lucky with the weather for my week on the 7th of october but of cousre much was closed .....i ate lots of fish from a local guy went to cromer every ....not silly money haddock halibut etc with boiled spuds with butter on...as for the nose bleed about 6 or seven years ago i was showering at home ...and felt a pain in my sinus .....sneezed and a lump of raw meat and blood shot out ...like you the shower was like a butchers shop.......i climbed out picked up the meat and stuck it in the wash basin ......i honestly thought what brain i did have was there in the wash basin .....any way i got dried nose still pumping blood rang the village surgery ...come down and bring the meat with you .....missus stayed calm enough but a bit pale ......i drove down to the docs ...showed him the offending object ,,,o yes its a polyp .......stick this cooton wool in your nose ...you will breath easier,after its gone,,,jeez it was nothing to worry about .......i felt like i had won the lottery ....but of course played on it for days and as the kids and grankids came around ...beloved kept saying your granda was so brave werent you......while sheepishly i muttered yes ......while looking back i had been crapping myself......old seaman must never show fear ....regards cappy

[Ivan Cloherty]

hi ivan cloherty
ive spent my entire life avoiding apologies to anybody, simply because they dont work , except for the wife, whom is too strong a character not to apologise too.
tom

Tom, don't know your China experience, but having worked in China on projects, no matter what your contract says, there is only the Chinese way, especially if you want an exit-visa and believe me that is one thing you do want and as soon as possible. Don't even think about quoting contractual law, arbitration, or whatever international legality comes into your head forget it, and if you think they can't stop you leaving their country, they can and will under any pretext. We all have our principles and state we would never do this or that, but some circumstances can change your mind, and your wife and kids 8000 miles away are more important than any self misguided pride, the word 'never' becomes academic, especially when you have no economic or political leverage, their favourite words at Govt level are 'we are one billion people what are "you" going to do. Rgds Ivan

[John Arton]

Did a dry dock on a product tanker at swan hunters Wallsend yard in the mid 70's, we were meant to go to avonmouth dry dock (C.P. were using them at the time for docking the forest product vessels) but they went on strike so at the last minute we went to the Tyne. Bit strange at first as once dry side shores were fitted. Once actual work started it all went smoothly, no disputes or waiting around for different grades as the yard workers had voted to end demarcation.
I paid off her the end of dry docking as had been promoted and got sent to a new building in Holland.
The yard actually completed the docking 2 days early.
Rgds
J.A.