On the coast

[j.sabourn]

#9... Happens to me frequently Ivan, if I was a believer in the supernatural which I am to a certain extent, would think there was someone up there saying , “ you can’t say that” , so a second or third go I always moderate the language which makes it much shorter in any case. But less interesting. JS

[happy daze john in oz]

Just spent ten minutes writing a post and it disappeared, strange! too late to start again and it wasn't exactly Shakespeare

To be or not to be, that is the question!
Me thinks thou doth protest too much!!!

[Ivan Cloherty]

To be or not to be, that is the question!
Me thinks thou doth protest too much!!!

Nay lad. it were a case of to see or not to see, and only prothest too much cos was too bluddy lathest too much

[Ivan Cloherty]

[QUOTE=Red Lead Ted. Only thing i couldn't agree with was when it was said some seaman snuff these little coasters and dont like us any more than we dont like them, I got all my jobs from the pool or shipping federation and if i was skint and got sent to a ship i never judged the job on its size it was more about getting back to earn money. Regards Terry.[/QUOTE]

Having sailed on trawlers, coasters, tramps and Liner traders I found that those who had only sailed in one branch of forenamed had skewed ideas of the others abilities and in some cases scorn or even disdain. The Liner traders were the worst in this respect, and some, if not all in Blue Flue thought for some reason that their Certificates of Competency were superior to those issued to other seafarers and that is evident in the books they have written. What some fail to realise is that it is horses for courses and that all have to be competent seamen in their particular branch regardless of the class of certificate, or in some cases lack of certificate. The hardest working seamen, in all departments, I met and sailed with were on coasters, there were no long sea passages to relax after your vessel being invaded in port by stevedores, Customs, port agents, repairers etc. You arrived in port on one tide loaded or discharged and sailed on the next tide, then at sea it was one of the following 4on/4off or 5/5 or 6/6 fr a day or two days mostly in inclement weather areas Elbe - Brest and Ireland, sailing in a slow ship against fast currents/tides with sometimes just a foot of water under your keel, taking the shortest way to catch the next tide and cargo, your navigating skills had to be on the ball, then you had traffic, and there was much in our era to contend with and the fast deep sea boys thinking that they could cut across your bow when they should have been giving way and misjudging the situation. I enjoyed my tramping days the best, going to ports that were in unusual places, sometimes being disappointed other times delighted and bewitched but fulfilling my dreams of a young age of going to sea to see the world. Coasters I liked for the body building, slinging all those domino hatchboards about and heaving king and queen beams up and down the runways, especially uphill if the beams were aft and she was trimmed by the stern, and of course the three tarpaulins !!.....happy days

[Red Lead Ted]

Dito Ivan, i couldn't agree more, I done 2 x12 month trips deep sea, i got around alright i was in every type of ship from Ro/Ro, To Tankers, Passenger ships, Coasters, Container sips, and even done a few cruises up in the North Sea in November /December, in little Everard ships just like the Carrick. My fav was tramping around the Mexican Gulf and South America in a Tre boat, And my favorite time was spent with Hungry Harrisons 3 yrs doing every island in the West Indies and Caribbean and the mississippi ports Galveston, New Orleans, Houston, And far to many more to remember not mention, But these little jobs coasting in between filled a gap and served there purpose In that film John posted when did you ever sail with a skipper who was prepared to explain what he was after when you got the shout steady, You steadied her on that head and relayed your head back to him. I really enjoyed the film and i agree when i was on the oppositions forum to this one there was a lot of Blue Funnel men on there i remember a post that i posted { LIFE AT SEA BEYOND BLUE FUNNEL } It went down like a lead balloon, There where a hell of a lot of seaman who saw more of the world than guys who stuck with Blue Flu. Regards Terry.

[j.sabourn]

I believe the feeding methods on British coasters may have been very similar as to some Hong Kong articles of agreement I sailed with. Any coasting I did was either on North Sea agreements or on foreign going vessels so were catered for through company origins.
HongKong ships I was on had 3 galleys therefore 3 cooks , sailors cook , fireman cook, and midships cook. Stores were bought in cash which was handed over every month. And each dept. was responsible for itself. Believe on the British coast , food was bought as needed ,is that correct. ? JS

[Red Lead Ted]

John, Not in my experience on coasters, Saying that the little coaster in the film may well have been the case, He owned 3 ships and lived from day to day he said himself he could be still in the water if he never had his next cargo charter in place. Looking through the story the 2nd mate did mention reporting to the pool after his leave which was a thing of the past i imagine that film was made around the late 80s early 90s and you could well be right our Merchant Fleet had declined that much by then aything aboard that little ship could not be ruled out Regards Terry.

[Des Taff Jenkins]

Hi Ivan
I liked your saying with only a foot of water under her , some of those small river like the one running up to Wisbech didn't have a great deal.
The Leadsman that i was on didn't have much leeway between the sea and deck at times, OK in calm seas a bugger in weather.
Des.

LEADSMAN 1951-1964.jpg

[Ivan Cloherty]

Believe on the British coast , food was bought as needed ,is that correct. ? JS

The normal practice on the coast was to have a certain amount of money deducted from your weekly pay to pay for next weeks food. This was given to the cook/steward, he decided what was to be purchased to fulfill his feeding plan for the next week, and this depended on what your next known ports were, as some ports had good potatoes and veg, some others had good meat and others good fish etc, don't forget coasters could have crews ranging from 3 -15. I always found the food adequate, neither exciting or poor, if it was poor the cook/steward soon found out about it. Some C/stwds were diligent, some less so, but they all went ashore in their off time to do deals with the local shops/supermarkets and get it delivered, and if they had the odd pint on the company (your money!), so be it, in the main I never had any complaints on any coasters I served on and after the long hours you'd eat anything and certainly better than wartime rations. If you paid off before your week was up you got your food-money back pro rata. In the main it worked well.

[j.sabourn]

The Hong Kong system was similar then. Were on a daily rate and paid cash in hand at the end of the month. Money paid out to the Bosun the number 1 fireman and the chief steward , the stewards used to put theirs in their pocket if possible and feed off the mates and engineers. The crew also used to put part of their money into their own pocket and decided amongst themselves how much. Was rare to see a fat chinaman at sea. When a new chief steward joined the ship he used to have to buy the value of what was in the stores , and that was the paper figure whether it was there or not. Think if remember correctly the Chinese crew were not paid for the first 3 months or so as had to pay the crewing agency and any board and lodgings they owed whilst waiting for a ship. The ones I sailed with expected to be away for 2 years , and then liked to go back to mainland China for a year. And this was in the 60s. 1960s that is JS