Steering ticket

didnt know he had died john .....but i was thinking he exsited if that ....what happened to his orphans or whatever they were i dont know .....strange world sometimes .....there was a photo of a child in a cardboard box from lewis the other day ......saying when you have your turkey dinner etc .....we did in our family have a photo of a baby in 1941 in the draw from a sideboard after being bombed out while the father was away fighting in libya later died at tobruk .....and of course ivans response that many A seekers will not stand and fight for there place in there own countries but come here to live of what ....at least most of our generation have created much from nothing after WW11.....these words will not change anything one iota .....but i have them off my chest.....these are my thoughts cappy

I also donated to the guy, and have thought a few times on what happened to him, also the kids in his care. His health had not been good for some time, but still was a seaman, may he rest in peace, kt

i was on the athlone castle in 1954 as a deck boy.she had two quartermasters on the bridge for each watch,the wheel was always manned.when i was bridge boy keeping a watch,i used to take a trick at the wheel to give them a break.that is how i got my steering ticket.i have still got that ticket today.

#51 I heard from one of the ex members Cappy who you also know. It was some time ago now I was complaining that I received no confirmation of his receiving, but maybe by that time he was too ill. He also had something to do with the war graves commission in the area he lived. The kids he had must just about be fully grown by now. JS.

#51... Going back to 1942 we lived with grandparents in Kingston on Thames. My grandfather after every air raid was out trying to clear the debris and any bodies. One time he brought this old rag doll home which was christened Betty Lou. My sister who was born in 42 was just in her high chair , and just to show what little sods we were , when there was only her and me in he room , I used to pull this doll out of the cupboard and she used to go into a blue fit screaming her head off and blue in the face , by the time others rushed into the room the doll was back in the cupboard , and I had a choir boys look on my face and said I didn’t know what was wrong. One reason why fouros picture of his angelic choir makes no impression on me , looks are deceiving and I was a choir boy myself and know. I was at my sisters for dinner on xmas day and she has heard the story before and doesn’t want revenge , unless of course she put something nasty on the Turkey. Cheers JS

However going back to steering tickets I spent 24 years in offshore vessels and the only time thinking back that I saw a seaman on the wheel was on the stand by vessels which were ex trawlers and had no automatic helmsman. They usually organised themselves for one of them to do from 2200 hrs to 0200 hrs to give the mate and myself a four hour watch instead of a 6 hour continuous on and off. I never asked them for me to sight a steering certificate . I was only too pleased they offered to do, as they were on continuous call 24 hours a day themselves. They also did close stand by steering up and down close to the installations and only called me or the mate if in doubt . Which was very seldom.In My case I could hear the continuous vhf chatter from my room abaft the wheelhouse in any case. Just to be able to stretch out for that extra 2 hours kept one a bit more alert. I have a lot of time for the crews on these vessels as the hours they put in corresponded no way near the wage they were paid. JS

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Originally Posted by j.sabourn

#51... Going back to 1942 we lived with grandparents in Kingston on Thames. My grandfather after every air raid was out trying to clear the debris and any bodies. I was at my sisters for dinner on xmas day and she has heard the story before and doesn’t want revenge , unless of course she put something nasty on the Turkey. Cheers JS

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hi john sabourn
in my case i had five older sisters,one younger and i hope today that they are all celebrating and
reminiscing and remembering how much the elder ones used to bully me.
tom