Double Dr's

[Raymond Money]

So decline to report means you're not a good boy then? Similar to "black" marks on my record then. Thanks for the enlightenment.

That's it Victoria

[j.sabourn]

A seamans discharge book Victoria was a record of his sea service , all that was entered in it was also kept in the records office in Cardiff. It used to give the date of signing on a crew agreement and the date of signing off that same agreement . And contained a place for stamping in a record of Conduct and one for Ability. The two acceptable ones were VG and VG. There was also G and G. Or DR and DR or ENR and ENR or as Cappy says just plain Deserted . Although have heard of that one never seen , would have been less anti friendly to put in missed vessel or failed to be onboard sailing. Or anything similar. Or even left blank and just put the extract out of the OLB
Loose inside the book. When sending back to. The BSF and let them decide. Today Discharge Books do not require this info. In book for all and sundry to see. It was too easily used as a threat against a person and that threat too often used ,sometimes for the wrong reasons Misdeameaours on board a ship could be logged and the seaman could be censured after he had left a ship by a supposedly board of his peers. Which happened in any case with a bad discharge in his book. JS
PS as regards Cappys running away, the obvious discharge would have been VNC .. voyage not completed. JS

With the right circumstances VNC could be interpreted as very naughty child with the right sense of humour.
But VNC covered a lot of other circumstances also e.g. being left behind in hospital . And was not so ambiguous as deserted , I go along with Cappy on that one , is a stupid discharge to give anyone .JS

[cappy]

John the commitee that i recieved on getting back to shields later ...i have described before consisted of a old ships master a ex bosun and a union man .....i stated my case quite clearly ....i was given a rating in the galley instead of galley boy to assistant cook that was the cook and me ....an increase of some 15 or so quid a month.....but it was not paid into my shipboard account ......i believe the cook and chief steward who never
appeared in the galley were sharing my supposed increase as shorthand money...when i saw the chief steward he would not discuss the matter .....anyone who has worked in a galley especially a coal burner in tropical climes will understand it is bloody hard work ...especially as there was a cook who was idle ...just two of us ....this was not good enough for me ....a cook and boy 40 hands food 3 times a day plus morning 7 bells ...baking etc... i was turning out the bread in fact doing the second cook and bricklayers job ....this did not suit me ....but the thing that kicked the bucket over for me was the young oz girl who i met ...took me by suprise wanted to run off with me she was on holiday ...so that made up my mind to jump ......as for the committee months later back in shields it was a joke ...the ex old man was more interested in the ozzie girl were you effing her then as he puffed like bloody popye on his pipe ...the beloved UNION MAN never spoke ....they just said off you go ....i was not unhappy that i jumped but the oz nick was one learning curve .... i wrote a poem later about the galley boy ....i have stood a twellve to four and i have been a galley boy ...and i sure as hell no which was easiest i will present my poem later as breakfast is ready again cappy

[cappy]

i have put this poem on the site va few years ago .....but i would ist say .....galley work on a tramp is bloody hard work in a coal burning galley which is quite small it was all silvereen paint which im sure most on this site will know is to kill cockies it sticks to every thing..the galley was fumigated before we left the uk one job in the morn was pulling cockies of the silvereen paint...any way back to my poem #####

The galley boy rose at the crack of the dawn
Shuffled into the galley and felt the range warm
Down to the bunker to top up the coal
Then stumbled a bit as she did a slight roll
On with the geyser the steam hissing loud
Then put on the burgoo much beloved by the crowd
the bacon he grilled the eggs he did fry
seven bells nearly he gave a loud sigh
In swaggered the cook also known as the doc
Sleep in his eyes a face stoney as rock
You idle young bugger but the boy was to quick
As the doc wasnt fast enough to give him a kick

cappy from shields R683532

[Louis the fly]

I joined the Brazil Star in London where I had been staying after my last trip. Everything was normal at first, we all got to know each other, cut the cards for watches and settled into routine ship life. My problems began when we were approaching our first South American port. I was on the 4-8 watch and at the wheel, the captain gave me a look of sheer hatred, although we had never met or spoken before. I thought perhaps he was jealous of my handsome features and magnificent physic, but I could have been wrong about that. The captain and the mate were standing directly in front of me.
Captain " Tell the wheelman to come round to 132"
Mate " Come round to 132"
Me " 132 aye aye".
Me " Steady now on 132"
Mate " Steady on 132 Sir"
Captain " Thank you Mr. Mate"
This continued all the way into port with the captain only speaking to me through a third person. Unfortunately for me I was in the wrong place at the wrong time a couple of more times when it was my turn at the wheel and I was getting annoyed at this rigmarole.
The next time I didn't give the mate time to speak.
Captain " Tell the wheelman to come around slowly to port"
Me " Come around slowly to port, aye aye skip"
Captain " Captain to you, not skip"
Me " Captain to you not skip aye aye"
Foolish I know but I had enough. The bosun told me later I was being taken off watches and placed on daywork, this suited me but the bosun and I exchanged a few words. I had now made an enemy of the captain, the mate and the bosun there was only one way this was going to go, all downhill.
A couple of more incidents occurred which were expected and I finished up with a DR at the end of the trip.
In the alleyway next to the crew agreements was a list of offences which you could be logged for. One was social intercourse with passengers, so I presume you could have sexual intercourse with passengers but could not talk to them after.

[thomas michael]

Obvious cappy, Mary had found out where you were and wanted he leg back.
Rumor is you paid for the beers with it telling the barman it was from Long John Silver and worth a fortune.

hi john
i think this lockdown must be getting to some of us, as i including cappy have been demented by dreams of past encounters, both won and lost, one particular girl pops up regularly and this was in port talbot, i had met her on the high street and she invited me for ( tea, ) off we went to her home which was quiet near where we met i was only there about an hour when someone was hammering at the front door, which startled us both, anyway it seems a neighbour had come directly from the pub to tell her that her brother needed her help, anyway without explanation off she darted with me following, into the pub and at the bar was her brother he was a big guy and he was totally out of it, as i thought ? but after us both getting him outside she told me he suffers from sleep sickness or narcolepsy anyway we struggled to get him indoors and laid him on the couch. no im afraid that was it nothing else to say about it as he fecked it up.
tom

[cappy]

hi john
i think this lockdown must be getting to some of us, as i including cappy have been demented by dreams of past encounters, both won and lost, one particular girl pops up regularly and this was in port talbot, i had met her on the high street and she invited me for ( tea, ) off we went to her home which was quiet near where we met i was only there about an hour when someone was hammering at the front door, which startled us both, anyway it seems a neighbour had come directly from the pub to tell her that her brother needed her help, anyway without explanation off she darted with me following, into the pub and at the bar was her brother he was a big guy and he was totally out of it, as i thought ? but after us both getting him outside she told me he suffers from sleep sickness or narcolepsy anyway we struggled to get him indoors and laid him on the couch. no im afraid that was it nothing else to say about it as he fecked it up.
tom

#tough titty tom ...lol cappy

[thomas michael]

#tough titty tom ...lol cappy

hi cappy
its your posts that have started this down ward trend as my sleep is disturbed by possibles and impossible relations ive had with women in my past,
tom

[cappy]

ah tom but werent they all worth it looking back ...best ports for girls japan ...ozz ....kiwi.....BA .....south america .....happy days cappy

[thomas michael]

ah tom but werent they all worth it looking back ...best ports for girls japan ...ozz ....kiwi.....BA .....south america .....happy days cappy

hi cappy
i never got down to those ports, but the ones i did i made the best of them that i could.
but all conquest are sweet and beautiful, as the memories they have left behind are worth there weight in gold.
tom