Schooner Rigged.

[Stuart Henderson]

ref post #10

Thanks for reply Den. Yes definitly not a nice experience especially for you in Santos. I was there on St Helena of South America Saint Line back in early fifties and ashore alone celebrating it was 23rd December and on way back across quay got arrested by Vigilantes and thrown in calaboose. One big cell ,bed was concrete floor,one toilet open for thirty so prisoners. Big guy in for murder was "boss" of cell. One Yank also who had missed ship. Our old man . paraded rest of crew on after deck when we got backfinally got me out late Christmas Eve and told me to tell/warn them of the conditions in local nick. He said the Vigilantes earn part of the fines by running in seamen. I certainly didnt go ashore again When I gave myself up in Capetown the only ones I could fin d were customs on the dock gat e,they were fine said dont worry son the agent will put you on train to next port, wheres your ship going to. Unfortunately for me next port was Fremantle Australia...... Yes you are right Den,great days. I did thirty years and have great memories. My wife reckons she has heard them all a thousand times (some she hasnt !!) You live in lovely place Stuart

[Dennis McGuckin]

Hi Stuart,
That sound like the same cell I was in.
Remember asking for water and the guard brought in a power hose and stuck me on the bulkhead.
Another time they tipped me off the concrete bench. Landed on my face and got up swinging. Big mistake.
Some of the guards stood there like gun-slingers ready for the quick draw.
When I finally got out they put me in a brothel [pity I had no money] Thought I could get by on my good looks. Yet another mistake!.
Had a room with a pile of straw that I shared with a variety of 'creatures'.
Black workers on the docks used to spit on me.Guess I looked poorer than them.
Used to hang around bars and see if anyone left some food or drinks. Than would dash in and grab it.
Some years later, I returned to Santos.
Visited a few of the places that had kicked me out. Of course they didn't recognise me until I gave them s**t and dumped my beer on them.
Luckily I wasn't arrested again. Don't think the guards would have welcomed me back!!
Finally got home.
My girl friend dumped me, got in a fight with her dad etc. etc.Merry Christmas.
Shipped out right away on the maiden voyage of the Icenic. Good ship to get rid of my VNC.
Havent thought about this in ages Stuart.
Thanks for the memories.
Den.

[Neil Morton]

Great stories lads.I recall with embarrasing clarity joining my first ship, a Cunard cargo out of Vic dock "Andria" by name.Knowing no different I walked along the dockside in full Vindi uniform, blue serge "Daks" and battle dress jacket with all my proficiency badges sown on the sleeve and the MN flashes on the shoulders complete with white shirt and navy tie and I even wore the bloody silly beret.To this day I can hear the wharfies wolf whistles and the snyde grin of the watchman at the gangway head.At the end of the first trip we did not pay off as the run across the "Pond" was too short; so with a sub I put all to rights at Burtons Tooting Broadway, also got rid of the Vindi kit except for the wooly trousers and a "piss jacket" which I kept as a stand by.
Can anyone tell me why the "piss jacket" was so named?Cheers lads and lasses Mort.

[Geoff Anderson]

Hi mort.
I think you will find its a PEA jacket, but if you wore it to sea it was a piss jacket. Because everybody took the piss out of you. As i went to Cardiff sea school we only wore a dustmans uniform. but i did like the fishermans smock that you Vindi boys wore, ideal for painting in.
Geoff

[Neil Morton]

Hey Taff what's with the fishermans smock? I do not recall such a garment and as for painting that's for deckies right?

[Geoff Anderson]

Hi Mort,
Yes i as on deck where the men worked ha ha.
The fisherman's smock? the lads from vindi and a assume they were deck, had these smocks they called them vindi tops. It was just a smock with no front pocket navy blue colour. They were great for painting just slip over your head, hey presto. One clean boy.

[Peter Trodden]

Nov,1958 was a bad time for me a 19yr old EDH. The POOL was slack,not many jobs going thru,and my last discharge was a V.N.C.(Royal Star) So I could'nt refuse the Stand By jobs I was offerd. The 3rd S/By job was the Nova Scotia (Furness Whithey)She was known as a good ship and had the same crew,for a long time,so I never expected to get a job on her.I had only a shirt and a pair of Dungo's in a small bag just to look the part.A Cadet came over and said Deck/Stand By,go to the Pursers Office and sign on,an AB had been injured and sent ashore. I could'nt refuse and I needed the job.So there am I signing on fore a North Atlantic Trip,on Deck,Mid-Winter and no gearI went to the Mess Room and met the Bosun and deck crew and explained my predicament.I had sailed with one of the ABs before Jonny Niblock from Bootle and he organized a whip round of some gear for me.The was a large Drying Room in the allyway full of Heavey weather gear,oil skins,sea-boots that had been bought over the past,from the second hand shops in Boston.I was told to help my self to this gear,but return it after use for the on coming watches. We sailed 7/11/1958.Called at St Johns,Halifax then Boston,where I got my Sub and went up to Dover St,and Rigged my self out in the second hand shops of Harry the Greek and Jimmy the Thief. I swore after that trip,in the future when Winter was coming on I would ship out South,Oz,N.Z.anywhere in the Sun,and I did so for many,many years. All The Best, Peter

[Michael Wisher]

On my first trip the Riverton of Chapman's I had adequate gear, but after a couple of years at sea I became engaged in a spot of broaching cargo, on a ship called the Marylyn. So I was 'off the pool'. luckliy it was summer. I had a few odd jobs with the 'lumpers' but mostly it was a lean couple of months, I was kipping in various places, friends let me doss on their setees, even on a tug, the Marsden, when she lay for the night at Harton Staiths in South Shields. I was getting pretty anxious about getting back to sea. I eventually got a Norwegian ship in September and after a couple of months dossing around I had no gear at all. I joined the 'Mesna', an ore carrier, with only what i stood up in. I had a toothbrush in my top pocket. I was so glad to get back on a ship. We sailed from the tees, 'Eston Jetty', over to Seven Islands, then up to Poland. I quickly got myself some gear, as the weather got colder as October crept on, and in Poland in November I was glad of some new keks, to keep my stern warmer, the thread bear 'fruit of the looms', that I had joined the ship with wouldn't have been fit to polish brass with. I got back on the British pool the next trip by getting a 'jump', on the LLangorse, of Evan Thomas Radcliff , of Cardiff. It was all part of the rich tapestry of a sailor's life. A lot of us for whatever reasons occasionally had to 'walk the plank' ashore for a while. I always recieved help from people on the pool, and I never missed the oportunity to do the same to others 'on the beach' when I was flush, we all helped each other in those days. Glad to see so many still around via this site.

[Jim Brady]

After an afternoon out I thought I would call into the Seamans Mission and have one for the road.
How times have changed!!!!There on the computers are our friends from the 3rd World Countries,cheap labour we called it.They have taken our jobs we said for far less money.Talking about being "Schooner Rigged" there are two racks of clothes there for free donated by the local community,any takers,I did'nt see any.As I'm standing there an Asian guy came to the bar "A large Jack Daniels please" and tenders a $100 dollar bill!!!.Dont you believe that these people are being ripped off I think that they are better looked after than what were.
Regards.
Jim.B.

[happy daze john in oz]

Jim having been intot he Melbourne mission on numerous occasions I have to agree with you. The majority of crew coming in are from Philoppines, Malaysia, Indonesia etc and they look anything but third world now. Many of them using the net to transfer funds back home to their families, how times have changed, Spoke to on winger on a cruise ship, he was from the Phioppines and he told me that as a result of two years at sea he now had his own house in Manilla, something he could never have done had he not gone to sea.