Coasters

[James Curry]

May be of interest Deck_RN_MoU.pdf Only Ex RN personnel I sailed with was an electrical artifficer? Nice lad but the C/Eng had to remind him that his job was to maintain and repair not just order new spares, he also had an aversion to lamping up.Click the link hopefully should open.

[John Gill]

What have you been reading on here since 2011 John, the site is full of rock dodging tales.

Oops, sorry. Visual malfunction. Thought it said 'cock dodging'. Must renew my glasses prescription.

[Ivan Cloherty]

Oops, sorry. Visual malfunction. Thought it said 'cock dodging'. Must renew my glasses prescription.

John, that's a separate post under the heading 'UCL misadventures'

[John Gill]

John, that's a separate post under the heading 'UCL misadventures'

I did three trips on the Capetown Castle as a waiter and paid off with my honour and reputation intact.

[Austin Carl Largan]

I worked in the North Sea with a Geordie who was a rough sort but down at heart a decent type. He had worked as a dispensation ticket 2nd and my pal who was an ex R N ERA looked down at him and only referred to him as a typical lower decks rock dodger. I gathered that it was a derogatory term

[j.sabourn]

At least the dispensation second had a certificate for that vessel as having to present himself before an examiner of engineers , Did your ex naval rating ? JS

[j.sabourn]

Further to dispensations , a similar qualication came out during the war to cover the shortage of certificated engineers but was called a permit . There was still a shortage after the war so this licence to sail asa second engineer a title of dispensation was approved .In theory it allowed a candidate to appear before an examiner of engineers to be examined orally and if experienced enough for the job received permission to sail for the period of the ships Articles . I rarely sailed with anything else in my time at sea , but usually found them all well equipped to do the job.
On the other hand I think it was deplorable that a Royal Navy commissioned officer could sail as master on a merchant ship . What does he know about stowing rice or doing a grain plan plus hundreds of other shipboard jobs outside his Ken . As for seafarers in the North Sea some of your best shiphandlers were ex fishermen and I had no qualms about taken their advice. I’ve seen some of these extra chief engineers , none are prepared to wave their certificate at a breakdown and say abtecabdabra and fix it , but are quite prepared to send the 2 engineer with his dispensation to put things right. Cheers JS

[Austin Carl Largan]

Sorry, I don’t know if my friend had anything which matched a Dispensation 2nd but I think that an ERA was a Chief Petty Officer grade and I believe he had to take some type of exam. Anyone from ‘The Andrew’ (as he called it) would be able to comment. Mind you, my pal was an arrogant sod and to him everyone was typical lower decks losers, including me who was his friend.

[Austin Carl Largan]

I once witnessed a young genius 2nd who had every qualification known to man, grab a micrometer and start pounding on a bolt with it. He totally understood Einstein’s relativity theorem’s and he could do complex calculations in his head in seconds, but he couldn’t understand tools.

[Tony Taylor]

I once witnessed a young genius 2nd who had every qualification known to man, grab a micrometer and start pounding on a bolt with it. He totally understood Einstein’s relativity theorem’s and he could do complex calculations in his head in seconds, but he couldn’t understand tools.

I knew of them, he had a ticket but was still junior. Didnt know one end of a hammer from the other, used to lock himself in the toilet if someone upset him.