Coasters

[j.sabourn]

I thought that as well when I saw ships. Going sideways across Aberdeen Harbour, but I never found it. JS

[Bill Morrison]

#31 John, there were times, trying to go along side in Lerwick blowing a gale, had to drop the pick to stop from hitting the quay.
Bill.

[James Curry]

Austin #19 & John #21. A micrometer is a handy tool but for real percision you can't beat the old faithful's.
Bill.

Proper chisel that Bill, no mushroom on the strike area. Ref:#29

Here is a chisel for pussies Chisel for pussies.jpg no doubt to avoid hammer rash.

[Austin Carl Largan]

#31 John, there were times, trying to go along side in Lerwick blowing a gale, had to drop the pick to stop from hitting the quay.
Bill.

Was the ‘pick’ released by pressing that big red button in the center of the console labeled ’Panic Handle’ ?

[j.sabourn]

Nah that was the Man Overboard Alarm , it was usually the only thing that worked on the Stand By vessels. JS

[Alan Briggs]

I Joined one of Everards as a stop gap trip for two weeks ended up staying with them for over a year, had a great time.

[frank greenfield]

Hi Ivan,hear hear coasting is bloodying hard work. When I was coasting it was four on four off. We didn’t have a cook as such, we had to get our stores and take it in turns to be the cook. I did both deepsea and coasters and found coasting the hardest by a long chalk. All the best Frank Greenfield. R5545192.

[Ivan Cloherty]

Hi Ivan,hear hear coasting is bloodying hard work. When I was coasting it was four on four off. We didn’t have a cook as such, we had to get our stores and take it in turns to be the cook. I did both deepsea and coasters and found coasting the hardest by a long chalk. All the best Frank Greenfield. R5545192.

When on coasters I preferred the 5 on 5 off watches as it gave a different time of day, each day on watch, 6/6 I considered too long on, because the 6 off was never your own, as 2/m you still had your Notice to Mariners and chart corrections, no time in port to do it, as there was no discrimination, it was all hands to the domino hatchboards, king and queen beams and the constant warping up and down, especially at the Goole coal chutes.

Colliers I found much easier with their Mcgregor hatches, wire clamps for warping, one man could warp the vessel if nimble on your feet, we even wore uniforms (battledress) and the company insisted on it in the saloon, but the runs were boring, you could spend your whole life going from A to B or C, and back again (suited some I suppose) but never see anything of D to Z in the UK or Continent.

Hard days, but great learning curves in navigation, ship handling, crew relationships and work ethics, although we had never heard the term 'work ethics' in those days, it was a case of working that little bit harder so that your crew mate could have time at home if he was in his home port

[j.sabourn]

When people start talking about long hours most of us speak from personal experience . The only true saying 4 on and stop on is the most appropriate I can remember. Apart from emergencies involving loss of life , the longest I can remember was whilst discharging Cargo and back loading at an oil rig , where I was informed by the OIM we expect the master to work 18 hours at a stretch ,this involved holding the ship alongside using twin screw and a fixed tunnel bow thruster only , good I said you’ve got 2 hours left. We then struck a deal on job and finish , which took us up to 27 hours , on our return to Lerwick was thick fog so was on the controls standing for two days. They talk about safety I doubt if they can even spell it. Another instant this time on the safety boats , shortly after the completion of the P.A. Enquiry I was asked to rejoin a vessel in Lerwick and as norm asked for a crew list ,this comprised 1 seaman , I refused there and then and handed my notice in. All the media were explaining the new recommendations for increasing crew sizes . Safety in watchkeeping means different things to different people.
Cheers JS....

[j.sabourn]

A small rider to previous post which believe have put on before, the chief engineer who lived local to me I informed however it was outside the 72 hours allowed so he went back to rejoin . A week later I saw him in the Local pub. Asked what he was doing there ? his reply was he ordered a road tanker to pump out the E.R. bilges , the owners cancelled. They sailed had an E.R. fire , he set off the argon system or whatever it was at the time and limped back into Lerwick on 1 engine. the company told him if he took the blame they would give him a good reference , the chief was an electrician by trade but had a dispensation to sail as chief on diesel electric ships. JS