On the train homeward bound

[john walker]

As a lowly AB, never got a docking bottle, and never heard of one, best we hoped for was a few cigs over the 200, and they were pretty tight on that.

Keith I can not remember paying off any ship that was not U.K. flagged without my docking bottle (Normally rum for my dad ex R.N. and 200 ciggies or similar for myself) It was our God given right. When I am abroad now I still take 200 cigs as a gift for others as I have not smoked for about 20 years. I do not take a litre of duty free booze as it is a pain in the backside with all the security problems on carrying liquids on planes nowadays.

[Johnny Kieran]

I always had a bottle of something and 200 ciggies, but I had to pay for them.
But, on my first trip on the Hornby Grange, I had to go down the hatches with, I think it was the bosun, to check everything was OK. We came to the bonded hatch(or whatever it was called) and the lock was open. I was told to keep my gob shut, then he proceeded to help himself to many bottles of everything. He gave me a bottle of Martini, which I had never drank before, but swallowed it anyway. I never went down there again, but all the deckies seemed to be well supplied for the outward part of the trip. I don't believe the bosun locked that bond door.

[John Arton]

The docking bottle and 200 cigarettes for seamen paying off in U.K ports was always a concession by the customs service, never a right. If coming in from a foreign country then you were subject to the same allowance regarding spirits and tobacco as any other passenger.
Rgds
J.A

[Johnny Kieran]

It's great now, we can bring in 4lts of spirits.

[Keith Tindell]

22, i think were all capable of turning a blind eye when it came to cargo, or ships stores, from raiding the rag bag for go ashore, or canvas duck to make your breezy, i remember carrying a whole 3 watchful of Becks beer, for the yankee 6th fleet in Genoa, cans of beer stowed in the accomodation everywhere. I think i posted before, they even employed a shore watchman to look after it in Rotterdam, we had to haul him out by derricks. think that was his job gone.

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spellchecker Brevvy

[Cecil Monchouguy]

Brings back memories. I signed off in Liverpool ( T&J Harrison ship),and caught an evening train to Camborne, Cornwall. In 1969.Got reasonably pissed and fell into a deep sleep thus missing the one change and ended up in Wales somewhere at an ungodly hour of the morning with a huge hangover and feeling suitably annoyed at my stupidity. A couple of cold hours shivering on the platform until my ride arrived.

[happy daze john in oz]

Keith I can not remember paying off any ship that was not U.K. flagged without my docking bottle (Normally rum for my dad ex R.N. and 200 ciggies or similar for myself) It was our God given right. When I am abroad now I still take 200 cigs as a gift for others as I have not smoked for about 20 years. I do not take a litre of duty free booze as it is a pain in the backside with all the security problems on carrying liquids on planes nowadays.

No such problem for us here in Oz. we buy our duty free from shops at the airport on our arrival home.