Just leaving the house for the shops when my wife ( who travelled with me for many years) said to me laughingly, quite out of the blue,
" single up fore and aft".
As its more than 25 yrs since I left the sea it was a shock to the memory cells not having heard those words for so long, I had an instant recall of that comforting feeling that we were leaving port at last and be back to the routine and order that made our lives so liveable. Cabin doors could be left open, meals at set times, God was in his heaven up on the top deck, the third mate on the bridge, second mate doing chart corrections, dots and dashes coming from the radio shack, engines thrumming comfortingly thanks to our engineers down below. Not for us , the protest riots, looting, fire bombs, traffic jams, lawn mowing, hosepipe bans, etc etc that seem to make up life ashore these days,. What a great life it was back in the 50's to 80's. Thank goodness I still have my memories. Who cares if we pick out the best of times in our remembrances.
Francis Ralph R692715