Your best and worst trips to sea ?

[Archie Coulter]

Hello Brian,
Well that was quite a story of your experiences in Nigeria. All true I have no doubt. Because when you are at sea you dont have to make anything up as so many different things happen at sea ond on ships people ashore find hard to believe it all.
What a horrendous fall you had which could have been even worse. Nigeria of all places. That was really bad them making you work but not entirely surprising. When I had Hepatitis and two weeks off from the Doc in Malaysia (Isolated in the ships hospital) after a week when I was looking a bit better the OM tried to get me working again but the Mate put his foot down and said I had two weeks off and that is what
I would get.
The agent said to the OM on that ship. 'When someone has Hepatitis Capt they should be hospitalised ashore then repatriated' The OM. Replied ' Aw he will probably be ok in a couple of days' It just showed
how much he knew about medicine. It was a serious disease I had and and should have been in a proper hospital.
Anyway I learned one thing at sea about people being sick. If you can stand up there cant be too much wrong with you !!


Best regards,

Archie

[Doc Vernon]

Just to say that all of Brians (Capt Kong)Tales are of the highest quality,and i for one am sometimes awe struck at what he has gone through!
Lots of really good stories that surely hold ones interest,and yes i too believe that its all very very true!
Keep up the good Tales Capt!

Remember one about Ascension Island i think it was,when the Capt was there at some stage and saw some Graves in a Cove,cant remember the name of that Cove! Just that it was described as sad and Eerie i think!??
Cheers

PS Some of the other replies here too are great!
Keep this one going Lads its starting to get really interesting!
Cheers

[Graham Payne]

Hi Peter Trodden, much the same as yourself albeit 8 or so years later, used to sit wide eyed at those stories, they may have been a bit livened up I know but basically TRUE, and for a young "Deck Boy" wonderous and never to be forgotton. At the time I believed them all. Happy Days.

[Archie Coulter]

Hello Peter,
Thats a wonderful post about your first few trips to sea all with the
same crowd of ABs who had been at sea during the war and the extreme
hardship they had to endure. I know the seamans lot on ships in the 30s and
40s was a hard old life but when you think about the other aspects of being
at sea during the war they must have been very tough characters indeed.
The MN did not get anywhere near the credit it deserved for the part it
played in WW2. We could well have lost the war had it not been for the MN.

Its such a pity that the great MN we knew has disappeared for good.
When I joined in 1969 (That makes me a bit of a youngster compared
to you in 1955) there was still 4000 British ships. Now it is just a couple
of hundred. Sad. Container ships have pollished the cargo ships off
and cheap foreign crews pollished the British seafarer off. I have
lost my job 5 times over the years due to the company taking on
a cheaper alternative. (Filipinos in my case) Anyway I am still hanging
on by the skin on my teeth. I am on a small survey vessel at the moment
but for how long I dont know. As for my time at sea. Loved every minute
Well, almost every minute.....


Best regards,

Archie Coulter

[Bill Cameron]

My best trip was in 1958 as a cabin boy on board MV Dundee, we sailed from Flushing to the Great Lakes for 10 months, a small ship only 2500tonnes 28 of a crew, all the crew were from the East Coast of Scotland, there was one logging in 10 months an AB got logged 10 shillings for coming onboard drunk, in front of potential customers. I have fond memories of ports such as Toronto, Chicago, Cleveland, Detroit, and the Newfoundland coast St Johns and especially Botwood, as the were 8 females to every male there, heaven for an 18 year old.
Worst trip was 6 weeks of hell onboard the Baron Renfrew sailing from Burntisland to Takoradi for a cargo of Bauxite. The crew were all from the Dundee Pool, deckies & firemen fought constantly from day one, the Skipper put all of them on Board of Trade Whack i.e. they had to draw their dry rations of tea, sugar, and tins of milk individually. You can just imagine the rows that caused, there were fights constanly every night.
The Skipper even threatened to stop the weekly company Tot of Rum, eventually there was a minor stabbing. I was never so glad to get off the train at Dundee Tayside, as they were still fighting on the platform at Burntisland Station, which by the way had the best wee Railway Club I have ever been in.

[Captain Kong]

Hi Castleman, Thanks for your comments.
The graves of the seamen in Ascension Island is in a cove called Comfortless Cove, a sad and lonely place.

The graves are of dead Royal Navy men who died of Cholera around 1822 and are still maintained by what is left of our Navy.
I was there on the Caronia on our way back from Cape Town in December 2001.
Here is a photo

[Doc Vernon]

Hi Capt
Thank you for you reply and the Pic,it sure does look a very desolate and lonely spot!
Also for the name of that Cove!
Besides that one sad spot,i hope that you enjoyed your trip in 2001!
I am sure you must have !
Bet you saw a big change in Cape Town!
Cheers