Cyclones W.A.

[j.sabourn]

The 30years I have lived out here , the cyclone season has usually been from about November until March with up to about at most 6 a year. So this month we are into the season as I have known it. The first 11 years I was here I was very aware of the fact as worked in the cyclone areas , even when home on leave I was expected to fly north to man ships laid up there or to man offshore installations which I did on average twice a year. Today with the thousands plodding the streets with placards which in the old days would have read the end is nigh but today reads such as we want a future, and today myself being an observer and not a doer , I shall take any note of changes in the expected weather patterns everyone is talking about. Any changes which up to now I haven’t particularly noticed , then I shall go and buy the materials to make my own placard , so will have to think of an appropriate message to put on it , maybe something like poor OAP , and I told you so.
JS

[Des Taff Jenkins]

Hi John.
As long as you don't go swimming in Freemantle beach to check the wave height.
Des

[j.sabourn]

I have always been a good friend of the Noddys Des , I keep out of their way . Cheers JS

[happy daze john in oz]

If you go into the water there is always the risk any where along the Oz coast you will meet with Nobby or one of his family.

That is the risk you take.

But there are far worse sharks than those in our oceans
A recent poll here shows that the biggest sharks are in the car and real estate industries.

So go in the water and stay out of the high street.

[Tony Taylor]

Hi John.
As long as you don't go swimming in Freemantle beach to check the wave height.
Des

Saw my first shark while anchored off Kwinana, had to be 18ft at least; we were told that they were common there as there was an abattoir near the beach which hosed down everyday and all the blood etc. was flushed out to sea via a pipeline from the shore, I dunno whether it was a wind up, but no more sea swimming for me.

[j.sabourn]

Tony out here they used to utilise the supply vessel as a safety boat , so there was always a supply vessel on the location. They decided to have a man overboard exercise , and threw the dummy in the water within the 3 minutes allowed to retrieve , and the FRC getting there a shark beat them to it and a torn to shredded orange boiler suit was what was recovered. I pulled it up on a halyard and hope those on the rig noticed it ,and took every effort not to be stupid and fall in . Cheers JS.

[Louis the fly]

I have posted this story about sharks before but it is worth repeating.
The Geordie tramp I was on broke down in the Red Sea. A huge shark began circling the ship, one the lads on deck threw a shackle at it.
Five days later the engines gave out again and we drifted while the engineers worked on the problem.
The very same shark began circling once more. We could tell it was the same shark because there was a big plaster on it's head.

[j.sabourn]

Did you ever get the shackle back ? JS

[John Arton]

When I was on the Mexican Pacific coast running petrol and diesel to ports along the coast, we often spent days at anchor off Salina Cruz waiting to load and to pass the time we would regularly play deck cricket. If the ball was not over the side then one of would dive into the sea to retrieve it, then that all stopped when we realised that the gash going over the side was attracting the sharks.
Rgds
J.A.

[Des Taff Jenkins]

A bit over the top Louis, just because you flogged those shackles to George Robey no need to blame the sharks, they got a bad rep as it is.
Des