Why did you go to Sea?

[Graham Payne]

Hi Eifion
Just a thought, you should have gone to the "TS Indefatigable" you could have escaped and gone home every weekend.
Thereagain, being there 18 months myself, Maybe not,
silly thought of mine

[dave smiley]

I too was a duffer at Maths Archie.
Took three attempts at 2nd Mates and ditto with Masters.
All worth it in the end, but I didn't stay with conventioanl shipping. Went on instead to
become a mooring master at tanker terminals, and latterly as a marine surveyor.
I thoroughly enjoyed my sea-time however.

[dave smiley]

I did sail with a Mate called Harry Tate!.. True!

[dave smiley]

Did anyone reading this, ever read the novels of Percy F. Westerman, as a child.
I went to our Public Library from about the age of 12, and the first book of his that I read
was 'East in the 'Golden Gain', loosely based on a bluey on the China coast circa the pre-war ere.
That was me , hooked, and so off I went to the Conway, and after that it was all downhill! Kidding, I enjoyed my time at sea in that period - the 60s - before the world changed and everything was shipped in a box.
Cheers

[Ivan Cloherty]

Just been reading all the 74 posts again (mine included) and so much written to make you laugh and smile wryly at memories brought alive by others. One of the better threads on here holding a lot of genuine interest.

But that bluddy one legged mate hasn't turned up yet

[j.sabourn]

Have heard about a one legged greaser. A Ch. Engineer I sailed with told be they were a greaser short before sailing so he got in touch with the Federation who sent a man around to this greasers house to see if he wanted the job. He was sitting down with his wife having tea when he arrived and the greaser accepted the job. About 6 months later the ship got back and was paying off onboard and the same bloke from the Federation approached the Chief and asked how the greaser had turned out. Great said the chief great bloke, but next time send one with 2 legs. This is not a joke but a true story. Also never sailed with but there was at least one person I heard of was skipper in the North Sea with one leg and one eye, probably still alive today so if he wants and see these posts may decide to reply to. As regards other peculiarities was very common for seamen to have fingers missing, was even on one ship where the mate lost his thumb, unfortuanetly someone kicked it over the side as the ship was going through the locks into Swansea. I was 2nd mate at time and the old man phoned down aft and told me to get forward and see if I could find it. However no success. Cheers John Sabourn

[j.sabourn]

A mate on one of the Anchor Handlers of the company I used to work for lost his leg at sea when working with Rig Chain which in those days was a very heavy job as didnt have all the modern aids they have now. However they gave him a job in the office and dont know if he ever went back to sea. The same company is now defunct so dont really know where he finished up. It may sound weird having such deformities on seagoing personnel but if they are able to do the job so be it. I sometimes wonder when they brag about equal rights for women as regards shipping what sort of drawbacks does a woman present going through the menapause, I would still trust a one legged man more so. Cheers John Sabourn.

[Captain Kong]

We had a Cook on the New Zealand Star, he chopped his thumb off whilst drunk in the Galley when we were in Napier, the thumb disappeared and ended up in a kit of Burgoo, and then on a spoon with a Fireman screaming as he almost ate it.
.
One guy was telling me that on a ship he was on, an AB had his leg cut off when caught in a block when dropping derricks, the Mate came down and said to him he would cancel all his loggings, the AB picked up his severed leg and hit the Mate with it. [ only repeating what he said.].
.
My eldest brother was docking in London at the end of a Nine month voyage on the Vancouver City, one of Smiths of Cardiff, in 1949. a spring snapped and it took the two legs off an AB as he was dragged through the fairlead on the focsle. I believe he died in hospital after.
Brian.

[Frank Appleford]

I went to sea because I wanted to see the world. Brought up in Hampshire. As kids on a clear day we could climb a tree and watch the liners go in and out of Southampton. One of those liners I saw as a kid, 'the Queen Mary' didn't realiise then of course, I would be sailing on her one day. 9 glorious years seeing the world and get paid for it. Made a hell of a lot of friends. The greatest years of my life. Not sure these days on the new passengerships, 15 different languages .... On the occasions when emergency signals were being sounded (not a drill) everyone responded when I was at sea.

[Duke Drennan]

Out of curiosity and a bad memory Brian, was it commonplace to run a back spring from the focsle?