Why did you go to Sea?

[Doc Vernon]

Hello Capt
Great trip all round mate,will try and write up something in the days ahead,still feeling a bit Jetlagged!
Sorry that you couldnt have been there,but quite understood!
Take Crae and hello to Anne
Cheers
Vernon

[Lou Barron]

Nice to see you back Vernon i am sure you will have some stories to tell

[Doc Vernon]

Hi Louis
Yes my Friend,i have some nice little Stories,but will have to wait untill i get the hang of writing it all!
I am certainly no Capt Kong,or you for that matter,you Guys are brilliant in your Stories,but i will give it a try!
It will only be forthcoming next Week sometime,as its a Long Weekend here and all sorts of things going on!
So just sit and watch this space ,or some other haha!
Cheers and thanks for the Welcome Back !
Stay safe and keep well Louis
Vernon

[happy daze john in oz]

Just back from holiday and already you are taking a long weekend, not taking liberties are you??

[Doc Vernon]

And why not dear John haha! Holiday not yet finished! ???
Cheers mate
Vernon

[denniswalker]

It was the late seventies when i was about 15,that i decided to go to sea.idid not fancy a office job stuck inside all day,did not fancy the army,so i plucked for the merchant navy over the royal navy.now after 30years,i have never regretted one single minute of it,lets hope that i am still doing for the next 20 years. Cheers dennis

[Paul Steel]

Seriously, an add in a paper 'Earn £5000 by the time you are 30'. That was back in 1970 when £5000 was a lot of money.
Tried the eye test for deck officer, failed, guy said 'You can still join as an engineer'.

I didn't even know 3 types of spanners back then.

Went to Cardiff for an open day, where all the shipping companies were vying for your person.

In the corner sat a guy, patch on eye, not having much business. Everyone was pretty much queuing up for the likes of Shell, BP, Cunard, all the big companies. I sat down talked to him, company was Bibbys, I'd never heard of them. Took a test in london with Shell, engineering was not that high up on my preferences, but then I had answered honestly, and had originally thought about being an accountant as I enjoyed accounts and maths so much.

Took a test at Southampton College, passed that and was accepted by Bibbys.

Started from there.

I did get to earn £5000 before I was 30 after all, I was about 24 I think.

[Lewis]

Wine, Women and Song.
The adventure, see the world. England was boring in the 1950's, things got better when the Beatles came along.

[len mazza]

Never wanted to do anything else.The Youth Emplyment Officer in L eeds talked me out of going deep sea fishing thank goodness,he then tried his hardest to get me to join the RN.,compromise was reached and I went to Gravesend in Jan.'55. Afew years years later realised what a good choice it was,mymates doing their Nat Ser. were being
shot at and blown up,a classmate and good friend was blown up in Cyprus,survied, but not nice!.

Len Mazza R621945.

[Captain Kong]

When I was a very young lad, I remember seeing the Film `Mutiny on the Bounty`, Charles Laughton, "A taste of the Lash never hurt anyone."
Clark Gable etc.
So Tahiti became an island of Dreams to go to. A Paradise in the South Seas that those men were prepared to die for.
I had to go and the only way to go was in the MN. The Vindicatrix was the gateway to many adventures.
I have been many times now and I have many Tahitian Friends there, who always give me the most fabulous welcome.
One of my friends, Manuraii is a direct decendent of Mr Midshipman Edward Young who took a Tahitian bride to Pitcairns Island.
I even buried one of my teeth last year under the Bread Fruit Tree next to the HMS Bounty Memorial stone on the beach at Matavai Bay where the Bounty was anchored for six months waiting for the Bread Fruit Season.
My Dentist is Mr Christian and so I thought it appropiate to take the tooth to the very place the other Mr Christian was performing.
My ambitions had been complete.
Cheers
Brian.