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Article: My first deep sea ship

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    My first deep sea ship

    15 Comments by Trevor Bodiam Published on 26th March 2018 06:19 AM
    It’s the end of November 1964, i’m 16years old, when Mum & Dad say goodbye to me and see me off at the station. I’m feeling both excited and somewhat nervous at the prospect of my coming journey as it will be the greatest distance i’ve ever been from home by myself.
    I’m off to join my first deep sea ship as catering boy after 3 months or so on the British Rail ferries at Dover.
    I need to get to London, then to Truro, and on to Falmouth and find the British Energy in the dry dock.
    This journey will take me most of the day as the train services then were not as efficient as today. My Mum has tears running down her face as she kisses me goodbye and hands me two brown paper bags of sandwiches she’s made for the journey.
    I can’t remember much about the actual train trip but do recall that when i finally got to the ship it was dark, and the night was misty and the orange glow from the dock lights looked very spooky. The place was deserted and the ship looked very quiet. I boarded and spent some time trying to find another human being. I think he was a cadet and i recognised him from my old school but he was a year or so ahead of me so we hadn’t been school mates. He showed me to my cabin and informed me that I was by myself at present and others would be arriving the next day. I was also told that the toilets etc. were ashore and not to use the ships, then left me alone.
    I locked myself in my cabin and ate the rest of Mum’s sandwiches and got out a book to read. I dozed off and woke with a desperate need of a bowel movement and was completely bewildered about where to go to find the toilets that were somewhere on the dockside. I left my cabin to find someone to ask, but the ship was absolutely deserted as far as i could see.
    I was desperate, so back to the cabin, got the 2 brown paper bags from my sandwiches and taking care and positioning them precisely did my business inside the double thickness brown paper and out the port-hole.
    This was my introduction to life on board .
    The actual trip to Venezuela and back to Tilbury is a distant memory now and nothing eventful can be recalled, but it did reinforce the love and attraction i’d had for the sea for as long as i could remember and it is something that never leaves me.
    Signed a contract with B.P. and did 2 more of their ships - British Hussar and Grenadier, but fed up with Persian gulf and decided to give tankers a miss and then went on 3 or 4 Union castle ships, but that might be another story sometime.

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  3. #2
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    Default Re: My first deep sea ship

    My mothers tears, that's what I remember as she was trying to smile through those tears, I will never forget that and it
    still bothers me.
    cheers,
    John B.

  4. #3
    Lewis McColl's Avatar
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    Default Re: My first deep sea ship

    Same here John, my mammy and uncle took me down to the Belfast /Liverpool ferry (me dad had crossed the bar the year before). I will never forget her grief as she waved me off. Six or seven weeks they said. I was back after a month but only to join my first ship the Owerri to coast her. When I arrived home her face light up as she thought I had enough and was home sick. My first deep sea trip was supposed to be 8 weeks, UK /West Africa. Ended up doing nearly 7 months .I did 43 years in all, I was even away at sea when she crossed the bar. Still miss me Mum.

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    Default Re: My first deep sea ship

    My mum was not at the docks the day I went away from home at the tender age of under 17.

    She was so distraught she required dad to comfort her.
    On my return I noticed she had put on weight, a couple of voyages later and my brother appeared on the scene a couple of hours prior to me leaving for the next voyage.
    Obviously dad had done a very good job at comforting!!!!
    Happy daze John in Oz.

    Life is too short to blend in.

    John Strange R737787
    World Traveller

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    Default Re: My first deep sea ship

    I had my VERY young Sister there along with my dear Mum standing down at the Quay,it seemed so far way from the Deck they looked small,but I could see the Tears on both my dear Mum and Sister,i was hoping and I guessed correct after writing my first letter home that they Tears of both sadness and joy.
    I could not stay long either as I had been given the Chore of Scrubbing down the Entry Stairs leading down into the First Class Dining Room on the Dunnottar!
    So I did not even see the lovely Mountain diddapearing into the distance,just head down and bum up! LOL
    Senior Site Moderator-Member and Friend of this Website

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    Default Re: My first deep sea ship

    I think with my father being at sea my mother was resigned to my following in his footsteps, my father would not even let my mother come to the garden gate when he departed after his leave, he always said the closing of the front door was the start of his working life and like a lot of seamen believed it was bad luck to have family wave goodbye as if they were never to be seen again. She followed the same path with me when I joined my first foreign going vessel, a deep sea trawler going to the Arctic fishing grounds, I think the cost of the taxi to St Andrews dock brought more tears to her eyes than my departure.

    Oh by the way, I was 13 years old at the time and it was a time of joy not tears and the start of further adventurs.

    Deep sea trawler men would not allow their relatives to wave them off at the lock gates, it was considered extremely bad luck, arriving back was a different matter.

    When I joined my first merchant vessel at 16 I was an old hand and my mother had tears of joy that I had reached the first step towards my goal, as I closed the front door heading for the taxi wearing my square rigged uniform to join my ship in King Georges dock in Hull, the uniform upon climbing the gangway became an ornament for the next 3.5 years except at meal times, as did most of the other stuff I had lugged up the gangway in a suitcase and kit bag, I was left in no illusions of what my role would be aboard this large gleaming vessel.

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    Default Re: My first deep sea ship

    we lived in a high rise flat 13th floor over the river mam could see the ship coming up the river she thought we just got of as soon as docked Saturday afternoon 5 hours later i got home dad was reading the pink echo{sports news} mam had a new aprin on flat sparkling i put my cases down walked into the living room the top of the paper came down hello lad he said then the paper went back up?? that was until the docking bottle of martell brandy slid down the inside of the paper? that night i went out on the town 3am came home and mam had waited up for me that was to me all that could be said by a loving mother? rip mam. jp

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    Default Re: My first deep sea ship

    ###my father was an extremely abrupt man ......few words and new everything in the world......on joining the cragmoor i asked where we were going one guy said we are going to LA......before i could ask were that was the guy had gone........the day before we were sailing my father approached.....i remember it to this day.......were you going said he ......LA said i ......its in france i bloody know all about that them french are always shouting alley france you will be back in a week ......watch nobody tries to fec you ........a lot of words was that from my old man.......cappy

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    Default Re: My first deep sea ship

    My old man who was a docker here in L,pool took me down to the Canada dock to join my first they where tied 2 abreast, The best advice i was ever given as he left, Keep your eyes and ears wide open lad and your mouth shut until asked......................... And don,t forget to write to your mother every chance you get.
    {terry scouse}

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    Default Re: My first deep sea ship

    My first ship was also a BP tanker,the British Pioneer.
    then during my time at sea,1952/1059,I also sailed
    on the British Resource,British Envoy,British Duke and
    the British Hero all out from Swansea.
    Dave Williams

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