Cruise ship in Fowey

[j.sabourn]

#14 I can remember going to Venice on a ship when I was serving my time so would have been in the first part of the 50 s .The actual port for shipping is well away from the Canals and what people who have never been there visualise it. It was my coldest memory’s of anywhere in the world I have ever been and that includes Russia where it was minus -35. It was probably all in the mind but those strong drafts of cold air whistling down those canals were really cold and the only good thing you could say it probably kept the sewage smell down. The ships steam steering quadrant even froze up .Put me off ever going for a holiday there even if I could afford it , went instead to Yugoslavia later and didn’t take up the offer of a side trip to Venice . Cheers JS

[happy daze john in oz]

Like you John we went to Yugoslavia and took a day trip to Venice.
On the catamaran on the way back we hit bad weather, the crew sang to try and calm us.
Fine but what Thye sang were hyms

[j.sabourn]

They could have at least sang , Row Row Row your boat gently down the stream , merrily merrily merrily life is but a dream . JS

[Ivan Cloherty]

One of the last times I painted a ships side, I was 70, my mate is a Turk, very funny bloke. I'm in the front.
Des

Hope you weren't using a turks-head brush! Des

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The hook is often used when not possible to dock.
Many ports only shuttle service.
As to rust on them, some are in a bad way.

You can have a vessel on her maiden voyage and on her second anchorage port, it looks like loads of rust is coming off when you let go, just the way it is, chain will be perfectly sound unless there is a defect, but they are flaked out every four years (or were) for compulsory survey

[Des Taff Jenkins]

Ivan.
Later we were using a barge to paint the ships side, we had a step ladder on it to reach up as high as we could, I went up for more paint, when I came back the Turk was looking soppy, I said ,"What's wrong? He said ," the ladder she go into the water." He had put it up against the side and the barge had moved away. What a plonker.
Des

[j.sabourn]

I loaded China clay in Fowey also on a small vessel I can’t remember her name or the other one of the same company as were paper discharges. Was for Savona in Italy . The ship had to be spotless hold wise before loading. Arriving Savona it was just dumped on the quay like iron ore. I took the job in a pub as was after leaving an offshore company being redundant at 50 years of age , but I refused to lie down. Came back into the North Sea 12 months later on the lowest of the lowest conditions just to keep away from the dole office , not too much difference in the money either . JS ps the redundancy pay for 30+ years was 1100 pounds and maybe 40 pieces of silver , from the British Shipping Federation about 1986. JS

[Nigel Metcalfe]

I was there on Tectona, the two master owned by Plymouth Maritime College with Captains Motte and Gibson (MAR15)

[Rodney Mills]

My late wife and I pent 4 months every year for 13 years backpacking around the UK and continental Europe including Turkey both European and Asian parts. We spent two weeks in Venice one summer and there was no canal smell. Venice is actually a great walking city all along side the small canals, those away from the Grand Canal have pedestrian bridges. We found a great small cheap hotel off of St. Marco's square and used St. Marco's as a starting off point of a morning as there was no street maps. and most tourist get a one day stop and San Marco's it We got chummy with a gondolier and his COUSIN who owned a speedo motor launch, and they gave us special rates and we would walk past them and make eye contact with one, and he would meet us a half hour later at an arranged bridge, and take us around and give us a discounted rate, as they had to take passengers in turn at the starting off point. we also found a restaurant that was a working man's lunch/dinner place, good food, cheap prices. So, Venice was very reasonable to us. We did the same sort of thing in all the major cities in Europe and most had a COUSIN in the smaller towns who had a car.

We loved Italy, they, the Italians, are all a little crooked and hustlers, Theye'd rather hustle a buck than be a wage earner. Once you understood this (the rules of the game), Europe became affordable and fun.

We had rented out our home in the USA, So home for us was where we slept, no home rent or auto payments, taxes and mortgage. We owned our camper in Oz and a car in the UK. The only bummer was driving a Brit. car in Europe. Still small price to pay for no car rental fees or mortgage and property taxes.

I have great photos and wonderful memories of Oz, UK. and Europe and Bella Venice.

Cheers, Rodney