seafaring stories

[Doc Vernon]

Hi Capt
As i and many other have said in the past,your Stories are worth Publishing and i wonder at times why you do not!?
I still have quite a few of your older ones hidden somewhere on my Puter ,and at the times i feel lonely out they come and i sit and re-read them with awe!
You have a gift there Capt hang on to it and make the best of it too!
I know there are many who have sailed to far off places and had experiences as well,but unfortunately a lot cannot put it to paper like you!
You too are one of the very fortunate who has indeed seem so much of this World,and had so many good and bad experiences!
I for one sometimes envy you my friend!
As you know i too have had my ups and downs (now now John) but cannot put them tp paper in the way that would captivate an audience! Keep the stories coming i really enjoy them!
Thanks
Cheers

[Captain Kong]

Thanks for that Vernon,
I just have one chapter to finish then it will be posted, it is around 10,000 words in all.
Australia in 1957.
Cheers
Brian.

[Red Lead Ted]

They say, There is a book{ Autobiography} In all of us you should think about writing your experiences down on paper, In the next 20yrs there wont be post,s of the nature that appear on this forum to be found. I would dearly loved to have sat with you and my late uncle Bill, Atlantic Convoys Great tales, Along with Stan Mayes, Another wealth of knowledge on The British Merchant Navy, From yesteryear. Most Deck crew and indeed all seafarer's aboard this ship of ours can identify with you stories, Sadly that wont be the case as one by one we all meet our inevitable destiny. Regards Terry.

[robpage]

When I was an apprentice and spent three years at South Shields Marine and Technical College , I was in digs in Osborne Road , The Landlady's father was in his mid nineties , and at the drop of a hat would ramble on about his time as a Chippie on the early steam ships , Sails up and the prop was hinged up out of the water ,There was no light at the edge of the Magellan straights , because as they found out the next day , the locals had eaten the lighthouse keeper , in our youth , and an eagerness to get out to the pub , we ignored the old guys stories , what gems died with him . I think there should be more preservation of the history that once made the Great in Great Britain

[happy daze john in oz]

Like Brian I have writen up my life from birth, relying on family information, to my last dys at sea. I have a couple more bits to write then it is done. The problem with most of us is that our time at sea and the stories therein will only be believed by others who sailed. We got into situations that would never be allowed today, so the youth of today would say we were only spinning a yarn. the fact is lads we know better.

[Ivan Cloherty]

They say, There is a book{ Autobiography} In all of us you should think about writing your experiences down on paper, ........

Ted, it's one thing writing the stories, it's a minefield trying to get them published, thought I'd cracked it, having written a 97,000 word epistle, got it accepted by a publisher; then along came some celebrity with yet another Cook Book and the publisher was very honest with me "Sorry Ivan, we will make more money out of the cook book" . So I was consigned to the back shelf. Once you have been accepted by one publisher it is very difficult to get accepted by another, as they don't believe the 'more money' theory even though they apply that rule themselves to candidates. However it is written, which passed some time for me after closing my business and brought some wry smiles to my face when I remembered the things that we used to get up to, that a landlubber would not comprehend and would think were bulls**t. However Hull University took an unpublished copy for its library because of the historical content of wartime experiences and my time on Hull trawlers as a young lad.

So my advice to anyone is, pen your thoughts, they may never be read, but they will give you some satisfaction and it is surprising that once you start writing how one event triggers another memory to jot down. Who ever said there is a book in all of us was probably right, but getting it published is another matter. Publishers receive about 10,000 submissions per year, not all can be "Fifty Shades of Grey" and not all want to follow the self publishing route, which can be expensive.

If you do write something these days, it is so easy to write with a computer, erase, paste, repeat etc and things can easily be put in chronologigical order, if that's the way you want to go, which isn't always necessary or desirable if it affects your story. Hull University told me that most University Librarians will willingly accept unpublished works especially from the older generations before all personal recollections are lost with the demise of those who could tell a tale. I think Brian's stories should be submitted to a University, if he doesn't go down the publishing route, because if they can make us ex seafarers laugh, cry and remember our own incidences in life then they ought to be preserved for posterity, so that others may enjoy.

But if I recall Ted, you once said you wouldn't want to sail with Brian, as he must be the unluckiest man alive, and I can understand that in the physical sense, but we would sure enjoy a trip with him down memory lane. So Brian I think the consensus on this site would be get your a*se into gear and compile your stories in book form for either publishing or University records. The same applies to all, because we have all had similar experiences and then our own incidents in life which means you don't have to be that 'Ancient Mariner' to have an interesting story to relate.

Just my thoughts, as I know we have a few published authors on this site and I have enjoyed their stories.

[cappy]

When I was an apprentice and spent three years at South Shields Marine and Technical College , I was in digs in Osborne Road , ..........

hello rob not many seafarers dont know shields as we get older we forget some things the place you stated in shields was osborne terrace not road
ialso lodged with an old sailor from shields some stories unbelievable any one today would say they were un truths
but only we would know bestregards cappy from shields

[j.sabourn]

Remember reading one book years ago, think it was called I Captained the Big Ships or something like that. Was written by the master of the old Queen Mary or Elizabeth. Remember one chapter where he remarked on the Head Barman arriving alongside in Southampton in a Rolls Royce or Bentley, whilst he drove a mini. Apparently according to him the the Head barman had the most lucrative job on the ship. I was told by a friend that the master often stayed at a hotel think it was called the Mallion Spout on the Yorkshire Moors, I stayed there once but never met him. Cheers John Sabourn.

[cappy]

Remember reading one book years ago, think it was called I Captained the Big Ships or something like that. Was written by the master of the old Queen Mary or Elizabeth. Remember one chapter where he remarked on the Head Barman arriving alongside in Southampton in a Rolls Royce or Bentley, whilst he drove a mini. Apparently according to him the the Head barman had the most lucrative job on the ship. I was told by a friend that the master often stayed at a hotel think it was called the Mallion Spout on the Yorkshire Moors, I stayed there once but never met him. Cheers John Sabourn.

morning john the hotel you mention in the dales is still there and 5 star the mallyon spout afine area of yorkshire just wodered can you remember the old norsky mail boats on the tyne the venus and braemar inthe 40s and 50s my granda who had been at sea all his life an ex barnardos boyand had a loyds medal for bravery ended up fire watching into his late 70s on them no pensions in those days mutch he wasin sail and said he could still sea the bones of his first ship named the wigeon on jarrow slake he ended his days as master but didnt have mutch to show forit his mbe loyds medal and emile robin award sold to pay an electic bill that was hard times regards cappy from shields

[j.sabourn]

Remember the ships cappy. Later was it the Jupiter they renamed the Black Prince and used to do cruises to the Canarys in the Summer. Spent a lot of time in the late 40"s and early 50"s as a youngster clambering around the herring drifters in North Shields always plenty of fresh herring fell out of the creels when discharging so used to take home. Very rare to see fishing vessels there now I hear. Suppose you will know or have heard of a lot of the Runciman masters from S.Shields, Barton, Jordan, and a few more the names slip me at moment, Hogg was from W. Bay. Think Roberts from Sunderland. Nearly all geordies or makum and takums. Have lived here permanantly since 91 and is amazing how many geordies you bump in to. Remember years ago was sitting in a Class B bar in Chinatown in Kobe, out of bounds to US troops. Hundreds of bars, bumped into a bloke who lived a few doors down from me. Was starting to get to be a small world even then. Take care John Sabourn.