A trip on the Sprayville

[Captain Kong]

I have found an old email off an old mate who now lives in Thailand, I last saw him in 1957 and he goes by the name of Sylvester, not his real name. He was telling me of a trip on the Sprayville, one of Monks coasters out of Liverpool. She was very similar to the Beechfield I wrote about a while ago, it gives you an idea of what those coasters were like in those days of the early 50s...................
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.SPRAYVILLE.by Sylvester
I signed on the Sprayville in Birkenhead and set sail for Londonderry. The crew consisted of the Skipper, one Mate, one Engineer, one engine room boy, Cook, and four Deckhands.
The Deck hands slept in the focsle ..that was me and three Irish Farm hands, A West Indian, had my bunk before me and he left some Crabs behind to keep me company. I asked the Skipper if he had some ointment to clear up the Crabs, he said `no but I have some petrol that I use for my lighter that should do the trick` ... It did kill the crabs and took all the hair off and most of the skin off my balls.
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In the evening I was on the wheel and having a chat with the Mate when we saw a lot of lights ahead, the Mate said `Must be a fleet of fishing boats`... As we got closer I could hear faint music, suddenly the Mate shouts `Hard a Starboard`, we almost hit the Isle of Man, we finally made it to Londonderry.
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By this time I was getting on well with the Engineer and he told me that he only went ashore once a month, he told me he saved up his money and then pi55ed it all up in a couple of days, he told me that when we got to Derry it will be time for his next session and asked me if I would join him, how could I refuse?.
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There was a pub close to the dock and when you sat by the window you could see the ship, when everyone went ashore the Engineer rigged a pole to the crankshaft and up through the skylight, he put a red light on top of the pole and when the crankshaft went up and down so did the red light, which we could seefrom the pub, if the engine stopped he`d leg it back to the ship to see what was wrong.
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We bought lots of plonk and went back to the ship, he took me down the engine room and showed me around and we ended up pi55ing it up.... we stayed down there for two days.
By this time I was looking like the rest of the crew, dirty clothes, and desperately in need of a shower and a shave. The Engineer told me he had made a washing machine in the engine room...it consisted of an oil drum and a rod connected to the engine, on the end of the rod was a rope with a shackle attached and it went into the drum, when the engine went up and down so did the shackle, it worked OK except it knocked the **** out of anything metal.. my Lee jeans came out with a broken zipper and no buttons. I paid off as soon as we got back to Liverpool and a year later I met the Engineer again down near the Pool, he told me the Sprayville had hit a pier and got a big hole in her side.. they didnt want to go to the shipyard so they fixed it up with some steel rods and cement, which later fell off at sea but they made it back to port where she was sold for scrap.
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I hope you enjoyed the yarn.. a memory from my discharge book, God we had a wild life when we were young, I really missed the sea when I swallowed the anchor.
Sylvester.
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Thank you Sylvester.
the SPRAYVILLE.

[Neil Morton]

Ah Capt. Kong you did it again, made my day! What days they were ! And the characters bring tears to my eyes with both laughter and sorrow. The ingenuity of that engineer and the red light , marvellous.

[Barrie (Jim) Parker]

I sailed on Monks coasters 1959-1960 ,Memories come flooding back , how we endured life on board those dirty old coal burners , heavy hatch boards , terrible accomadation , food - when we could afford it ! But we were a happy crew , and we use used to visit great little ports around the coast , regular calls were Workington ,Ramsey , Londonderry . And when the cargoes dried up ,we had to tie up in Wallasey dock and wait for new trade. Carefree days , so long ago !

[Captain Kong]

Hi Jim,
They were bloody awful days on those Monks and Savage`s coasters in the early 50s, accommodation all hands in an open focsle covered in coal dust and ashes off the coal bogey, coughing your lungs up from the smoke off the bogey,the bunk, no sheets or pillows, covered in coal dust, everything manky, getting bashed around in heavy seas in winter. You pay the Cook out of the wages every week, he goes on the ale and then disapears with the money and as you say No Food. stay hungry for a few days, No showers or sinks, on Savages ` Beechfield`, no toilet, had to wait until Belfast or Londonderry for a crap and shower at the Mission. More than Four hours on and not a lot off, no sleep. hungry and manky.
But I had a good time in those little ports around the coast. in the Isle of Man, Wales, Ireland , Northern Ireland, and in the little Scottish ports. I would not have missed it for anything. I learned a lot of seamanship on those as a lad and had some good times, It was just a bit difficult picking up a girl in those ports while still a little black around the edges with the coal dust.
Read my account of a ten year voyage in four weeks on the` BEECHFIELD` in No.1 Seafaring Stories thread..in Swinging the Lamp.
They dont have ships like those anymore.
Cheers
Brian