Oh the things we did to amuse ourselves on long voyages

[John Arton]

Re. College of the Sea. believe it is still going but is now a University and based in Finland (I think)
Model making was also very popular with us, especially if you visited Hong Kong or Japan where you could buy fantastic model car kits that took days to make. Great for long voyages.
One one ship we aqll had remote control cars with which we used to have !Grand Prix" nights, certainly beat the old Horse Race nights for reality but not soberness.
One time our elec. brought a petrol powered remote controlled model helicopter in Hong Kong. Said he was going to fly it in an empty hold once he had finished putting it together. Thankfully (for him) he never managed to finish it before paying off as he could not control his drinking let alone a remote controlled powered helicopter with a rotor span of around 2 feet.
rgds
Capt. John Arton (ret'd)

[Gordon Turnbull]

College of the Sea. I decided after a few years at sea that I really should do something about my educational qualifications, that is I had none having gone to sea whilst my former class mates were sitting their O levels. Did all the preparatory work by mail and then they told me to sit the exams I would have to go to the local High School and do them with the pupils. No thanks. I think I was about 26 at the time. No way was I joining classes of pubescent schoolgirls!!!!! Still no educational qualifications and I guess that is how it will now stay.

[Jim Brady]

I was just having a couple of pints with a mate of mine a good old AB, Bosuns Mate etc went away 49 and he had never seen what I am about to talk about.Just like us all when we were younger we thought that the Merch was here forever and kids would just keep coming along and taking our place,we never imagined that it would go and all the skills and ideas and experience would never be passed on.Anyway this is regarding mat making,I was only on one ship and seen it once and at the time I had no interest and thought the guy was a bit mad.This old AB had all old strands of rope slung between two upright poles down the deck accommodation,when I say poles i mean part of the uprights of the ship,about 12 feet apart.He had a wooden (is it called a flitch) he was backwards and forwards up and down between the strands.I did'nt explain that very well but the finished product I cannot imagine how much you would have to pay for it today,I would say a lot of money.It was a brilliant rope mat that you would have outside your front door.It was about an inch and a half thick 3ftx2ft,the artwork was fantastic and I think it had "Home Sweet Home" in the ropework
Funny none of the deck crowd were interested in this so all that knowledge has gone and will never be passed on.Did any of you ever see this art?
Regards.
Jim.B.

[Capt Bill Davies]

Fid!

[John Callon]

Fid!

What does fid mean?
Regards
John

[Capt Bill Davies]

What does fid mean?
Regards
John

John,

Fid was the name of the tool Jim Brady was talking about. He referred to it as a fitch but was unsure. You could best describe it a wooden marline spike and used for splicing mooring rope etc. Also heavy enough to hammer the strands into the lay.

Brgds

Bill

[John Callon]

Many thanks for explaining that Bill. Coming from the Catering Department alot of these Deck nautical terms are way above my head.
Regards
John

[Ivan Cloherty]

John,

Fid was the name of the tool Jim Brady was talking about. He referred to it as a fitch but was unsure. You could best describe it a wooden marline spike and used for splicing mooring rope etc. Also heavy enough to hammer the strands into the lay.

Brgds

Bill

Bill whilst agreeing it could have been a "Fid" it was more than likely a wooden "Fitch" an instrument we used on trawlers for net mending, you cannot thread twine or rope around a fid to pass it through the in and outs of the vertical/horizontal strands carpet/rug backing, whereas the fitch was designed to take long lengths of material to thread through the up and down strands of the net (or carpet). On board ship a fid would have no doubt have been used as substitute for a carpet makers block to hammer the strands together for the pattern.

Just an observation

[robpage]

Bill whilst agreeing it could have been a "Fid" it was more than likely a wooden "Fitch" an instrument we used on trawlers for net mending, .

Just an observation

The Bangladeshi crew used a Fitch they used to spend hours net making as a Hobby .The word stuck in my mind because , I always understood a fitch to be a fine paintbrush the Railway painters used for detail work . It is strange how often the same words come up in different occupations . Those nets used to take months to make whilst the Bangladeshis were off watch , if not over the year . Ther were worth a lot of money when they got home . and some of those nets were huge when spread out .

Clan Line on one of the Ships introduced a "Hobbies " room in the late 1960s , where most people turned old dunnage into coffee tables that looked like they were made of old dunnage , the novelty wore off . One guy in Gulf Oil , made a complete suit of Armour out of Ring Pulls , stuffed with the plastic six-pack shrinks . It looked quite effective , and we all helped emptying the cans . The Beer was an awful US Beer Pabst Blue Label , but it had to be drunk .

[Wagga]

Hi John, I don't know for certain, but I think I was temporarily enrolled in this, and began taking a course in English. I wrote one essay and quit.

I learned to touch type in the Royal Navy but never learned short hand. I can still touch type today but I cannot remember all my Morse Code!

Funny old life.