Holy stone

[happy daze john in oz]

Caulking with oakum and tar was certainly part of the maintenance on the old ships I sailed on.
Richard[/QUOTE]

And no doubt the skipper had an eye patch and a hook, as did most way back in the tiem of sail.

[Richard Quartermaine]

There was a time when it was fashionable to put a small amount of Lime juice into Lager -- it seemed a good way to spoil both !!! regards Peter in NZ

Remember it well - lager and lime - I'd rather a pint of mild and bitter any time.
Richard

---------- Post added at 04:15 PM ---------- Previous post was at 04:07 PM ----------

Caulking with oakum and tar was certainly part of the maintenance on the old ships I sailed on.
Richard

And no doubt the skipper had an eye patch and a hook, as did most way back in the tiem of sail.

Cheeky b*gger!! In those far off days it was iron ships and cast iron men - quite often broke!
Richard

[Louis the Amigo]

Hi shipmates ,this one takes me back more than a few years ago . I done that job many times good job in hot weather, and washing down with the fire hose did not care for putting oakum in the seems with a metal thing ... never done the pitch ? it was the carpenter job on some ships...

[Rob Hollis]

Holy stone first Louis then followed by the Bible, great number. Thankfully the chippy always took one of the apprentices with him when dirty jobs needed doing.

[Frederick Lacey]

I remember on some of the Port boats that when the decks had been caulked, tarred and stoned they were
glistening white and smooth and then were marked out for deck golf, we spent quite a bit of our free time playing
games and competitions, even the few bloods we had joined in. Fred.

[Lou Barron]

Lime juice bloody terrible but on the D/Bedford we were given liquid quinine that's was a lot worse then they brought out in tablet form atropine (I might have misspelt ) they say to much of that turned your skin yellow maybe some of you guys could would know about that ???

[Charlie Hannah]

Lime juice bloody terrible but on the D/Bedford we were given liquid quinine that's was a lot worse then they brought out in tablet form atropine (I might have misspelt ) they say to much of that turned your skin yellow maybe some of you guys could would know about that ???

quinine Used to rot your teeth Lou that was one of the reasons they stopped giving it Vile stull

[Des Taff Jenkins]

HI All.
Holy stoning was one of the first jobs I did when I went to sea on a tramp. Boat deck,Captains deck, Wheel house deck and above the crew accommodation aft. It was great to see the decks all white, even better when the caulked seems were tarred and cleaned off. I didn't mind the job although a bit mindless gave you a chance to dream of better things to come when in port.
Cheer Des

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[happy daze john in oz]

Lime juice bloody terrible but on the D/Bedford we were given liquid quinine that's was a lot worse then they brought out in tablet form atropine (I might have misspelt ) they say to much of that turned your skin yellow maybe some of you guys could would know about that ???

Now would that explain why the Japs are refered to the yellow peril at times Lou, too much of a good thing maybe? Me, I prefer my qunine via the tonic water, flavoured with a little drop of Gin.

[Ivan Cloherty]

HI All.
Holy stoning was one of the first jobs I did when I went to sea on a tramp. Boat deck,Captains deck, Wheel house deck and above the crew accommodation aft. It was great to see the decks all white, even better when the caulked seems were tarred and cleaned off. I didn't mind the job although a bit mindless gave you a chance to dream of better things to come when in port.
Cheer Des

redc.gif

As mentioned earlier didn't mind the holystone as certainly beat any gym regime that any modern facility could offer these days, especially when the ship was rolling and that extra strain put on the wrists and built up the leg muscles. Some thought it was a pointless exercise but it wasn't really as smooth wood repels water much quicker than wood ignored thus preventing water absorbion and the wood swelling and cracking, a very important point on sailing ships and those modern ships (in our time) which didn't have a steel deck underneath the gleaming wood