Smoking Cadets

[j.sabourn]

I started in 1944 at the age of pushing on for 8 and stopped in 1980 at the age of 43 with many attempts in between. JS

[Michael Black]

It's easy to quit smoking, I've done it hundreds of times. Quote by W.C. Fields or Mark Twain.
Tried stopping one trip and was pacing up and down the deck on the monkey island on the 12 to 4 when the 2nd mate came up and told me to stop as the old man could hear me.
Regards Michael

[Johnny Kieran]

I packed up once while at sea, this was to help with my new sport of diving. Well, snorkeling really, but one of the guy's had all the scuba gear, and we would go out on a lifeboat wherever we could, to dive on reef's and such. Not smoking helped us to stay under longer. We would hyperventilate for a couple of minutes, then go into the water, I could stay under for about four minutes.
I was practicing in the indoor pool in Auckland once, and holding on to the bottom step of the ladder in the deep end, when a bloke dived in and grabbed my leg and pulled me up. He said he was sorry, but thought I had drowned. I thanked him anyway for being so kind, and we had a laugh about it.
I packed up permanently when my son was a baby in about 1973/4.

[Julian Norman]

As a Cadet turning up on my first ship as a non smoker ,I was amazed at the packets of cigs. left lying around because they were so cheap. I tried and thankfully didn't like an haven't smoked to this day.
As for drink, a ship I was on with a regular returning crew who on returning to the ship had to bring soda stream flavours because with dark rum at 2p a measure and gin and whisky at 3p a measure people objected paying 'a fortune' for the mixers!