Those drunken nights

[John Arton]

When at sea drinking often was a large part of our leisure time but can you recall any of those major sessions that stick in your memory?
I can definitely recall the following,
Hamburg and the zillertall where we in conjunction with the crowd of a shell tanker in drydock took on a visiting french naval ship in a drinking contest that went on for so long and became so noisy that we were all politely? asked to leave.
Durban. Went to a night club (don't recall it's name or location) but it advertised that a female fire eater was the cabaret act. Turned out she was basically a stripper and sitting right by the cabaret floor well pissed, I was chosen to basically undo and take off each article of her clothing, she then lit flaming torches and sat naked on my lap running these torches up and down my arms, I ruined her act by grabbing one of them and bit the lit end off it. Apparently afterwards she wanted to take me away but I was too taken up downing ale trying to get rid of the burning taste and sensation out of my mouth.
Tampico, Mexico, ashore with the sparkle bring cold beer with tequila chasers, last call before heading back to the ship, got into a contretemps with the bar owner that ended up with us both spending a night and half of the next day in a jail cell with about 50 other locals.
Texas, in a atypical one horse town called orange, put ashore into a hotel whilst the ship was fumigated with poison gas to get rid of copra beetles infestation in order to be able to load a cargo of USA bagged rice food aid for Iraq, stinking hot weather, found a air conditioned bar serving jugs of ice cold beer that required us to spend three days trying to drink it dry, failed but did drink the hotel bar dry one night.
Looking back I find it hard to believe I could go on a one or more day bender, nowadays an afternoon session is about all I can manage with.
Anyone else got memories of epic sessions?
Rgds
J.A

[Johnny Kieran]

My very first trip ashore on the Hornby Grange as a deck boy.
Myself and the other deck boy, thought we'd be adventurous and nip ashore in our first ever port, Montevideo. We swaggered into a bar, both feeling "well ard".
We had our first ever drink abroad, served by a lovely lady, who asked if we wanted something else, we both said "no thanks, this is enough beer thanks"
Within minutes some drunken Germans started fighting, with a bottle going through the front window. My mate ran through the back, and I went out the front, only to be stopped be a (seemingly) drunk copper. He pushed me back into the bar and indicated for me to "stand there".
He pulled out a great big pistol and fired it into the ceiling to make them all stop fighting. As they all stopped, I was out the door and didn't stop running till the top of the gangway.
The next day we went ashore in the evening and went back to that same bar. I asked the lady what happened, and she told me that a German had been in bed with one of the girls upstairs, and had been shot by the copper through the ceiling. We were asked to stay while someone got a statement about what we saw (I think that's what they wanted anyway), but we were out the door and running again.
This story was while being as sober as a judge.

[Julian Norman]

Arriving in Napier NZ on the Cunard Reefer Carinthia one evening in 1980 we were called by another British Reefer who had arranged a party with the local nurses home. They had been overwhelmed by the numbers that turned up and were asking for reinforcements. We of course obliged and while they sailed the following morning, we stayed another week! Bliss!

[Doc Vernon]

The last night approaching London KG5 , for the very first time in my life. Having had quite a rough night with some Mates i made on my first trip in the Pig and Whistle, awake in the Morning to see what was a very bleak Day , with thick fog (like my head) so very hard to see the what i was told were the lovely White Cliffs .
But still i could see some of it, and i was quite mesmorised , then later edging in to the Docks with all the Hustle and Bustle going on was something to open my Eyes, and although i had seen busy Docks in Cape Town when one working as a Stevedore this sight was so much busier so many more Ships it was like a dream i was living!

Yes memories are stuck in ones mind, and some more distant than others, the hard nights of Drinking sadly obliviating the memories that should have been locked into the Brian forever.

Oh boy! what days we had, and so sad that they will never be repeated!

Long live the Memories!!!

[Les Woodard]

All I know about being on a bender is? When I signed on my first ship to when I jumped my last one. Other that that only a few moments of recalling being sober mainly during internment lol. Would not change that time ever it was the sixties and meant to be lived unlike modern times hey

[Des Taff Jenkins]

One of the worst, I can't remember is leaving Melbourne on a tanker and asking the Mate if we should go and put the gangway out, he said we are not going in we are going out, I couldn't even remember going in.
But Durban when we held up the British Builder for three days as I have written about before would be one of the top ones.
When ashore in NZ I was helping to build a massive resivore ? when the twelve months job, was finished we had a party, first beer when that ran out jugs of wine, my wife nearly run over me with the car in the garage after the team had dumped me on the floor there.
Des

[happy daze john in oz]

My first voyage to South Africa as a tender 16 year old.
Out with the lads to Delmonico's, great stuff this Brandy Squares.
So inebriated, that is just a posh term for full as a boot, or simply pissed as a fart, I was taken back to the ship in a taxi by a couple of the lads.
Next morning they told me that on the way back to the ship I continued to talk in some kind of broken French.

Must have been from French classes at school.

[Doc Vernon]

Pity they never used the good Klipdrift Brandy then in them Ginger Squares John!
Would have been awesome mate!
LOL
Cheers

Oh the Headaches!! Groan Groan!!

[Gerald Farr]

This brought back a couple of memories of a time we were running up the Red Sea and our main engine bearings started overheating. We had a full cargo of crude for the UK but the Ch, Eng. didn't think we could make it as the white metal bearings were wearing themselves away. It was a BP cargo and an alternative port of discharge was found nearer, Ravenna in Italy with a shipyard further up the Adriatic in Trieste capable of doing the repairs after we had tank cleaned and gas freed. Once alongside with repairs getting underway a modified way of life on board started. For the deck crew there was scaling and painting on board, the catering staff worked up until their normal finishing time and the engine room worked as the Ch Eng required. We had a ship's night watchman who if he needed anything would call the Appropriate First, Second or Third Mate, a very neat arrangement. About the second or third day our Captain received a small delegation from the only other vessel in for drydocking, a Russian tanker, with an invitation for drinks one evening in the next day or two. He declined but said he would send his two senior Officers over in his place, me and the First Mate, that evening. The Mate was a virtual non drinker and I didn't drink much more. Anyway at 1900hrs we presented ourselves and introductions began all round, along with the first lager which quickly turned into a second and third. Some time later after their Chief Officer had passed out (I think he had had a head start on us) the beer ran out, but not to worry they had a coffee flavoured drink they had purchased in South America so we continued. It was about this time that I noticed our Mate quietly swapping his full glass for my less than full glass. Then the coffee drink ran out but not to worry they had a supply of another drink they had bought in South America, I caught sight of the label on the bottle and to this day I am sure it read "reactivated alcohol" anyway they said it was like Vodka so off we went again but this time it was stipulated that every time you had a glass of this it had to be followed by a glass of water. To my palate it was more akin to Surgical Spirit, not that I have ever drunk surgical spirit, but if a drop ran down your chin, your chin went very cold. About this time they thought it would be a good idea to have something to eat so they went away and came back with some tinned pork and black bread. The meat was prepared like corned beef (bully beef)but with very little meat and plenty of fat which had a very odd yellow colouration, and the black bread didn't smell too good but you can't be rude and refuse hospitality when it is offered. About 0300hrs they accompanied us back to our ship where they congratulated us on still standing upright and that was the last we saw of them as they sailed later that day. I crashed but got up for breakfast and then went up to the chartroom ostensibly to catch up on some chart correcting but in reality just sit on the chartroom settee and feel sorry for myself. Boy did I have a Hangover!!! A small side story to our time in Trieste concerned our galley boy, he was about 16/17 tall for his age and well built. After finishing tea the first night in port, most of the catering staff went ashore together to the clubs and bars and then all came back together except for the galley boy. No one knew where he was and no one saw him and any questions around the red light district only elicited 'He's alright". So for the 9/10 days we were there no one saw hide nor hair of him. Once we knew our departure day and time his mates passed the word around the bars and shortly before we sailed a private car dropped him off at the ship. We never did find out the whole story but the gist was that he got full bed and board whilst being passed around all the girls, all his entertainment was taken care of, and he had the holiday of a lifetime. I did say he was well built for his age. I think the only downer for him was he lost a day's pay for every day he was missing and got a DR but from what I have read on this site and another similar site this Captain was fairly well known for his generosity in this area.

[happy daze john in oz]

Pity they never used the good Klipdrift Brandy then in them Ginger Squares John!
Would have been awesome mate!
LOL
Cheers



Oh the Headaches!! Groan Groan!!

Remember Melow Wood, KWV, Klipdrift and of course the stuff from the Shabean queens up on the mountain.