longest time between ports

[leratty]

Keith your are right total ******* at times with regard ships we sailed on. I used to take a Moody's with me into KG5 or Prescott St, look at the board & if something caught my eye as to where she was going + duration of trip would look her up. My decisions were made on No of hatches-derricks, never six & 18-24 did that a couple of times in early days, for the birds, forget it! Then if I liked to look of her can you believe it? Ah the days of full employment, long gone sadly for the young & not so.

Ivan, post 20 you get the prize for that one reckon Louis will like it too. Richard

[graham mcglone]

Think mine was on the Tasmania Star from Mombasa to NZ.
Can't remember how long it took, but know we all got excited when we saw a log with some Gulls sitting on it.
No TV or radio reception [most times] on board in thoes days! so didn't take much.
Den.

My longest voyage was aboard Shaw Savill's Icenic in1966. We departed Genoa on 31st May, and apart from transiting the Suez Canal and calling at Aden for bunkers (no shore leave - so they don't count!) we arrived 29 days later in Auckland NZ. By that time the crew were in dire need of beer - so headed straight for Ma Gleason's!

[Rocky]

Almeria star bluff to London 28 days without sight of land then dropped the hook for a week waiting to go in no shore leave (so does time on the hook waiting to pay off count )

This dropping the hook bit we were told it was a few hours till we got pilot then told next morning then night and morning repeat daily

When the mate was pelted with empty beer cans telling us of yet another night on the hook he sent down a cadet for all future news updates

But hey what a crew loved every second on board

[Gary Worton]

Seems like I'm a couple of years late with my posting on this subject, compared with others, but my longest time at sea was on my very first trip to sea as a Deck Boy, fresh from the "Vindi" and just raring to go.
BP tanker 'British Bulldog' out of the Isle of Grain. 1957 was the year and the Suez Canal was still blocked, courtesy of that nice Mr. Nasser who was the big kahoona of Egypt at the time.
Anyway, we left the Grain and callled in at Teneriffe for bunkers (4 hours) and then south again, all the way around the Cape and up the west coast of Africa to Menah-al-Ahmadi in the Persian Gulf. (Kuwait).
It took 12 hours to load us up with crude (no shore leave) and then all the way back to the Grain, which took another 30 days. At which time I decided that a career in tankers was not for me.
The food was good though and the ABs still got their daily tots. We Deck Boys (under 18) had to make do with a can of Coke!
Aaargh! Jim lad, those were the days.

[Rick R]

I'm not sure if this one counts. It was my first trip as cadet on the m.v. Tracer. We loaded in Newcastle pipes and umbilical reels for an oilfield project in Angola, except somewhere along the line the plans for how to store the cargo was mixed up. We stopped at Las Palmas for bunkers and then arrived offshore in Angola where we spent three months drifting with stores delivered by supply boat, and the occasional transfer of cargo to the pipe laying vessel Saibos FDS, and then eventually sailed back to Las Palmas where I disembarked, we never set foot on land between leaving and arriving in the Canaries.

13 December - Left Newcastle
19 December - Bunkered in Las Palmas, Gran Canaria
30 December - Arrived Kizomba oilfield
20 March - Departed Kizomba Oilfield
30 March - Arrived Las Palmas

[Captain Kong]

In ESSO on the VLCCs we were on slow steaming , europe down to the Cape and up to the Gulf took at least 8 weeks, then maybe a 40 day anchorage off 40 miles off shore, near Rastan, then load from an SBM BOUY, not shore, then at least eight weeks back, sometimes ten or twelve weeks back . stop engines when the Aghulas Current was picked up , with many other tankers and then drift all the way down to near the Cape, steam tround the Cape, pick up the Benguella Current and drift northwards. The longest I did was seven months without seeing land.
.
Thats why I have those Abadan Blues.
Blues I sure would like to loose
Cheers
Brian.

[Ivan Cloherty]

I'm not sure if this one counts.

13 December - Left Newcastle
19 December - Bunkered in Las Palmas, Gran Canaria
30 December - Arrived Kizomba oilfield
20 March - Departed Kizomba Oilfield
30 March - Arrived Las Palmas

Quite a long time Rick, but Lou Barron still holds the record for longest voyage three and half years before returning to the port he sailed from including a year on a ship without touching land. My longest trip 22 months with some long times between ports.

[Captain Kong]

must have gone crazy at times, nothing but Sea for 7 months, how did you pass the time when drifting for days on end,? must be much the same now on Box Boats, but even smaller Crews now, TONY.
.
.
Life was easy Tony, we had a bar in those days, never saw anyone drunk tho`.
We had the swim pool,
When stopped we did fishing.
Saturday night we had horse racing, in the crew bar and place your bets, so win some money and lose some,
Sunday mornings we had Welly throwing contests on the fore deck, with sound effects from the loud speakers from the bridge, with the welly whistling as it flew over the flying bridge and the sound of a loud explosian as it hit the deck.
and Sunday evenings Darts contests in the Officers bar, Crew V Officers.
So we had a decent social life.
Unmanned engine room so Engineers and Firemen were on day work.
Mates and Sailors on watches four on eight off.
Excellent food with a bottle of wine on a Wednesday and Sunday on each table.
Walport Videos for the TVs.
Nice routine.
Cheers
Brian.

[Louis the Amigo]

Hi shipmates Hi Captain Kong ,xxx I missed the horse racing and the welly contest and never had any wine with my meals? watched a few films on a white sheet, and had a few games of cards, and a sing song but no swimming pool on cargo ships only on the big tankers? never played darts' against the officers, in my day.

[Captain Kong]

You should have sailed ESSO Louis. the best outfit ever, the best of everything, good food , good pay , good pension.
Best move I ever made.
Cheers
Brian.