5 weeks on a bulk carrier between Chile and Japan. (Bibby Line, Pacific Bridge). Did two round trips then eventually paid off in Chile. It was the most horrendous, and I suppose, in retrospect, interesting, journey home.
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5 weeks on a bulk carrier between Chile and Japan. (Bibby Line, Pacific Bridge). Did two round trips then eventually paid off in Chile. It was the most horrendous, and I suppose, in retrospect, interesting, journey home.
I had to fly out to Chile at the start of the Falklands war, direct flight, long but okay, coming back was a different matter, the war well under way and because of no fly areas and airspace closed to various countries had four changes before ending up in Spain for a long time before reaching Heathrow, Chile one of my favourite countries both as a cherry youth and as an adult who being married was not allowed to sell cherries!
My longest stint at sea 7 weeks on Cunard Champion Western Australia to Iceland.
28 days? I've been longer on a wave! Slow steaming on a Shell VLCC from Rotterdam to Kharg Island! Like watching paint dry. Then down to Singapore, back to the Gulf then Tranmere. 4 hours shore leave in 4 months. And they wondered why I resigned and transferred to Palm Line cargo ships. A couple of years later, working for CP Ships I was a naughty boy and got sentenced to one of their VLCCs for one trip. Four and a half months with four hours ashore in Aruba. Saved a lot of money but that's no kind of life. The only time I've been on tankers since has been to carry out inspections and audits. Rob
Already on a previous post 98 day B.A. to Japan on 2. Cylinders on a 3 cylinder Doxford. In 1955. JS
Just seen the length of this post so must be on here somewhere think I said previously also 98 days, if not it was somewhere in the 90days FAOP to EOP . JS
For total time at sea on one ship, The British Builder 12 months with only eleven days ashore. A shangied job after her longest tow the trip before.
Des
#177 were you with BTC Des , when the story of the day with loggings and floggings were supposedly handed out , when the crowd repainted the name of the British Workman to British Workhouse , or was that just another fable of the sea ? JS
Hi John
Sailing out of Swansea one didn't have a great deal of choice, A BP tanker or an old heap of a cargo boat. I was on seven BP tankers four trips on the Guardian which was a newbie. But was shangied on the Builder. I think the Workman was true, though I didn't see it, I wish we could see a picture.
Des
#1 I did quite a few long voyages without getting off the ship, Bunbury WA to Hamburg, Argentina to Japan to mention two, but by far the longest trip was from Fiji to Liverpool via Panama (MV Dartmoor) 7 weeks and two days. crossing the Pacific we had to stop for a couple of hours each day while the engineers did some essential work on the engine. But what seemed like the longest time at sea was the 21 days from Fleetwood to Iceland on the trawlers, long long hours without a break, falling asleep stood on your feet, then 3 days in Fleetwood and back again up to the Arctic. Happy days.