Nearest you came from "Missing the Ship"

[DeepSea]

I actually missed one in Santos I was lucky as the ship was loaded for Malaysia when she departed. Luckily for me the ship stopped off just up the coast for some reason. The Chief Officer caught me sneeking up the gangway. I was put in front of the Old Man and received the bill from the agents for my return.

Still have the bill (see attach. and the photo for the reason why I missed the ship )

[happy daze john in oz]

Bit of a game lad in your time Billy!!!!!!!

[Richard Quartermaine]

That looks like a fair deal to me, regardless of the rate of exchange at the time
Richard Q

[Doc Vernon]

Got involved with a Local Girl at St Helena at the top of Jacobs Ladder one trip!
Didnt watch the time ,last minute dash down all those Steps Whew! Made it just in time for the last Ferry Ship to the old Winchester Castle.which was Anchored out in the Bay!
Lucky indeed!
Never again !!
Cheers

[DeepSea]

John,

Santos was just the tip of the iceberg that trip.

The same trip in Vancouver I broke my left femur in a car crash after me and a steward borrowed a pickup truck to get back to the ship as it was freezing. Had a16" steel pin fitted in my left femur. Flown home after two weeks in hospital. (CP airlines removed six seats to accommodate me on a stretcher).

Joined sister ship Nosira Sharon 19/5/1983 in Rotterdam after six months physio on my leg. The company gave me another job to pay off the £500 fine which they had paid for me to the truck company Sailed for Santos again & Angra Dos Ries, near Rio to load steel for ports in the Great Lakes. After a couple of months on this run we loaded grain for Savonna & Ravenna in Italy and a refit before we were due to sail to Venezuela. While in Ravenna I was summoned to the bridge to see the personnel officer, who had flown out to see me. He terminated my employment as I had finished paying my fine off to them. Flew home 26/9/83.

As fate would have it I would have never met Gill if the above had never happened as I met her on sick leave and we have been together for the last 27 years.

[Graham Payne]

DeepSea, you were honoured mate, A personel officer flown out and you flown home, I was kept onboard til back in the UK and paid off with a double D/R. How times have changed.

[DeepSea]

To be honest the personnel manager had not just intentionally flown out to see me. The company was undergoing a number of changes including reduction in manning levels, which would see the deck crew undertaking a number of hours per week working in the engine room, so it was decided a full crew change was to be done. I told the Chief Officer I wanted to stay on, one for the run to Venezuela, the other was to make some money as I had been paying the fine off at £100 per month and was basically skint. This is when I was summoned to the bridge and was met by the personnel manager who informed me I was to leave the vessel and the company for good. To be fair they could of reported me to the Pool and I would of been in deep s**t. No DR's or DDR's in those days, they had long gone, but if you went before the Pool Committee they had the power to put you ashore for good. This actually happened during the trip with an AB in Brazil, but thats another story

[Keith at Tregenna]

Just wanted to say thank you for such an interesting post:

K.

[happy daze john in oz]

Billy mate, all was well that ended well for you.