Memories

[Jacyn Wade]

#8, #9, me too, I believe but don't know that I'd want to experience it... My limited experience was on a calm Atlantic.

[happy daze john in oz]

In the galley of the liners al would be calm, or not too bad. But on a 10,000 tonner in the Australian bight you had to tie the pots down to the stove. Cold food was the go for a few days and all drinks in plastic cups. Happy days or so they say.

[Keith Moody]

in the galley of the liners it would be calm????????#12
I sailed on the Arcadia (30,000 ton) back in the 50`s when she nearly turned over, piano sheared its bolts, portholes and windows on the upper decks smashed and water pouring in the public rooms at the aft end of the ship, crew laying down blankets to dry up the decks, the ship leaning over so that the builders (John Brown) said it was a miricle that it ever righted itself again. 3 days the galley only produced sandwichs and cold drinks, passengers advised to stay in their cabins. This was between Canary Islands and Gibralter.
another time in the Aussie Bight we had portholes smashed in and again (but only for a day) only sandwichs and cold drinks served.
keith moody
R365978

[j.sabourn]

Suppose we all have good and bad memorys. The bad we put to the back of the mind and try to forget about. I saw this post about memorys and thought about the bad ones that were prominent in my mind, and at the time appeared very serious but survived. We have all been through and lived with bad weather a daily occurence depending on your trading routes, but out of the way experiences are a bit different.. I tried putting the outstanding and most nightmarish ones that i personally had, others will have had their own or very similar.
1.. The death of a fireman in 1953 and having to keep a watch on body in steering flat for a number of days before burial.
2. Watching a seaman break his own foot with a 28 lb. Maul to get paid off the ship on the continent outside H.T. limits about 1955
3. Being robbed in Buenos Aires whilst asleep in cabin by shore thieves, realizing if I had woken up would more than likely have had my throat cut. about 1958
4. In collission in the River Plate as 2nd. Mate leading up to the accident had a premonition it was going to happen but couldnt get those in charge to have the same feelings as I had. Standing under the bow of the ship in collission moments before the crunch.
5. When running into Cuba during the blockade the startlement at about 0200 in the morning when a US submarine surfaced practically alongside of us.
6. Recent post about walking off ship in Japan numerous memorys of this all black ones, but one that sticks out about almost being fired on by chinese warship and trying to turn ship round which with 25 percent of propellor missing and at 4 knots took time which we didnt have.
7. The master being stabbed in Dakar. Was a nightmare of a night getting him to hospital in Dakar, shanghaing him out of the hospital against the surgeons wishes , and getting him in one piece back to Rotterdam.
8. Only the 2 of us left on ship the 2 Eng and self rest of ship cleared out, dock street crowd sent over to join ship, the first night one of the ABs found in alleyway had attempted to slash his wrists, going through his possessions found he had an ailment that should have kept him ashore.
9 Numerous bad weather experiences in North sea on sub standard ships, But learned to live with it.
10. Piper Alpha enough said at time and after.
11. First Cyclone experienced almost caught napping, managed to ride out on two anchors and about 20 shackles on each and engines going ahead as necessary. 1992 Australia.
12. Boarded by pirates in the mouth of the river off Georgetown and walking away with the crew from a shotgun. about 1987 on one of my sojourns away from the North sea,
These are only a few which jump to mind without having to go into memory banks. There were plenty more of the black times. I like many others prefer to remember the good times. There will be plenty of time when dead, if it is possible to consider the dark times, and hopefully meet up with departed shipmates and resume the " see who could drink the most exercises"... John S

[Captain Kong]

A few memories here, many more as well,
Matina about to ship a big green one in Atlantic, Me swinging on a span wire, me up on the Top Mast of the Good Hope Castle, the Empress of France doing somersaults in the Werstern Ocean, and me being rescued after my mate Ken had drowned. in South Africa.
Cheers
Brian

[John Arton]

Heavy weather memories, anyone here ever been on a ship that has been pooped in bad weather? With ships designed to go forward in heavy seas we put the seas on the bow, reduced speed and rode it out but one time on a laden tanker when I was 3rd Mate we were quite happily riding before the weather when suddenly a rogue wave caught us and she pooped. Bloody frightening to have a relatively dry main deck one minute and the next to have hundreds of tons of sea water rushing on deck from aft especially as she was flush decked and hoping that all the entrances aft were shut down tight, especially the aft engine room entrance.
Other bad memories,
24 hrs at 1 knot backwards off the Isle of Wight on the Beaverfir and that was before we got out into the Atlantic, took 15 days to get to Belle Isle.
Being locked in the wheelhouse with all the other officers whilst a bunch of crazed Spanish seafarers attacked the wheelhouse doors with fire axes demanding that we turn around to rescue the chippy who had been washed overboard. Had the Captain agreed then we would all have been dead as without doubt she would have broached to on trying to turn in 20 metre swells.
Abandoning ship off the Grand Banks in 20 metre swells and force 10's
Going to close the meat room fridge doors on the Empress of Canada when doing night rounds only to be confronted by the dead body we were taking back home, swinging from the hooks.
Having to face down a crazed Filipino with a knife who was intent on stabbing his mate
Having a pistol stuck in my back and marched off to jail by a Mexican policeman in Tampico and spending a night in a cell with 50 Mexican criminal's with 50% of them engaging in practices best left untold.
Being robbed and stripped naked by a Filipino gangster with a home made sawn off shot gun in Zamboanga after a night on the pizz.
Walking down a darkened street in the wrong quarter of Jacksonville and hearing a voice saying "dey there, there's a little white boy, do you think he's afraid of us, well lets see" coming out of the darkness and suddenly finding I could do the hundred metres faster than Usain Bolt.
Staggering out of a bar in Tubarao in order to get back in time for sailing and finding a bunch of jocks fighting in the sand outside and the paddy wagon turning up to arrest them and then realising that they were off the ship ahead of us that needed to sail before we could so as half the officers off that ship were in the poky meant that we couldn't sail, so a quick about turn and "cerveza's all round" again.
Been woken in the middle of the night in Dunkerque of all places to find an illegal North African going through the cabin with a bloody big knife in his hand.
Then all those exotic ports out far east and the Philippines plus nights under the stars in the tropics that made up for all the bad weather on previous trips.
The characters we all sailed with, the "mangy cat", "the Duke", and all the other nick names given to us all.
Yes memories good, bad and ugly but like everyone here would do it all again in an instant given the chance.
rgds
JA

[cappy]

proper sailor brian reminiscent of sailing ship days......respect cappy

---------- Post added at 09:59 AM ---------- Previous post was at 09:35 AM ----------

got pooped one time in heavy weather coming up from south africe carriying iron ore or grain...a grand old chippy a polish guy ....got washed down thethe after deck and hurt bad ended outside the galley and galley flooded fires out etc ...not nice and really surfing hard didnt know that term surfing in them days .....but jeez she was was going....apart from the chippy being injured must say liked it but didnt realisethe dangers ...2nd mate told me it was the worst he had seen but being young it was just exciting that was with captain roberts...a strange old guy but a top notch seaman.....js crossed swords with him i believe

[j.sabourn]

Roberts... Its amazing how many were frightened of him, he was always against drink, in the finish I used to try and dodge him coming off watch about 0500 hrs. the mate Dixie Dean ( someone else on site sailed with him as Master) was always late must have been on the pop maybe with Roberts, anyhow the number of times an almost full tumbler of whiskey was shoved at me from a hand appearing from behind his door curtain was making me beleive I should go teetotal. Never had any trouble with him as long as you stood up and told him the truth. Tried once to lecture me about coming back to the ship at 0700 in Kobe. Wouldnt have told him I was only looking for match boxes as he wouldnt of beleived it, just told him I was over 21 and it wasnts his business, the glasses of whiskey if anything got bigger. JS

[Captain Kong]

I remember in 1976 when I was flying with Court Helicopters out of Cape Town. we went out one night to take stores to the Katrina Maersk, 300,000 ton tanker, 15 miles south of the Cape at around 2am.
The wind was blowing over 60 knots with massive seas as usual off the Cape in winter.
she was light ship so had a very big freeboard. We were on deck I was passing stores out of the helicopter to Tiki my mate when she took three successive green seas over the bow, The helicopter was submerge three times, Tiki got swept away with all the stores. The pilot shouted,get in your seat, lets zap. and away we went, leaving Tiki behind.
We got up to about 200 feet when the helicopter started to shake , vibrate and bounce. and then the engines started to fail and we fell from the sky. We just missed the side of the tanker and fell into the ocean, I looked verticularly upwards and could only sea the crest of a wave nearly 60 feet above us. We rode up the wave almost tipping over backwards and down the other side. The tanker came round and tried to make a lee for us.
We were pumping the overhead throttles frantically trying to get enough revs to keep us up right.
Maydays went out and two coast guard cutters came out, We could just make about four feet above the sea in altitude riding up and down , the two CG boats one on either side escorted us the 15 miles back to Cape Town
It was wet knicker time and white knuckles all the way.
The sea water had got into the twin turbines and the salt crystals had jammed the blades.. After landing we got out the Sea King and went back for Tiki, The turbines had to be hosed out with fresh water to clear the salt,
A scary night.
The following year the Chopper went down again and Fritz the Co- Pilot was killed. I met his widow on my cruise ship this year.
Cheers
Brian

[j.sabourn]

Brian are you supersticious, I am, I dont like fridays and I dont like 13s. But Blow me down anyone knowing your history would have nicknamed you Jonah. That sounds more right than Kong.I think physically apart from a crushed finger and a twice broken nose and a nail through the foot I have come through relatively unharmed apart from the long periods of melancholy which have learned to handle, I consider myself lucky. I have fallen down holds but at time were half filled with grain, washed up and down decks on a daily basis on supply vessels, oh also had a couple of badly bruised ribs when got caught up with rigs crane hook when discharging drill pipe but managed to free myself and fell about 15 feet on to the stack of remaining pipe. How long the luck would have lasted who knows, you must have got all the bad stuff over first. Even doing the HUET course which I hated doing and always put my hand up and said I couldnt swim ( a Lie) so hopefully would get the window seat, alas the last one I did I was the third seat inboard, when sitting on our heads I wanted out of there went over the top of the other two pushed the window out and away. On summing up the escape techniques afterwards the Instructor held me up as an example of how it should be done. If he only knew it was self preservation, I couldnt hold my breath as long as the younger ones, too much good living of the past. Cheers John S