My starting to be a sailor

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Re: My starting to be a sailor

by trvguy » April 18, 2018, 1:21 pm

I really appreciate the stories.
I know a lot of others have stories too.
maybe they are afraid to tell?

Re: My starting to be a sailor

by Diver Dan » April 17, 2018, 5:02 pm

Captain Ross,

Your stories, with selected questions and comments, now run to 176 printed pages! You've provided a great deal of entertainment to us Boatnerds while capturing your memories for posterity. You've shared the joys, hardships, and sacrifices of a lifetime of seafaring.

I speak for multitudes of fans when I give you great thanks for sharing your memories with us. You shared a wider range of experiences than anyone else I can recall, and you showed that it's not all romantic sailing on smooth seas; there's a LOT of work and drudgery involved, with difficult characters to deal with besides.

Thanks again for sharing, and best wishes for the future.

Dan

Re: My starting to be a sailor

by oldsparky » April 17, 2018, 4:50 pm

This has been the best read I have had in a long time. Greatly enjoyed hearing how you worked your way from the very bottom rung to the top of your profession. I wish I had the requirement and commitment to document my career, but you have made me remember a lot. Back in the summer you mentioned the difficulty getting into Port Stanley, sadly Port has gone, no more elevators, the big domes have been torn down, and the oil tanks only have 2 left, cargo is trucked in and out. The harbor is silted in to about 8 foot depth in a very narrow channel. Thank you for giving us all an insight into your travels.

Re: My starting to be a sailor

by dayooper77 » April 17, 2018, 2:53 pm

Thank you Captain Ross! I really appreciate you taking the time to share your stories. You have brightened many of my days reading your stories.

Re: My starting to be a sailor

by Guest » April 17, 2018, 12:25 pm

Captain Ross, it has been a pleasure to read your stories and learn so much. You have a true knack for writing for which we are all very grateful. All the best to you, sir.

Re: My starting to be a sailor

by Jerry at Duluth » April 17, 2018, 10:34 am

Captain, I have worked as a crew member and later as an vessel agent and I can tell you that I have never read a better series of stories in all my life. You have a unique style of writing that grabs hold of the reader and makes him or her feel as though they were really there. I cant thank you enough for your effort and I hope that as you recall stories or events, in the future, you will post them for all of us to enjoy.
Jerry

Re: My starting to be a sailor

by Pete in Holland MI » April 17, 2018, 8:00 am

We (77,000 hits to the stories) have all enjoyed the insider edition of life on a ship, even though it wasn't all on the Great Lakes. A rare opportunity for us land lubbers. You may not be getting hundreds of thank-you's to your thread, but the shear number of hits tells that story.

Maybe we'll see you at one of the Boatnerd gatherings ?

Thanx for the memories !

Pete

Re: My starting to be a sailor

by Paul A » April 16, 2018, 5:58 pm

Capt. Ross, I've truly enjoyed your career story! If you wish to add, it will be a pleasure to read.
Thank you sir!

Re: My starting to be a sailor

by Lakercapt » April 16, 2018, 3:32 pm

It took about three weeks for the engine to be put back together and a successful dock side trial was completed. Round to the coal loading berth and start the routine runs. When we cleared the port it was all hands shoveling the mountain of ashes overboard. These had accumulated on the starboard side of the deck round the fiddley. A major clean up involving the dreaded sugi but I think we were all glad to be back sailing again. This euphoria lasted until we were assigned another horrible chore. Chipping the main deck was like an ever ending task. I hated being the poor soul who was designated to be on the electric chipping machine. This tool was an electric motor driving a flexible shaft and at the end was a rotary head which had sixteen cogs which flayed the deck. The noise was horrendous and the dust and rust flew all over the place. We only had a very basic eye protector (they were ex-army supply used to stop sand when in the desert) No hearing protection and no masks. To compound this stupidity we would remove the shield as it made it heavier to handle. I think on this now and shudder! We had cotton wool in our ears and a cloth mask. My how the Health and Safety people would have reacted to this!! At the end of the day your arms would be shaking caused by the vibration and your hearing slowly came back. Stripping off and washing down from your bucket and getting clean clothes on.
I think I have covered most of these happening on my first ship. One which I spent three birthdays on, 17th, 18th and 19th. I got home after this voyage a very different person from the naive young boy to a disillusioned young adult. I know I was tempted to quit but after spending so much time sailing it seemed a pity to leave and get conscripted into the army. The interview with the company promised an improvement and I believed them. However this is all covered in my original posting so I have decided to conclude these postings on “My starting to be a Sailor”.
I hope this has given the readers a little insight to what it was like when I first went to sea and not bored you too much. I have often been asked if I would do it all again. I did enjoy my job latterly when sailing in Canada but the family occasions I missed could never be replaced so I ruefully would reply to this question with an emphatic NO.

Re: My starting to be a sailor

by Lakercapt » April 12, 2018, 2:05 pm

As it was Fall in Australia I did not fancy going to the beach in the afternoon when I woke up but did go ashore. I had discovered the wonders of food items I had only previously seen in the movies, malted milk shakes, banana splits and ice cream sundaes. These were wonderful and it was just as well I was very active otherwise I would have put on pounds. I would go to the seaman’s mission too and sit in their lounge and read from the libraries. There were two separate missions close to each other; the “Flying Angel” was run by the Church of England and the “Stella Maris” the other which was run by the Roman Catholic Church. Both offered similar recuational facilities and I think competed to see which the best was. They held dances for the sailors and these were well attended. The young ladies who served as hostesses were all well chaperoned and they were guarded by the clergy like border collies. These ladies were very patient and understanding and taught me how to dance. I was able to do some of the Scottish country dancing but to master the quick step, slow foxtrot and waltz took some doing. The Rumba was another but not the Tango!!. I must admit I feel in love on several occasions but fraternisation outside was not really encouraged. I did not get converted although they did try. In the summer months excursions were made to the countryside for pick nicks which were great fun. As I said before it was wintertime and when we were getting the engine repaired there was torrential rains. This flooded field up river from where we were berthed and for several days’ melons, water melons, cantaloupes wash from the field got trapped between the ship and the wharf. We fished these out and gorged ourselves on the treats. Once the mooring had settled down I would wait until the last of the crew returned from the shore and get settled in the galley with a book and the ships cat for company. I would have an occasional visit from one of the firemen as although we were tied up for a while one of the boilers was keep at pressure to supply the steam for the little generator and the pumps etc. The little generator was really too small a capacity for the ship. We would have the chief engineer doing rounds changing the light bulbs we had switched to higher wattage, for better light and replacing with one it was difficult to read by.
After two weeks the other apprentice took over as night watchman and I was back to our cabin and on day work. The mate, living in Newcastle was delighted at this extended stay but this did not stop him organising the work for the deck hands. Over the ships side, on a stage, chipping the rust off, scraping and wire brushing, then a coat of red lead. The next gang would follow and give the side a coat of green paint. There were no rollers then (a Canadian guy invented them later on) we used four inch rushes and your wrists were aching at end of the day. When I say deck hands this was not a rank but we guys on deck including the two apprentices. The deck crew was A.B’s, (able bodied seamen), EDH (efficient deck hand who only needed their lifeboat certificate to be classed as A.B.’s) DHU (deck hand uncertified who were usually adult seamen who had not taken the tests) S.O.S (senior ordinary seamen) J.O.S. (junior ordinary seamen short on sea time) and lastly deck boys (under 18 years old.)

Re: My starting to be a sailor

by Lakercapt » April 9, 2018, 4:59 pm

These sorts of jobs were given on the “job and finish” basis. This meant once the job was completed you were finished for the day. We would work through the “Smoko” break and maybe even the lunch break to finish, clean up and go ashore. Another of this type of job was painting the funnel. Get the stages rigged and all the supplies and gear and equipment ready. Remember this was a coal burning ship and the boilers were steaming all the time. A special clamp was fitted to the top and the stages rigged from them. If there was too much wind we would have to stop as the smoke would curl some and you could not breathe. Done on a calm day otherwise it was not safe.
Each trip back in our home port, Newcastle watches would rotate. The twelve to four would move to the four to eight and the other follow suit and the day workers would go on watch. I ended up on the first mates watch and whereas the second mate and third mate would sometimes chat with you the mate never did. He lived in Newcastle so we did not see much of him when in port. There was a time he was forever walking up and down the wheelhouse humming a song which was popular at the time and I soon began to loathe it. Patti Page singing “How much is that Doggie in the Window” Still to this day sixty odd years remember that annoying song. On watch he did speak to me to tell me they had received my first year’s examination papers from the Merchant navy Training Board. These were to test to see if we had learned anything. As apprentices we were supposed to have periods of time set aside for us to study. This never happened on this ship although my ex classmate on the “Heronspool” told me he got this on a weekly basis. Same company but a different captain and mate’s way with the apprentices. I often thought that if flogging was still allowed these two would have inflicted it on anyone breaking the rules. For a week I was given one exam paper each day and after I was finished could study for the next one the following day. After I had completed these exams they were sent back to the UK and marked and sometime in the future the results sent back to the ship. It was fortunate I remembered most of the questions from the time I was at the pre sea training college as when the results came back my marks were not exceptional but acceptable. The following year they were not so bad but the final exams when I was on the “Ingleby” the captain handed the whole lot to me and just told me to do them. I did, but as I had no one supervising me, I had my text books besides me and completed the exam papers referring to them when I was stumped!!
The other occasion we stopped was for a major engine failure. I don’t know what caused it but the main engine crank shaft got distorted and had to be removed make it true again. We tied up at the dockyard and gangs of men descended on us to strip the engine down and remove the defective piece. The engine was a triple expansion steam engine so what was involved was a dismantling of many parts to get it ashore. I again was made night watchman but as one of the access doors to the engine room was right beside our cabin and the steady stream of people going in and out and it banging I found it difficult to sleep and told the mate I was not doing this watchman job. This of course went down like a lead balloon as you would have thought I was instigating mutiny. As a solution was I was allowed to sleep in the hospital which was located in the midship house on the starboard side of the main deck, away from the hammering and banging. It suited me fine as this room had its own toilet and a wash hand basin with water to it, a luxury for me.

Re: My starting to be a sailor

by Lakercapt » April 7, 2018, 3:35 pm

One of the assistant stewards found the love of his life and decided the grass was greener on the other side and took a bunk one night in Newcastle. Never saw him again. The 2nd steward who was not a popular person one day decided to end it all and with great aplomb climbed the foremast with a length of rope and with many of the crew looking on threatened to jump. Many of the onlookers egged him on but he was eventually talked down and was put ashore never again to be seen. His replacement was a guy who had married a local lady and was a much better shipmate. The company, Ropners had three ships one this charter and it was on one of these real occasions when two were in Newcastle at the same time. I was surprised on this occasion when one of my class mates from Leith Nautical showed up. I knew he was in the same company but did not know which ship. He was on a sister ship “Heronspool” and was the only apprentice. We got to chatting and I was upset to hear that the conditions he was working under were much different from mine. The two of us on “Firby” were just treated just as cheap deck hands whereas he did limited work on deck and was on watch with the third mate as a partner. This was what I had envisioned and was envious of his lifestyle. This changed when I discovered he did not get the overtime paid by the charterers as we did. I would rather have the money!! Strangely we did not meet again until we went back to school prior to sitting for the Second Mates Certificate. The way apprentices were treated depended on the captain and first mate so I guess we got the short end of the straw!!
The first mate who was on the ship from the previous charter stayed on as he had married an Australian lady and it suited him fine to be going back to Newcastle each trip and spending the time there with his wife. The Third Mate married a girl from Melbourne and when there spent his time ashore. He did not make the trip back to the UK at the end of the charter neither did the Mate and the second steward.
Other than the shuttle back and forth with the coal and iron ore with all this involved we did a couple of times stop. Once we went on the floating dock at Newcastle to clean the ship’s hull and get it repainted. This was certainly a first for me and quite an eye opener. Tugs positioned us in the dock which had been lowered by sinking it and when we were in position they started pumping it out and raising us out of the water. The hull when we were up was coated in weed and barnacles and a gang of men with high pressure hoses washed it clean. The anchor cable was ranged on the bottom of the dry-dock and remarked. In between time we the great misused were in the chain locker cleaning out all the mud and scale and then coating the whole place with Stockholm tar. There was no need to b e careful so it was slapped on with old mops and you can envisage the state we were in when this chore was completed.

Re: My starting to be a sailor

by Lakercapt » April 5, 2018, 9:07 pm

Many were not happy but we did not tell them what to do this was the bosun's job it was that we were familiar with the gear.
The ship had to sail regardless and as long as the manning scale was met it did so. It did not one time when the crew decided the ship was below manning scale and refused to sail. Unfortunately for them when the count was done and we two apprentices were to be classed as ordinary seamen it just was sufficient. It was not well received but we had no say it this outcome. The Shipping Master was the one who made the descision. Some of the replacements did again leave us without authorisation!!

Re: My starting to be a sailor

by Guest » April 5, 2018, 6:57 pm

Thanks for the reply.
So how did it work out with new men on board all the time?
Were some irritated that you young men were telling them what to do?
Were some just signing on to more or less get free passage and earn a few dollars to get to another port where they would again jump ship?

Seems like it could have have been a ship owners and captains nightmare. And a reason to treat those who were dedicated and responsible with extra care and pay.

Re: My starting to be a sailor

by Lakercapt » April 5, 2018, 11:06 am

In my posts I tell about some of the crew doing a runner, jumping ship, or deserting, all names for the same thing. When a crew member did this they took their personel gear with them. What they did not have would be their Discharge Book which the captain had. This would be sent to the Register of Shipping and Seamen in Cardiff U.K. The crew member would have in his possession was his Seamans Identity Card. This was a document with his particulars and his fingerprints etc When caught the police would bing him to the ship and he had this as proof he was indeed a seaman.
We all had a discharge book which recorded our times on board ship .It had a description of the person as well as a photoghraph.
Hope this explains what went on a time ago.

Re: My starting to be a sailor

by Lakercapt » April 5, 2018, 6:11 am

How in the world do you take these men of unknown skills and temperment onboard and get the work done in a safe and efficient manner? Especially when you are working on the sea and can't just throw them overboard and pick up someone new from the union hiring hall.
You must have some stories of trying to work with new and questionable crew, I'd like to hear some. :)[/quote]

This happened in 1955 and as the people we took on to replace the runners we ones the police had caught who had done a runner from other UK ships. One of the reasons the bosun trusted us, the two apprentices to do the jobs which required skills the new deckhand were not proven on.
Union Hall: What was that ??? No such thing exised in Australia for UK ships and not at all in the UK. This is a North Americian concept.

Re: My starting to be a sailor

by Guest » April 4, 2018, 8:44 pm

Lakercapt wrote:
RCRVRP wrote:How did they screen the new hires to know they were competent and qualified? Did they do back round checks and or check with previous employers?
They were warm bodies who had been picked up by the police as deserters from other British ships. Back ground checks never to my knowledge. Previous employment was on other ships and there was no way it was possible verify this. At this time head count was all it required the keep the vessel sailing!!

How in the world do you take these men of unknown skills and temperment onboard and get the work done in a safe and efficient manner? Especially when you are working on the sea and can't just throw them overboard and pick up someone new from the union hiring hall.
You must have some stories of trying to work with new and questionable crew, I'd like to hear some. :)

Re: My starting to be a sailor

by Lakercapt » April 4, 2018, 2:04 pm

RCRVRP wrote:How did they screen the new hires to know they were competent and qualified? Did they do back round checks and or check with previous employers?
They were warm bodies who had been picked up by the police as deserters from other British ships. Back ground checks never to my knowledge. Previous employment was on other ships and there was no way it was possible verify this. At this time head count was all it required the keep the vessel sailing!!

Re: My starting to be a sailor

by RCRVRP » April 4, 2018, 5:27 am

How did they screen the new hires to know they were competent and qualified? Did they do back round checks and or check with previous employers?

Re: My starting to be a sailor

by Lakercapt » April 3, 2018, 9:41 pm

These first months the amount of jobs I was entrusted to do after the few times of instruction were getting to be more and more. One was driving the winches when fitting the hatch beams in place. The winches were steam driven and after being a few days without being used there was a start up procedure to follow so you would not damage then. These winches not being used on a regular basis for discharging or loading cargo had not been well maintained. The stop valve was quite stiff and required a fair amount of effort to open and close. When we got the steam on deck you had to crack this valve and allow only a small amount of steam to enter the pistons as water had accumulated since the last they were used. To open the valve too quickly caused this water to hammer the end of the piston cover and possible break it with water hammer. Bleeding in the steam slowly avoided this and using the lever that was for changing the direction of the winch to clear the other side of the piston became second nature. When this was done the winch was run back and forward a few times until it was running smoothly and then you could use it for the job of topping the derricks or fitting the beams. The bosun delegated the two of us apprentices as we were never under the influence and reliable. Because each time we got back to Newcastle it was time to hand out the “Dirty Money” bonus and the overtime pay the deck crew in particular would go off the rails and spend these extra monies in the local tavern, “Sallys”. It seemed this big binge always took place just before sailing and battening down was done by the few sober of us. The Sparkie would have to help rigging the aerial (antenna) between the fore and main mast and watch we did not break the ceramic insulators. In the waiting time the mate or captain would be sounding the ships whistle to try and get the wayward crew members back. When this failed one of the apprentices would be sent across the railroad tracks to try and round up and get them back. I did not like doing this as although I got on well with most of them they did not feel inclined to return even with my pleadings. I usually asked the owner a brusque Australian “lady” to stop serving them and eventually they straggled back and we would depart. It was quite a circus at times and next day the folly of their ways resulted in a steady stream up to the captain’s cabin to be “logged”. If they were smart they would say nothing and just take their punishment. The stupid ones when asked if they had anything to say would argue the point and the fines would increase, especially if they were repeat offenders. It was no surprise to me these same crew members would not be around long and jumped ship “deserted”. The new guys replacing them were ones that had jumped from other ships and been caught and sent to us. During the time we spent on the “coast” a steady flow of new faces in the deck crew was the norm. When we were loading to return to the UK at the end of the charter there was only the bosun, carpenter and one sailor from the original crew on board. The deck was not the only department affected as the catering staff had changes too.

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