# What 'prompted', 'tempted', 'encouraged' or MADE you choose the sea as a career?



## Graham the pipe

Having started the thread on 'Logos', a few days ago, the many replies have been both interesting and enlightening. One in particular - and I'll leave you, the reader, to guess which one I refer to - has caused me to open this thread. Anyone who comes up with a 'reason' that scuppers 'Scupper's' has to have had a 'Divine Calling'.


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## lakercapt

National service!!!!!!!


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## Barrie Youde

It seemed like a good idea at the time.

It still does, for those who are tough enough.


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## John Briggs

As a "little" kid I always wanted to join the Navy.
Then at the age of seven I made a voyage of 3 months and 9 days
on an old coal burning tramp from England to Australia.
My father was the Master and from that moment on I was hooked!


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## kewl dude

Me too John Briggs

http://www.reocities.com/thetropics/1965/whoami.htm

“I went to sea for the first time, on this ship, the Great Lakes ore carrier Shenango, sixteen months before Japan attacked the United States, at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii; and four months before I was born. One of my earliest memories is bunking in the top dresser drawer, in the Third Assistant Engineer's (my dad's), cabin, on the Shenango. Before I was age six, I could only make trips with my mother. During his twelve years on the Shenango my dad was an Oiler, Third and Second Assistant Engineer. I grew up on the Shenango and the two other Shenango Furnace Company ships, Col. James M. Schoonmaker and William P. Snyder, Jr.”

More .....

Greg Hayden


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## lakercapt

Wonderful tales Joe and I do remember some of the boats you sailed on though I think all are now gone.


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## Chris Isaac

My step father had worked for Union-Castle all his life. Starting at Bleak House (3 Fenchurch Street) on to Greenly House and finally Cayzer House.
Our house always had a pile of the company's magazine (Review).
I used to read these avidly and it was the sight of those beautiful ships in exotic places that made my choice of career easy.

Never regretted it and still involved with the company today via my web site and various annual reunions.


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## John King

It ran in the family,grandfather chief eng,father master mariner, I built them repaired them so had to get it out of my blood but alas my wife got fed up so I had to rejoin the commoners. john K


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## stein

I quit school, my father immediately demanded I get a job, he cut out an advert announcing new apprentices being taken on at the local shipyard, and I went for an interview on a Monday. There I was told I had to be 18 to work in a shipyard, and the man suggested I spend a couple of years at sea before reapplying, and told me where the hiring office was. There a lady tried to foist a few sad jobs on me, cabin boy on a ferry and so on, but finally came up with deck boy on a cargo liner lying in Tønsberg departing in four days. I got the signature needed from my parents and the vaccines and the passport, and took a train to Tønsberg. 

And immediately got acquainted with a few fellows that nobody would call the pride of our merchant fleet, but rather some who thought the sea gave a man the greatest opportunity to cheat every authority out of all demanded obedience. That may have sent me in the opposite direction of a career at sea, but great fun it was, being instructed in the art of cheating at everything by absolute rascals. When I hired off that first ship I asked the Chief mate for a “recommendation,” to which he answered that he was not insane but he would be willing to shake my hand on the sincere promise that he would never see me again. 

My next ship was modern and boring with a seriously decent crew, and for my third I went to the company and when presented with the most modern they had, asked for an old one. The man asked me what might be the matter with my head, but gave me their oldest ship. And this one had an interesting crew indeed: I was happy to escape alive from a couple of escapades that my shipmates considered everyday experiences. Which might to some extent explain why that ship was my last one. But I’ve since missed the tough loyalty experienced at sea, that you had friends that not immediately would shift allegiances or disappear when the opposition became increasingly threatening.

It doesn’t belong here perhaps, but I’ve experienced arriving at my office and being invisible. Nobody saw me, not even when waving a hand before their eyes. Eleven men and women, all blind. Turned out I was mistakenly accused of a mistake costing the firm a client, this by the boss on another floor. By lunch I was exonerated and eleven men and women swore they all knew I was innocent all along. And then I whispered to myself, perhaps with the beginning of a nostalgic tear: I’ve walked among upright people, I was once a sailor.


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## Graham the pipe

stein said:


> I quit school, my father immediately demanded I get a job, he cut out an advert announcing new apprentices being taken on at the local shipyard, and I went for an interview on a Monday. There I was told I had to be 18 to work in a shipyard, and the man suggested I spend a couple of years at sea before reapplying, and told me where the hiring office was. There a lady tried to foist a few sad jobs on me, cabin boy on a ferry and so on, but finally came up with deck boy on a cargo liner lying in Tønsberg departing in four days. I got the signature needed from my parents and the vaccines and the passport, and took a train to Tønsberg.
> 
> And immediately got acquainted with a few fellows that nobody would call the pride of our merchant fleet, but rather some who thought the sea gave a man the greatest opportunity to cheat every authority out of all demanded obedience. That may have sent me in the opposite direction of a career at sea, but great fun it was, being instructed in the art of cheating at everything by absolute rascals. When I hired off that first ship I asked the Chief mate for a “recommendation,” to which he answered that he was not insane but he would be willing to shake my hand on the sincere promise that he would never see me again.
> 
> My next ship was modern and boring with a seriously decent crew, and for my third I went to the company and when presented with the most modern they had, asked for an old one. The man asked me what might be the matter with my head, but gave me their oldest ship. And this one had an interesting crew indeed: I was happy to escape alive from a couple of escapades that my shipmates considered everyday experiences. Which might to some extent explain why that ship was my last one. But I’ve since missed the tough loyalty experienced at sea, that you had friends that not immediately would shift allegiances or disappear when the opposition became increasingly threatening.
> 
> It doesn’t belong here perhaps, but I’ve experienced arriving at my office and being invisible. Nobody saw me, not even when waving a hand before their eyes. Eleven men and women, all blind. Turned out I was mistakenly accused of a mistake costing the firm a client, this by the boss on another floor. By lunch I was exonerated and eleven men and women swore they all knew I was innocent all along. And then I whispered to myself, perhaps with the beginning of a nostalgic tear: I’ve walked among upright people, I was once a sailor.


Hi Stein. Thank you for sharing your very detailed account of your 'reason' for the sea days and subsequent life experiences. Walk tall and proud! Think and act like the person you say you "once were", a sailor! Something tells me that, at heart, you still are!


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## Scelerat

First trip was a coasting one with my parents before I was born; I had done several conscious coasts before I was 18 months old. However, my first serious thought was when my mother was in Gravesend collecting my father from the Pilot Station, he having departed Millwall on a Strick's vessel as Superintendant Engineer, leaving with the pilot at Gravesend. He remarked that he was glad to have got off as the next stop would have been the Persian Gulf. To an 11/12 year old it sounded wonderful. It was in abeyance until I was 18 when my father suggested it. I went and stayed, for a few years anyway. First trip 1974, last in 1990, as vacation work whilst an undergraduate.


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## Chris Isaac

stein said:


> I quit school, my father immediately demanded I get a job, he cut out an advert announcing new apprentices being taken on at the local shipyard, and I went for an interview on a Monday. There I was told I had to be 18 to work in a shipyard, and the man suggested I spend a couple of years at sea before reapplying, and told me where the hiring office was. There a lady tried to foist a few sad jobs on me, cabin boy on a ferry and so on, but finally came up with deck boy on a cargo liner lying in Tønsberg departing in four days. I got the signature needed from my parents and the vaccines and the passport, and took a train to Tønsberg.
> 
> And immediately got acquainted with a few fellows that nobody would call the pride of our merchant fleet, but rather some who thought the sea gave a man the greatest opportunity to cheat every authority out of all demanded obedience. That may have sent me in the opposite direction of a career at sea, but great fun it was, being instructed in the art of cheating at everything by absolute rascals. When I hired off that first ship I asked the Chief mate for a “recommendation,” to which he answered that he was not insane but he would be willing to shake my hand on the sincere promise that he would never see me again.
> 
> My next ship was modern and boring with a seriously decent crew, and for my third I went to the company and when presented with the most modern they had, asked for an old one. The man asked me what might be the matter with my head, but gave me their oldest ship. And this one had an interesting crew indeed: I was happy to escape alive from a couple of escapades that my shipmates considered everyday experiences. Which might to some extent explain why that ship was my last one. But I’ve since missed the tough loyalty experienced at sea, that you had friends that not immediately would shift allegiances or disappear when the opposition became increasingly threatening.
> 
> It doesn’t belong here perhaps, but I’ve experienced arriving at my office and being invisible. Nobody saw me, not even when waving a hand before their eyes. Eleven men and women, all blind. Turned out I was mistakenly accused of a mistake costing the firm a client, this by the boss on another floor. By lunch I was exonerated and eleven men and women swore they all knew I was innocent all along. And then I whispered to myself, perhaps with the beginning of a nostalgic tear: I’ve walked among upright people, I was once a sailor.


A great story. One that will resonate with most of us. 
Last weekend I attended a reunion of all B&C colleagues that I knew 40-50 years ago. That bond, that loyalty was still there, something I have never experienced working ashore. 
I guess that those who served in the armed forces will have similar feelings.


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## IAN M

Playing snooker in 1942. Some lads came in carrying earphones and, after learning that they were at the nearby Wireless College, training to become radio officers in the MN, decided to join them.


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## ninabaker

Hard to pin it down. There is no one else in the family nautically minded as far as I can tell and we have a very detailed family tree going way back.

I cannot remember a time when I didn't want to be a sailor. I was born on an old Thames sailing barge which had been turned into a houseboat in Chelsea but I have no direct recollection of it as we moved ashore before I learned to walk. Certainly my obsession must have been evident to my parents when I was very small as the first picture books I had included books about boats and ships, and from an early age the only sort of dresses I would agree to wear had to have sailor collars.

I kept the interest in a general way - watching the ships on the Thames, going to Navy days etc - until I was about 13 and then started to seriously follow up anything that looked like it might lead to a career at sea. And was fantastically fortunate to be able to do so, in 1972.

If I wasnt a lifelong atheist, I might have said it was a god-given pre-destiny.


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## eldersuk

Why did I go to sea? Mother had my bags packed since I was 12 !!


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## Derek Roger

For me it was simple ; I had been on ships as an early child from South Africa to UK on 3 occasions and have some memories including a trip to the engine room .
On the second count my father was a Mariner as was my Grandfather and great Grandfather .
The most impressive memory I have was going from Newport where we lived at the time to Dundee on many occasions on the BL Nairn ( Paddle steamer ) They had a saloon ( for an extra penny ) that had windows which looked into the engine room . I was enthralled to see the two steam engines working( horizontal steam recips ) 
Also we could watch the engineer operate the controls ; telegraph which we could hear Etc . 
I thought That's for me ! ( aged 11 )
A final nail in the Coffin was when my buddy and I were down at the docks in Dundee some years later to watch a City boat unloading jute we saw an engineer at the gangway and asked if we could have a look around . He agreed and gave us the grand tour of the engine room . That was it for me .
My buddy was destined to be a dentist but changed his mind and went to sea with Clan Line and finally China Nav and some other companies as Chief Engineer .
To this day he scolds me in that if he had been a dentist he would have made a lot more money . 
Yet no regrets ; made many friends around the world as did I .

Regards Derek


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## stevesherratt

For me I think it was ingrained as an idea when as a young boy I had Dock Road holidays in Bristol with Uncle Will, in Grimsby with Uncle Frank and Liverpool with Uncle Bert – I didn’t stand a chance looking back and I just knew that all I wanted was to go to sea. I remember Burton Station in January 1962 I was 15, it was freezing cold and I couldn’t understand why Mum was crying as I was so happy and excited to be all packed and travelling by train up to Edinburgh to join TS Dolphin in Leith.
Happy days. 

As they say the rest was History

Steve R770014


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## Graham the pipe

eldersuk said:


> Why did I go to sea? Mother had my bags packed since I was 12 !!


WHAT a patient woman! She waited THAT long? Oh, by the way, by my arithmetic the 'age' mentioned was E X A C T L Y sixty six (Clickety Click?) years ago T O D A Y! Have a GREAT DAY my 'old' old mate! (Pint) Cheers! GTP


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## alan ward

Originally destined for the Army,maternal Grandfather was a regular,my view was changed by having a seagoing father whom I adored and three great uncles who were also at sea.My father working on the Thames as a PHO meant I spent too much time with the river in the days when ships came right into the heart of London.Moving to Liverpool sealed my fate and I joined ED`s at 16 and was happily still at sea 10 years later.Made some terrible errors but don`t regret a minute of it.


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## kypros

I can only remember wanting to join the MN at school with several members of my extended family at sea it seemed the obvious choice,docked my oldest brother on his last trip before swallowing the anchor we arrived back at his home after unpacking his gear he sat in his bedroom and tore up his discharge book.It was some years later in conversation with him about the MN he said I was a better seaman than him being a little confused by this as I always looked up to him and rated him a very good seaman he said you went to sea because you wanted to I went to avoid National service I believe they at to do about eight years merchant service if I recall,being a naive kid he roared laughing when I told him it was him who influenced me to go in the MN with the odd letter he sent home from all over the world but I do not regret my time in the MN.KYPROS


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## Satanic Mechanic

oh thats easy -- the stories may family told and a father who used to take me to work to see the ships. Then and today there is nothing better than looking at a ship and wondering what stories it holds.

My father was absolutely against me going to sea, he died when I was 15, I left school and started the process of going to sea the monday after the funeral. My mother was furious, but a few years ago she told me my father would have been so proud of where I had got to - so it worked out in the end.

Also happy to report that while there havebeen ups and downs the job has entirely lived up to expectations


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## jasper

My Sister started going out with (and eventually married) A Silver Line Cadet in 1972. I was 15 at the time and, living in the Midlands, had never imagined anything like it.
It's all here..............www.jcecil-peanut.com


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## Ken Glasdir

*Yarning*

When I as a kid I used to go aboard an old steam coaster with my Dad who was the second. I loved to hear the men yarning; I liked the smell and when I ran my finger along the rail and licked it I was hooked. I spent school holidays with him and got terribly seasick but it never turned me off. Signed on my first ship in 1956 and between then and 1981 sailed on tankers, coasters, tramps, liners, deep-sea tugs and dredgers. Decided against the sea as a career but never regretted enduring those hard but precious years.


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## salvina

Post 22. For those of you who haven't read it I can heartily recommend Jasper's book "Peanut" A tremendous yarn and one I think a lot of us can relate to.


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## Donald McGhee

I wanted to join the RN, as I was not "academic", but my father, who was a former Master FG decided to send me to sea as an Apprentice with Donaldsons.
I never regretted it, but sometimes do regret coming ashore when I did. However the blessing of a 43 year marriage to date and a pretty good retirement bears witness to it having been a good move.
All the hard times in between are yesterdays story, but the time with the MN, both Donaldsons and Bank Line was and remains life's highlight as far as experience and comradeship goes and I was privileged to have been part of it.


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## ben27

good day graham the pipe.2end oct.2013.04:47.re:what "prompted "to choose the sea as a career.well the war was on.all my brothers were away in the army and navy,i went and applied to join they gave me a form and told me to get my fathers signature.i did not tell dad,i signed it took back the next day,and was in.and away.regards ben27


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## gwzm

My father worked for the railways so we used to get cheap travel. That included travelling up and down from Glasgow to Helensburgh alongside the river Clyde. There were ships with exotic ports of registration arriving and departing from all over the globe. That was in the late '40s and the '50s and we also spent a lot of time on the Clyde steamers so got close up views of all sorts of ships being built, loading and unloading as we sailed up and down from Glasgow. I was hooked. Unfortunately my eyesight wasn't good enough to be a deck officer and I didn't fancy being an engineer so I became a "sparks". One of the best moves I ever made.
I only stayed for a short time in the early-/mid-"60s right at the heyday before it all went "downhill" with containerisation, the dock strike, and the closure of the Suez canal. In my heart I wanted to stay longer but my head was telling me to get ashore before it became too late. I was lucky. With the gift of 2020 hindsight, it was the right move at the right time and led to a 30+ years' career in a variety of engineering and management roles in the computer industry.
Happy days indeed and I wouldn't have missed it for the world.
gwzm


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## R58484956

It kept me out of the army.


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## Ken Wood

Family tradition. Brought up among boats and ships, and never thought about doing anything else, not that there was much choice where I lived then. Met my wife when I was up for Masters, and she just accepted me without a blink of her eye. Mind you, she sailed around the world with me for a couple of years.

Came ashore after our first daughter was born (I was surprised about the effect that had) but continued with my love for the sea, pilot, oil industry etc. great life.


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## Peter Titman

Ah what an emotive topic. Can I sum it by saying however we got to sea it was the best thing ever (including the though times) and a life changing experience for most of us. I think we would all go back tomorrow wives permitting!


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## ben27

good day peter titman.today 05:52,#30.re:go back to sea,wives permitting.with me its age permitting.regards ben27


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## charding

When I was 16 the PE teacher who doubled up as careers master asked me what I was going to do on leaving school.
I said I didn't know and he asked if I had ever thought of going to sea. I said that I hadn't and he gave me some recruitment brochures from various companies and that was that. 
I knew nothing about the sea, my kit list said I needed sea boots: I looked for ages before finding out they were wellingtons.


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## Wallace Slough

I grew up in San Diego, California, and was always interested and spent time in Baja California as a youth. We had a family friend who was in charge of the Fish and Wildlife Service in San Diego, and he said I should take a trip on their research vessel, the Black Douglas, as she regularly went to Baja. I jumped at the chance as an unpaid deckboy between my Junior and Senior years in high school, and was hooked. The next summer I was paid as an Ordinary Seaman before starting at Cal Maritime. We never even got near Baja, but it didn't matter, the sea was for me! It led to a wonderful career at sea on break bulk cargo ships, followed by working on tugs in San Francisco Bay, followed by many years as a pilot in the bay. A wonderful career that I'd do again in a heartbeat!


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## redgreggie

I came from Derbyshire, a few miles from Sheffield, had no relatives.....didn't know anybody (directly) in the Merchant Navy.

From the area I lived you had the choice of the pits or steelworks, I fancied neither, I would like to have been a P.E. teacher but I wouldn't have been able to get the other qualifications that I would have required.

I lived in a village and I got to know a very elderly lady, I use to run errands for her and help her where I could, she had a relative (grandson maybe), he was a radio officer in the Merchant Navy, she use to be so thrilled when she got a letter from him, maybe that had an influence on me.

Also our school was in the Ships Adoption Society and we had the odd film show, or slides from the ship, perhaps that influenced me.

I decided that catering would be a good choice, the Gravesend Training School (the really old one) met the necessary requirements and off I went.

great choice, loved most of it.



















ray..................in Batley

ich bin ein binliner.


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## ART6

I had a romantic ambition to join the RN as an ordnance artificer apprentice, because I liked the idea of big things that went bang! Unfortunately my dad had served as an AB in WWI, manning a 5 inch gun on a battle cruiser, and there was no way that he was ever going to sign the papers allowing me to apply. Instead, when I left technical school (too thick for grammar) I was made to apply for jobs as an apprentice draughtsman in local firms -- an idea that filled me with dread. Then I discovered that if I served an engineering apprenticeship I could join the MN without his permission, being them old enough to make my own decisions. So off to Glasgow, the other end of the UK, and a heavy engineering apprenticeship, then my grading, and the magical journey to Durban in a Comet jet to my first ship. Dear God, that thing was big!

Now I was an engineer officer, not a petty officer -- although at such a low rank that everyone ignored me and I had to tread in fear of the chief and senior second engineer. Then the gradual progression through the ranks until, to my faint surprise, I had my tickets and now I was the one to be feared by the junior engineers. It was a life that suited me in every way, and I dearly loved it to the extent that being relieved for leave was unwelcome! It was the best thing I ever did and it served me well in later life when yer woman and the kids came along and forced me to give it up. 

If I could, I would be back there tomorrow, running from Maracaibo up the east coast of the USA to New York and Boston, or taking cargoes to Jamaica, Aruba, Barbados, or be out in the South China Sea or the wonderful isolation of the middle of the Indian Ocean on the way to Melbourne or the Philippines. It's true. When the sea gets in your blood it never leaves you!


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## sheringham

I had served 2 years of an 4 year engineering apprenticeship with a Midland Company where my 2nd year had been in the foundry!. I hated it! One day in 1956 saw an ad in a newspaper extolling a life of adventure as a navigating apprentice with BP Tanker Co.
I was approaching my 18th birthday so I applied....My ex miner father was not amused.. but I scrimped enough money together for the train fare to London (Brittannic House in Moorgate) for the interview. Only to be told that it was very difficult to become an apprentice with BP!. 3 weeks later received letter requesting that I join British Piper in Falmouth in 8 days. I was just 18+. At that point my Dad showed his true colours and for a hectic day we went to HO to sign indentures, off to S W Silver for all of the recommended kit and received his blessing.
Do not regret a single moment of the time spent at sea.

Ron


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## ernhelenbarrett

Was born in Portobello, down by the sea,worked on the local "round the Bay for a bob" pleasure boats, was also in the Sea Cadets and did one trip as "Deckie Learner" on an old coalburning trawler up around Bear Island, didn't fancy that but it cured me of seasickness for life!. Next got a job out of Leith as Cabin Boy on an Estonian tramp called the Keila to 3 Rivers and back then joined Dolphin
and did the Deck boys course, got up to AB with Ben , Port Line and BP tanker British Drummer, then back to Leith Nautical for my PMG, Marconi till 1960 then out by Comet jet to OZ and AWA/OTC/AWA till made redundant in 1992,
worked in carpark till retired in 1996 so had from 1947 till 1992 so must have liked the seagoing life methinks.
Ern Barrett


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## Split

ernhelenbarrett said:


> Was born in Portobello, down by the sea,worked on the local "round the Bay for a bob" pleasure boats, was also in the Sea Cadets and did one trip as "Deckie Learner" on an old coalburning trawler up around Bear Island, didn't fancy that but it cured me of seasickness for life!. Next got a job out of Leith as Cabin Boy on an Estonian tramp called the Keila to 3 Rivers and back then joined Dolphin
> and did the Deck boys course, got up to AB with Ben , Port Line and BP tanker British Drummer, then back to Leith Nautical for my PMG, Marconi till 1960 then out by Comet jet to OZ and AWA/OTC/AWA till made redundant in 1992,
> worked in carpark till retired in 1996 so had from 1947 till 1992 so must have liked the seagoing life methinks.
> Ern Barrett


We must be much the same age. I went to sea in 1948 as an apprentice. Got Master's and left in 1962 as 1st Mate.

Cannot say that I have missed the sea. The salary is more attractive, no doubt. I got 130 quid per month, east of Suez, when I came ashore.

A lot of guys cannot change-- I was very fortunate. Sea life and family life do not mix well, in a lot of cases.


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## alan ward

redgreggie said:


> I came from Derbyshire, a few miles from Sheffield, had no relatives.....didn't know anybody (directly) in the Merchant Navy.
> 
> 
> ich bin ein binliner.


Living in Derbyshire you went to sea to live somewhere drier.


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## trotterdotpom

alan ward said:


> Living in Derbyshire you went to sea to live somewhere drier.


Good one.(Jester)(Jester)(Jester)

John T


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## Nathan Beleisk

*Yeah*



alan ward said:


> Living in Derbyshire you went to sea to live somewhere drier.


Hehehe B\)


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## R58484956

Greetings* Nathan *and welcome to* SN*. Bon voyage.


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## mariner1945

Was in the Sea Scouts and Sea Cadet whilst in school in London. Never gave other work much thought. Started an engineering cadetship with Port Line in 1961 at 16 years old. Sailed as 5th Engineer at 20 1/2 yo. Carried on doing the marine engineer thing until I retired from shipping in 1998


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## doncontrols

My Dad was at sea as Ch Eng, and I did lots of trips when younger - I always wanted to go to sea in my own right, even though he tried everything to convince me otherwise. He fully supported my decision when he realised I was not for changing my mind ....


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## William Clark8

*Going to Sea*

I was brought up in the Countryside and didn't fancy
living life working on the Land as a Farmer so flipped
a Coin - Heads Army, Tails Navy. It came down Tails
and after going to the 'Vindi' went to sea as a Cabin 
boy and as they say 'Join the Navy and See the World'
Which I did and enjoyed 14 Years of it (==D)


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## tsell

Many years ago a neighbour with whom I shared many a bottle of home brew was, like myself, a former sailor. One day, reminiscing about the life we led, suddenly he asked:
"What made you go to sea Taff?"
I told him my story...
"What was your reason Derek." 
"Sex!"
"What d'you mean sex?"
"Well I wasn't getting any back home and heard sailors had a girl in every port."
"How old were you?"
"Fifteen."
"So you soon got plenty mate!"
"Sh!t no!"
"Why not?"
"Too bloody scared of getting the clap."
"How long did you stay a virgin then?"
"Till I got back home after four months. Soon found out all the nice girls love a sailor!"

Derek was nearly seventy then and had seven kids, six being girls and told me that he made sure they were all virgins when they got married.
I thought to myself, "You think!"

Taff


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## kewl dude

I just reread all of these posts and noticed that many fathers, especially sailors but also non sailor fathers, were dead set against their son's going to sea. My Dad frequently said, "No son of mine is going to sail." That is why it was my Mom, using her industry connections, which made it happen for me to get my original seamen's papers. 

My first ship May 1960 built in 1911 a two, three fires, hand fired Scotch boilers with a 1,750 HP non condensing up and downer; I was a Coalpasser. After I had shipped out on a home visit my Dad asked Mom where I was and she told him. Mom quoted Dad as saying "He won't last a week". I lasted until September 1966 when I left the lakes to sail offshore another ten years.

Greg Hayden
Vista, CA USA


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## david freeman

gwzm said:


> My father worked for the railways so we used to get cheap travel. That included travelling up and down from Glasgow to Helensburgh alongside the river Clyde. There were ships with exotic ports of registration arriving and departing from all over the globe. That was in the late '40s and the '50s and we also spent a lot of time on the Clyde steamers so got close up views of all sorts of ships being built, loading and unloading as we sailed up and down from Glasgow. I was hooked. Unfortunately my eyesight wasn't good enough to be a deck officer and I didn't fancy being an engineer so I became a "sparks". One of the best moves I ever made.
> I only stayed for a short time in the early-/mid-"60s right at the heyday before it all went "downhill" with containerisation, the dock strike, and the closure of the Suez canal. In my heart I wanted to stay longer but my head was telling me to get ashore before it became too late. I was lucky. With the gift of 2020 hindsight, it was the right move at the right time and led to a 30+ years' career in a variety of engineering and management roles in the computer industry.
> Happy days indeed and I wouldn't have missed it for the world.
> gwzm


 Remembering that senior staff with the old British Rail Ferries used to be given free Rail Travel as part of their employment arrrangements; A superintendent of a Port would get a 'Silver or Gold gong' which allowed them travel anywhere in the UK at any time, and possibly outside the UK.


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## Alan Rawlinson

*Accidental career*

It was an accident that I went to sea. Sitting in a Maths lesson in a horrendous comprehensive called Chandon secondary modern school, aged 13, a teacher poked her head around the door and said " Any Budding Sailors here?" It was an invitation to sit an entrance exam for a sea school - The London Nautical School (Woolverstone Hall) and it meant ditching the maths lesson and filling in forms etc which seemed like a lark at the time. Little did I know it would lead to a lifetime of seafaring and management ashore - all in the shipping industry. 

The original question was used for the title of my recent book called " Any Budding Sailors?" which is available as an ebook or paperback, both on Amazon.


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## MikeDurrans

*My career line too*



John King said:


> It ran in the family,grandfather chief eng,father master mariner, I built them repaired them so had to get it out of my blood but alas my wife got fed up so I had to rejoin the commoners. john K


John, your career line must be quite general, as mine was almost identical with the exception I served my apprenticeship in Belfast Rope Works engineering workshop before following my dad and G'dad who called me a wuss as I also left when the Lady came along. Mind you it must have been love as we were still together 51 years later.


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## howardws

Having been expelled from King Edward VI grammar school at the end of the fourth year I went on to a place in the 'Preliminary Engineering Course' at Southampton Technical College. At the end of that year the college introduced a course for Engineer Cadets and I joined that with Caltex. I retired from the sea after 40 fulfilling years having fallen into the job really.


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## tom roberts

As posted before on why go to sea.my reasons were a choice of the mines a farm hand or the local pop works having left school with no qualifications,a pal of mine was on the T.s.s.Indefatigable and I followed him,as for going to sea for the girls we went for a rest there were six girls to every lad in our village and more than one father was out with a shotgun so to say,and boy when we came home in our Tailor made suits with cash in our pockets and a tan and our American cigs we were soon run out of the village again .


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## Somerton

My dad and brother both went to sea . My other brother did not . I always wanted to go to sea . I am so glad I did . I was the youngest brother and sailed around the world with Port Line. The best thing I ever did . My brother got as fat as Abadan and the other direction Curacoa . Dad was in coasters . I retired 22 years this month . During that timeI have 12 trips to Australia and New Zealand . Also 1 to Canada . I leave in 2 weeks time for another trip down under DV ? Happy New Year to all S N members and hopefully a healthy one.
Alex C .


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