# Old Shipmates



## Ann(McKinnon) (Jan 19, 2017)

My post seemed to disappear , but will try again. Maybe someone out there in Ships Nostalgia will recognise themselves or someone they know on my photo which l have dug from my dad's memorabilia when he served in the Merchant Navy. It was Fire Training l think and was in Leith or Glasgow ? In the 60's or early 70's l think!


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## tsell (Apr 29, 2008)

Ann(McKinnon) said:


> My post seemed to disappear , but will try again. Maybe someone out there in Ships Nostalgia will recognise themselves or someone they know on my photo which l have dug from my dad's memorabilia when he served in the Merchant Navy. It was Fire Training l think and was in Leith or Glasgow ? In the 60's or early 70's l think!


Hi, Ann, they don't disappear altogether, they just make way for new posts. You can find all of your posts in the various forums and your seven other threads before this one have attracted a fair number of views - go into your profile to find them. Good luck with your search and keep posting!(Thumb)

Taff


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## Cpt Dick Brooks (May 13, 2013)

*For Ann.*

Hello, Ann, I'm Cpt Dick Brooks, and know just what you mean... I've had this problem on many occasions, and no one seems to understand what I'm talking about. It's as if your work is being sabotaged by someone in management. 
If you submit a Post which is longer than normal, you get another request to book in with your on-line name and password. If you do not complete this, your work is lost. Once you've entered your details and pressed enter, you end up with a white blank page in front of you.
Now, backtrack with your return arrow at the top of the page until you get back to your original Post, then press 'Submit Reply' again. You will now get a message saying that because you entered you name and password again, you will have to backtrack again until your work is displayed once more. 
When you press 'Submit Post' again, another message comes up saying that you have not entered a title to your Post. If you go back to the start of you work, you will find that your title has been removed from the slot provided. Once you type in your title again and press 'Submit Post', this time it will actually come up as Posted in the correct position. 
I hope that I have been of hope to you. All the best, Cpt Dick Brooks.


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## tsell (Apr 29, 2008)

Hi Dick, that sounds like something out of Monty Python! Fortunately, it hasn't happened to me - so far! (Thumb)

Cheers

Taff


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## Cpt Dick Brooks (May 13, 2013)

*For Taff.*

Good to hear from you, Taff, and hope that you are well. I'm packing my dunwich together, and will soon be on my way... out to the Land of Oz... on my way to Samoa, in the South Seas. All the best, Cpt Dick Brooks.


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## tsell (Apr 29, 2008)

Cpt Dick Brooks said:


> Good to hear from you, Taff, and hope that you are well. I'm packing my dunwich together, and will soon be on my way... out to the Land of Oz... on my way to Samoa, in the South Seas. All the best, Cpt Dick Brooks.


Hi Dick, sorry mate, I missed your reply. That's good news, I'll look forward to catching up, just give me a call when you arrive in Brisbane! Best to Mariana.

Cheers

Taff


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## Cpt Dick Brooks (May 13, 2013)

*For tsell.*

G,day Taff, it's good to hear from you. I'm all packed and really looking forward to flying out to The Land of Oz. I'm flying to Sydney... but only in transit... with a fourteen hour stop-over in the Transit Lounge, before joining another flight to Samoa. I'll try and give you a bell... or at least an e-mail... but with three young boys in tow, I'm going to have my hands full. Mariana tends to crash out during stop-overs in transit, so I'll have my hands full. All the best, Cpt Dick Brooks.


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## tsell (Apr 29, 2008)

Bloody 'ell, Dick, you're going to need more than a few slugs of moonshine if you have to handle that lot in a Transit Lounge for fourteen hours!! Best of luck, matey and make contact if you get a chance. When do you leave UK?

Cheers,

Taff


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## Cpt Dick Brooks (May 13, 2013)

*For tsell.*

G,day Taff, it's good to get your reply so soon. We're travelling down to Heathrow International Airport by coach on the afternoon of 26th March, then fly out on Singapore Airlines at ten that night. There is a short stop-off at Singapore, before flying onto Sydney. I don't know if we're changing planes at Singapore, but we'll be changing to a Boeing 737 for our flight over the western Pacific to Apia, in Samoa, in the South Seas. 
We'll be leaving England at the end of the winter, then arriving in the steamy tropical heat of Samoa on 28th March! It'll be like stepping into a steam bath. I just hope that the Chinese have finished building the new Arrivals Hall and installed the air-conditioning. Last year it was like standing in an old cattle shed being used as a sauna! All the best, Cpt Dick Brooks.


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## tom roberts (May 4, 2008)

Some shipmates are like ships that pass in the night sailed with them but never remember them ,but I have just attended a shipmates funeral Danny Voiles a good ship mate and certainly not a ship that passed in the night.Rest in peace Dan .


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## tsell (Apr 29, 2008)

Well, Dick, I believe Aggie's is fully air-conditioned now, not like the old days in Apia - a big resort now, so I guess you'll be spending a bit of time there, and shedding a few Tala!

Cheers

Taff


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## Cpt Dick Brooks (May 13, 2013)

*For tsell.*

G,day Taff, a last catch-up before I hit the sack. Talking about Aggie's really brings back old memories. I spent a few days living there with an ex-girlfriend... Anne Diskin... and later met Aggie on many occasions. With baby Zyanya in her carry-cot, me and Mariana attended an official British consul Queen's birthday bash at Aggie's Hotel, and later me and my mates would go there for the Sunday umu, while our wives went to spend the weekends with their families for their big family get-together. 
My involvement with Aggie's Hotel is well covered in my books, 'The Black Ship's Odessa. Book Two' and 'Samoan Sunset.' If you're up for a good read, go to the Books Forum and take down the Kindle code for both of these books, published by Amazon on their Kindle website. All the best, Cpt Dick Brooks.


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## spongebob (Dec 11, 2007)

Mention of Aggie Grey's hotel in Apia prompts me to do a google earth run over the establishment that I used to visit in the latter 1950's when at anchorage in the harbour loading Bananas for NZ.
Our Chief Engineer, Dinny Shanahan, was a long time friend of Aggie Greys and we used to visit the hotel for lunches ashore. I remember the old colonial style weatherboard buildings with wide verandas and a spacious dining room with high ceilings and slowly rotating fans all as you would imagine a south sea resort would be in those days .
Today it appears that a larger typical hotel block has been built around the original home and no doubt dulled some of the old charm.
I recall having lunch there one day and we were marvelling at the way the little geckos raced around the ceilings catching the flies and other insects and while the waitress assured us that they never missed a beat or fell one did and landed in the fourth engineer's fish chowder . 
As quick as a flash it was out of the bowl , across the table , and back up the wall leaving only little footprints on the white tablecloth and a few spatters on the 4E's shirt.
In those days the local Samoans did not have access to alcohol but visiting ships crew could call at the local police station and obtain an issue of three "Admit one" tickets off a roll, each one entitling the holder to a spirit or a bottle of Becks beer and these were exchanged at the hotel
Dreamy days.

Bob


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## tsell (Apr 29, 2008)

tom roberts said:


> Some shipmates are like ships that pass in the night sailed with them but never remember them ,but I have just attended a shipmates funeral Danny Voiles a good ship mate and certainly not a ship that passed in the night.Rest in peace Dan .


Tom, like a family member, it's never good to lose a mate, so Rest in Peace, Dan.

Taff


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## Cpt Dick Brooks (May 13, 2013)

*For tom roberts and tsell.*

It's good to hear from you, tom roberts... and g'day to you, taff. Sorry for my late reply to your post, tom, but I've had my hands full over the last 24 hours. I was requested by the family of one of my old crew to attend his funeral... Johnny Martin... and to give a reading for him.
I presented myself in my full blue captain's uniform, and placed my captain's hat on the foot of his coffin to show my respect for him and his family. He served on many voyages as deck crew on board my second ship, Biche, and died at 81 years of age. He had a full life, and I can only hope that I have as good an innings as he did.
As I'm not religious, I chose to recite a poem... the epitaph of Robert Louise Stevenson, cast into a bronze plate and attached to his concrete sarcophagus on the summit of Mount Via, in the centre of Apia, overlooking the turquoise blue of the harbour below, in Samoa... a poem that I have chosen and left as instructions in my own Will :-

Under the wide and starry sky, dig the grave and let me lie. 
Long that I lived, and gladly die. I lay myself down at will.

Here are the words you graved for me, on the grave where I long to be.
Home is the sailor home from the sea, and the hunter home from the hill.

I apologise for my modern interpretation of this famous poem, but I prefer modern language rather than Shakespearean lilt. All the best, Cpt Dick Brooks.


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## tsell (Apr 29, 2008)

Beautiful, Dick. Rest in peace, Johnny!

Taff


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## Cpt Dick Brooks (May 13, 2013)

*For all members of Ships Nostalgia.*

There is something very wrong with this Forum, or someone in management is being very peevish regarding my posts. I've just typed up my latest short story, about my forthcoming trip out to Samoa called :- 'On Walk-About, Again'... twice, I might add, and it has been blocked for some unknown reason each time. I ran through the procedure exactly, as I described earlier in this post, but I was blocked on both occasions. If members don't like my short stories of sea adventure, then they only have to say... but this is really taking the Michael! Please sort out this problem, so I may continue posting my work. All the best, Cpt Dick Brooks.


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## tsell (Apr 29, 2008)

Dick, I tried answering your message re your trip on your other thread, but I couldn't post to you as I kept getting: 'DATABASE ERROR - the database has encountered a problem.'
However I just managed to get in to this one, but having tried on other threads, it's not only yours that has this intermittent problem, seemingly.

Taff


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## tsell (Apr 29, 2008)

Dick, all seems to have righted itself, I've just replied to your other thread. Must have been a problem with SN tech stuff. Hope you can post your episode now.

Taff


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