# captain "champagne" joe walford : john swires



## sparkie2182 (May 12, 2007)

did anyone sail with "champagne joe"? john swires mostly far east


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## Geoff Garrett (May 2, 2006)

Yeah, known Joe for years but in the days when he was decidedly "brown ale" lol.


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## sparkie2182 (May 12, 2007)

thanks for that geoff..........

hope he is still ok..........he was a bit dodgy on his pins about 10 years ago.
i remember he was living in conway area of north wales.

very best regards geoff.........thanks for the reply


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## Ian (Mar 27, 2004)

G'day Sparkie 2182.
Sailed with Capt Joe on the Pacific Searcher (supply boat/rov) late 2000.
He still maintained a hard pace ashore and treated his crews with respect.
Great guy and I hope he is still building his legend.
Regards Paul


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## sparkie2182 (May 12, 2007)

me too paul............

i knew him when i was teaching at a college in u.k..........joe was on a course i was delivering.
he made a great impression whith everyone.......and whenever lads from swires attended the college, everyone of them had a different tale about him......usually hilarious........
as you say........a great guy......credit to the profession


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## waldo247365 (Dec 16, 2007)

*To all who know my old man*

Hi I am Champagne Joe's Son. 

Messing around I googled my old man to see if he had any more skeletons in his closet than i know about and if he does indeed beat me at partying! And yes it is true he is more wild than me and will continue to be! There is no keeping up with him. 

Anyway I thought I'd say hi to you all and if you want to contact him just go through me. He is home at the mo and as correctly pointed out, living in Wales. No local boozer tho which in itself is a complete disaster. Although he still manages to get into a regular FUBAR state without the help of a landlord!

Thanks for reading and like I say if you want to contact him just shout out

Mathew Walford


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## R58484956 (Apr 19, 2004)

Greetings Mathew and a warm welcome to SN. As you see its a small world when it comes to maritime matters. Enjoy the site and bon voyage.


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## waldo247365 (Dec 16, 2007)

Many thanks for the warm welcome.


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## Ian (Mar 27, 2004)

G'day Mathew from Bluff(NZ).
Two pilots here wishing your father all the best for the new year. If he gets down to this neck of the woods he wont have to worry about landlords either.
Best regards from Capt Robert Tawhiri Coote and Capt Paul Christiansen.


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## waldo247365 (Dec 16, 2007)

*how's your belly where the pig bit ya?*

The old man is sat next to me and says hello, he hopes to bump into you one of these days and is still working at the age of 61!!! The industry is still good to us these days (although there was a snigger when he said this lol). The searcher was good Paul and things have changed since the pilot Bob! 

Ps, I am now going to set the old man up with his password, can't type for him everytime!

Pps he's on the piss! bet that shocked you hahaha

Regards

Joe and Mat


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## sparkie2182 (May 12, 2007)

joe and matt...............................  

i was the originator of the joe walford thread(s) and if you remember, you sent me his contact details......... just b4 xmas i think.
within a day i lost my hard drive........and took over a week to replace it.
your dads email addy went west as i had it in my own contact list.....

please give him my regards, and when u r ready, please resend his email addy.


best regards to you both..........and have a good easter ............


sparkie 2182 (ex Wray castle)


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