# Shipboard siestas



## gadgee

Sat at home in the arm chair having forty winks this afternoon at 230pm and reminiscing back to shipboard life. The deep sea ships I served on tried to keep the afternoon period between about 2 and 4pm free from excessive noise such as chipping rust with windy hammers etc This enabled those who could and needed it to have a little siesta. In the Deck Department, the Captain usually took advantage, the Chief Off would get a couple of hours before the 4 - 8, the 2/O would be on watch bronzying on the bridge wing or doing chart corrections and the 3/O if not doing life saving gear checks would take advantage of an hour or so as well. Trying to remember whether we had a name for that quiet period - can anyone remember?


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## China hand

Practising to be a marine superintendent, deckhead study.


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## John Cassels

two mates doing chart corrections , I hope not !.


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## jaydeeare

Not quite 'on thread', but in the RAF any off-duty time spent lying on the bed was always known as 'Egyptian PT'.

On most Training Stations this was common practice on Wednesday afternoons - Sports Afternoon.


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## Supergoods

There are two kinds of people at sea, those who sleep in the afternoon and those who wish they could
Ian


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## trotterdotpom

Deckhead survey.


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## Moulder

After lunch I would try and get a few zzzzzzzzzz's until 1500 hours when I'd go back to the radio room for the afternoon stint.

Weren't they simply called the "Quiet Hours?"

(Thumb)


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## Derek Roger

When as 2nd Eng and on watches ( which was not often as I sailed on a lot of UMS vessels with all on day work ) I would have a beer in the bar before Lunch and a couple of hours of Deck head Survey before the 4 to 8 .


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## John Briggs

There were many little habits on board ship that seemed to be quite traditional.

As Master I would always be up at 0600 and have my morning cup of coffee with the Mate on the bridge.

The afternoon kip was also very regular. A couple of beers before lunch, then a big curry or somesuch and into the cot for a couple of hours. Wonderful!


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## Gareth Jones

I heard it called " Bronzeing under a 60 watt lamp " or " Studying the backs of my eyelids "


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## Rodney

"Get yer head down."


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## makko

Deckhead Survey. I would get my head down for a bit before lunch and then down for the 12-4. 8-12 was the best for DHSing.


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## Duncan112

Sailing with a Kiwi female third mate with a very pronounced NZ accent, in the bar after lunch she says to the Second Engineer 
"Ah well, time for a d1ckhead survey" 
He responds "Surely you mean a deckhead survey" 
She responds"Maybe you're right, I've just spent 2 hours looking at you"

Very quick I thought!!


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## stoker

Climb to an altitude of three feet and level off...... those were the days.


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## trotterdotpom

Duncan112 said:


> Sailing with a Kiwi female third mate with a very pronounced NZ accent, in the bar after lunch she says to the Second Engineer
> "Ah well, time for a d1ckhead survey"
> He responds "Surely you mean a deckhead survey"
> She responds"Maybe you're right, I've just spent 2 hours looking at you"
> 
> Very quick I thought!!


Brilliant (Applause)(Applause)(Applause)


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## spongebob

Down here we sometimes call it Maori PT or if there are two of you, then it's Chesterfield Rugby.

Bob


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## xieriftips

gadgee said:


> Sat at home in the arm chair having forty winks this afternoon at 230pm and reminiscing back to shipboard life. The deep sea ships I served on tried to keep the afternoon period between about 2 and 4pm free from excessive noise such as chipping rust with windy hammers etc This enabled those who could and needed it to have a little siesta. In the Deck Department, the Captain usually took advantage, the Chief Off would get a couple of hours before the 4 - 8, the 2/O would be on watch bronzying on the bridge wing or doing chart corrections and the 3/O if not doing life saving gear checks would take advantage of an hour or so as well. Trying to remember whether we had a name for that quiet period - can anyone remember?


Silent hours? (In BP it was 1300-1500)


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## FILIPVS

SIESTA is a spanish word. It is strange for me see you using it!! According commom meaning of this word, a siesta is short sleeping period after lunch. Must not be longer than 10 or 20 minutes in order to obtain the benefits that doctors say that siesta has.
My experience is in accordance with that, if you sleep more time then you will get up more tired... But sometimes, after a large night in maouvres along dutch channels for example, then in this case I sleep a couple of hours to recover energies for the next watch!!

Edit: I see in my translator siesta in english is "nap" but also "siesta" is included in english dictionary... it is strange how words go from one country to other where the language is totally different.

Bst rgds


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## sparkie2182

A bit like "Falkland Islands"............

We don't hear too many Spanish speakers using that term either.


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## Robert Bush

Have not heard "Britannia Rules the Waves" for some time.


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## Russ Lowdon

Deckhead survey- but I sailed with a 1st mate who hailed from the Hebrides who used to go "for a little horizontal refreshment" He used to also like his "twin screw north sea pheasants" for breakfast


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## joebuckham

Robert Bush said:


> Have not heard "Britannia Rules the Waves" for some time.


or maybe britannia waives the rules (*))


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## FILIPVS

joebuckham said:


> or maybe britannia waives the rules (*))


I have heard "Britannia rules the New Wave".

There are many dedicated followers of fashion that would agree with this...(ballet)


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## Derek Roger

That is what the " Day Bed " was for .


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## jamesgpobog

US Navy routine is so much different than merchant marine...

No bars on board for beers before lunch, or 2-4pm 'quiet time'. What my ship did have was a 2 hour lunch (11-1).

It didn't take long for me to figure out that when I was in the After Engine Room (really the aux. pump room under the fire room, where the shafts came through), I could go several decks up the escape trunk, exit in a passageway near stairs that came out on deck right at the beginning of the chow line. I could be there in less than a minute. I was never more than about 10th in line, would eat fast, and have at least 90 minutes to take a 'nooner'. That 90 min. btw, is right at the wrong time to wake from a snooze. I was usually in a foul mood at 1pm.

I was in the middle of a 'nooner' the one time I went to battle stations for real. Bong-bong-bong...I came up cursing the Navy a blue streak for pulling a drill all the way down into the hole, where I found out it _wasn't_ a drill. Turned out to be a Russian trawler and because we were non-combatant, we just puffed out our chest and ran away bravely...


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## eddyw

Passenger ships heading for the tropics used to institute 'quiet time' post lunch (2pm-4pm) to get passengers into colonial daytime routine (ie avoiding sweltering heat of day). On Elder Dempster this used to be introduced following southbound call at Las Palmas. Many would be up on deck at 6am and make up for it by snoozing the afternoon away below. This seems to have been leftover from pre- air conditioning days but was 'de rigueur' for seasoned ex-pats. When I travelled I ignored this custom and had the run of the ship - as did the 4th class dormitory passengers who were otherwise confined to their little bit of exercise deck down aft!


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## John Rogers

I call my afternoon naps.. Charging my Battery.


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## Geoff Gower

gadgee said:


> Sat at home in the arm chair having forty winks this afternoon at 230pm and reminiscing back to shipboard life. The deep sea ships I served on tried to keep the afternoon period between about 2 and 4pm free from excessive noise such as chipping rust with windy hammers etc This enabled those who could and needed it to have a little siesta. In the Deck Department, the Captain usually took advantage, the Chief Off would get a couple of hours before the 4 - 8, the 2/O would be on watch bronzying on the bridge wing or doing chart corrections and the 3/O if not doing life saving gear checks would take advantage of an hour or so as well. Trying to remember whether we had a name for that quiet period - can anyone remember?


was as far as I was concerned -- time for a short "deck-head survey"(Applause)


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## sidsal

I always knew it as Egyptian exercises which have to be done horizontally and with your eyes closed.


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## alan ward

jaydeeare said:


> Not quite 'on thread', but in the RAF any off-duty time spent lying on the bed was always known as 'Egyptian PT'.
> 
> Me too or horizontal jogging


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## Somerton

I heard it referred to as Horizontal ?Exercise. Lol.

Alex C .


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## Robert Hilton

FILIPVS said:


> SIESTA is a spanish word. It is strange for me see you using it!! According commom meaning of this word, a siesta is short sleeping period after lunch. Must not be longer than 10 or 20 minutes in order to obtain the benefits that doctors say that siesta has.
> 
> We call it a siesta because an afternoon nap is seen as more of a Mediterranean habit. Usually a siesta is taken to mean more than a nap. The prescribed limit of 10 to 20 minutes is news to me. Thanks for the education.


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## Geoff Gower

Robert Hilton said:


> FILIPVS said:
> 
> 
> 
> SIESTA is a spanish word. It is strange for me see you using it!! According commom meaning of this word, a siesta is short sleeping period after lunch. Must not be longer than 10 or 20 minutes in order to obtain the benefits that doctors say that siesta has.
> 
> We call it a siesta because an afternoon nap is seen as more of a Mediterranean habit. Usually a siesta is taken to mean more than a nap. The prescribed limit of 10 to 20 minutes is news to me. Thanks for the education.
> 
> 
> 
> Not really worried about the length as long as at then end of it you were woken up by your steward bring a cup of tea and a tab-nab!!!
Click to expand...


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## alan ward

On joining the Orchidea I was speaking to the OM Bill Chippendale and happened to mention that I was going ashore with my wife to show her something or other in Long Beach.I told him I wouldn`t be long and it would be during the post lunch break.He stopped me and said`There is no such thing as a break after lunch`expecting a bollocking about us always being on duty in port etc.etc.I waited with some worry for his next statement.`You can go anywhere,anytime you want as long as you`re job is covered`whooo great relief.


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## 8575

Counting Zs. Horizontal study time. Coffin practice - the list goes on!


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## eldersuk

Anything less than 30 mins was called a trickle charge.

Derek


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## Varley

I hate to carp but 30 minutes suggests an equalising charge at much too high an hourly rate. Trickle = all same Rip van Winkle.


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## John Dryden

The ships I sailed on there was a day bed in the chart room..how tempting was that?


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