# Look out duties



## lakercapt

It seems to me as I reminisce that the lookout duties we did on the forecastle were a real waste of time.
Them days the bridge was not the far from the guy on the bow and as it was higher any light that you saw was obviously visible on the bridge before it came over your visible horizon.
One ring on the bell if sighted to starboard, two for port and three for right ahead.
Used to sing and dance away the tedious time and often thought a snooze would not be noticed as we sailed for many days without sight of another vessel or land.


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## kewl dude

I used to go up to the bow often at night. As far away as I could get from machinery noises. I enjoyed the relative quietness, only the sound of the sea swishing on the bow. 

Ships I sailed offshore the deck crew usually worked days but during hours of darkness two AB's and one Ordinary Seaman worked each watch. One on the bow, one on the steering wheel -- which likely as not was on The Iron Mike -- and the third on standby in the crew's mess room near the sound powered telephone. Each did a one hour and twenty minute trick in each position.

Each time positions were changed the bow guy called the bridge stating that navigation lights were bright (or not) the guy on standby checked the stern light. 

Greg Hayden


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## spongebob

Look outs were not for the engine room , but on the 12 to 4 and especially on the warm nights of the banana run, I enjoyed the trip down to the tiller flat to inspect the steering gear and to linger a while watching the wake and enjoying the relatively cool breeze. A quick check on the way back of the galley freezer and cool room temperatures allowed me to grab a hunk of cheese, a slice or two of ham or whatever to have with our 2 am cup of tea.

Bob


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## TOM ALEXANDER

lakercapt said:


> It seems to me as I reminisce that the lookout duties we did on the forecastle were a real waste of time.


Not on a lake boat so the bridge a fair bit away midships, but a memorable 2 hour fo'c'sle watch was in the North Atlantic heading Westward in a snowstorm. Middle 2 hours of the Midnight to Four a.m. looking for icebergs. Wearing long johns, flannel pyjamas, #1 uniform, with a submarine sweater under the jacket, duffle coat with the hood up over that and an oilskin over that. Could barely move, but stayed warm enough even though soon covered with a layer of ice from frozen spray and the horizontally wind driven snow. I was absolutely useless as I doubt if I could see much more than 50 feet in front of the bow in the vague reflected light of the nav lights. 

I suppose if we had of hit an iceberg, the old man could always say he was keeping a proper lookout.


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## Dickyboy

On the Queen Mary there used to be a lookout on the after docking bridge. I assume to keep an eye open for anyone who fell overboard. The main lookout was in the crows nest. Access was gained through the inside of the mast. 108 steps, and a very tight squeeze.


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## Neil McInnes

The good old days Bulls--T 1st wheel 2nd wheel and farmer. 4-8 was the best watch for OT. there was nothing good about standing on the F/castle while shipping green ones and making a slide on the ice while, you froze your knackers off.


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## John Cassels

Remember on one ship during fog we apprentices were sent up to the focsle head on lookout. Horn was on foremast and used to scare 7 bells of sh##t out of me when it went off every few mins.


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## BobClay

Crossing the Bay of Bengal on a bank boat in 1970 I got called out one night because the radar had gone down. A Marconi Mk4. Fortunately the transmitter assembly was in the Radio Room so I worked on it there. Finally got it going and when I looked at the display I was stunned to see a big fat target only a few miles away. Second mate was also stunned and ran out onto the bridge wing, but nothing at all was visible. At first he was a bit sceptical about the target but then closer examination revealed a very faint flickering light.

Turned out to be a ship with complete loss of power, and someone on the bridge was using a torch trying to signal us. They had nothing, no radio comms emergency or otherwise, even the aldis lamp had failed for some reason, and they were left with a hand torch, desperately trying to signal us as we passed by. They'd been like that for a day or so. 
The old man was called out and we stood by them for a day relaying messages as best we could until a tug was arranged to come out of Madras to bring them in. As I remember it was a flag of convenience, maybe Liberian or Panamanian and when we eventually resumed our journey I got to thinking how lucky (or unlucky) they'd been insomuch our radar had gone down at the worst possible time for them, albeit we did pick them up in end.

Some years later I was in a similar situation in the North Pacific when I was freelancing and we lost all power for several hours. But at least we had batteries and coms so were definitely better off than them. I often wonder what the situation would have been had no-one located them.


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## trotterdotpom

#8 . Sparks to the rescue. Well done Bob. 

I remember that Mark IV (Radiolocator?) on my first trip. Even at Christmas on the north coast of Iceland you had to keep the front off to stop it overheating. In fact I don't know where the front cover was.

John T

PS The Aussie bridge lookouts used to have a shufti into the radar to see where the lights were.


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## BobClay

trotterdotpom said:


> #8 .
> PS The Aussie bridge lookouts used to have a shufti into the radar to see where the lights were.


Well why not ? Use every tool you have to enhance the Mark One Eyeball. (Gleam)


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## Frank P

In 10 years on European ships we only had stand watch on the forecastle when there was fog about, other than that it was on the bridge wing or if there was good mate on watch you got to be inside the bridge.....(*))


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## tom roberts

The crows nest on the Parthia was up the mast which you entered thro the pig and whistle for those not familiar with this term it was the crew bar,it stank up there more so in the summer, two hours lookout after a pint or two well you can imagine there was a drain hole in the deck I wonder if into the wind the bridge would wonder about sudden small showers ,there were some good reading material up there ,the Reina del Mars crows nest was open coming back to the u.k.just before Xmas after a trip down South America bloody cold I can tell you but on the Hyria heading up to Perth Amboy or Bush Terminal middle of a winter blizzard from the heat of Maracaibo and the old man allowed us to keep lookout on the wing of the bridge added to the torture as I would look into the wheelhouse and see him and the mates snug and warm drinking coffee bas"""d another bad one was on the Newfoundland up on the monkey island middle of winter brrrrr you wore every stitch of clothing you had,but even the Del Mars nest holds a sweet memory for me I smuggled a lass up there ,but many hours in the tropics looking down at the glittering trails of the porpoise or up at the stars in the night sky unpolluted but when as an o.s. on a skin boat on the 4 to 8 and smelling the land before I saw it ,new mown grass still reminds me of that lookout,but the worst lookout trying to stay awake on was as again an o.s.on the Anglian 4on 4 off and doing the peggies job in my watch off for 6 weeks up the Meddie that was hard,before I close how many shoresiders have seen the sunsets sunrises and other wonders of the open sky's above an open sea?maybe those who go cruising on the ugly monsters might but the they are paying for the priveledges we got paid for.


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## tsell

I once questioned the need for a lookout for'ard on my second or third trip. I was in the bow in a snow storm and left my post and climbed to the bridge. My watch-mate was on the wheel and the third was in the chartroom.
He gave me a bollocking for leaving my post and when I asked why it was necessary as the bridge was higher, he said that the regulations required that a bow watch or masthead watch be kept at all times and I could see out my watch in the crows nest if I preferred.
I gave him a *** and he allowed me to stay until I finished mine and being a little more friendly, he explained that the wheelman should be looking at the binnacle most of the time, while the officer of the watch might be correcting the chart or carrying out other duties and may not view the horizon for some time until his clear vision returned.
Therefore a watchstander was required at all times as there would be no distractions, or lights to affect his vision. When in shipping lanes, I would chain-smoke so as not to be blinded by the glare of a match, as he'd made me worried that I would miss a light looming before us.

Taff


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## trotterdotpom

BobClay said:


> Well why not ? Use every tool you have to enhance the Mark One Eyeball. (Gleam)


That's true Bob, but the mates used to play a game about when the lookout would spot the light that they'd already seen. Maybe the light from the CRT spoiled their night vision.

John T


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## BobClay

I'm sure many sparkies have been involved in that eternal argument (back in the days of PPI displays) about the brightness level on the radar. Some mates liked to have a bright bar whirling around, and no amount of explanation on my part would convince them otherwise. I was trained to set the brightness so that the trace was only just visible. That paints the targets fine and lessens the burn on the CRT. 

Trouble is, every movie you see with a radar has a trace brightness that would put the surface of the Sun to shame. Still, all that's pretty much gone with modern radars from what I've seen (bear in mind I'm over 30 years separated from it.)


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## Dave McGouldrick

Hey Bob
Was it Chalky White who used to call it 'The threshold of visibility'?


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## BobClay

Dave McGouldrick said:


> Hey Bob
> Was it Chalky White who used to call it 'The threshold of visibility'?



(Thumb)


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## Split

lakercapt said:


> It seems to me as I reminisce that the lookout duties we did on the forecastle were a real waste of time.
> Them days the bridge was not the far from the guy on the bow and as it was higher any light that you saw was obviously visible on the bridge before it came over your visible horizon.
> One ring on the bell if sighted to starboard, two for port and three for right ahead.
> Used to sing and dance away the tedious time and often thought a snooze would not be noticed as we sailed for many days without sight of another vessel or land.


Do you remember the porpoises on a moonlit night? They used to make a beeline for the ship. I imagined that that must have been what torpedos looked like, when it was too late to do anything about them!

I can remember when the 2nd mate moaned when it was too rough to be forward. He hated a lookout on the monkey island.

Once, when we left Barcelona, the lookout rang the bell and the 2nd mate went up top to see who was the man he could see on the wing. He was a stowaway!


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## George Bis

Neil McInnes said:


> The good old days Bulls--T 1st wheel 2nd wheel and farmer. 4-8 was the best watch for OT. there was nothing good about standing on the F/castle while shipping green ones and making a slide on the ice while, you froze your knackers off.


I was only involved in a three man watch for about a week when in the Baltic in 1968 on the m.v.Arisaig.
We "kopped the lot" weather wise with a gale and blinding snow.
As the ship carried seven A.B.'s myself and the other Cadet were drafted in to make up the number. Lookout was kept on the wing of the bridge, a shovel handy to keep clearing the snow and slides were constructed to pass the time.
The O.M. was far from happy as his cabin was directly underneath and thumps from the shovel distracting.
The steam winches were kept running to stop them becoming frozen and it was the stand-by mans job to oil them each hour.
I was on the 4-8 and a good time was had by all.


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## John Cassels

George Bis said:


> I was only involved in a three man watch for about a week when in the Baltic in 1968 on the m.v.Arisaig.
> We "kopped the lot" weather wise with a gale and blinding snow.
> As the ship carried seven A.B.'s myself and the other Cadet were drafted in to make up the number. Lookout was kept on the wing of the bridge, a shovel handy to keep clearing the snow and slides were constructed to pass the time.
> The O.M. was far from happy as his cabin was directly underneath and thumps from the shovel distracting.
> The steam winches were kept running to stop them becoming frozen and it was the stand-by mans job to oil them each hour.
> I was on the 4-8 and a good time was had by all.


Who was the OM ?.


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## George Bis

John Cassels said:


> Who was the OM ?.


Angus MacKay. Smashing bloke.


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## John Cassels

I was 3rd.mate on the Arisaig April to December 1966 and always thought that "Yogi Blair "was master but checking disch.book see that it was indeed Angus MacKay.


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## Pat Kennedy

lakercapt said:


> It seems to me as I reminisce that the lookout duties we did on the forecastle were a real waste of time.
> Them days the bridge was not the far from the guy on the bow and as it was higher any light that you saw was obviously visible on the bridge before it came over your visible horizon.
> One ring on the bell if sighted to starboard, two for port and three for right ahead.
> Used to sing and dance away the tedious time and often thought a snooze would not be noticed as we sailed for many days without sight of another vessel or land.


As you probably know, Blue Funnel reversed the bell signals. one for port, two for starboard, three for dead ahead. This was, I was told, to make it easier to register, as each signal chimed with the number of syllables in the report.
As for a waste of time, I don't think so. I was often on the wheel when the lookout signalled a light sighted, and I would pass this on to the officer of the watch who was engaged in the chart room.
Lookout duty could be very pleasant and relaxing on a long ocean crossing in the tropics, and equally very interesting and tense while heading into a busy landfall, eg Rotterdam or Hamburg, where moving lights were popping up all over the place.
Especially rewarding for me, was spotting the loom of a lighthouse while inward bound in the Irish Sea after a long voyage to the Far East. it meant we were nearly home.(Smoke)


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## Barrie Youde

#23 

Hi, Pat,

The Blue Flue practice of two for starboard and one for port (as I was taught it) was because a light on the starboard side was/is - in comparative terms - of more importance than a light on the port side. (i.e. an extra safety precaution, in case the first strike of the bell might not have been heard on the bridge.)

The idea of synchronisation with the syllables is fascinating - and there was at least some poetic thinking from India Buildings:- But that much? First I've heard of it!


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## Dickyboy

Pat Kennedy said:


> As you probably know, Blue Funnel reversed the bell signals. one for port, two for starboard, three for dead ahead. This was, I was told, to make it easier to register, as each signal chimed with the number of syllables in the report.
> As for a waste of time, I don,t think so. I was often on the wheel when the lookout signalled a light sighted, and I would pass this on to the officer of the watch who was engaged in the chart room.
> Lookout duty could be very pleasant and relaxing on a long ocean crossing in the tropics, and equally very interesting and tense while heading into a busy landfall, eg Rotterdam or Hamburg, where moving lights were popping up all over the place.
> Especially rewarding for me, was spotting the loom of a lighthouse while inward bound in the Irish Sea after a long voyage to the Far East. it meant we were nearly home.(Smoke)


Ushant was the light I always looked out for when homeward bound. Time to start winding down, cleaning the cabin, and start packing.


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## George Bis

John Cassels said:


> I was 3rd.mate on the Arisaig April to December 1966 and always thought that "Yogi Blair "was master but checking disch.book see that it was indeed Angus MacKay.


Were you on her during the Seaman's Strike in 1966?

When I was on her from Aug. 1967 to March 1968 we had Angus most of the time. The Mate's name I cannot remember although I can picture him clearly. He had been Master with Denholms and was "troubled" although he was fine with me.
George MacGuier ? was 2/m and Gil Watt 3/m
They lost the previous C/M just before I joined her in Almeria, poor man fell of the accommodation ladder and was buried at sea.
The Bosun was Dan McLean
Last I saw the Arisaig she was being broken up in Faslane, I lived just up the road in Garelochhead and I suppose it was as good an end as any for a fine ship


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## Pat Kennedy

Dickyboy said:


> Ushant was the light I always looked out for when homeward bound. Time to start winding down, cleaning the cabin, and start packing.


For me, running into Liverpool, it was Bardsey island to Starboard, followed by South Stack and Point Lynas. Sometimes you could see some Irish lights to port, Tuskar, Old Head of Kinsale and possibly Arklow.


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## BobClay

For me it was seeing the masts of Rugby Radio from the train. (That's what comes of living in the Midlands.) [=P]


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## John Cassels

Yes George , Santa Portablo for the whole strike. All the laybyes were double banked.
That would be George McGuire.


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## Alan Rawlinson

*Lookout duty*

Great comments re lookout duties in this thread. It prompted me to relay a true account of when the M.V. Westbank grounded at full speed in the dark on the 4 to 8 watch. She hit a sandy beach on the island of Juan De Nova in the Mozambique Channel, and the sudden stop threw some people out of their bunks! The Indian lookout who had been on the focs'le attended the company enquiry and gave evidence that he had seen the shore and palm trees ahead, but that he didn't ring the bell because his job was to report lights, and there weren't any!

For the record she was hauled off by a B.I. Tug, and was repaired in Durban 1952.

Alan Rawlinson (author of "Any Budding Sailors"?)


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## Laurie Ridyard

Ha ! I was senior App on M.V. "Trecarne " going from Tokyo to Newcastle NSW. Chas D. Abbott was the Mate, and I was on lookout, half asleep, just before dawn.

All of a sudden a single light appears on the starboard side. 1 bell.

It rapidly moves ahead. 3 bells. 

Then it moves to port . 2 bells. 

Then it moves dead ahead. I could not make out what it was , but it appeared to be moving very rapidly on a collision course, so I panicked, rapidly rang the bell and rushed up to the bridge in fright.

There' s Chas. peering through the binoculars.

" It's a duck !!! " He says.

" Quack ! Quack ! " says the duck.

It was a luminescent duck, glowing with plankton !

Laurie


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## Laurie Ridyard

Another time on the " Trecarne ", the Mate was Dodson and the Ol' Man Watkins ( What an evil pair !).

I was at the wheel and a deck boy was on look out, up forrard. It was a lovely morning and Dodson and Watkins were out on the starboard wing, gassing. 

Suddenly Watkins hold up his hand and says:-

" Where's that rain coming from ? " 

Dodson dodges into the wheelhouse.

There's the deck boy , having a piss through the hawsepipe, and the piss is forming a lovely arc onto the wing of the bridge !!!

Laurie.


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## BobClay

If the Sun was at the right angle, you could have seen a p1ssbow !! (LOL)


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## graham

on the king alexander in 1952
the lookout on the 12 to 4 watch would peel 2 buckets of spud for a meal left out by the cook it was the 1 till2 mans job regards graham


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## Farmer John

BobClay said:


> If the Sun was at the right angle, you could have seen a p1ssbow !! (LOL)


This would presumably exhibit the well known "yellow shift" of the spectrum.


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## Pat Kennedy

On most ships I was in, it was forbidden to smoke while on lookout. So lighting up became a bit of a bind. It could be done if you crouched down in front of the windlass and shielded the flame with your coat. Then you had to be careful to cup the ciggy while drawing on it, beacause the glow was easily visible from the bridge.
I got a bollocking one night on the _Pennyworth_ for smoking on the focsle, by the Chief Officer when I went up to relieve the helmsman. 
"No smoking on lookout", he growled at me, pipe clenched in his teeth and billowing noxious fumes all around the wheelhouse.


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## Alan Rawlinson

*Heavenly bodies...*



Farmer John said:


> This would presumably exhibit the well known "yellow shift" of the spectrum.


Looking up for Urinus maybe?


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## Bridie

Pat Kennedy said:


> On most ships I was in, it was forbidden to smoke while on lookout. So lighting up became a bit of a bind. It could be done if you crouched down in front of the windlass and shielded the flame with your coat. Then you had to be careful to cup the ciggy while drawing on it, beacause the glow was easily visible from the bridge.
> I got a bollocking one night on the _Pennyworth_ for smoking on the focsle, by the Chief Officer when I went up to relieve the helmsman.
> "No smoking on lookout", he growled at me, pipe clenched in his teeth and billowing noxious fumes all around the wheelhouse.


Most ships I was on there was no smoking on the wheel either, even though the mates were puffing away, but some mates would take the wheel for 10 minutes while you went down for a smoke.

Relieving the man on the focsle there was the etiquette of making a noise as you approached so he didn't sh1t himself when you suddenly appeared!


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## Pat Kennedy

Bridie said:


> Most ships I was on there was no smoking on the wheel either, even though the mates were puffing away, but some mates would take the wheel for 10 minutes while you went down for a smoke.
> 
> Relieving the man on the focsle there was the etiquette of making a noise as you approached so he didn't sh1t himself when you suddenly appeared!


That's true Bridie, the only ship I sailed in that allowed smoking while on the wheel was the rock dodger_ Firth Fisher_, where there was an ashtray bolted on to the binnacle.
As to relieving on the focsle, one trick was to hide behind the windlass as your relief approached, and jump out at him, yelling and waving your arms, leaving him a gibbering wreck for the next two hours. You had to be sure of your mark though, otherwise you could get a punch in the face!(A)


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## Bridie

Pat Kennedy said:


> That's true Bridie, the only ship I sailed in that allowed smoking while on the wheel was the rock dodger_ Firth Fisher_, where there was an ashtray bolted on to the binnacle.


Yes. When I sailed on coasters, tugs and delivery jobs, there wasn't any problem.


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## Trampshipman

*Lights are bright Sir !*

Re` standing lookout on the foc`sle head.

Aboard my first ship [an ancient `Baron boat`] we had an equally ancient mate who insisted that on his watch at each striking of the bell on the bridge, the foc`sle lookout should report on the lights by shouting up to the bridge "Lights are bright sir, lights are bright."

We soon thought up a cunning scheme to put an end to this rediculous [to our minds] practice. For obvious reasons the plan could only be carried out when fairly strong winds were blowing, though fortunately in this case that proved to be very frequently.

When the bell rang the lookout would shout toward the bridge "The mate`s full of ****e sir, the mate`s full of ****e" The mate would bellow back "what was that, what was that ?" The lookout would then of course shout "the lights are good and bright sir, the lights are good and bright".

This practise went on for a little while until the old mate `cottoned on` and dropped the requirement. Though nothing was ever said about it. 

Fun while it lasted!


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## madbob

Bridge Watches. Had the misfortune to be apprenticed to a shipping company whose policy was to have an 'app' on watch with each mate standing the full 4 hours. Remember on my first watch on my first trip wandering into the wheelhouse and picking up the binoculars to give the horizon a sweep and being barked at by a brand new 3rd mate, just a few months out of his apprenticeship and glorying in his new found status. 'Put those binoculars down, they are for Officers ! Get out of the wheelhouse boy and knock at the door if you need to say anything !' That was that. spent the next 3.5 years standing on the wing of the bridge in all weathers. Weren't we supposed to be trained by and understudying our superiors?


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## George Bis

madbob said:


> Bridge Watches. Had the misfortune to be apprenticed to a shipping company whose policy was to have an 'app' on watch with each mate standing the full 4 hours. Remember on my first watch on my first trip wandering into the wheelhouse and picking up the binoculars to give the horizon a sweep and being barked at by a brand new 3rd mate, just a few months out of his apprenticeship and glorying in his new found status. 'Put those binoculars down, they are for Officers ! Get out of the wheelhouse boy and knock at the door if you need to say anything !' That was that. spent the next 3.5 years standing on the wing of the bridge in all weathers. Weren't we supposed to be trained by and understudying our superiors?


When I became first 3/m then 2/m I can't remember ever having an app on my watch but I certainly had a varied collection of A.B.'s.
Some were good. One left and became an Police Officer in the Met.


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## Farmer John

As an apprentice, I was on watch for at least one trips, others on deck. The watch keeping could be difficult, you kept getting other jobs to do in between. I found that you really can go to sleep whilst walking to and fro on the wing of the bridge, and lack of sleep can make you hallucinate.


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## TOM ALEXANDER

Farmer John said:


> As an apprentice, I was on watch for at least one trips, others on deck. The watch keeping could be difficult, you kept getting other jobs to do in between. I found that you really can go to sleep whilst walking to and fro on the wing of the bridge, and lack of sleep can make you hallucinate.


Totally agree. On one trip the mate got the bright idea that one apprentice could stand an overnight watch 20:00 to 04:00. 
That only lasted two nights as I was a complete basket case by then -- complete with halucinations -- I think the second mate saw me talking with another apprentice rigging the starboard bridge spotlight (which wasn't on, and the other apprentice wasn't actually there, although it was as real as couold be at the time. I'd even reached out to the fellow before I too realised he wasn't really there.


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## madbob

Hi George. Back in the late 50s early 60s this was Company policy. Officer + 1 App + Seaman, which poor individual usually copped the weather side of the bridge wing.


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## enzoneo

I must have been a bit daft but I loved standing watch as a cadet, out on the bridge wing of course, come rain or shine. I never ever got any grief from the OOW on any of my trips which could have been because I was already 6ft at 17 years old and its surprising what a long silent stare can do when you can't say what you mean.


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## Basil

enzoneo said:


> I must have been a bit daft but I loved standing watch as a cadet, out on the bridge wing of course, come rain or shine. I never ever got any grief from the OOW on any of my trips which could have been because I was already 6ft at 17 years old and its surprising what a long silent stare can do when you can't say what you mean.


Hah! My wife was a teacher and I think they teach that stare at teachers training college!

"when you can't say what you mean"
Ah, yes I refer to that as the 'Bas fk you attitude'.
What comes out of my mouth is: "Yes, Sir, thank you for pointing that out to me." What between my ears is saying may be rather different.
Last used a year ago to successful conclusion with a psycho Met motorcycle cop. (I have two police officers in my extended family)


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## Basil

BobClay said:


> Crossing the Bay of Bengal on a bank boat in 1970 I got called out one night because the radar had gone down. A Marconi Mk4. Fortunately the transmitter assembly was in the Radio Room so I worked on it there. Finally got it going and when I looked at the display I was stunned to see a big fat target only a few miles away. Second mate was also stunned and ran out onto the bridge wing, but nothing at all was visible. At first he was a bit sceptical about the target but then closer examination revealed a very faint flickering light.
> 
> Turned out to be a ship with complete loss of power, and someone on the bridge was using a torch trying to signal us. They had nothing, no radio comms emergency or otherwise, even the aldis lamp had failed for some reason, and they were left with a hand torch, desperately trying to signal us as we passed by. They'd been like that for a day or so.
> The old man was called out and we stood by them for a day relaying messages as best we could until a tug was arranged to come out of Madras to bring them in. As I remember it was a flag of convenience, maybe Liberian or Panamanian and when we eventually resumed our journey I got to thinking how lucky (or unlucky) they'd been insomuch our radar had gone down at the worst possible time for them, albeit we did pick them up in end.
> 
> Some years later I was in a similar situation in the North Pacific when I was freelancing and we lost all power for several hours. But at least we had batteries and coms so were definitely better off than them. I often wonder what the situation would have been had no-one located them.


Far canal! You'd be forgiven for thinking it was something wrong with the kit. So close in the big sea. Weren't they (and you) lucky?


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## Ian Brown

George Bis said:


> Were you on her during the Seaman's Strike in 1966?
> 
> When I was on her from Aug. 1967 to March 1968 we had Angus most of the time. The Mate's name I cannot remember although I can picture him clearly. He had been Master with Denholms and was "troubled" although he was fine with me.
> George MacGuier ? was 2/m and Gil Watt 3/m
> They lost the previous C/M just before I joined her in Almeria, poor man fell of the accommodation ladder and was buried at sea.
> The Bosun was Dan McLean
> Last I saw the Arisaig she was being broken up in Faslane, I lived just up the road in Garelochhead and I suppose it was as good an end as any for a fine ship


I was INC on her from Sept 68 to Mar 69. I also got in trouble for clumping about on lookout on the bridge wing. We were on a Murmansk run and had been issued with heavy weather gear including leather jackboots with wooden soles. Must have woken O/M up when I stamped my feet to keep warm. Other INC was David Ross Durant. O/M was Welsh.


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## Pat Kennedy

I was never in a ship where we did lookout duties on the wing of the bridge. If the focsle was taking seas aboard, lookout was usually transferred to the monkey island. At least you could smoke openly up there and there was some shelter from the weather as well.
As for the statement by the initial poster on this thread that he considered focsle lookout to be a waste of time, well I was on quite a few Blueys where the lookout spotted an unlit junk and warned the bridge in time for avoiding action to be taken. Unlit junks were a regular hazard in the seas around South China.
Pat


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