# Call of the sea !



## Robert M Hughes (Oct 16, 2010)

What was the trigger that sent you off to sea?
As a boy I read Percy F Westerman's sea adventurebooks 'In eastern seas', 'The good ship Golden Effort' etc, etc, his Shipping Company was 'Whatmough Duvant & Co' it took me a while to catch on to that name!!

Cheers,
Bob


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## GWB (Jul 11, 2007)

Living in a seaport and working on repairing and assisting on engine repair, hearing of the various ports in the world in far of places. Like most lads from an engineering background Just had to do it. Alsos better option than playing soldiers, the most important was far better pay.
Cheers,
GWB


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## stein (Nov 4, 2006)

In my country one in four males took at least one trip as a sailor, that meant that in coastal towns with much shipping nearly everyone did. 

I also had an uncle who, after some time deep sea, skippered a local ferry, and I were allowed to spend some trips after school on the bridge with him. This uncle was a friendly easygoing fellow, which gave me the impression - later confirmed - that sailors were a likeable lot.


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## R58484956 (Apr 19, 2004)

The threat of being called called up for national service.


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## billyboy (Jul 6, 2005)

Me dads right foot connecting with my stern gland.
Left school Friday and sailed saturday morning as a deck boy on a pleasure boat.
Hooked after that till i took an interest in horizontal pastimes.


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## willincity (Jul 11, 2007)

My father had a “fish and chip shop” in a market town in North Yorkshire; at 13 y-o I went to the Boulevard Nautical pre-sea school, Hull to sit an entrance examination for the same establishment, I travelled in style to get there as well, 75 mile in a fish merchants lorry.

Yep my “call of the sea” all started with ....... one of each twice...........to be honest not a lot of people know that fact.

*Edit*
Sorry for jumping into the R/O forum, it’s just that I read through the lot when I visit the site and never realised where I was when posting this msg.


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## gwzm (Nov 7, 2005)

I used to regularly travel by train up and down between Glasgow and Helensburgh and see all the ships docked with exotic ports of registry. That and regular trips on the Clyde steamers and watching ships at the Tail o' the Bank arriving and departing from all over the world. My mind was made up!

Happy days,

gwzm


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## hawkey01 (Mar 15, 2006)

Willincity,

we have no problem with you joining in on a thread here. Everyone is welcome.

Hawkey01


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## offshore eddie (Jul 8, 2008)

Didn't fancy being stuck in the middle of Leeds all my life and wanted to be adventurous, so off I sailed via Bridlington NEWST. If I had to do it all again, not too sure. Guess maybe, but think should have changed directions way back.
Anyway too late and ended up spending many years offshore.


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## hawkey01 (Mar 15, 2006)

Eddie,

longtime since we have spoken. Just wondered if you had seen the photo from Brid - link attached. Michael has not been around for sometime now so no more photos. 

http://www.shipsnostalgia.com/galle...o/265577/title/students-at-neswt-1963/cat/504

Neville - Hawkey01


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## 5TT (May 3, 2008)

As a kid I was fascinated by ships, always wondering what life might be like on board, however at that age the best I could do was to pedal my bicycle down to Tilbury (about 20 miles) and ride backwards and forwards on the ferry all day (only had to pay on the other side), or until I got kicked off. Radio was my hobby, so when I discovered a way to marry the two interests I didn't hesitate, knew what I needed to do and made sure I achieved it.

= Adrian +


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## sparks69 (Dec 18, 2005)

I did anything to get out of Nottingham !
Off to NESWT then Grimsby (when Cleggy sold up and went back to pig farming !)
Would I do it all again - of course I would.

Is that Roger (Cliff ?) ...... on the right ? Very young - too young to go to sea as an R/O when he qualified.


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## LaFlamme (Feb 1, 2011)

Must have been all those adventure and pirates books I voraciously read as a boy, because I grew up a thousand miles from the sea! Sometimes I would accompany my father on business trips to Montreal, and the best part for me was when we crossed the bridge over the St. Lawrence river, and I could look down on the old harbor and see the ships tied up.

Then later, on Saturdays or in the summer, I would ride the bus 90 miles to Montreal, and walk down to the harbor. In those days you could still walk right up to the ships. I was in seventh heaven, with the dockers busy all around, the noise, the big ships towering over the dock, the smells, the exotic names and flags. It was all very exciting.

Barely seventeen I joined the Royal Canadian Navy and did my basic training, but could not adjust to military life. My father got me out of there somehow. (even in the early 60's Canada had a voluntary enrollment). Shortly thereafter I enrolled in a Maritime Academy for merchant seamen. After the first year, they put me on a bulk carrier as a cadet. I will never forget getting on board the first time, in the middle of the night, at one of the locks on the St-Lawrence Seaway.

Now 20 years old, I was finally home.


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## teb (May 23, 2008)

Being young and naive it was the qiuckest way I could get involved in the war!!!


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## Trevor Clements (May 6, 2007)

Born at Cowes IOW into a family with sailors on my Mothers side, and travelling on the Red Funnel ferries, Princess Elizabeth, Vecta, Medina, my Dad came home from WWII and moved us all up to the Beds, Bucks border, as far away from the sea as possible. From then on I just wanted to get back to it. 

I was hell bent on becoming a Captain until I got glasses at 12 years old, by which time the sight of the engine room had attracted my attention, then at a medical, I was found to be colour blind. Only radio did not discriminate so off I went to Colwyn Bay. Daft really because R/O's needed colour to read the resistor colour codes. I'll never regret it though.


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## Christopher Knight (Nov 17, 2009)

My parents both worked at Manchester dry docks in Ellesmere Port (Robert Samual Knight & Norah Knight), so quite often my dad would take me to pick up all sorts of items, replacement parts, including propellors etc, for tugs, cooper sand barges etc etc on the floating dry dock which was berthed at the Ellesmere Port Yard! My father drove a steam crane, and also drove their large lorry when picking up heavy bits of tackle. As my farther got older, he spent more time driving the lorry, than the crane. When I was young 1960's I seemed to spend half of my life, with my father at the Eastham crane berth, manchester ship canal entrance, where my father would help remove funnells, masts, radar masts, for ships transitting up the ship canal to whereever! I used to get introduced to people from just about every shipping line that used to use the Manchester ship canal. Therefore it was hardly surprising that ultimately I decided that shipping and travel was the life for me. Initially, I trained as a Radio/Electronics officer at Riversdale College Aigburgh Liverpool, went to sea with Bibby Line Liverpool, inspite of my mothers advice "that where there is muck there is money"! In time 1977, I saw the error of my ways, and transferred via electrical to marine engineering and naval architecture. In about 1978, the UK merchant navy seemed to start to disintegrate, so I took my what I thought was reasonable electronics/electrical knowledge with my marine eng/naval architect knowledge to the oil and gas industry, where I have been more or less ever since! The next great question will be just when do I retire?
Christopher Knight


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## keithsparks (Sep 1, 2009)

Grew up in Wetherby 12 miles from Leeds for some reason always wanted to go to sea bad eyesight finished the deck career did a year galley boy on the Empire Fowey finally ending up at NESWT in 58 loved every minute of my time at sea as R/O came ashore in 82 to a different world with entirely different people and struggled to handle all the stupid shoreside rules and regs and couldnt wait to retire now only reminise about the years between late teens and mid forties hated working shoreside but got a good pension out of it.


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## pete (Mar 13, 2005)

My Father was at sea Bankline and G.S.N.C, My Great Uncle was with Bankline for a while and I used to sail with Dad when he was master on the Royal Daffodil. Guess what made me go to sea?? first with H.E.Moss & Co and then with Bankline.....pete


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## Alex Salmond (Mar 7, 2011)

Guess I kind of stumbled into it by accident I had left school at 14 just going on 15 few soso jobs that I couldnt stick at ,when one of my cousins went to sea dont know how he ended up there either but he came back from a trip to the Far East on the Ben Lawers and told me about it ,"Whit, Haud Me Back"and that was it for me was still there 19 years later and the weird thing is he only done two trips and packed up after a mate of his fell off the gangway in Hamburg in the middle of winter and died.Never regetted a single minute of my time at Sea and would do it again with bells on..


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## vickentallen (Oct 12, 2007)

With me it was a choice, between the COOP Van or the RN. not a hard choice,


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## Binnacle (Jul 22, 2005)

The call of the sea was not strong enough for two first trip deck boys who had joined in Leith. A ballast passage to London in severe E'ly gales decided them to pack their bags on arrival. They told the bosun "the Army can't be worse than this."


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## TonyAllen (Aug 6, 2008)

I think it was the River mersey that lured most Scouses to go to sea and changed their lives for ever,never to regret it, leased all me Tony


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## Pearl Diver (Sep 27, 2010)

*Call of the sea*

As a kid I was always an avid reader and especially stories about ships and life at sea. I think I read all the Percy F Westerman and CS Forrester books before I left school at 14, so the seed was sown. My first choice was the RN but at that time they were shedding more staff than they were taking on. The only way you got into the RN on National service was if you came from a naval background. So my sights were then set on the MN. I applied for entry when I was 16 and was dissapointed at my medical to be told that I was colour blind and not eligible for deck training. But my mind was set on life at sea so I agreed to go into catering. Whilst I would have preferred to go on deck, I settled into a life which I thoroughly enjoyed for the best part of 10 years. I served on passenger liners, freighters and tankers and never regretted any of it, a wonderful experience. So now when anyone says to me that they were ex RN I usually say "well I went to sea"


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## lakercapt (Jul 19, 2005)

R58484956 said:


> The threat of being called called up for national service.


Me too. Could not imagine myself with an old rifle being told by some chinless wonder to attack the many native people that the UK had grievances with.Protecting the Empire for some bloated capitalist in the "City"
Might have got killed protecting a system that detested!!!


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## michael charters (Apr 4, 2010)

TonyAllen said:


> I think it was the River mersey that lured most Scouses to go to sea and changed their lives for ever,never to regret it, leased all me Tony



Me also Tony,serve my apprenticeship on the line of docks.
the names of the shipping companies and far away place names.Also the different smells of all the cargoes. it;s not the leaving of Liverpool that grieved me. Miss those times like mad. Old man still dreams.


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## TonyAllen (Aug 6, 2008)

michael charters said:


> Me also Tony,serve my apprenticeship on the line of docks.
> the names of the shipping companies and far away place names.Also the different smells of all the cargoes. it;s not the leaving of Liverpool that grieved me. Miss those times like mad. Old man still dreams.


I Sometimes Wander down Water street to get to the albert dock 
and the old buildings themselves awaken memories and in my minds eye I can still see the old overhead station.Until they built the new maritime I loved the little old place, where they had the old barrels outside and the coils of old rope just to get that smell that you remember .Liverpool singer ex docker Hank walters wrote a song that began : 
EVERY TIME I HEAR THAT LONESOME STEAMBOAT CALL
AS SHE MOVES ALONG THE RIVER MERSEY WALL
AND HEAR THE WHISTLE OF THE DOCK ROAD TRAIN
BRINGS BACK MEMORIES OF MY BOYHOOD DAYS 

The song is called sweet liverpool Regards Tony


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## kevhogg (Jul 20, 2005)

got in to find a letter saying I had an interview at the 'Pool' my mutha had wrote to them without my knowledge-so not much else to do when ye wanted at home that much lol


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## Graham P Powell (Jun 2, 2007)

My great grandfather was a Chief Engineer in the days when ships were going over from sail to steam. We have a couple of excellent paintings of two of his ships in the family. My maternal Grandad was in the Navy during WW1 and was at Scapa Flow when the German fleet was scuttled.
I dreamt of travelling the world and back in the 60's going to sea was the only way to do it. I also got very interested in wireless. I often wish that I had done something else but I did have a marvellous time ( despite being constantly sea sick) and I loved working at GKA which didn't rock about!. As one of my former colleagues said to me "I got my ticket in 1939 and never been out of work since". regards
Graham Powell


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## Tai Pan (Mar 24, 2006)

wanted to go to sea as a chippy but listened to a lot of jargon from Oscar Ashe (MIMC) ended up an R/O.


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## loylobby (Sep 23, 2007)

I was born in the small fishing town of Wick and when I was really young I was forever down at the harbour and always had a love of boats and the sea. 
Later I went to secondary school in Thurso and one of my option "O" levels was Navigation. The teacher was a former merchant navy chap called Captain Manson (nickname Para Handy); besides teaching us he used to tell us many salty yarns of life at sea and that was the eventual trigger which made up my mind......and no regrets.


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## Hank (Jun 28, 2007)

After spending my pre-war summers like this it never occurred to me to do anything else.
Cheers, John


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## Hugh Wilson (Aug 18, 2005)

I have no idea why I wanted to go to sea, but I can't ever remember a time when I wanted to do anything else. No-one else in my family has ever been to sea, so it can't be that. At first I wanted to be an engineer, but my Dad talked me out of it and persuaded me to be an R/O instead. 46 years later (including 3yrs at college), I'm still working with ships and the sea and love every minute of it.


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## billyboy (Jul 6, 2005)

Hank said:


> After spending my pre-war summers like this it never occurred to me to do anything else.
> Cheers, John


3 great pictures there Hank.


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## Hank (Jun 28, 2007)

billyboy said:


> 3 great pictures there Hank.


Glad you liked them, Billyboy. When I found them about ayear ago I was whisked straight back to those halcyon days and I could almost smell the unique smell of an old, coal burning coaster. Great!!!
Cheers, Hank


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## RayL (Apr 16, 2008)

Brought up on Merseyside and educated in Liverpool, I'm another of the types that TonyAllen spoke of, I guess. As a kid I read some of Captain Marryat's stuff, plus 'The Cruel Sea' because the R.N.'s fleet and history fascinated me from about the age of 11. There's also the fact that my mother's maternal grandfather was the captain of the S.S. 'Arizona' in Victorian times.

I became an office boy in Liverpool and well remember stinky Mathew Street where all the fruit warehouses were located (how was I to know that a place called The Cavern and a group called The Beatles were soon to become so famous?). At home I tinkered with our radiogram and one day tried connecting the TV aerial to it - with dramatic results for I discovered that loud, clear Morse traffic was in progress at the top end of the LW band. Obviously it was shipping, but the sound was fascinating and intriguing - whereabouts were they, and what were the messages saying? (I didn't realise at the time that it was all just seven miles away on the Mersey).

A couple of years later I was seeking a change of career, and owing to the above incident I was instantly receptive to the idea of MN R/O when someone suggested it. Going down that route saved me and made me in so many ways and I will always be proud that I was once an R/O. It's sad that the job is no more.


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## eldersuk (Oct 24, 2005)

Took the hint after the old lady packed my bags.


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## Vital Sparks (Sep 19, 2007)

It's sunset as you exit the river mouth and begin feel the bow begin to bite into the swell. As the shack darkens you turn on the desk lamp and are enveloped in it's yellow conical glow. Nearby the bridge telegraph rings stop and you feel the revs die away. Soon the pilot is gone and the revs pick up again, time to take that forecast, send the Amver, clear the desk and settle in for fourteen days across the Pacific. I wanted to do it then and I'd do it all again today.


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## oilkinger (Dec 17, 2008)

Joined the regular navy at 15 to get away from a father who belted the **** out of me on a regular basis. As a junior recruit boxing was compulsory. The navy reckoned it made "men" out of us. I took to boxing training like a duck to water. No-one ever belted me again.

FME


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## J. Davies (Dec 29, 2010)

went to sea for the birds and the booze. Didn't we all?


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## Clive Kaine (Apr 8, 2008)

I was an army brat, but always knew I didn't want to join the army. When I was a lad we were stationed in Dover for a couple of years. I'd always been interested in ships for some reason, and in Dover I used to sit on top of the cliffs for hours and watch the ships passing through the straits, wondering where they were all going.

The seed was planted, and early teen years spent devouring every book I could find concerning ships and the sea made up my mind, even though by this time we were living in the Midlands and I rarely saw the sea. I applied to join the RN, but was turned down due to colour-blindness. I ended up as an R/O and haven't regretted it for a single day. I spent 8 years at sea, and in retrospect I wish it had been longer, but the writing was on the wall for the British flag by the time I left.

I still occasionally have vividly realistic dreams where I'm back at sea. I'm always disappointed when I wake up and realise it was only a dream.


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## Peter Eccleson (Jan 16, 2006)

Born and raised in Holyhead, Wales. Loved the sea. Always wanted to be a ship's Captain but had rubbish eye-sight. Radio Room was closest I could get to the wheelhouse! 
Footnote: The sea didn't love me though 'cos I never overcame seasickness [=P]


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## beedeesea (Feb 28, 2006)

I'm always amazed by the number of blokes on here who wanted to go to sea on deck, but failed the eyesight test, and opted to go the Sparkie/Gingerbeer route. The same happened to myself, but probably better to find the problem early on, rather than what happened to a schoolmate of mine, who passed after two attempts, but then had to pack it in near the end of his apprenticeship.

Brian


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## Peter Eccleson (Jan 16, 2006)

Never did understand the specs thing! I am not sure whether iits the same today since even airline pilots can wear their specs now.


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## mikeg (Aug 24, 2006)

Probably is much the same. Of course Airline pilots need to be within certain margins: http://www.caa.co.uk/docs/49/SRG_MED_JAR_C1_Initial_Visual_Stds(December2010).pdf


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## Baulkham Hills (Jul 11, 2008)

When I sailed with a Hong Kong company in the eighties. The personnel manager was given the task of setting a company standard for the medical exam for seafarers, he had a friend who was a pilot for BA, so he got the BA medical exam for pilots. Nearly everybody failed, including himself when he wanted to go back to sea. Needless to say the medical standard was changed to the normal UK standard for seafarers at the time.


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## kernewekmarnor (Aug 20, 2007)

Q: What was the trigger that sent you off to sea?

A: Me Dad.


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## jimthehat (Aug 5, 2006)

Peter Eccleson said:


> Never did understand the specs thing! I am not sure whether iits the same today since even airline pilots can wear their specs now.


Not sure what the eyesight rules are today,but back in 1980 when I was second mate on the ferries i was sent for an eyesight test,when they saw i was wearing specs i got my marching orders 3 days laterI was out,no come back.
Company were good and kept me on wages for 6 months while I was looking for work,finally got a position in safety out in Jeddah.
jim


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## stein (Nov 4, 2006)

When I went to sea in 65 in Norway the demand on perfect vision was only for deck crew.


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## michael charters (Apr 4, 2010)

Join the Merch for the ice water and they had showers


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## Thats another Story (Mar 4, 2009)

i lay in bed last night listening to the departure of the QUEEN ELIZABETH after the firework display we lay listening to the blasts of the horns and the sound of the tugs horns taking her into the channel what a sound then like a whisper she left for the open sea.john


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## John Dryden (Sep 26, 2009)

Not so much horn blasting here in Hull John,I live fairly close to the river and all I get is the test before the Ferries sail but still get a twinge!


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## Thats another Story (Mar 4, 2009)

John Dryden said:


> Not so much horn blasting here in Hull John,I live fairly close to the river and all I get is the test before the Ferries sail but still get a twinge!


gives you the horn john[=P]


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## bill thompson (Aug 16, 2011)

*gotta go*

Old Frankie did it for me .

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nq9Gzc0KkxE


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## teb (May 23, 2008)

Pearl Diver said:


> I have just picked up on this post and not quite sure that I approve of the options as stated. The writer did not say in which department they finished up. I take it that the expression 'ginger beer' is meant as a derogatory tag. In cockney rhyming slang this translates to 'queer'. I assume that this refers to the catering department. Contrary to popular belief not all stewards were 'ginger'. We were all aware that there were quite a few who were that way inclined, and I might say that most of their customers came from the foc'sle.So please do not tar us all with the same brush.


Could it be you assumed wrong ? I took it to be Ginger Beer/Engineer


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## Pearl Diver (Sep 27, 2010)

teb said:


> Could it be you assumed wrong ? I took it to be Ginger Beer/Engineer


Thank you Teb, in hindsight you could be right, I'm afraid I got carried away being a Londoner and knowing the implication. I have deleted the message to restrict any further damage or offense. My apologies to all.
Cheers
Pete


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## John Campbell (Aug 30, 2005)

loylobby said:


> I was born in the small fishing town of Wick and when I was really young I was forever down at the harbour and always had a love of boats and the sea.
> Later I went to secondary school in Thurso and one of my option "O" levels was Navigation. The teacher was a former merchant navy chap called Captain Manson (nickname Para Handy); besides teaching us he used to tell us many salty yarns of life at sea and that was the eventual trigger which made up my mind......and no regrets.


Loylobby, I too used to go down to the harbour at Wick when I attended the High School. I was determined to go to sea but in 1953 it was almost impossible to get signed on as a Navigating Apprentice unless you had attended a Navigation College. I must have written to dozens of shipping companies. By good luck my father had a friend who knew the Wick harbour-master, George Sutherland, who had been Master in the Bank Line. After meeting George he advised I write Bank Line and say that I had his recommendation. I did so and I was set for life.
I still go down to see that famous harbour every time I am in Wick and try and recall those far off days
JC


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## oilkinger (Dec 17, 2008)

My alcoholic father used to knock my mother and I around quite badly. I joined the Royal Australian Navy when I was 15 to get away from him. I did boxing as a sport in the navy. A year later I went home on leave muscled up and as fit as a trout. You guessed it - I belted the living daylights out of him and told him he'd get a repeat dose if he hit anyone again. I was kinda hoping he would as I thoroughly enjoyed doing him over - broke his nose & ribs. But he never did.


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## Steven Lamb (Apr 18, 2009)

Liverpool was on my doorstep & as a kid use to go down to the Landing Stage and watch boats arriving / leaving the Mersey wondering what far-flung places
they'd visited. I wanted that to be me one day on one of those boats leaving the Mersey & it happened.


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## RayL (Apr 16, 2008)

Just to add to my post of 17 June above.

I have suddenly remembered the little box at the bottom of one of the pages of 'Liverpool Echo' giving details of all the ship arrivals and departures in the port. I found it thrilling whenever I read the word "Sailed" after the ship's name (literally written as (S) but explained in a key). To a young man like me who hadn't travelled very far up to then, that word conjured up the excitement and romance of world travel.


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## YankeeAirPirate (Oct 26, 2011)

Working in boatyards in the summer. Crewing on sailboats, racing sailboats and cruising the east coast of the USA on sailboats pretty much gave me the bug to go to sea.

Always loved the sound of halyards slapping the mast in the harbor. Always watched the big ships as they left port wondering where they were headed to.

Going off to maritime training after all that early exposure was pretty much no surprise.

Besides, as one member here once described, the thought of becoming an office drone was too depressing to contemplate.

And if I may wax philosophical, I do miss those sunsets/sunrises and star sights and the smell of the sea air and the coffee ports in Brazil and the warm beer in Sulawesi and I will stop right here because you all know what I mean!


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## david.hopcroft (Jun 29, 2005)

Yes indeed, we all certainly do.......

David
+


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## YankeeAirPirate (Oct 26, 2011)

David,

Nice pic of the seabird following the ship. Albatross, right?

I remember them following us across the Pacific and staying airborne in our slipstream for days on end. Fantastic abilities they had. And then there were the flying fish who defied all logic and laws of gravity.

What I would give for another day on the far reaches of the globe with the bridge rail in my hand and the clear horizon and the hope of a good round of stars completed just in time for the evening movie!

Darn, getting all misty again.....


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## Split (Jun 25, 2006)

Well before WWII I can remember my dad asking, what do you want to do when you grow up?" My answer was always the same " I want to be a Captain on a ship"

I never changed and I did get a Master's FG at 25. I signed off a ship as Chief Officer in 1962, at Avonmouth, and the only time that I have been on a ship, since, was as passenger on a cross channel ferry.

Life is, certainly, strange. Most of you guys, I imagine, are retired and did not go to sea until I had left. I shall be 80 in April.

I had the growing impression that I was missing out ashore and so I walked away from a career. I would never do that again, I'd be too scared, although life has been good to me.


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## david.hopcroft (Jun 29, 2005)

Yes Pirate.......

South Atlantic on passage from Cape Town to UK/Cont. It stooged around for a couple of days gaining height from the surge upwards from the bridge front, riding the slipstream, quartering across the stern then gradually working his way back to start again. Hardly a beat expended !

Get the tissues out again !!

David
+ 

I have him as wallpaper on my PC now. - taken in June 1966


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## ken williamson (Dec 3, 2011)

my father took me on a trip on the famous medway queen paddle steamer as a boy,so when i got in trouble with the cops at 16 yrs old, iwent to wellesley nautical school,always remembered the trip on the paddle steamer,as aresult was at sea 25 yrs,i think i had one of the best jobs in the world.


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## Trevor Clements (May 6, 2007)

I was born in Cowes and at the end of WWII my father came home and moved us all to Bedfordshire. I was 6 and distraught. My uncle was a Chief engineer and my great grandfather had been a master mariner in sailing ships. It was in the blood, and still is. I am a total ship anorak, and proud of it.


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## RayL (Apr 16, 2008)

Hi Split (#64).

Your message struck a chord with me because I'm (sort of) your opposite number.

At the time you were voluntarily ending your sea career in 1962, I was a clerk in a solicitors office in Liverpool, totally unaware that I was destined to have a sea career. If somebody had told me at that time that there was a ship being launched in Wallsend and I would be the Radio Officer aboard her one day, I'd have been disbelieving. It came to pass, however.

Like you, I decided to bring my sea career to an end for personal reasons. In my case I had just been dumped by my fiancee and I feared becoming a morose old git if I went back to sea. I was now living in a strange city, well known for containing more women than men so you will understand how I came to my logical decision! It worked too - I met my wife four years later and we've been together some forty years now. This doesn't stop me from feeling wistful about my Radio Officer days, of course, but the memories of those happy days remain.

All the best in April when you reach that marvellous milestone - 80!


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## Varley (Oct 1, 2006)

Father decided he needed an in house drinking companion closer to 6 on 2 off rather than the 24/7 one he had had since about 13 - especially one who had treated the education he had provided in a somewhat cavalier fashion and (to his eternal gratitude) had become a Sandhurst reject - I had no idea of what to do at this time and so he engineered my arrival at the Wireless College Colwyn Bay no later than I would have done if continuing school. Clever man, few things to have done differently.


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## Jocko (Oct 31, 2011)

Served my apprenticeship in British Polar Engines in Govan along with 80 other apprentices. All the tradesmen were either ex-army or MN, and everyone of them had great tales to tell. My brother and myself just wanted to get away and see the world. We had a choice of National Service or the MN. Fortunately for both of us we got a ship and so began the best days of our lives. What person working ashore could recall clear as day what they were doing 54 years ago?


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## borderreiver (Oct 11, 2008)

Robert M Hughes said:


> What was the trigger that sent you off to sea?
> As a boy I read Percy F Westerman's sea adventurebooks 'In eastern seas', 'The good ship Golden Effort' etc, etc, his Shipping Company was 'Whatmough Duvant & Co' it took me a while to catch on to that name!!
> 
> Cheers,
> Bob


This is the same for me. The boy started in the sea scouts so I joined the local sea scouts. Went for my interview at the Prince of Wales sea school in my sea scout uniform and climbed the ladder from there


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## frankshipsea (Jun 28, 2007)

use to go down to fremantle and visit ships like the king david and cape horn as a kid in the late 50's early 60's just loved ships so at 14 sailed as a deck boy on the cape don, then went on to norske ships deep sea, never regreted that move, now working in the desert in an iron ore mine.


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