EBenarty
24th September 2007, 00:09
I was a Cadet at the time on the Cruachan at Barkley Curles beside the QE 2. We looked better than her at that time with our twin yellow funnells shining in the sun. But we had a simalar but worse maiden voyage than the QE 2!!
After we set sail everyone was complaining about noises in the deckhead and poor chippy and the cadets (me included) removed the panels to find they were rife with ball bearings !!!!
Near the Canaries we had a cracked Condenser -finally made Hong Kong and found the bilges were full of heavy oil, Connells the Shipyard had not put gaskets in-we Cadets were designated to clean it up /which we did and did not get a penny compensation for the clothes we ruined.
But that is not the end of the story we finally made it up through the Dover Straits and Pilot Capt. McMillan boarded at Folkestone in thick fog - we headed up the Thames but off Sheerness there was a Russian tanker coming out and she went straght in to our port bow. Bob Shaw the Mate and Harry Nutten (Chippy ) managed to get clear of the foc'le but they were lucky men !!
Billy
After we set sail everyone was complaining about noises in the deckhead and poor chippy and the cadets (me included) removed the panels to find they were rife with ball bearings !!!!
Near the Canaries we had a cracked Condenser -finally made Hong Kong and found the bilges were full of heavy oil, Connells the Shipyard had not put gaskets in-we Cadets were designated to clean it up /which we did and did not get a penny compensation for the clothes we ruined.
But that is not the end of the story we finally made it up through the Dover Straits and Pilot Capt. McMillan boarded at Folkestone in thick fog - we headed up the Thames but off Sheerness there was a Russian tanker coming out and she went straght in to our port bow. Bob Shaw the Mate and Harry Nutten (Chippy ) managed to get clear of the foc'le but they were lucky men !!
Billy