Johnstokoe
19th February 2008, 19:37
Come on Brocklebankers lets liven our site up once again..... and I look forward to your amusing tales.
Back in 1961, barely a month after my sixteenth birthday, I joined my first ship s.s. Malancha in Sandon Dock, Liverpool. After a spot of coasting - Manchester, Greenock and Birkenhead from memory, we then began the deep sea voyage to India via Red Sea ports. Not having the benefit of any pre-sea training I was green in more ways than one and this included my first encounter with the Bay of Biscay. Oh yes, there were pranks that I fell for hook, line and sinker. I did write some letters to friends and family which were to be picked up by helicopter as we steamed past Gibraltar.
There was one port in particular indelibly imprinted in my mind - Massawa. IMy first time abraod, my first time ahore I was feeling quite safe and secure in the company of Mike the Rdio Officer as he happened to be the son of a Somerset vicar. I couldn't have been more wrong! Whether I erred and strayed like a lost sheep - well that's another story.......
When we left Massawa, as Junior Appentice I was on 'stations' aft with the Second Mate and I had the responsibility of handling telephone contact with the bridge. Having let go fore and aft we were leaving the port in the late afternoon. The phone rang and I was then to take one of the most memorable telephone calls of my life. The Senior Apprentice was on the bridge and his instruction was 'Tell the Second Mate to get the crew to bring the accommodation ladder right in'. 'OK' I said and to the Second Mate I then said 'get the crew to bring the accommodation ladder in........ Sir.' Stations was stood down and the crew obviously went to work heaving up the accommodation ladder and fixing a few lashings round it in readiness for use at Aden which was to be our next port of call a day or two later.
I was settling in the cabin when a short time later the Senior Apprentice came in and said 'The Mate is furious with you... the accommodation ladder was supposed to be brought RIGHT in and not just lashed and the crew will now have to turn to once again to finish the job. The Mate is so furious about you getting this message wrong he says that you have to run round the deck 50 times to let this be a real lesson which is vital you learn NOW... and don't try and cheat by running fewer laps because the Mate is on watch on the bridge and he will be counting.'
Imagine how I felt at that moment. So on went my running shoes and off I went running around the deck.....and counting very carefully!
Now lets get the true measure of this penalty. The Malancha was (bless her) 500 feet in length so one lap would be 1000 feet in distance. There were to be 50 of these laps and 50,000 feet is the equivalent of 9 miles. But it doesn't end there..... the Malacha was a four island ship so during one circuit there were also 8 sets of steps to climb or descend and 50 laps meant 400 sets of steps. I kept a careful mental note of the number of laps that I had covered - as if the Mate wouldn't have better things to do than count my laps.. but remember I am still very green.
It took the best part of three hours to complete this punishment which was shortly before the Mate finished his watch. You can imagine the state that I was in by this time. Anyway a little later on during the evening I had a chance encounter with the now off watch Mate which caused him to comment as to whether I had decided to become a keep fit enthusiast as he had spotted me running around the deck. He obviously had absolutely no knowledge of the fact that I had been set up by the Senior Apprentice.
It certainly was a hard earned lesson as far as I was concerned and from that day on every order was repeated verbatim. It's a habit that still holds fast on many an occasion.
Cheers John S.
Back in 1961, barely a month after my sixteenth birthday, I joined my first ship s.s. Malancha in Sandon Dock, Liverpool. After a spot of coasting - Manchester, Greenock and Birkenhead from memory, we then began the deep sea voyage to India via Red Sea ports. Not having the benefit of any pre-sea training I was green in more ways than one and this included my first encounter with the Bay of Biscay. Oh yes, there were pranks that I fell for hook, line and sinker. I did write some letters to friends and family which were to be picked up by helicopter as we steamed past Gibraltar.
There was one port in particular indelibly imprinted in my mind - Massawa. IMy first time abraod, my first time ahore I was feeling quite safe and secure in the company of Mike the Rdio Officer as he happened to be the son of a Somerset vicar. I couldn't have been more wrong! Whether I erred and strayed like a lost sheep - well that's another story.......
When we left Massawa, as Junior Appentice I was on 'stations' aft with the Second Mate and I had the responsibility of handling telephone contact with the bridge. Having let go fore and aft we were leaving the port in the late afternoon. The phone rang and I was then to take one of the most memorable telephone calls of my life. The Senior Apprentice was on the bridge and his instruction was 'Tell the Second Mate to get the crew to bring the accommodation ladder right in'. 'OK' I said and to the Second Mate I then said 'get the crew to bring the accommodation ladder in........ Sir.' Stations was stood down and the crew obviously went to work heaving up the accommodation ladder and fixing a few lashings round it in readiness for use at Aden which was to be our next port of call a day or two later.
I was settling in the cabin when a short time later the Senior Apprentice came in and said 'The Mate is furious with you... the accommodation ladder was supposed to be brought RIGHT in and not just lashed and the crew will now have to turn to once again to finish the job. The Mate is so furious about you getting this message wrong he says that you have to run round the deck 50 times to let this be a real lesson which is vital you learn NOW... and don't try and cheat by running fewer laps because the Mate is on watch on the bridge and he will be counting.'
Imagine how I felt at that moment. So on went my running shoes and off I went running around the deck.....and counting very carefully!
Now lets get the true measure of this penalty. The Malancha was (bless her) 500 feet in length so one lap would be 1000 feet in distance. There were to be 50 of these laps and 50,000 feet is the equivalent of 9 miles. But it doesn't end there..... the Malacha was a four island ship so during one circuit there were also 8 sets of steps to climb or descend and 50 laps meant 400 sets of steps. I kept a careful mental note of the number of laps that I had covered - as if the Mate wouldn't have better things to do than count my laps.. but remember I am still very green.
It took the best part of three hours to complete this punishment which was shortly before the Mate finished his watch. You can imagine the state that I was in by this time. Anyway a little later on during the evening I had a chance encounter with the now off watch Mate which caused him to comment as to whether I had decided to become a keep fit enthusiast as he had spotted me running around the deck. He obviously had absolutely no knowledge of the fact that I had been set up by the Senior Apprentice.
It certainly was a hard earned lesson as far as I was concerned and from that day on every order was repeated verbatim. It's a habit that still holds fast on many an occasion.
Cheers John S.