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Chief Stewards good and bad

57K views 161 replies 77 participants last post by  Philip Mitchell 
#1 ·
On Neocardia part of Shell's eastern fleet we of course had a Chinese crew. All ships of the Eastern Fleet did. They were very good with certain exeptions. The Chief steward and second steward we had were as different as chalk and cheese. The former was a fat round individual who crept around everything and everybody, the latter was short thin and a definite communist stirer whom I had logged on a number of occasions for disobedience. The chief steward was always sucking air between his teeth when he spoke, not a very likeable chap. As 2nd mate it was part of my job to oversee the catering. One day he came to my cabin saying 'I want speeky you about 2nd steward.' He proceeded to explain that neither he nor the other stewards or other crew members liked this man. He obviously knew that I didn't either; with that in mind proceeded to tell me in no uncertain terms that should I desire it, he had plenty of friends in Singapore who would be only too pleased to hasten his departure from this earth!!. Many visions passed through my mind at the time. One was having my name plastered over the front of the Straits Times for conspiracy to murder. Any way the chief steward left my cabin a little disillusioned. Food was generally good on Chinese crew ships. The only other crew I sailed with was Spanish; quite a novelty. The food was not too bad either.
 
#70 ·
Hi Varley,
Yes, there were a lot of expats involved in mining, cement, oil and other heavy industries to bolster the experience. I posted on a pic in the gallery regarding the Cornish mine workers brought in to Pachuca and the fact that the league football team is one of the oldest association football clubs in the world (Pachuca "Tuzos" or "moles"!).
With the new mining technologies, there has been a resurgence in expats in specialized jobs. I think many people would be surprised to find where their forebears got too!
Rgds.
Dave
 
#75 ·
My knowledge of nun's undergarments is non existent.
Having been taught by nuns in infant school, I learned quickly to fear them and avoid them where possible.
Those I knew were shrouded from head to foot in black gowns which exposed their face and hands only.
The possibility of underwear never entered my mind, and even now many years later the thought gives me the heebie jeebies.
The expression to charm the knickers off a nun is an old scouse saying, but I doubt if anyone ever did it, or would want to.
Pat(EEK)
 
#84 ·
Hands up anyone on here who has ever been told`You should write a book`the only problem is that no one would believe you.
Having the Chrysantema accomodation carpeted overnight in Hong Kong the carpet fitters lifted up an unconscious AB laid the carpet and put him back!God only knows what he thought when he woke up.
 
#85 ·
I might be digressing but talking of things that maybe shore people would not believe. I lived on Norfolk island for nearly two years, that's South Pacific and second home of the descendants of the Bounty mutineers. One of these descendants was troubled by a mouse that used to run across his kitchen floor from under the fridge. One drunken night he sat on a chair with a shotgun and when Mickey appeared he let go both barrels. Shot the motor out of his fridge and MM scuttled away. To stay on topic, I sailed with AB,s who weren't, EDH,s who weren't, skippers and C/E's who could not find their cabin door because they were saturated in p I S S for weeks. So lay off the chief steward guys and anyway , we're all the Big guys bairns.
 
#89 ·
Hi Varley, could I claim technical accuracy on this point? England would certainly have been their first home but as mutineers as I described them, Norfolk was their second home. Did I get off with that one? V - did you ever meet or know Bill Blacklie, ex Musselburgh but married to a IoM girl and skippered a fishing boat out of there? Regards Ronnie.
 
#90 ·
Maybe Varley is referring to Fletcher Christian's Manx family origins. I don'tknow if he ever lived in the IoM or not, but he was born in Cockermouth, ***berland.

Regardless of that, none of the Mutineers went to Norfolk, just their descendents. Therefore JG is correct - Pitcairn 1, Norfolk 2.

At least nobody blames the Chiefy Steward for the mutiny.

John T
 
#91 ·
True, John. Some of his childhood was spent here and his 'line' was Manks (as it would have been put then) and one with mutiny in the blood at that.

I thought to excuse myself with the majority being a British mix but it looks as if most were English.

For decendents conceived after the mutiny then First = Tahiti or Pitcairn. Perhaps Norfolk second. There would probably have been just as many descendents of those who were to become mutineers with England first, perhaps elsewhere later.

As to the Grocer. Remember the cheese (in the film anyway).

David V
 
#92 ·
All of the mutineers were long dead by the time the Pitcairn Islanders went to Norfolk Island. I forgot about the Tahitian women who were taken to Pitcairn, maybe some of them ended up on Norfolk, so that would make three islands for them - but they would have been pretty old as the mutiny was in 1790 and the Norfolk transfer was in 1856. I've got a workmate who is a descendant and I'll ask him. About a third of the Pitcairners returned to Pitcairn eventually and lived happily ever after until someone squealed and they all got locked up a few years back.

Anyone who gets a chance to go to Norfolk Island should grab it - you'll love the place.

Saw a couple of the Bounty films and they were both rubbish - can't recall the cheese incident.

John T
 
#95 ·
I remember as first Trip Eng Cadet on the Saltersgate owned by Turnbull Scott back In 1981, the Ch Steward was JJ (Doctor Death) Jackson. He was a skinny wisp of a man and all of 5ft nothing. His cooking was probably the worst I ever had at sea and when I arrived he was just recovering from a good bollocking from the Capt when he discovered that JJ was mixing up pounds weight and kilograms In his ordering and so was ordering huge amounts of some things and not enough of others.

I will never forget going In the galley one night , switching on the light and seeing hundreds of cockroaches skittering away. He had a wife that had picked up In a Bangkok bar that he supported from afar.
 
#97 ·
You rung a bell - Capt. Queeg threw a wobbler about some strawberries being knocked off - they reminded him of a similar occurrence on another ship when some cheese was swiped.

Captain Bligh proved innocent again.

John T

PS Anna Bligh, the recently deposed Premier of Queensland, was descended from William Bligh. Small world. Her replacement is descended from Donald Duck (I think).
 
#99 ·
Yes TDP #92 and others . There were Tahitian women taken to Pitcairn and their descendants are still on Norfolk. To this day the locals speak with a Cornish (?) accent mingled with Tahitian. I suspect it is done mainly in the presence of loopys or tourists in a kind of underhand way to either confuse or impress them with their culture.. The only phrase that comes to mind at the moment is,'what a way y'orly,' or how are you today. I have to say that living there for nearly two years they are either SDA's or alchies. There was a murder there a few years ago , a waitress from OZ and everyone, knew who had actually done it, the island 5x3 miles but no one spoke up. The chef guy who got the blame has recently been released but no one else is implicated. It is a drop dead, gorgeous, beautiful island but the locals are a product of their environment. I was not aware of any connection to IoM
 
#103 ·
Yep, blow me down, it be there, me hearty!

I knew about the Tahitian birds going to Pitcairn, some of them not willingly, but, as I said, I don't know if any of the originals ever ended up on Norfolk - they would have been pretty ancient if they did.

Your comments about the murder are interesting - I didn't know that bloke had been released.

It must be quite distressing for Varley to hear that the local yokels on Norfolk don't talk like the Beegees (blown away Scousers from the IoM via Redcliffe, Queensland).

When I visited Norfolk, yonks ago, I had an "in" with the local cop who was from Canberra and had some good yarns to tell, but it is, as you say, a breathtakingly beautiful island. What's an SDA?

Apart from all that, some of my best friends were Chief Stewards.

John T
 
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