Revenge of the Cadets
While at anchor in the Shatt-Al Arab fellow cadet Dougie and I fell out with the Chinese second steward who …
Author Archives: David
The Man Who Had Everything
There was another British ship at anchor not far upstream from the Stolt Sheaf when she was stuck in the …
The Gulf
Having finally made it to the Stolt Sheaf after three days of travel, including being stranded in Kuwait for twenty-four …
The Journey
When I found out that I was to fly to Iran to join the Stolt Sheaf on 3 May 1975 …
The Letter
Having completed the first college phase of my training in March 1975 I was informed by my shipping company that …
Learning to Drive
Some folks might think that cadets studying at Marine College were learning to drive ships. I suppose we were, but …
Nothing Wasted
Deck cadet training in the British Merchant Navy in the 1970s involved alternating phases of sea and college time. Training …
The Channels
A seafarer who experiences unusual levels of excitement after finding out that he or she is to be relieved at …
Reunion
For the last year and a bit I have been typing up the journals I kept during my first two …
Rust
Rust happens. Especially at sea. When I joined the Sheaf Royal, she was only a year old and there was …
Why, Mr Putin, Why?
My first visit to Russia (then the USSR) took place during February and March 1974 when I was a first …
Ticking Boxes
After just ten hours in Port Cartier in June 1974 loading iron ore (my second ten hours in Port Cartier …
Mundane
My second trip to sea did not seem to involve ports of an exotic nature. During my first trip there …
Waiting
I apologise for the lack of recent blog activity, which is down to illness and Christmas. The previous post described …
The Tale of the Broken Nose
If you are following this blog you will know that I have been taking a journey down memory lane revisiting …
Turku
There is a six-hour pilotage through an archipelago of many islands of varying sizes to reach the Finnish port of …
Trust
Leaving Canada in her wake the Irish Wasa plodded slowly across the North Atlantic, averaging roughly 11.5 knots, and burning …
When you frame it like that… what are you missing?
This post, which interrupts the flow of my reminiscences from life at sea in the 1970s, is a response to …
My Will be Done
After just ten hours in Port Cartier the Irish Wasa was back at sea, loaded with 16,000 tons of Canadian …
What’s the Point?
On my first visit to Port Cartier in Canada in May 1974 it took roughly five hours to load the …
Missing
I realise that I have been missing for a month or so in respect of blog posts, which for a …
Unconventional
I introduced Martin, the other deck cadet on the Irish Wasa, in my previous post. I had never met anyone …
The Dizzy Heights
My first period of leave passed quickly. Having arrived home on 22 March 1974, it took my employers exactly one …
Never Lose the Wonder
When George Cuthbert and I joined the mv Sheaf Royal as first trip cadets in October 1973 we had no …
Wanting to Know More
I recall being somewhat excited at the news that the Sheaf Royal was to load a cargo of grain in …
Blind
After the incident with the two bosun birds (see previous post) the Sheaf Royal seemed to encounter more inclement weather …
Mid-Pacific
The Sheaf Royal sailed from Beaumont, Texas on Monday 21 January 1974 bound for Nakhodka in the Soviet Far East …
Be a Mule
Ships and wind-ups go together. Deck cadets are warned about some of it during their two-week induction course. To be …
The Mystery of the Disappearing Engineers
The Sheaf Royal berthed in Mobile, Alabama on Saturday 12 January 1974. Workload meant that fellow cadet George and I …
Fire
At 06:00 on 4 January 1974 the Sheaf Royal was finally alongside in Puerto Ordaz after a 200-mile pilotage up …
Orinoco Flow
The Sheaf Royal sailed from Rotterdam on 22 December 1973. I had never spent Christmas away from home before and …
Ebs and Flows... 