Fifty Years
As it is fifty years ago today since I joined my first ship, I thought I would reshare the experience …
As it is fifty years ago today since I joined my first ship, I thought I would reshare the experience …
I have no idea why someone who hated uniform so much ended up in the Merchant Navy. As a child …
When George Cuthbert and I joined the mv Sheaf Royal as first trip cadets in October 1973 we had no …
I recall being somewhat excited at the news that the Sheaf Royal was to load a cargo of grain in …
After the incident with the two bosun birds (see previous post) the Sheaf Royal seemed to encounter more inclement weather …
The Sheaf Royal sailed from Beaumont, Texas on Monday 21 January 1974 bound for Nakhodka in the Soviet Far East …
Ships and wind-ups go together. Deck cadets are warned about some of it during their two-week induction course. To be …
The Sheaf Royal berthed in Mobile, Alabama on Saturday 12 January 1974. Workload meant that fellow cadet George and I …
At 06:00 on 4 January 1974 the Sheaf Royal was finally alongside in Puerto Ordaz after a 200-mile pilotage up …
The Sheaf Royal sailed from Rotterdam on 22 December 1973. I had never spent Christmas away from home before and …
In the previous post the Sheaf Royal had arrived in Rotterdam. We weren’t there long. It took 36 hours to …
Rotterdam was the third port we visited on the Sheaf Royal during my first trip to sea. Arriving off Rotterdam …
Joining the Merchant Navy as an officer cadet sounds glamourous don’t you think? Smart uniforms, sailing to distant places, shore …
During the voyage from Gothenburg to New Orleans fellow first trip cadet George and I spent a lot of time …
The one person who loomed larger than any other on the Sheaf Royal for the deck cadets was chief officer …
Captain Bob Andrews joined the Sheaf Royal just before we sailed from Gothenburg. Captain Andrews, who was quite a serious …
Cadets were required to complete projects for college while at sea as well as studying maths, physics, navigation, etc. Fellow …
After two weeks in a repair yard and in drydock the Sheaf Royal was finally due to sail for New …
Two of the shoreside team at the Swedish repair yard where the Sheaf Royal was berthed were expat Brits who …
Joining my first ship in Sweden could have posed some problems linguistically had the Swedes not been so fluent in …