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Stories, Tales and Memories from bygone days at sea Irish
Elm Maiden Voyage 1968
On
the clear sunny winter's morning of January 8th, we boarded a Viscount at Botlek
is a £3 taxi ride from We
sailed on the cold bleak foggy morning of January 20th, a grey-black pall of
smoke hung over the refinery where a disastrous explosion had occurred in the
early hours. We made our way downriver on the first leg of our maiden voyage
(for those of us that had joined in However,
it so came to pass that on the 23rd, the haze lifted somewhat and we quietly
slipped away and down the Channel. Off ALL
MOD. CON. The
"Irish Elm", call sign EIWT, port of registry The
bridge displays a formidable array of navigational equipment — Arkas Automatic
Steering, Decca Navigator, Sal Log, Course recorder, Marconi Raymarc True-Motion
Radar, Automatic D/F., Echo Sounder, 28 Channel V.H.F., Bridge Control for the
Main Engine, Automatic Telegraph Printer, Auto- phone for Foc'stle and Poop,
push button Crew-call system, Sound-Powered Telephone system throughout the ship
and switchboard for all navigation and deck lights. In
the engine room, the air-conditioned, sound-proof, insulated, centralized
Control Room, with it's Main Control Console, Data Logger Printer and
Remote-Control Panel with multitudinous multi-colored flashing lights and
buttons, is like something one encounters in a science-fiction novel! On
deck we no longer have AB's, in the engine room we no longer have DG's, what we
now have are GP’s! The correct title is GPR, General Purpose Rating, a new
form of manning causing both departments to work in closer harmony. Conditions
for personnel aboard are first class—the accommodation is very comfortable and
the cuisine, sorry—grub, is good! When off duty, one's leisure hours can be
quite pleasantly spent—we have facilities for showing films, a library, to
which we are gradually adding by imposing a levy on all hands in each port for
the purchasing of more literature and two bars which are a great success. Various
individuals take turns behind the bar until such time as we can acquire
barmaids! Of course the ultimate is the sky-blue swimming pool on the boat deck. What
luxury, in the lower latitudes, when feeling a little "clammy" after
four hours on watch, to just plunge into the 65 degrees Fahrenheit pool salt
water and soak for half an hour—the 2nd Mate was first in, of course. We
have a Welfare Committee, with representatives chosen from each department on
the board, which meets regularly to discuss matters pertaining to social and
sporting activities, complaints and suggestions and any other matters relating
to the general welfare of the ship or crew. There is a darts competition
constantly in progress, in which a great interest is taken, the 2nd Mate; he
again, reached the final only to be ignominiously beaten by a Junior Engineer
who carried off the thirst- quenching spoils of victory! Preparations are being
made for the organization and training of a football team, unfortunately the
"pool" is not spacious enough for water-polo. PEPEL And
so after a passage of nine days we arrived off If
one removed the ship and gantry, the scene would probably be exactly as it was
when Livingstone, or whoever the good gentleman was, first set his eyes on the
place. A broad deep-flowing, mud-coloured, turgid river bordered on both sides
by dense tropical jungle that suffered but an occasional clearance where stood a
native village with leaf-huts and canoes drawn up on the alluvial bank. And
so, having loaded our cargo-35,400 tons—in roughly 24 hours, all hands aboard
and the ship ready for sea, we sailed from Pepel, heading north once again to
the cold. Off We
arrived and berthed with the assistance of five tugs at Vlaardingen Ore Berth on
Tuesday, February 13th, and no sooner had we tied up than discharging had begun
with the overhead grabs plunging into the depths of the holds and emerging with
their massive jaws full to their 16 ton capacity which they yielded to the
barges alongside offshore. We discharged the complete cargo in under 30 hours
and began to realize the difference between general cargo " jobs "
and the bulk carriers. TO We
left Passing
through the Bahamas, long deserted stretches of yellow sandy beaches could be
clearly seen from the bridge, but try as we might, not a single comely
inhabitant could we discern—must be " off-season." We then made our
way down round the coast of the sunshine state and across the Gulf to the mouth
of that mighty, also deep-flowing, mud-coloured, etc., river—the We
dropped " the hook " in the quarantine anchorage just below At
present we are lying quietly to both anchors with the weather fine and sunny,
the river bustling with the usual noisy traffic scurrying up and down. To-day,
half the Canadian fleet passed up (well, a carrier and six frigates!). The
captain was made a citizen of and received the keys of the city. Two television
sets arrived on board and all hands are re-reading their mail, those who
received none complaining of inefficient agents, etc. There is a lunch ashore
to-morrow and top of the list of items to be tended to are: a change of films,
purchase $30 worth of paperbacks and two rubber footballs for playing in one of
the spacious lower holds. And
so we leave the “Irish Elm “as she patiently bides her time resting after
her longest passage yet. There is an air of dignity about her, as there should
be of a vessel of her class, and she seems to appear slightly disdainful at
having to consort with such company as a rather scruffy looking Greek tramp
anchored ahead and a puny sized 15,000 tons Liberian tanker astern—a
"proper lady" is she! ©J. Kennedy
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