Glasgow And Ships Of The Clyde

Some memories of my time at sea on British general cargo ships / freighters. Part 1

Some memories of my time at sea on British general cargo ships / freighters.

       Contributed by a reader.

   These recollections from the 1960s are in no particular order. They were on various ships and at various times. 

Part 1

STRAIT OF GIBRALTAR

   The Strait of Gibraltar is the 8-mile (15km) wide stretch of water which separates the southern coast of Spain at Tarifa and Morocco on the north coast of Africa.   Think of it like a small neck of a very large bottle.

   It’s always very busy with ships going into and out of the Mediterranean Sea.

But at night there was an added complication, and remember this was in the 1960’s.   Small but very very fast motor boats / launches would cross the Strait, without showing any lights, and would weave between the ships, sometimes passing close astern.   I asked a Gibraltar Pilot about the motor launches.   He said that the boats were smuggling hashish and guns / weapons and people into Spain from beaches in Morocco.

   And the weather.   In the early summer mornings there was often a dense fog on the Strait, stretching for miles.   Some called it fog, others called it “Sea Smoke” (= when the temperature of the water is warmer than the air, and the air becomes misty or foggy).   This fog / sea smoke extended upwards for miles from the surface of the water, and only the tops of the High Atlas mountains on the African side could be seen.

GIBRALTAR

   What a beautiful place.  It’s just like being back in England.   Same shops, pubs, language, food, newspapers, police, telephones ……

   The ship was berthed at one of the moles in the harbour, discharging cargo for the British Army Base.  It was quite breathtaking to have The Rock towering over the town.   I always enjoyed my visits to Gibraltar.

   Which reminds me of something which only obliquely relates to Gibraltar.

  A good few years ago my wife and I had a summer holiday (= vacation) in the town of Torremolinos on the Costa del Sol in the south of Spain.

   I remember it was a Saturday and we went on a day coach trip to Gibraltar and did the touristy things, shopping, climbed the Rock to see the apes, had a British steak pie lunch and a boat trip to see the dolphins in the Bay.

   Then back to Torremolinos.

   Our rather classy hotel had entertainment shows every evening, and this week had performances by absolutely fabulous first-class Flamenco dancers. The men were tall, slim and very powerful and the ladies were astonishly beautiful and were so slender and amazingly gifted to produce such dancing.  No wonder they were the top group in Spain.

   So my wife and I hurridly changed clothes and went to the open-air theatre and got a good table near the stage, eagerly awaiting the Flamenco show.

   Showtime.   The curtains lifted and the compere appeared.   Apparently that evening was a special performance by an Irish Boy Band.  Rapturous applause from the audience.

   The Boy Band came on and sang their songs.   Now I honestly do not know the name of the band, wife thinks it was Boyzone or Westlife or a Tribute crowd, but they blasted out their stuff with Irish accents.

   The interval came, and one of the Band circulated around the audience with a microphone.   “Where are you from?”   The people at the table would say London or Liverpool or Manchester, and the audience cheered loudly.

   The Band Boy was getting near to our table and my wife whispered to me not to say anything. If he asks.

   Of course, you guessed, he did stop at our table and held the microphone in front of me.   He asked where were we from. “Glasgow”, I replied.   Big cheer from the audience.   “And what do you think of the show?”   I felt my wife kicking me under the table.  “Well” I said, “I only came here tonight because I thought it was the Flamenco that was on.”   The audience was silent for a moment then burst out laughing.

   The Boy seemed rather astonished, but recovering, asked if I had enjoyed the show.    “Not really” I answered, “your singing isn’t my cup of tea, you are all singing in tune but you sound like a bunch of wee girls singing.”

   My wife elbowed me in the side and that ended my appreciation of the musical talents of the Boy Band.

   But for the rest of the holiday other guests in the hotel kept stopping me and saying how much they laughed at my remarks.

PORT SAID  (Egypt)

   The ship anchored in the anchorage off the fairway channel to Port Said, and passenger liners heading southbound were given precedence through the port to the Suez Canal.

   Our ship was discharging some cargo here, and this was the only place where we did a Mediterranean Moor for unloading.   A Mediterranean Moor is essentially when a vessel backs her stern onto the berth and her head is held outwards with both anchors out ahead.  Essentially the ship is positioned 90 degrees off the berth.

   Wooden floating rafts joined loosely together in a line stretched haphazardly from the wharf to the ship’s gangway for the dockworkers.   It crossed my mind to try walking along these rafts, but seeing the amount they rocked, I wisely decided not to try.   Bum boat men in their tiny canoes came alongside offering fruit and goods and trinkets and postcards for sale.

   The Suez Canal searchlight was brought out of storage, installed and tested.

What is the Suez Canal Searchlight ?

   Remember this is in 1960s.   Every day, by day and night, ships pass through the canal.   They travel one following another in a convoy procession, with passenger liners at the front, and the ships leave a certain distance between themselves and the one in front.

   A Suez Canal searchlight is an essential requirement for vessels using the Canal, and is a large light, fixed at the bow of the ship and is capable of projecting a large and powerful beam ahead of the ship.   After transiting the Canal the searchlight can be removed from the bow and stored until needed again.

   Also at each end of the Canal one or two small mooring boats and their crews were hoisted onto ships before they entered the canal, and they were carried for emergency use if the ship had to stop or moor in the canal and the boat(s) would be quickly lowered and take mooring ropes to mooring posts / pawls / bollards situated on the sides of the Canal.

To be continued