Page 7
One of the funniest things that happened to me on board ship was when
we were having Skippers rounds this particular Saturday. I was the leading
hand in charge that morning, and for some reason, we were running behind.
This would have been all right on most Saturdays, but on this occasion,
it was an Admiral of the Argentine Navy who was coming on board, and doing
the rounds with the skipper. We had just about got everything done in time,
when he walked into the messdeck. The place as usual was spotless, except
for one thing, we forgot about the newspapers on the deck. The Skipper gave
me a right good staring at, but it was what the Admiral said that astounded
everyone. He said he thought it was a great Idea spreading newspapers on
the deck; obviously they didn't do that on his ships when they had rounds.
Good job he never saw the lads with Brasso doing the knives and forks etc.
Most of the ports we called at were Naval, ports or
had naval ships anchored. there. From Punta Arenas in the south, taking
in Rio Gallegos, San Julian, Bahia Blanca, Mar Del Plata, Rosario, and then
on to Montevideo in Uruguay, where we met our lady friend, the actress.
This was to be our routine, for the next few months, calling into the ports
in most of the countries on the east coast. Each stop we had, seemed to
be better than the last, the people ashore couldn't do enough for you, and
with the small ship's company that we had, there were often times when there
simply wasn't enough of us to go around with the invites we were getting.
What I did like about going ashore there was the restaurants, and the food
they served. I had until then never seen steaks as big as that, not unless
I was at the movies watching somebody like John Wayne or that being served
one. Boy were they great. My favourite meal was Beefa steak, pappas frittas,
and dos weywows. ( that was two eggs) Well that's what I used to say, and
I was never knocked back.
On our return to Stanley, again we were always made welcome, every Saturday
was dance night, and if you didn't like country and western, well you had
to stand outside and look at the stars. If I can remember rightly, these
dance nights were dry occasions, so if you wanted a wee drink on the side
after the pub threw you out, then it was in the Burberry with a carry out,
to last you the rest of the night.
As I said, I met some nice people when I was there, but there was one sad
time for me when a little Scots friend of mine, who was a deckhand on the
local cargo ship, was killed in a dreadful accident. They were unloading
supplies at one of the Islands, and while he was using the winch, the cable
snapped, it came back and just about cut him in two. Although I had only
known him a few months, it was very hard to take when I heard about him
dying.
When the final day came to say farewell to our friends there, it was
a sad day all round, knowing you would never see them again, it wasn't easy
to say goodbye. And our departure wasn't all that great either, it so happened
that the weather took a turn for the worse, and in the wee hours of the
morning, there we were in our warmest under jocks and oilskins, hanging
on to ropes, with somebody screaming at the top of their voice, up motor
boat. But it was good to once more get away from that cold weather and see
the sunshine again. So here we were, on our way once more heading up the
coast, for what we thought would be our final ports of call, before heading
back to Bermuda. But we were to learn differently once we were at sea. It
seems the trouble that was brewing in the Suez canal round about that time,
wasn't getting any better, so it was decided that this mighty warship of
ours was needed more over that side of the ocean, and that's where we were
told we were going. And the place that was picked for us was the peaceful
port of Simonstown, just outside Capetown.