There were quite a few things with bumps and long legs at Port Melbourne Beach this morning that I just happened to see whilst photographing some ships.

Honestly Officer I was just photographing that big Pommie meat boat.

(You dirty devil).

Ummm I need to thunk aboot that....:cloud: Nah don't stuff in into the deep tank as I am expecting a delivery of Guinness very soon. My own special blend XXXX grade :thumb:
Tell you what pump it into the forward ballast tank and press it up until you see an ooze from the swan neck, that should keep it stable and well away from any perishable goods. Give Master V a sounding stick, torch, a big pair of wellies and a spoon with clear instructions on how to obtain a gas free condition. That should keep him occupied for a day or three.:thumb:

I am very fond of brassicas and legumes so I am afraid we will have to bribe the chemist as usual.

Cabbage and carrots me oul china, cabbage and carrots.

Cabbage is a brassica. I do not take much carrot as it doesn't seem to cook at the same rate as anything I would have it with so, regardless of how well it performs as bowel grip, it would not affect the compressible evolutions here. I imagine a bottle and a carton of Player's full strength would still be required (but no matches, for Lavoisier's sake).

Not last Sunday but these things pop up from time to time.
It's not my fault if she got in the way.

Jeez YM we'll all throw a couple of bob into a kitty to buy you a telephoto lens. We will all benefit. Shelia's galore.

The Easy/Hard/Jig/Puzzle is in ICU and Shipping History has caught Covid-19 or possibly Aids. Masters, Mates and Others are dropping like fly's and a Cadet hasn't been employed in 5 years. Us few left are like Jimmy Reid's definition of shipyard management, "Victorian Dinosaurs".

Tannoy: attention all cut outs. repair up top on the double for Pirate watch.
Radar alarms are set and ecdis is on the ball. Iron mike on the wheel. I will be in the PAX bar if you need me.

Not you E-S. Surely the perhaps St. Patrick rid Hibernia of them too.

another 2 days and we will be berthed in Freemantle topping up bunkers and stores and enjoying Australian Hospitality over a few cold beers.

Vegemite, Cheese and thinly sliced Tomato on Buttered toast

I trust that reaction is not violently exothermic.

No hospitality in Western Oz these days we will probably all be straight into the quarantine slammer for a fortnight for anyone venturing ashore.

No Vegemite in the slammer. That that will not worry many (most?) of those aboard the GD. There is no accounting for some people's taste. :jester:

El-Plastico our plastic sick bay tiffy has a supply of the vaccine in the sick bay fridge. for anyone not all ready jabbed up. vaccine certificates available in my office (as are Vegemite exemption certificates for those of lesser good taste)
We will anchor off at the pilot station till our berth is vacant.

Nice to see my Engine room staff are getting on together as usual....

That's the symbol for "Conciliation and Arbitration" in Harland and Barlands.

I want 2 Vegemite Exemption Certificates, to be sure, to be sure.

Ha we couldn't pronounce those BIG words let alone understand them. Usually all differences of opinion were resolved by a dig in the mouth :mad: a short but effective method to end disputes:curtain_call:

The good news or bad depending on your point of view is that I shall soon be returning to full duties, i.e. lazing in my funnel suite, terrorising the deckie type persons and generally being my obnoxious and sarcastic self in picking on ES at every opportunity (well the lad needs a firm hand, or so I'm told :wink:)

so be afraid, be very afraid :very_sad:

delighted to hear that good news Chief (Tmac to those who may have forgotten). Trust your rebore/resleeve job went well for you mate.
as I have a master key for the funnel suite I will get the plasticos to prepare it for your return.

The first thing to check is the greasing schedule. I have a sneaking suspicion that you countryman may have been using Vegemite. He reported something about getting an exemption from a Mr. Wakefield's Dick.

I trust you will be having a signing on party.

'... (well the lad needs a firm hand, or so I'm told ) ...'

Don't blame me. It wasn't me who blabbed. I didn't dob ES in!
I am fully and painfully aware of the repercussions to be expected from any activity of this nature. I have said before that either there is a mole down here or the place is bugged.

By the way, do moles eat hull and boiler plate as there is a strange mixture of salt and hot fresh water and steam down here.

Using Vegemite, would that I were. I was using a medium grade of carborundum in the hope that his bits and pieces would bed in and we would achieve a good seal. Gas tight and dia reea tight. It was either that or send for Sir Joseph Bazzalgetty.

Lá Fhéile Pádraig sona daoibh go léir
Beannachtaí ar lá Pádraig naomhtha. Ag cadhnaíocht agus ag damhsa agus ag ól linn inniu.

I cannot, at the moment, translate but at a guess the appropriate reply might be..
And a happy St Patrick's day to you too. Best wishes to you and your kin.

Am I close?

Yes, more or less anyway. At least according to Google Translate.

' Happy St. Patrick's Day to you all
Blessings on St. Patrick's Day. Leading and dancing and drinking with us today.' :yawn:

Malcolm, you're within a midge's dick of being word perfect. Crocodile Mundra is close, the line, Lá Fhéile Pádraig sona daoibh go léir, was sent by Queen Elizabeth to President Higgins to mark the day and you can bet it's grammatically correct. (And certainly better than my attempts).

It would be churlish not to add my best wishes as I was to have gone to a Paddy's day dinner tonight. Instead the prospective, and very accomplished, hostess is to bring a loaf of her soda bread to hang on a distanced post. Hopefully it will not rain further on the perhaps pest controlling saint's parade.

(Higgins? Any relation to Grandma's butler I wonder. There was some boasting of 'issue' with a young maid but Grandma told him not to be so stupid).

lift up the hook thingy...stand by engines. Pilot boat approaching. Cut outs man the pilot ladder port side.

It is generally believed here in Hibernia that St Patrick was given a helping hand by the ice-age. Crooked Mona is also free of the Fer de Lance and their cousins but a hardy breed of financial snake is alive and living under every dodgy deal.

Ah BB, good to see the oul Dukes are better; Frew, Frew and Barney mcGrew are giving the Greasy Beast a kick on air and you can have control in a wee while.

Should E-S be right I will send any I find back to you whence, more probably than saintlhoodery, they will have come.

Bloody camshaft lub oil pump has cut out and the donkeyman tells me that Lecky is on the arse end cutting his toe nails. Just thinking of it is boke forming. Harry Tate will need water on deck to hose down the shrapnel.
Billy Boy we're good to go, she's all yours. No sudden movements, mind. Not a great name for the day that's in it.
Tmax British Steel, is Malcolm one of us? I think we should be told.

You cannot, then, be ready to go. Firstly I tested all the proper (as in electrical) trips before I started my pedicure. Secondly we have one of them camshaftless jobs.

(So Sir W will be scrutinising the portage bill for any cash claimed for overtime associated with such a contraption. Excluding mine. If there's a spare distribution slot for one it has to be meggered like any other - and that's a bloody good excuse).

Me? I just came on for a trip as guest speaker on some subject or other, can't remember what it was now.

Something (small) needs fixing, something needs to be 'borrowed', I'm your man.

[I]sorry not up to speed on the thread. scoliosis and miss aligned pelvis has slowed me down a lot. Off to the Physical torture man this arvo)

Welcome aboard Pilot, Slow ahead you say, right I'll just push these sticks forward a little then. Cut out quatermaster on the wheel!
Ah here comes the steward with your docking bottle Pilot.
Quater master! follow that small pilot boat.

Billy, speed is relative. You may think you've shed a knot or two but you are still fleeter of foot than Mr V, sharper of thought than Tmax and far more tuneful of diggerdoo than YM. Malc is a bit of an unknown but he understands the term "Borrowing" so he is sound.
Relax and let the Pilot earn his few $$$$$$$ and we will have a Nippy-Sweety after double up fore and aft.
Isn't life just dandy.

Thank you ES. A small libation would go down very well after this afternoons PT session. Think I might take Mr Varley with me next time as I am not too sure about the electrics they use. Could even take Malcome so he can give a talk on it later.

'... far more tuneful of diggerdoo than YM ...'

Naturally!
I am still experimenting with differing steam pressures to produce the correct note. It all takes time. You won't catch me putting some dirty old white ant infested bit of wood in my mouth.

I will see if dodgerydoings are covered in the Brook Motors little red book. If so I will send you a copy (I have had rather an Ebay blitz looking for a first edition). Otherwise you will have to give my a day or two to bone up on the electric version. I have a mind that we should stick to the steam version until we have some plumbers who did their tickets in post Fleming era.

The Mississippi steamers did the musik adequately with a calliope but I can barely imagine the ire of Chief suffering from condenseritis when the pipes were 'struck up' (to coin jargon).

(Or were they puffers and cared not for feedwater consumption?)

I was always of the opinion that condensers were the weak link in a modern steam plant and should be replaced by an integrated, digital electronic, PLC controlled, germanium driven Apple Mac Book obviously with an appropriate IP rating.
Remember the Vital Spark and the Mallard operated very successfully without a condenser.