It is with great sadness I note that ES has omitted me from the "going ashore drinks party" (7021)

I am at a loss to understand why I appear to be persona non gratia as we have been most cordial of late and in point of fact I have shown him nothing but kindness and consideration by rescheduling all the awkward and mucky jobs.

I know when I'm not wanted so I shall retire alone and friendless to my funnel suite with only Squeek and Eric as companions :very_sad::very_sad:

On wines - Wine pairing with food.
I came upon this little rule of thumb.. If the food has a French name, then French wine; Italian food then Italian wine etc
I am somewhat at a loss for the pairing with my Surströmming.
Any suggestions?

Oh Ye of Little Faith. Do we detect an ever so slight touch of inferiority complex?
Of course you're there just after FJ. Silly Boy.

As for this guy smelling like the hold of a fishing smack, he can go ashore with Sequeek and Albert.

Gammel Dansk? Gammel Dansk and gin? Gammel Dansk and MGT4?

(Should you persuade the old man to put some in the bond would you mind keeping and eating it in the paint locker. Along with that herring flavoured tinned hydrogen sulphide. That way we won't have to turn the dining saloon into an hazardous area).

Can we putchase BA Sets with a feeding tube? I foresee many uses for same.

I haven't even opened the tin yet!

My next question was going to be; Where can I open it? But I suppose the paint locker it has to be. I had in mind waiting till we got underway and standing right aft..
Next, Does anyone else want any? Once you get past the gagging it really is fine.

Having given it some consideration, perhaps wine is not the ideal pairing. Avtur flavoured schnapps maybe.

F44 as we say in NATO.

That's the stuff :thumb:
One gets a certain taste for the exhaust residue on summer afternoons.
I go out into the garden, put my nose to the air, if I can hear it then it is a jet engine from Hurn; If I cannot hear it then it is a nearby barbecue.
Somehow they both smell, and taste, the same.

Ireland has many islands off the West coast, each has its own unique food, drink and flavourings all of which are abhorrent to the Christian palette.
We have one major island off the East coast which no longer comes under our jurisdiction but the real natives live happily under our influence. I have no doubt they have some pagan condiment or hooch which will complement your Surströmming, it will not be Scandi but there again Pytt i panna is not either. Gammal Dansk has a lot to recommend it once one accepts the mild Colgate taste.
Bon Appétit.

(Back on line after 5 days with no internet)

Good to be back aboard, Great night ashore, still cant figure out how that wine bottle disappeared. maybe she had a Dwarf chappie hiding under that skirt and he just grabbed it.

Merci E-S, but I think you have the wrong Island in your sights.

The one you must mean does have native liqueurs of different flavours. It is veritable scarred with the the evidence of your countrymen's influence, unlike this Island. Nevertheless they would have remained unknown apart from bagpipes, incompletely constructed and poorly played, had it not been for Smeaton, Brindley, Telford, the Brunels et al. Brains to guide more westerly braun.

We do have a home grown wheel, lades and a small stretch of dual carriageway. So if your lot did get here they didn't do very much (but I am sure Okells and now Bushy's would dearly like you try again, just leave the picks and shovels behind).

(I think hooch making was dropped when smuggles cognac became easier to broach. Only recently have we tried again - I understand IMO are researching it as low greenhouse fuel. I am not sure they can be right, if looks like MDO, smells like MDO and tastes like MDO ............ (C19 gave them a lifeline, marketed as hand sanitiser, it tasted no better).

ML - have the RAF taken to using recycled chip shop oil? Probably light off OK, especially with a drop of Gamel Dansk as 'Easy Start'.

Probably not a solution for the Fleet Air Arm - have to equip the RFA oilers with multiple 'fast food outlets'.

good old Diesels, anything thin enough to be Atomised then compressed will make them run.

speaking of run I have just been to the Heads, checked the bowl and it showed 8 spots to the square inch so it must have been a good run ashore yesterday.
No news from the agent yet so we will be here fo a couple of days then we must move somewhere else as this berth will be required for another vessel.

With you lot drinking ashore they'll not need us to shift. They only tell you that because they usually have to dredge the empties from any berth we're at for more than a day or two.

"ML - have the RAF taken to using recycled chip shop oil?"

Probably the other way around, I suspect that my neighbours are using jet fuel to light the barbecue.
Obviously I prefer the smell of napalm in the morning...

Are we still in Sydney waiting for 'whoever' to return for duty (and return the probably worn out credit card)?

Agent has found us a nice little job! we move down to Circular Quay and pick up some VIP's (and their wives) for a cruise up to Brisbane. they will fly home from there. during the cruise they will be holding a business meeting in the PAX lounge in order to deliberate on something.
Cut outs and Stewards to stand to please. I want the PAX cabins cleaned and prepared for our guests.
We move ship in 2 hours.

I'd sooner Tmac had his slackers back on board for standby shifting ship. It puts my nerves on edge to be left in the control room by myself with the Chief ('in his office') in response to embarrassing 'can I speak to the Chief?' calls from the bridge.

Brisbane? Brisbane, never heard of it, but I'll accept it exists. Probably some sort of a jetty sticking out of the jungle or the bush or the outback with a billabong nearby. It is sure to be populated by opal hunters and other malcontents forcibly resettled from that big red rock thing in the middle. The gangway watch will have to be on the outlook for box jellyfish, blue ringed things, eastern browns, spiders and of course local girls with Covid and many other types of virus's or virii?
A fun filled weekend in store.

You left out the cane toads and ticks of one sort or another plus the multitudes living there who spend their entire lives bending bananas.

I wouldn't worry too much about the bananas as we in the EU employ very many people to straighten the things.
I know this to be true because Boris told me.

Surely the only establishment in Hibernia with enough industrial clout for commercial banana straightening is in that part of it that has just left the EU.

I think the earliest enforcement of the improper banana directive must have been by the dockers. The cargo that Tilapa was to have been offloaded in Southampton in 1972 when I signed off was, instead, dumped in the Channel.

Are LH versus RH bended bananas more favoured in the EU?
Just checking in case the Chinese ban the import of Oz bananas (like just about everything else from here) and we have to export them elsewhere.

All aboard? ... Gangway in Please....single up to a slipper cutouts!
Let go!! both thrusters to starboard.....Stop thrusters... slow ahead both. Keep her in the middle coxwain. Half ahead both.
Full away Tmac. Revs for 15 knots please. Yes Yes a case of Black bush on its way to you now.

Chief? Do I put that ten second bit about thrusters in the movement book? He should know by now that we don't have any.