Quote:
Originally Posted by phil saul
Talk of the Blue Funnel catering shore-gang certainly brings back some memories.
I can recall doing a 'one-day stow' on one ship, which as the term implies meant fully storing a ship in one day.
This particular day was a typical wet, miserable, Birkenhead winters day and we had a big gang working.
All the guys on the gang were smokers except me and the 'working-boss' was a Welsh guy who had just been made up to Chief-Steward from Chief-Cook and I had done a couple of trips with him.
All morning long guys were asking me to cover them while they went for a smoke and at one stage I asked some-one to cover me while I had a break. As I was heading up the companionway the boss said to me "where are you going?" You don't smoke! Get back to work."
Told him I had to go for a p*ss, and made sure it was a long one.
Happy days, which they really were.
Regards Phil  |
Phil, Did you ever bump into that crowd of Liverpool Chinese catering lads who did no deep sea, only coasting and shore gang work.
They all came from Liverpool's Chinatown and were more scouse than the scousers.
I had some laughs coasting with them, all larger than life characters who were great lads to go ashore with. They could even pull the girls in places as miserable as Newport, which takes some doing!
Their leader was an Errol Flynn lookalike named Ronnie Chan, who could charm the birds out of the trees. I last saw Ronnie in the Temple Bar in Dale street with an entourage of girls hanging on his every word. That was in 1970.
Regards,
Pat