Assurity 4
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I had spent so much time on the Assurity, it was near three months now since we had boarded her and it was fast becoming my home.
My cabin was comfortable, it had a bunk ,daybed, writing desk ,wardrobe and a nice wing chair. The bulkhead between the bunk and daybed had a washbasin and the mirror above it had a nice oil lamp that was on a gimble. The brasswork on the porthole and lamp I kept polished to a nice sparkle and I mounted a few prints to give the place some colour. An officer on a pre war ship would have been proud of such a berth,to me it was like a sanctuary from the problems ashore.
We were running around the coast of Europe and Britain ,never touched Ireland or Scotland ; Immingham, Brunnsbuttel, Irlam and ports along the Bristol channel and the Severn were our main ports of call ,with the occasional trip to Donge in France .We were on foreign going articles and so were entitled to our duty frees ,which we took up to our allotted amount. We did?nt have to pay for our food ,as you would on coasting articles, and we had fairly good cooks. I say cooks , because since that unfortunate incident with the cook over little Paddy ,the cook from Down Under got another ship. We had another guy from Hull as cook this time, he was a good humoured guy,not as short tempered with the kids as his predecessor was and he had been deep sea for years.
Someone told him about the ship being haunted and he was very sceptical , he did?nt believe in ghosts and raised the issue of his disbelief more than a few times. He was shown the Roneo?d copies of Dennis Wheatleys letters and said that anybody who believed in that ****e ought to be haunted. Oxymoron or what?
Well one bright and sunny Sunday morning we were steaming down toward the River Loire,the sea was as flat as a pancake and all those off watch were free to make and mend, or just laze about. Our cook chose to have a few moments on his daybed reading his novel. All was quiet save for the steady heartbeat of the engine, some of us were sitting in the mess having a refreshing cup of tea when we heard a crash and a scream. It sounded like something had fallen on someone ,but we were a tanker ,not a cargo boat. We got up to see what had happened when up the companionway came the cook. He looked like he had seen a ghost, and he had ! Or rather he had seen the actions of a poltergeist. He said he was enjoying his book on his daybed and was having a smoke when he noticed the jar of Brylcreem float up off the shelf beneath his mirror ,he thought he was imaging it and then it came flying toward his head. He managed to dive to the deck and the jar smashed against the bulkhead where his head had just been resting. It shook most of us up because up until that moment we had only thought of the ghost as being another sailors yarn.
Before I leave the subject of ghosts I must tell you this tale. The wings of the bridge on the Assurity were different from most ships I had been on, the dodger, that part that curves around from the forepart to the after end of the bridge ,was about 18 inches short of the side ,the navigation lights were set back at the after end of each side.and there was a scupper that ran to the forepart. . We were able to stand outside of the bridgedeck to polish the lamps and do the varnish work. One of the young EDH?s must have studied this and played a near fatal prank on the mate. He was due to relieve his pal on the wheel midwatch on the 4 to 8 in the morning , he got a pair of tights from the ragbag and made his way to the bridge .He did?nt go right up to the bridge deck, he climbed the bridge ladder and clambered over the afterpart by the starboard light and edged his way along below the dodger, until he was level with wheel house . He was five minutes early for his turn at the wheel so no one was expecting him at that moment. He pulled the tights over his head and then raised it above the dodger. He groaned loudly and the mate, who was walking across the wheelhouse ,turned and saw this green apparition moaning like one of the undead. The guy who was waiting at the wheel said he was frightened but the mate, he made a croaking sound and collapsed, one hand clutching his chest and the other pointing to starboard. The relief whipped of the tights and ran to help the mate who slowly came around. The man at the wheel was relieved and got the mate a strong hot cup of coffee. They never ever told that tale until the mate left the ship when he was replaced by the Geordie with the wandering wife.
One run took us to Rays home town and he invited me home to meet his family, they lived in one of those terraced streets that surround the docklands in Tiger Bay. His Dad had been a seafarer, a Yemeni fireman with Smiths of Cardiff,now retired he was the centre of his family and was clearly adored. His mum was one of those indomitable Welsh ladies who could cope with anything ,as we used to say ,she was as sound as a pound. I think he had some brothers but time has erased them from my memory, but he had a sister and she was a beautiful mixture of east and west, her skin was a slight olive colour and her tight black curly hair was as black as midnight. They all made me very welcome and ,as it was Saturday ,insisted I stay for tea before Ray and I went on the town. The atmosphere around the table was lovely ,father sat at the head and his children and wife ministered to his every need .It was like table at Grandmas when I was a boy , good natured and polite. We watched a bit of T.V. and then went to see what Tiger Bay had to delight us with, we got merry and Ray went home and I went back aboard. I was still quite wakeful and so poured myself some duty free and got down to reading my book. About two in the morning Ray came aboard, I saw him as I was on my way to the messroom for a cup of cocoa. He looked distraught and his eyes were red, he had been crying. I asked what the matter was and he said that he had had a row with his mum and dad??..over me. I had mentioned to his mum that I was married but separated, although she never said ought to me then ,she expressed her unhappiness to Ray when he got home. He stood my corner and his dad stood by his mother. It led to an unpleasant row and it near broke Rays heart. That would not be the last time that my marital status would come up against me. I had?nt told my parents or sisters, I was too shamefaced to admit that they had been right in their warnings; but life goes on.
Being mostly in home waters we had a steady to and froing with the crew, a lot of the guys were with us a week or two some like Ray, Big Mick from Lisburn and myself were stayers. Little Paddy ,he di?dnt last very long after an incident in the Bay of St. Brides ,south west Wales . We had hove to there because of a spot of engine trouble and we anchored in mid bay, it was a breezy Sunday morning and was ideal weather for messing about in sailing dinghys. One little two hander hove to under our stern and the man at the tiller called up and asked if we would like a Sunday newspaper from the shop , I was quite pleased and asked if he could get the Observer and Sunday Express, little Paddy came out of the galley and called out ?An? if yer kin ger some of dem feckin Mars bars it?d be feckin great? The mans daughter ,or friend , was shocked by this verbal outrage and the dinghy took off and was never seen again.
Paddy compounded this felony in Lowestoft when he got horribly drunk with one of the JOS.s, I was watchman that night and I heard the racket as the pair of them made their way down the quay to our ship. Paddy was so drunk that his balance was terribly awry, it might look funny in the movies ,but being that drunk near water is fraught with danger. I stood at the top of the gangway to watch as they staggered their way aboard. I stepped down away from the gangway to to let them pass ,the JOS almost fell on the deck as Jimmy made it to the top step of the gangway. His eyes were near closed and he was swaying badly, like a puppet whose strings have been cut ,he collapsed and slid through the gangway chains between the ship and the gangway. We were light ship and were high out of the water, I dived across the gangway and managed to grasp Paddys wrist. He was totally unconscious and was deadweight in my hand , I managed to raise myself to my knees and cried out for help. Paddy was slowly slipping from my grasp. Big Mick appeared behind me and was able to grip Paddys hand, we thus hauled him back on board,dead drunk and out of it. The whole episode had been viewed from amidships and young Paddy was given his marching orders when we got back to Immingham.
We hauled up at Felixstowe a short while after that incident and Big Mick said he would show me his old hunting grounds in Ipswich from when he was stationed in East Anglia with the US Airforce,it proved to be an interesting night out ,but I?ll save that for next time.
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