Twenty Years Before the Antenna Mast

Trip: Thirty Seven and Thirty Eight

Call Sign: VRCW

Company: CP

Specs: 42445 GRT

Joined: Long Beach 26/5/82

Resigned Articles: Lulea Sweden 12/7/82

Departed: Kobe Japan 21/10/82

A week or so before joining the ship, I had an amateur radio contact with a radio amateur living in Los Angeles. I was invited to stay with him for a few days and so arranged with the Company to fly out a few days early. This lanky guy over 6ft tall picked me up at the airport, dressed in cowboy boots and a big hat. He had told me I couldn't miss him. He was right! As he was a member of the police force, he took me into the depths of the LA police department as a guest, as well as a LA Courtroom where he had to appear as a witness. He had been on a drug's raid and had secured Heroin, which he had to produce as evidence. He lived just outside LA in a nice home with two huge black poodles. Don't let anyone tell you they are lap dogs. These two were almost the size of Great Danes, and guarded the property possessively. They were very friendly when they had got to know me, but I would not like to meet them without introduction! His beat was the Long Beach port area, which was very rough. This was before it had been cleaned up, and had a lot of red light areas, strip clubs and dubious hangouts. He also trained newly appointed police officers and instructed police car drivers. He was an interesting guy to know, and I got an insight into the seedier side of American life, which would not have been possible without knowing him. I rented a car and drove up into the mountains East of LA, intending to have a look at the famous Mt Wilson optical telescope. Unfortunately, it was too early in the season, and the road to the site was not open to the public. Snow was still to be seen in sheltered areas. The scenery though was superb, as was the view from the mountains, looking down over LA.

The car I had rented for this excursion was from a company called "Rent a Wreck" which rented out large second hand cars cheaply. This was still a period of fuel shortages and even Americans were looking towards smaller more economical cars. Large ones tended to get sold off quite cheaply. The one I rented was a Ford-LTD, a massive machine, with a 5 liter V8 engine, an air conditioner which would not have been out of place in a deep freeze, and a thirst which made petrol pumps shrink back in horror! I was not sure how far I would be driving, so decided to fill up the tank. I inserted the nozzle into the right hole and started the pump as normal, then waited. The gallons started to mount up, and after about 25 I began to wonder if I had used the right hole after all, and started worrying about the cost. Even at American prices, it was getting expensive. I stopped at around 35, looking around for any spilled petrol. The tank was still not full! It was worth it though as it drove well, and I ended up taking a group of our officers to Disneyland for a day out.

The radio equipment on this ship comprised the original complement of ITT equipment, including a large 1KW HF/MF AM transmitter with two separate synthesized HF sections (HF and MF) served by a common modulator and power supply. CP had added a synthesized RMT1500 from Redifon with SSB, as the AM transmitter no longer fulfilled the international regulations for HF R/T. They also added an R551 receiver with high stability unit for SSB reception. It made quite an impressive show on entering the radio shack. The ITT receivers had a nice bright digital display from a dot-matrix LED display. The only problem was they became very hot in operation due to the considerable amount of TTL logic inside. Also the dot matrix display IC's proved to be somewhat unreliable, some of the dots going out or flickering which became very annoying. I had to change display IC's several times during my time on this ship.

We loaded a bulk cargo of crushed coal, then made a direct passage, slow steaming to Sweden via Panama, a voyage of around 38 days. My wife, Christine joined passing through the English Channel on route to Lulea via a pilot cutter at Brixham. We had a lovely stay in Lulea, a very pleasant town situated North of the Arctic Circle, where we met a friendly couple through my amateur radio contacts. Christine actually had a swim in the sea up there, A somewhat unusual claim to fame! We both enjoyed the break, and had many lovely walks into town from the ship's berth, enjoying the quiet solitude of the area. Walking around the area, with lots of wild flowers, we were struck by the lack of bees. We could see absolutely none at all. On asking a local, we were told it was too cold during the winter, and there were none. Pollination was thus being carried through and achieved by other hardier creatures of the insect world.

The quiet pause ended and then it was across to Baltimore, where Christine left. Passing then through the Panama Canal, We again loaded a crushed coal cargo in LA. This cargo was very wet, having being stored outside and LA having experienced recent heavy rains. Continual measurements of water content were made during the voyage, as there was a distinct danger of the cargo becoming fluid and dangerous. The effect of a fluid cargo lowers the stability of the ship severely. A measured amount of cargo was put into a heavy container, which looked a bit like a small bomb and thus weight of the cargo was found out. A measured amount of Calcium Carbide was put in, and then it was sealed. The water reacted with the Carbide forming Acetylene gas. The gas pressure inside the sealed container thus being measured by an instrument fixed to it. The pressure being dependent on how much water was in the cargo.

A severe storm on the way across the Pacific forced us right down South of the Hawaiian Islands instead of (as we were weather routed) the Northern Great Circle route. Weather routing was a service offered by a number of companies (and meteorological services). It was supposed to pick the most economical route from A to B bearing in mind the ships performance and the weather forecast. The captain however had the last say, and was not absolutely bound to the route given if he had grounds to doubt the ship's safety. Our Captain refused the routing given, on grounds of safety of the ship, bearing in mind the potentially dangerous state of the cargo. The Charterers' were not amused, as the Southern route is further, requiring a greater amount of time and fuel to their cost. As it turned out the cargo HAD started to separate, there being several feet of water on top when we opened the hatches at the end of the voyage. It was not however too dangerous at that point, but a sign of perhaps what MIGHT have been. Water slopping around in a cargo hold can upset the stability of a ship drastically. The so-called "free surface effect" raises the center of floatation of the ship until it becomes unstable and flops over. It does not require all that much water to do it, as the ferry disaster with the Herald of Free Enterprise dramatically illustrated.

The bad weather forced some work to be done forward to ensure the anchor was stowed correctly. The Captain was worried it might shift and puncture the hull. We hove to, but a huge wave nearly washed the Chief Officer and 3 of our crew overboard. One man broke a leg when he was washed against the deck railings. I was on the bridge at the time and remember seeing only white water on deck, then his head poked above and I could see him frantically hanging on for his life. The Chief Officer had badly bruised arms where he hung on to some hatch cover chains to prevent himself being washed over the side. One of the inflatable life rafts stowed near the bow was under so much water that it thought the ship had sunk. The hydrostatic release operated and the lifeboat inflated itself. It remained tethered to the ship, but being washed up and down the deck by waves breaking on deck didn't do it any good at all, and it was punctured several times. It was impossible to go on deck and lash it down. After this treatment it was irreparable and was scrapped. Just as well we didn't have to use it in earnest, as it didn't inflate properly anyway! It was outdated and was only being kept until we could dispose of it correctly and obtain a new one. We took the rations and seawater lights out to try them ourselves and use them for training.

Seawater lights are small self contained units containing a waterproof lamp housing and a special battery which is completely inert when dry, and can be stored for years when kept sealed. As soon as it is immersed in seawater however, it supplies enough power to light the lamp brightly for quite a considerable time. They were fitted to life rafts, life jackets and life buoys. Normal batteries lose energy and corrode in a very short time, even when in sealed containers. I still have some of the dry rations here at home. The lights however got all used up during subsequent barbecues, parties and even once for an illuminated toilet bowl! It was the first time I had tried lifeboat food. I am glad I never had to live on it! The food was dry and tasteless and the water tasted "tinny" through being in cans for too long. It would however keep one alive for quite a while when in desperate circumstances - probably tastes wonderful during those times.

In Kobe in Japan I met some more radio amateurs after talking to them using the local repeater and my 2meter portable. Some, as I found out later, were part of a local motorcycle club. Unsuspecting, I agreed to meet them outside the port gates as they could not enter the steelworks where we were discharging without a pass. One member of the group had a car in which I was invited to travel. It felt rather strange to be given a motor cycle escort by around 25 young Japanese mounted on large powerful machines. I was escorted to one of their favorite coffee bars where we met up with some other club members. It was a merry meeting with much laughter at our mutual misunderstandings and mistakes in language. We then all traveled to a restaurant where members of another radio club were meeting. I was made very welcome and a great time was had by all.

Shortly thereafter, my relief arrived, and I flew home on leave.