switchlogic:
Ah now having had a brief look through Mucksavgas posts it would appear he was once a fan of my videos! You’ve got to stop taking things so personally, I only called you an idiot, hardly the worst thing ever. And you must admit if you read back through your posts on this topic you come across very very badly. Attack attack attack is not a good tatic on a forum, it doesn’t come across well. You could put your point across in a mild and slightly humourous manner and there’s a good chance more people will listen to you and understand your point.
Having read the above post over and over I do believe. I am a changed man. . Thanks switch…
Ps till I have too much vinegar on my chips…
James Bateman2:
I once worked on a dredger on the Manchester Ship Canal !
Beat that suckers 
Enjoy reading about life on the ocean wave Raymundo,keep up the good work. 
I had a spell as a deckhand on the Pelican on the Manchester Ship Canal in the early 70s.
I also did a bit of deckhanding on the sounding boat used by the hydrographic dept to produce depth charts for the Ship Canal, the QEII Oil Dock and the Mersey approach to both.
Yes Raymundo, please keep up the good work, because I find your posts very interesting too.
As for Toby, it seems he’s yet to realise that if he doesn’t like something, he can always skip to something that’s more to his taste.
If it’s that bad, I wonder why he bothers posting replies? 
Hi Raymundo, I know the Red Duchess. I was watching timber wagons load her on Portavadie pier once after I’d been involved with welding up the pier to take the weight (it was knackered!) I also did a stint with the SFPA not long after that and used to see her about the west coast quite frequently so I’ve probably passed you at some point.
Portavadie !!! what a lovely place to put the ship alongside with a breeze of wind and no bow thruster, turn left past the first rock then between the second and the fixed fish farm, hard over to starboard (right hand down) with enough power on to make sure you get around clearing the ferry ramp but not too fast that you cant stop her before the fish farm berth. Simples 
Give me a difficult reverse into a bay anytime, at least you stop think and try again. And Portavadie was relatively easy, Dunvagen Pier is a much more squeeze squeeze oops 
Years ago best job on the Thames was on the bovril boats, but you had to watch someone die before you could get in there, I never managed it.
Bit of a breakdown…
rnli.org.uk/who_we_are/press … tionid=217
On the BBC highlands & islands website 20/6/11 the crew were presented with an award for the saving of the ship. Well done lads I salute you. Thankyou
I don’t think there’s much room for error on Dunvegan pier with an artic either! I know a lad who was running timber to a boat there for MacKinnon Crossal, he said it was a bit of a squeeze.
Yes can be a bit tight withe the fish boxes and associated clutter on both sides and with the timber crane truck with his legs out can make it awkward but at least there is plenty of room ahead as you turn in you can at least have a straight run back
Bit clearer with the Spanish fish wagon
We load about 800/850 ton in the hold and about 400/430 on deck there depending on the timber density and moisture content and also have about 500ton of ballast water for stability.
James Bateman2 wrote:
I once worked on a dredger on the Manchester Ship Canal !
Beat that suckers
Mike Batt (Wombles of Wimbledon Common) fame bought a fair sized boat had it refitted in Ipswich dock complete with grand piano in the main saloon to give him the peace and serenity to compose his music while cruising the Medi. I was offered the job of chief driver by Mike but turned it down cos the money was total crap.
The one I’m on just now takes 630,000 barrels of oil in the cargo tanks (100,000 cubic metres) and 41,000 Tonnes of ballast. Therefore, going by mucksavaga’s way of thinking I must be a much better person than you
It’s also 0.5m longer than the Matco Clyde therefore I must have a larger gentleman’s area than him.
Best accommodation I have ever had was on a small 450 ton dutch built coaster for the captain/owner built in '55. Inlaid rosewood on mahogany and a real leather fitted furniture complete with inlaid roll top bureau, 5 seperate cabins in all but in them days they took their families with them, hence the large amount of room.Smallest of the ones down below I used as a bond locker, my favourite one 
BTW I’ve never thought I am better than others but theres always someone higher up the pecking order who think that they are. I couldn’t do your job on a biggie because I’ve never been on one, but by all accounts anyone could do mine. They’re welcome to try
raymundo:
BTW I’ve never thought I am better than others but theres always someone higher up the pecking order who think that they are.
Couldn’t agree with you more mate. That guy’s posts seem to have hit a nerve with me. To get away from it, a chief mate who I sailed with told me the furthest he’s ever been away from the sea was on a ship! He was way up the Rhine or Danube on a tiny little coaster with a cargo from the UK. And despite his failings as a seafarer being an ex-coaster man 
he was excellent at his job and was highly regarded in the company, as were many other ex-coaster guys. If any of you are wondering what a coaster is, it’s a relatively small ship that dots about between countless ports in northern Europe. Kind of like general haulage tramping on the water really. They carry anything and everything from grain to big bits of quarry equipment.
The furthest south I have been in a truck is Alicante or Malaga, not sure which it is and the furthest east is a trip to Russia for Eagle Freight of Needham Market but with a coaster I did a trip with oil well equipment to a place in the jungle up the Bonny River in Nigeria (hell on earth), and a few trips to the Eastern Medi, ie. Turkey and Greece but mainly I’ve stayed around NW Europe. On one ship new from the yard after we came back from Thesalonika I went on leave which is just as well because she loaded a project cargo (heavy lift) for New York then up to Canada for grain back to the continent. Pleased I was not there 'cos the North Atlantic during winter in a 75mtr 2400 ton wee boat would not be fun. it was called the Adriana, fast for a coaster @12.5 knots but still not for me, summertime? then it would be a different matter but not in the dead of winter. NW coast of Scotland can be bad enough.
Thats bloody typical, two smellies ganging up on a king charles!!. Now let me guess…
.Are you an ex FISHERMAN? ?
Do you live with people who have a legit BRITISH PASSPORT and English is the ‘MOTHER TONGUE’? And don’t mention it has a Red Ensign. .
About size, i was on the Shell Linga (4 months jeddah) and the Rapana. An Ore carrior from Brazil to Taranto in Italy
You go on ships to see the world . Not Teesport
Just read my Mantra, feel better already may your god go with you
mucksavaga:
Thats bloody typical, two smellies ganging up on a king charles!!. Now let me guess…
.Are you an ex FISHERMAN? ?
Do you live with people who have a legit BRITISH PASSPORT and English is the ‘MOTHER TONGUE’? And don’t mention it has a Red Ensign. .
About size, i was on the Shell Linga (4 months jeddah) and the Rapana. An Ore carrior from Brazil to Taranto in Italy
You go on ships to see the world . Not Teesport
Mucksavaga, you are the type of person that I’m glad no longer slip through the gaps and end up at sea making people’s lives a misery. For your information I am not an ex-fisherman, I did a full Cadetship in the merchant navy and sailed as a deck officer on British flagged ships both foreign going and in European waters. The only non British Officers I’ve sailed with were from Canada, New Zealand and a couple from the US. Ok, Brazilians on one ship but that was because the Brazilian government required a certain amount of locals to be aboard for the ship to operate there. I still require to keep my UK Certificate of Competency validated to work on the British ship I send this message from. English is the mother tongue of all those I work with (ok, there’s a few Tee-siders too ). There are still British jobs for British tickets, obviously you fail to make the grade or you wouldn’t be sending nasty bitter comments from the safety of your keyboard. Your clearly unhinged views are in part correct about us being flagged out and British people losing their jobs to foreigners but that was down to Margaret Thatcher decimating the Merchant Navy, not the guys trying to pay the bills and getting what work they could. I don’t doubt you were at sea, I’ve sailed with guys who have spent too long at sea and it’s sent them bonkers. You come across as one of them. I’m sure what makes you rant on an internet forum the way you do are those wee drinks of Brasso now and again for old time’s sake. Take a look back over your posts in this thread and ask yourself, would a normal person say that stuff?
Bloody hell, he’s still at it. One minute he apologises then his loony schizophrenic part of his brain takes over again. Jeez!
I started off on the Lowestoft trawlers after going to sea school but during a trip off the boat I was on it sailed but sadly sunk with the loss of all hands on the Dogger bank during a severe gale. Didn’t fancy going back after that so worked out of Ipswich on the wooden barges and on the lighters etc and went on from there. In those days a ticket was not required but the jungle telegraph was very effective in informing owners of the capabilities of anyone looking for a job, ie. if you weren’t any good you never got the job and I have always had plenty of choice.
My truck driving started out of Felixstowe when the ferry terminal was the two black sheds were there originally built to house the sea planes based there, and the first container berth was being built. And that also went on from there, some time at sea and sometime on the road, doing what I liked and enjoyed and wanted to do at the time.
So in conclusion I must know naff all about the sea and even less about the roads, but it dont make me a bitter sad person who cannot let sleeping dogs lie and get on with their own life.
ps. Brasso is supposed to very very effective to get rid of crabs (so I was told)
I agree entirely, my posts are becoming pathetic.
I’m down south with only my smartphone and tub of swarfega for company and I should cop on, It was only meant to be banter
“Where did i put those tablets”■■?
And I think I coined the phrase ’ keyboard warrior’ on a post about Leon, I might be wrong. AGAIN
GOOD LUCK LADS. I’ m back on the novels. Too much soul searching on forums
To mucksavaga, no hard feelings mate.
A bit of banter is fine by me, luv it but personal insults take a bit of swallowing, just like your tablets! but you really must try harder to get them down.
