Tied to the Mast

This is the story of a life at sea serving in the British, Australian and Hong Kong Merchant Navies. From climbing the gangway into a new life onboard ship in Liverpool 1956 to leaving my last ship in Felixstowe in 1996. From Tramp Ship to Cargo Liner to Passenger Ship to Bulk Carrier to Container Ship with occasional mixtures of the aforementioned. From Deck Apprentice to Master. A story, humourously told, I hope. A story covering not only a life at sea but the tremendous changes that took place within the industry over the 40 years. The old Tramp Ships have gone and the large Container Ships I served on at the end have been dwarfed by the monsters of today. I like to think that I saw this life at its best, before the extremes of regulation regarding alcohol, funnel emissions, ballast control, service periods and working hours and a host of other restrictions came into play. Reports were required on many things when I retired - even more today, I believe the term 'snowed under' applies. I saw the introduction of Health and Safety and saw enough.