My First Ship from Sea School

I joined the M/V Saint Angus in Swansea docks in Feb 1981 as Deck Boy having obtained a sponsership with J&A Gardner and Co Ltd as apprentice class 5 home trade deck officer. Gardners of Glasgow operated a substantial coastal fleet of ships under 1500 tonnes the Saint boats , they also managed the M/V Craigallian, M/V Peacock Venture M/V Edgar Dorman and M/V David Dorman. I went to Leith Nautical College and passed all but chartwork and navigation having sat a two hour gruelling orals. Gardners fleet operated on Home Trade and Middle trade articles but got my first Foreign Going Stamp in Discharge book when payed of M/V Saint Angus at Port Stanley in The Falkland Isles. The ships mainly carried coal and grain cargos which meant extensive hold cleaning. The Saint Angus Brandan and Oran all had roll on roll off capability and carried some interesting deck cargos from submarine rings rolled onboard on giant multi wheeled tralers , heavy plant, special buoy moorings and petrol lead seperators to name a few. The Saint Oran also had six wing tanks on a direct flow system of discharge with by pass valve for the carriage of Calcium Chloride for the food industry and Calcium Bromide for the offshore oil industry  and a 2 ton sliding track self discharge deck crane and often carried quarry aggregares to the Western Isles of Scotland. Barites used as heavy additives in oil well drilling mud being another bulk comodity but a horrible cargo for ships with a bad GM as already rolled like a pig on a wet blanket at the first  sign of any wind with exta weight on deck caused by the reinforced macgregor wire pull hatches with excentric wheels and tension cleats "dog" and wedges it was always a good work out with quick turn arounds and new cargos every few days with never normally more than 3 days at sea it was work hard play hard.These ships keep me gainfully employed and helped to build on basic seamanship tecniques learnt during my 14 week pre sea traing at The N.S.T.C. Gravesend Kent. Reguarly hand splicing wire multiplait and three standed hawser laid natural and synthetic. Making pilot ladders renewing rigging watch keeping painting and general ship cleaning and correspondeace course for mates ticket. I was kept busy to say the least.

Photgraph of M/V Saint Angus Helicopter cargo net discharge by Chinnook  Fox Bay Falkland Isles 1984