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2012-02-18_101.jpg2012-02-18_99.jpg2012-02-18_105.jpgPart 7 Ascension Island
26th April we sailed from Freetown & were glad to be gone. The heat was bad but the humidity far worse. Because of the malarial risk we had to take medication for the following month, along with our salt pills. These were left on the table at lunch time so everyone was responsible for their own treatment. I later heard from a friend’s father that he had been stationed in Freetown during WWII & although they never lost a single man to the enemy, they suffered similar levels of fatalities because of disease.
Sailing again was wonderful, our method to air condition our rooms, was to push out some cardboard out of our scuttles to scoop the air in as we raced down south at 11 knots.
The day before we arrived in our next port of call we crossed the line & celebrations were held in the afternoon. Being a cruise ship, albeit many yrs since Uganda would have crossed the line, the entertainment officer had everything planned & it was a far more elaborate affair than on the Grey Funnel line, which is usually a piece of canvas with bilge oil & diesel in it for a pool. There was Neptune, his attending mermaids, the surgeon to perform op’s, the pool water was dyed green. As you can see from the photos everyone turned up & as 90% had never crossed the line previously there were a lot to initiate. I am the one in the Mickey Mouse Tee shirt, which was a souvenir from Disneyland, Anaheim the previous yr.2012-02-18_125.jpg2012-02-18_124.jpg2012-02-18_126.jpg2012-02-18_132.jpg2012-02-18_127.jpg2012-02-18_131.jpg
28th April, as soon as land was sited we went topside & saw the burnt cinder patch come into view. There isn’t much to recommend Ascension Island except as a re-fuelling & storing stop. It’s a bit like a Motorway services cafe of the Trust House Fortes era. Most disappointingly we were never granted shore leave there either. We bobbed about getting stores delivered to us, by a fleet of choppers that were as thick in the air, as wasps around a picnic in mid July. We even saw some Jolly Green Giants (Chinooks) carrying heavy equipment about. 2012-02-18_100.jpg
We still had no Mess & no TV, entertainment was mainly alcohol based. One evening I heard female screams & cheering. Bored I followed the noise until I found a large group of nurses hanging over the ships side, in their tropical white dress uniforms (interesting possible variation on the old golden rivet story). As it was dark, all the ships lights were on to illuminate the Red Crosses. The lights had attracted a large shoal of flying fish that moth like, flew into the ship’s side, falling into the water stunned & the funny bit? The sharks were taking full advantage & slashing through this free bonanza. I say funny, I thought it a bit of a shame the first time I had seen this fabled fish, it was in such an unfortunate setting but it seemed to amuse the ladies. Oh life before humiliation TV.
We did receive our first mail from the UK, which was a big boost. I got a couple from the GF, who told me that all leave was cancelled in the hospital & they were decanting civy patients to make way for the expected service casualties.
Just before we sailed we RAS’ed with the Stenna Seaspread, my first sight of a North Sea Supply vessel; little did I know then as we took onboard her precious cargo of pot water, how frequently I would be seeing them in the distant future.2012-02-18_97.jpg
We departed Ascension on the 30th April, destination off the Falkland Islands. It seemed there was to be war, no turning back now.
26th April we sailed from Freetown & were glad to be gone. The heat was bad but the humidity far worse. Because of the malarial risk we had to take medication for the following month, along with our salt pills. These were left on the table at lunch time so everyone was responsible for their own treatment. I later heard from a friend’s father that he had been stationed in Freetown during WWII & although they never lost a single man to the enemy, they suffered similar levels of fatalities because of disease.
Sailing again was wonderful, our method to air condition our rooms, was to push out some cardboard out of our scuttles to scoop the air in as we raced down south at 11 knots.
The day before we arrived in our next port of call we crossed the line & celebrations were held in the afternoon. Being a cruise ship, albeit many yrs since Uganda would have crossed the line, the entertainment officer had everything planned & it was a far more elaborate affair than on the Grey Funnel line, which is usually a piece of canvas with bilge oil & diesel in it for a pool. There was Neptune, his attending mermaids, the surgeon to perform op’s, the pool water was dyed green. As you can see from the photos everyone turned up & as 90% had never crossed the line previously there were a lot to initiate. I am the one in the Mickey Mouse Tee shirt, which was a souvenir from Disneyland, Anaheim the previous yr.2012-02-18_125.jpg2012-02-18_124.jpg2012-02-18_126.jpg2012-02-18_132.jpg2012-02-18_127.jpg2012-02-18_131.jpg
28th April, as soon as land was sited we went topside & saw the burnt cinder patch come into view. There isn’t much to recommend Ascension Island except as a re-fuelling & storing stop. It’s a bit like a Motorway services cafe of the Trust House Fortes era. Most disappointingly we were never granted shore leave there either. We bobbed about getting stores delivered to us, by a fleet of choppers that were as thick in the air, as wasps around a picnic in mid July. We even saw some Jolly Green Giants (Chinooks) carrying heavy equipment about. 2012-02-18_100.jpg
We still had no Mess & no TV, entertainment was mainly alcohol based. One evening I heard female screams & cheering. Bored I followed the noise until I found a large group of nurses hanging over the ships side, in their tropical white dress uniforms (interesting possible variation on the old golden rivet story). As it was dark, all the ships lights were on to illuminate the Red Crosses. The lights had attracted a large shoal of flying fish that moth like, flew into the ship’s side, falling into the water stunned & the funny bit? The sharks were taking full advantage & slashing through this free bonanza. I say funny, I thought it a bit of a shame the first time I had seen this fabled fish, it was in such an unfortunate setting but it seemed to amuse the ladies. Oh life before humiliation TV.
We did receive our first mail from the UK, which was a big boost. I got a couple from the GF, who told me that all leave was cancelled in the hospital & they were decanting civy patients to make way for the expected service casualties.
Just before we sailed we RAS’ed with the Stenna Seaspread, my first sight of a North Sea Supply vessel; little did I know then as we took onboard her precious cargo of pot water, how frequently I would be seeing them in the distant future.2012-02-18_97.jpg
We departed Ascension on the 30th April, destination off the Falkland Islands. It seemed there was to be war, no turning back now.
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