top of page
LIFE AT SEA, and everywhere else !
Adventures from around the world


The big adventure...
It was a big adventure as a kid - looks like I copped a 'shiner'? The three brass buttons on our cuffs were called 'snotties' - to stop...
captrva
Sep 26, 2020


Page 27: my book "When the Ship Hits the Fan"
The 'Meat Cleaver' man !
captrva
Sep 25, 2020


Passenger ships, here I come !
"When the Ship Hits the Fan" Didn't take me too long to figure out that a uniform was a valuable piece of equipment - even with no gold...
captrva
Sep 22, 2020


SS ARAMAC
My first mingling with passengers Aramac was a passenger/cargo ship and very popular. I thought I'd died and gone to heaven! It was a...
captrva
Sep 21, 2020


Start and Finish
"When the Ship hits the Fan" My first two ships...and my last two ships! Quite a contrast!
captrva
Sep 20, 2020


Took my motorcycle on the ship with me.
Honda 750/4 - great bike and we could buy them cheaply in Ueno, Tokyo. Went around every country on Victorian number plates! Thats it on...
captrva
Sep 19, 2020


WAHINE
Page 61: "When the Ship hits the Fan" Wahine Salvage Wahine was a nice looking ship for its day - quite a tragedy with 50 people lost. I...
captrva
Sep 18, 2020


Page 53: "When the Ship Hits the Fan"
First 'proper' job: un-certificated 4th Mate- about as low down the totem pole as you can get!
captrva
Sep 17, 2020


ss "Arafura" swimming pool !
My first ship, and the swimming pool that was made up on sea passages!
captrva
Sep 12, 2020


Page 45 of "When the Ship Hits the Fan"
A longtime seafriend Alan just sent me this picture showing the horses penned up on the deck of our general cargo ship heading for the...
Captain Rob Anderson
Sep 11, 2020


Page 179: "When the Ship hits the Fan"
There it is ! The amazing alcohol-free Gyspy caravan with Major in the background! Never, ever again!!!!!
Captain Rob Anderson
Sep 4, 2020


Cathay and Chitral - my own private yachts!
Got off the cargo ships and hoped across to Cathay and Chitral - cargo/passenger ships on the Far East run - great times !! Cathay and...
captrva
Sep 2, 2020


G4M 'Betty Bomber" Rabaul
Rabaul was a regular port and we used to go into the jungle to look at the old wartime wrecks. This one is a Misubishi G4M 'Betty'...
captrva
Sep 1, 2020


Paddle Boat
In between jobs, and struggling for a dollar, I drove the paddle steamer Pyap for a few weeks. I didn’t have the right license (which is...
captrva
Aug 30, 2020


Page 80: Hatch Brothers Emporium
Thats how cargo was stowed and carried before containers came along. Piece by piece, one at a time - sometimes the crates or cartons...
captrva
Aug 29, 2020


The Patch
"When the Ship hits the Fan" A normal day in the Bass Strait "Patch", and a normal day on the NW Shelf out of Broome. Shorts and no shirt...
captrva
Aug 28, 2020


page 82: my book "when the Ship Hits the Fan"
I discover "The Patch".
captrva
Aug 27, 2020


Page 97: "When the Ship hits the Fan"
The mighty Bongo, legally seats 2, but easily capable of carrying 12 drunken sailor-men to the 'Welshpool Hilton" - which must have made...
captrva
Aug 26, 2020


This is where it all started.........?
Bass Strait Oilfield. I 'found' this when I was Harbour Master for Gippsland Ports. In 1924, the Lake Bunga No1 well, located five...
captrva
Aug 25, 2020


Offshore gear
Page 83 of my book "When the Ship hits the Fan" - You work with pretty heavy gear Offshore !
captrva
Aug 21, 2020
bottom of page


