Friendly Cook......!
- captrva
- May 3, 2020
- 2 min read
Page 219: "When the Ship hits the Fan"
Scruffy little "Chantik". Full Indonesian crew except for me and Reg (!) Singapore/Noumea/Norfolk Island to lay the shore ends for the cable layer running the ANZCAN communications cable. Connecting Australia, MZ, and Oz - with the hub on Norfolk. As there is no port in Norfolk Island everything was loaded onboard in Noumea - bit of a squeeze on the little ship! Some good bars in the port area softened the blow! Bar De La Rade..? Norfolk Island is a very pretty place - love to visit it again... Cook (and food) was horrible so we both lived on lashings of new seasons Beaujolais, cheeses and breads from the shops in Noumea! Cook was a real 'fitter and turner' - fit it in the oven, and turn it into shit - and was a bit TOO friendly with the crew!!! Cable shown (cutaway) was encapsulated in 'articulated pipe' then dragged ashore suspended in float bags by bulldozers on the beach in Anson Bay. Pretty much a fuck up ! Best view of Chantik was leaving it to go ashore in a Singapore bum-boat and head home! But they made a stamp to celebrate!
The mighty Chantik....It was a long slow voyage: Singapore, through Torres Strait to Noumea, then Norfolk Island -- and all the way back again! GPS shit itself so morning and evening star sights and noon with a sextant (I was the only one who knew how to use one) and no hot water as the boiler broke down. The Chief Engineer (a lifetime friend) totally carried the job as the Indonesian Engineers were absolutely useless - we both earned our money on this job!
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