A very entertaining story, David. Where did you go from there? Or have we had enough of The Matelot Tales on this truck site?
Retired Old ■■■■:
A very entertaining story, David. Where did you go from there? Or have we had enough of The Matelot Tales on this truck site?
I was only waiting for everyone to stop talkng about ferries, the moment tankers were mentioned I seized the moment. 
I went to Darwin via a very circuitous route which involved a Greek passenger ship, a beautiful Australian heiress (well, she was good looking and I assume she inherited her Irish docker father’s fortune 
) and a spell driving back in Blighty, Steve.
Oh, and by the way, the clock packed up long ago though it still glowers at me from the corner of the room and is right at least twice a day. 
Just makes me realise what a very dull & uninteresting life I’ve led!
Bon nuit, mon brave.
Don’t forget your little yellow ticket and report to the Persur if you want a cabin. 
Stena Forwarder in Holyhead…grew up to become the Baja Ferry California Star, sailing La Paz to Mazatlan in Mexico.
It’s registered in Bari on one side of the stern and La Paz on the other side…only in Mexico.
I am looking forward to hearing more sea man tales. I love ships, seas and sailing and believe I could have been at sea in a former life.
I used to think the Townsend boats from Felixstowe were the epitome of maritime luxury 
I,ve put these pics on before but no one remembered this ferry,my dad went this way to the M/E. Photo,s were taken in Jan 82 (dad passed away in 95 ) but if i remember these are the details Trieste /Koper (Yugo ) to Tartus in Syria no its not the one that went down of the Greek Islands. The guy standing on deck, back of photo says J collins, Its down to you guys to help me now, sorry not much info do your best guys
Wheel Nut:
I am looking forward to hearing more sea man tales. I love ships, seas and sailing and believe I could have been at sea in a former life.I used to think the Townsend boats from Felixstowe were the epitome of maritime luxury
I can remember the time when I got excited at crossing on the Woolwich Ferry Malc, queued for ages down that little road rather than go through Blackwall. and again
Boatchaser:
I,ve put these pics on before but no one remembered this ferry,my dad went this way to the M/E. Photo,s were taken in Jan 82 (dad passed away in 95 ) but if i remember these are the details Trieste /Koper (Yugo ) to Tartus in Syria no its not the one that went down of the Greek Islands. The guy standing on deck, back of photo says J collins, Its down to you guys to help me now, sorry not much info do your best guys
Hullo Boatchaser,
I am afraid I can’t help you with the ferry pictures, That certainly looks like the John Collins that I do remember, he was an Owner Driver and came from either Ashford or Faversham in Kent, Ashford I think. The last time I saw him was in Brian Hoggs Office (Anglo Greek), in Silvertown. That would have been in the mid '80’s. Maybe Charlie (Chazzer) might remember more, he was still doing Greece at the time.
Cheers, Archie.
mushroomman:
Don’t forget your little yellow ticket and report to the Persur if you want a cabin.
AND DON’T FORGET TO SHUT THE BL**DY DOOR 
Strangely enough it wasn’t just the fact that the bow doors were open that sunk the Herald. She had already registered a trip from Calais to Dover with them open. It was the fact that they had to trim the vessel down to fit the ramp at Zeebrugge. This meant that the doors were that much closer to the water. She was late leaving and they put the hammer down earlier than usual so before the trim was corrected the bow wave swept through the car deck.
A sad old tale from The Belfast Telegraph today, anniversary coming up soon.
It seems to me that there are a lot of us here had a little spell at sea before taking to the road myself included !!! it was probably because the life styles were almost …almost similar and ships and trucks get in the blood
here is a photo of a ship which was part of the transport mob I worked for in Saudi depicting both professions
That picture in the Belfast Telegraph is not the Princess Victoria. The bridge superstructure is far too close to the stern and the funnel is the wrong colour. That is almost certainly a cargo ship, not a car ferry.
Jazzandy:
That picture in the Belfast Telegraph is not the Princess Victoria. The bridge superstructure is far too close to the stern and the funnel is the wrong colour. That is almost certainly a cargo ship, not a car ferry.
You’re right Andy, what a bizarre mistake to make, it looks like the paper just grabbed the first library picture that came to hand. You can clearly see the counter stern and rudder, possibly even the screw, clear of the waves. The position of the main superstucture and bridge look as if it could be a tanker to me.
I wonder if this will prompt a detective search for which ship that is?
The Pride of Dover on the cutters beach Aliaga Turkey, awaiting conversion into re-bar.
Spardo:
Jazzandy:
That picture in the Belfast Telegraph is not the Princess Victoria. The bridge superstructure is far too close to the stern and the funnel is the wrong colour. That is almost certainly a cargo ship, not a car ferry.You’re right Andy, what a bizarre mistake to make, it looks like the paper just grabbed the first library picture that came to hand. You can clearly see the counter stern and rudder, possibly even the screw, clear of the waves. The position of the main superstucture and bridge look as if it could be a tanker to me.
I wonder if this will prompt a detective search for which ship that is?
It is the Pass of Drumochter in the picture.
jazzandy, spardo, wheel nut, superb, and knowlegable contributions about a little recorded , (or even known), incident. Thank you all, really informative!
Cheerio for now.
Wheel Nut:
I am looking forward to hearing more sea man tales. I love ships, seas and sailing and believe I could have been at sea in a former life.I used to think the Townsend boats from Felixstowe were the epitome of maritime luxury
Here’s a tale for you Wheel nut 
When I worked for Fed Ex I entered into my second marriage in 1990 and decided to go on a sort of honeymoon to Jersey, only problem was that being the huge fan of alcohol I was, along with a few others on the team including the general manager for Fed Ex Systemline UK they nearly all decided to come on my honeymoon with me One of the drivers who was also one of the best mates I ever had ‘Hop Scotch’ was a very bad sailor and although the trip out was very calm and we had about 2 pints an hour for 14 hours we all felt very well on arrival in St Helier and spent a good week there. The trip back however was the trip from Hell As we stood in the bar on the top deck of the Rozel looking over the harbour wall to see huge waves crashing over them Hop Scotch looked at me and turned green, “I’m already feeling sick, it’s gonna be a rough trip” he said, I persuaded him to open a can and forget about it, 30 minutes later as the ship went up and down like a roller coaster, he ran out to the men’s loo just outside the bar and threw up as he ran through the door, he sprayed the whole room and about 6 occupants with nasty vomit and forced the actual closing of than toilet for the whole voyage. He, his wife, my new wife and everyone except me and the Fed Ex boss was ill and throwing the entire contents of their guts up for the entire 14 hour trip
Hop Scotch’s words when we set foot on land once more ! … “I’ll never get on a f*****g ship again”