All were womenand children in the boat apart from
those of us men from the Engleheart. Most of them I knew individually, and had been
shipmates withthem on different ships of the Line. A fewbuckets of water over them
and then they were left to recover.
Every wave threatened to comeover the bows of our
overloaded lifeboat and swamp us.
Im not particularly fond of Bridge, immediately
after breakfast,even if there was a War.
Itmust have been a curious psychology that governed
the managers of thatmagnificent Line. The conditions under which firemen laboured in
these boats, wereinhuman. Yes, caught, all right, but perhaps with the sharp edge of
a shovel.
Take it round with me when Imsounding ship? Was it
not possible that he might have climbed on to an iceberg?
We sailed away merrily into the teeth of a S.
Forcing the Merchant Service man into Navy ways was almost as hard asmaking water
run uphill. This type reached its peak in the days of the old MAJESTIC and TEUTONIC.
In this amazing attitude she remained for thespace of half a minute. We started
together, and if need be, well finishtogether. Fortunately, none of them realised
how near we were to being swamped. Well, I pointed out, it would depend greatly on
weather conditions.
Once the word was given to hoist away and up into
the air they went. Wed try and make for an hotel and get some
inwardcomfort.
Still, I think we parted very good
friends.
If a sea got up it was going to take all my
knowledgeof boat-craft to keep her afloat. In fact, theOCEANICS records for steady
and consistent running have never beenequalled.
Personally, I had no desire that blame should be
attributedeither to the B. This type reached its peak in the days of the old
MAJESTIC and TEUTONIC.
Still, I think we parted very good
friends.
And if I looked as big a fool as I felt, then Id
need to besorry for the success of our venture.