Smudger Snippets
Created | Updated Feb 9, 2006
I suppose it's because I have so much time on my hands these days that all these memories come flooding back to me.
Another New Year
Well here we go! Another New Year to face and just ponder a while
to think what it will bring into our lives? Over the years I have seen in a few New Years and have wanted different things to happen in them as my ideals changed over the years. My first car, or first mortgage and so on, until I had ticked in all the boxes that we all seem to go through as we make our way through life in general. That also includes those boxes that we would rather not go through, but still the experience only adds to your determination to complete the course.
I was just thinking about all the previous New Year Eves that I had been through in the past, as I sat in our house with only minutes to go before the chimes. We sat quietly together, myself and my wife, both stone cold sober, but not through choice but more through doctors orders due to the medication we are both on for our various ailments, as the years that have gone by have brought ill heath to us both.
It was during this time that the memory of this particular New Year came back to my mind. It was New Years Eve back in 1971 and I was on board the Yacht in the middle of the Bay of Biscay, making our way to the Far East. This, alone, was disconcerting to me as I had just flown home from the Gulf, after spending two years out there, to join the Yacht. Yet here I was heading straight back out again, so you could say my heart was not fully into this trip at all. I had pulled the middle watch which was midnight till four AM on a dark night with a storm blowing. How lucky could I be? Mind you, we never had any beer ration on board as we had our own bar where we could drink as much as we liked. So that, alone, helped my mood a great deal as I made my way up top, feeling very relaxed, to do my middle watch on deck duties. These would include doing look out on the bridge wing as well as a spell on the helm
steering the ship and standing by the life raft at the stern, should anyone fall over board.
On the stroke of midnight I was sent up onto the bridge to relieve
the sailor who was doing look out and had spent the past half hour stuck outside on the bridge wing getting soaked from the waves as they crashed over the bows of the ship. His only protection from this weather was a full length Navy grey coat which was three times its weight due to the amount of water it had soaked up. He wished me all the best as he handed over the binoculars to me and we exchanged a few of the naval pleasantries as he left, heading for his warm hammock.
I had only been out on the bridge wing a few moments, when the officer of the watch opened the sliding glass door and beckoned me in from the freezing wind and rain. I thought to myself that he had taken pity on me and was going to allow me to finish my stint on the bridge itself, so I rushed in closing the door to the howling wind outside. I must have looked like a drowned rat standing there shivering as the water dripped from my coat forming a puddle all around me on the wooden deck. My hopes of being asked to stay on the bridge were dashed however; as he poured some gin into a glass while telling me that this was his way of sharing the festive occasion with us all before going back to our duties.
Well, as I mentioned earlier, I already had a few drinks before coming on watch and I must admit that gin had never been a favourite tipple of mine in the past, yet on this special occasion, and bearing in mind that it would help keep the cold out when I went back out onto the wing again, I drank it down quickly, after sharing the toast with him.
No sooner had I drunk it, and with the horrible taste still in my mouth, when I felt a rumble coming from my stomach. It seemed that this nip of gin did not mix very well at all with the few beers that I had drunk earlier and this horrible feeling that I was about to bring the contents of my stomach up came over me. In fact I knew exactly what was about to happen along with an inkling that it was going to happen very soon!
With this mind, I made my excuses to the officer of the watch and made my way down the bridge steps with so much haste that I never even heard the officers reply giving me permission to leave. I knew that there was a head1 at the bottom of those steps on the left hand side, as I had used it earlier while doing my stint as helmsman.
As soon as I had landed on the deck at the bottom of the steps I flung the door wide open and dashed in hoping to make it on time as I did not want to be sick on the deck and bring shame on myself. It was only then did I notice that there was someone sitting on the head; he seemed some what surprised at my expedient entry, as he sat there reading a paper. He was even more surprised when I grabbed him and threw him bodily outside where he landed rather heavily due to his trousers being wrapped around his ankles.
It was only then, when I knew that I had made it, that I allowed nature to take its course. I tried my best to do so ever so quietly so as not to bring attention to myself. The poor bloke who had been sat in there earlier was now fully dressed and, indeed, seemed to sympathise with my predicament as I tried my best to apologise between bouts of retching. The whole matter between us was soon settled and I made my way back up to the bridge, collected my binoculars, thanked the officer for his generous offer and made my way back out onto the wing to face the
storm once again as if nothing happened at all. I must admit, I did feel a lot better afterwards and was indeed glad to be out of the bridge as I did not have to explain my reason for my very sudden disappearance.
I visited the Yacht earlier this year, where I had made arrangements to meet up with an old ship mate that I had not seen for thirty two years. We met quite by chance on an internet site for ex service personnel, and arranged a reunion. As we toured the ship taking in all the old sites as went around, we both had a lot of catching up to do and, in fact, it was quite an emotional reunion. Yet when we arrived at the stairs leading up to the bridge we stopped outside the door of the head and I asked him if he still remembered the night that I burst in and threw him off the head on that New Years Eve of 1971. We went our separate ways a short time later, but still keep in touch with Emails and the odd phone call.
