Sea Year - 1967 - The South and East Africa Run

Sophomore year (3rd Class year) was Sea Year.  Cadets sailed on commercial merchant ships for the entire academic year.  My first ship was the African Meteor, a Farrell Lines C-4 (C4-S-58a, 575 feet long, built at Ingalls Shipbuilding in Pascagoula, MS).  I could not have asked for a better ship on which to start my Sea Year.  Built in 1962, she was in excellent condition and her crew was outstanding.  Capt. George R. Hickey was the Commodore of the Farrell Lines fleet and as such had the ability to hand-pick his officers.  He chose wisely.  Chief Mate Gerry Purslow, Second Mate John Finley, and Third Mates Dave Hutchins and Doug Torborg were all very good tutors.  I was assigned to the 4 to 8 watch with John Finley.  He could navigate with the best of them and taught me an efficient and accurate way to take stars.  Celestial navigation using a sextant was the primary means of ocean navigation in those days.  American ships were commonly fitted with LORAN but the range and coverage were limited so once a ship got a couple of days offshore, the only reliable navigation instrument available was the sextant, weather permitting.  I really enjoyed celestial navigation, especially taking the "noon" sight.  Most landlubbers think noon is 12:00.  It is not.  Noon is when the sun reaches its highest point at your location so the clock time is different depending on where you are.  On ships, the time of LAN (Local Apparent Noon) is calculated to the second for your position.  At that immediate time, the sun will either be exactly north or south of you.  By using a sextant to measure the angle of the sun, you can accurately determine your latitude.  Working the LAN sunline formula backward prior to noon allows you to pre-calculate the approximate angle of the sun.  The sextant can then be set to this angle.  When taking the sight, you can watch the sun move through the shaded and magnified telescope and it is easy to tell when it has reached its apex.  At that instant,

The Sextant

you click a stopwatch and head for the chart room to check the chronometer time.  The stopwatch time is applied to the chronometer time to calculate the exact second the noon sight was taken.  By doing the necessary pre-calculations ahead of time, a good navigator can determine the noon latitude in only a few minutes.  On the African Meteor, Captain Hickey had a contest every day to see who could do it the fastest.  It was not uncommon for there to be four of us taking the noon sight simultaneously.  The winner was usually the one who reached the chronometer first.

Our first port of call was Mocamedes, a port in southwest Angola.  The ship had never called at this port before.  The cargo to be discharged included three locomotives.  Good thing the ship was fitted with a heavy lift cargo boom because the locomotives weighed 55 tons each. Mocamedes was not a well-protected port.  It was a bay open to the ocean swell which caused the ship to surge up and down the dock, making it very difficult to line up the locomotives with the railroad tracks on the shore.  When the ship's crane lifted up the locomotives and swung them outboard, the ship would list to starboard with the heavy off-center weight.  Many times as the locomotives were lowered toward the tracks the ship would move and throw off the alignment.  Many of our mooring lines broke under the strain.  On the stern, ships carry an emergency towing wire approximately 3 inches in diameter.  We deployed this wire to the dock to help stabilize the ship.  It worked.  The ship's motion alongside was reduced and the three locomotives were able to be successfully landed.  This entire operation lasted around 24 hours.  In all my later years at sea, this was the only time I ever saw the emergency towing wire used.

S/S African Meteor

Other cargo for discharge at Mocamedes included bales of used clothing.  The longshoremen were imported from inland tribes, were very poor and came aboard in tattered clothing.  They broke open a few bales and when they left were all wearing several layers of "used but good" clothes.  Containerization was only in its infancy and the Meteor carried none so cargo pilfering was expected.  It just had to be kept to a minimum.  One longshoreman came up to me wringing his hands.  I didn't understand what he wanted and thought he needed work gloves.  I gave him mine which brought a huge smile to his face.  I figured out later that he was probably just asking for a bar of soap.

After departing from Mocamedes, we headed south for Cape Town.  It was springtime in the Southern Hemisphere and the weather was good.  The gentle pitching of the ship caused by the Benguela Current was not at all unpleasant.  Cape Town, South Africa, is one of the most picturesque cities I have ever seen.  It's a small city dwarfed by Table Mountain.  It was not too long a walk to the cable car station but it wasn't running either time we went so I never made it to the top. Apartheid was in effect in South Africa during the 60's.  It was common to see public signs for white and non-white access.  We only spent one day in Capetown.  One day was not long enough.

Cape Town Cable Car Station 1967

Aerial View of the Cape Peninsula 1967

The Cape of Good Hope is commonly thought to be the southernmost point in Africa.  Actually, Cape Agulhas, located about 100 miles southeast of Cape Town, is the southernmost point.  It is the meeting point of the Atlantic and Indian Oceans.  The confluence of their currents, Benguela and Agulhas respectively, can cause dangerous sea conditions.  Luckily, due to the time of the year, the Cape Rollers, as they are called, were not bad during our transit of the area.  Our second port of call in South Africa was Port Elizabeth.  We were only in for a day but it was long enough to go make a quick trip ashore.

Port Elizabeth 1967

Downtown East London 1967

East London was our third port in South Africa.  There was a cove within walking distance of the dock and the surf was perfect.  The Engine Cadet, Denny Gross, and I spent the afternoon body surfing.  A few of the locals came out to watch but we were the only ones in the water.  We found out later that it was not a good idea to swim there because there were no shark nets protecting the area.  We had such a good time, even if we'd known about the sharks we probably would have still done it.
 

Ships docked along the Durban waterfront - African Meteor in the middle

Our last port of call in South Africa was Durban.  We spent 4 or 5 days there.  Durban was a good-sized city with a bustling port.  In addition to being a busy port cargo-wise, it was also a port where ships came to take on bunker fuel.  Doug Torborg, one of our Third Mates, was engaged to a girl from South Africa. She had cousins who lived in Durban.  Doug arranged for Denny Gross and I to spend a day at the beach with his fiance's cousin and her friends.  I don't remember the cousin's first name but her last name was Wilson.  She and her friends were nurses at the Entabeni Nursing Home.  One of her friends, Jean Scott, and I hit it off together.  We went to dinner at the Wilson's and then took in a movie.  Mr. and Mrs. Wilson were very nice.  He invited me to play golf at the Royal Durban course during the ship's return stop.  Unfortunately the ship fell behind schedule later in the voyage and on the westbound leg we only stayed overnight in Durban so the golf outing never happened.  I was disappointed.  Denny and I made one more trip to the beach during the eastbound voyage.  The beach had shark nets but the waves were not as good as those in East London.  We walked down the beach to a nearby snake farm. The outdoor portion consisted of a grassy area surrounded by a moat and a four foot wall.  It was loaded with snakes.  Many were so well camouflaged they could only be seen when they moved.


If it seems like cadets had nothing to do in port but go ashore, that's not true.  Most of the shore excursions happened on weekends when we were not expected to work.  In port, during the week, we worked 8 to 5 assisting the mates and engineers on watch.  The Meteor had seven cargo holds, not all of which were opened at any one time.  Usually three or four holds were worked simultaneously.  Ships' holds customarily consisted of three compartments, the upper tween deck, lower tween deck and lower hold.  There were two means of access to these holds, a ladder over the hatch coaming and a ladder in the mast house.  Because mast houses were normally kept locked, the access ladders most frequently used were the ones over the coaming.  A coaming is the vertical steel plating around the perimeter of a cargo hatch opening.  Four or five feet in height, the coaming prevents the ingress of water and also serves as framework on which the hatch cover rests.  Climbing over the coaming on the Meteor was an adventure because when you looked into the open hatch, it was a three deck drop to the bottom.  The ladder started straight until just below the level of the main deck, then it angled outboard toward the ship's side meaning you had to hang over the open hold while you fished for the next set of steps with your feet, then climb a few angled steps still suspended over the hold before reaching the next vertical ladder section.  Climbing up the ladder wasn't so bad but going down from the main deck to the upper tween deck took some getting used to.  On the Meteor, the hatches were served by port and starboard cargo booms fixed to the top of the mast houses.  Number four hold, located just forward of the superstructure, was also served by a jumbo (heavy lift) boom.

After Durban, we headed for Lorenco Marques, now known as Maputo, Mozambique.  We anchored off shore for a day awaiting berth.  Communication with the port was done by signal light, proficiency in Morse Code being a required skill in those days.  We docked at berth #1, literally 100 yards from town.  Going ashore couldn't have been more convenient.  In fact, we usually went ashore for lunch.  There was a bar right outside the gate where we'd have a sandwich and beer.  Drinking was not a problem on the Meteor.  In fact, it was common to have beer for coffee time.  It was sold onboard for $0.15 a bottle.  The fridge in the coffee room was kept well-stocked and there was a list you checked off every time you took one.  Everyone settled up at the end of the voyage.  Denny Gross and I had been warned about the "working" girls in Lorenco Marques.  They were brought in from nearby Swaziland and hung out in the bars near the port.  We were able to fend off their advances and enjoy our beer in peace.  Because the Meteor called there every voyage, the bar girls knew many of the officers and had pet names for them.  In particular, the First Engineer, a very heavy man, was called Mafuta, which, in tribal language, meant "large."

Hotel des Voyageurs nightclub - Tamatave

We spent 3 or 4 days in Lorenco Marques, then headed across the Mozambique Straits to the island of Madagascar.  We called at three ports in Madagascar, Tamatave, Manakara, and Mananjary, none of which was on our original schedule.  Farrell Lines had just begun service to Madagascar.  As such, the Tamatave port officials were wined and dined onboard.  The next day, they returned the favor by taking several of us out to lunch at a nearby beach.  One thing I have not yet mentioned about the African Meteor is that she carried twelve passengers.  There was a large passenger lounge on board and they dined in the Officers' Dining Room.  Most of the passengers were elderly.  One passenger, Mrs. Hickey, was making her third voyage on the ship.  She was a widow and was not related to Captain Hickey.  She was a character and got along well with everyone.  Every evening at sea, there was a cocktail party for the passengers in the Captain's day room.  We cadets acted as bartenders.  Captain Hickey loved his martinis and we were taught how to make them his way, a glass of gin hit with a quick burst from a spray can of vermouth, so basically he drank straight gin.  Even with his appetite for liquor, I never saw Captain Hickey impaired.  He could handle his booze.  One thing I remember well were his instructions on how to sign one's name to any official document, make the signature illegible.  He claimed that if you signed that way when you were sober, no one would be able to tell when you were drunk.  Another of the passengers was know as "the Major," which apparently had been his military rank.  He could not hold his liquor.  The Major was lazy.  He used to pay one of the seamen to shave him every day.  The only other remarkable passengers were a mother and daughter.  They were elderly and very elderly and were given the cruel nicknames of "Walking Death" and "Death," respectively.  Their cat also made the voyage.

Anyway, back to Madagascar.  Prior to entering Tamatave, we anchored for several days.  There were a couple of other ships anchored there as well.  During our stay at anchor, a sailor from one of the neighboring ships was killed by a shark when he decided to go for a swim in the anchorage.  One other note about Tamatave, after my Sea Year ended, I decided to go through all my National Geographic magazines to see if I could find articles on any of the ports I had visited.  Darned if there wasn't a very informative article on Tamatave.  After leaving Tamatave, we called at Manakara and Mananjary.  I wouldn't call them ports.  They were more like coastal villages. We had to anchor off shore and discharge our cargo into barges which were then towed ashore.

Our next port was Dar Es Salaam, Tanganyika.  Tanganyika and Zanzibar eventually became one country, Tanzania.  When passing by the island of Zanzabar, the smell of spice was clearly evident.  Dar Es Salaam was a decent sized port.  On arrival, we anchored in the harbor.  There was another Farrell Lines freighter already anchored there, the Australian Reef, a World War II era C-2.  One night, the two crews got together at the local seaman's club and tried to out-drink each other.  One of the officers on the Australian Reef must have been named Darrell because after we got back to the ship, one of our guys took the bullhorn from the navigating bridge and shouted "Darrell is sterile" many times across the harbor.

Occasionally vendors were allowed on board the ship to sell their wares.  Dar Es Salaam was the best place to buy native crafts.  Cadets only earned $115 a month and I spent most of mine buying hand-made ebony wood carvings of African animals.  One of the vendors offered to take a few of us to his factory so we could see how they were made.  The workmanship was incredible.  The workers sat on the ground with logs between their legs and, using only crude hatchets, hacked out amazing works of art.  Among my purchases were a 3 foot lion with a red tongue and a 15 pound elephant.  I still have them today although I have lost the elephant's ivory tusks and a few of the lion's ivory toes.  Another of my purchases was a three foot tall ebony statue of a bare-breasted tribal woman.  I gave it to my brother Rob.  He once told me he had to hide the statue in the closet when guests came over because his young son used to call the statue "mommy."

Our next port was Mombasa, Kenya. This was where our real adventure was supposed to begin.  The Captain had always wanted a crew member to climb Mount Kilimanjaro. The officers had taken up a collection and were sending Denny and I to do the deed.  The ship routinely spent 4 or 5 days in Mombasa and 4 days was what we needed.  Wouldn't you know that because of the unscheduled time spent in Madagascar, the ship's time in Mombasa was reduced.  Instead of climbing Mt. Kilimanjaro, we were sent on a 2 day safari to Tsavo National Park.  In all, four of us went, Mrs. Hickey, the Radio Officer, Denny and myself.  The tour vehicle was a Volkswagen bus type van painted with zebra stripes.  The roof opened for better viewing.  We toured both Tsavo East and Tsavo West,  One of the first stops was Mzima Springs.  This is where I learned what a pain in the butt monkeys can be.  They jumped all over the van looking for food and wouldn't leave us alone.

Tsavo Inn

We spent the night at the Tsavo Inn in the park.  The beds had mosquito netting covers.  The second day we drove through much of the park.  Our driver liked to drag race the water buffalo and they seemed to like it too.  One of the more interesting sights were the red termite mounds.  I'd never seen anything like them.  Tsavo is best known for its elephant population and there were plenty of them.  Along with the other game animals one would expect to see, we saw a couple of rare black rhinos.  We did not, however, see any lions. 

Mombasa Bathing Beauty

After our return, we spent one more day back-loading in Mombasa before beginning the westbound leg of the voyage. Our cargo consisted mainly of coffee and tobacco.  I remember three things about Mombasa.  First, there were giant artificial elephant tusks spanning the road at the entrance to the city.  Second, the people were an attractive lot, many having come from the Seychelles Islands. They had caucasian features and were very tan.  Lastly, they had music videos long before we did. The jukeboxes didn't just play music, they had built-in video screens. They were 10 years ahead of MTV.

One thing we started to notice in the East African ports was evidence of prior visits by Kings Point cadets.  It was common to see "KPS" (Kings Point Sucks) scrawled on the men's rooms walls.  This was later seen, and re-written, in many ports throughout the world.  KPS is actually found in the Urban Dictionary where it is explained as "while KPS is often what students feel during bad times at the Academy, it is the tying factor for all students, past and present. The brotherhood of KPS is something no other college in the world can make a claim to.  It is written in bars and common port areas all over the world.  Most students, during their allotted time at sea will carve KPS somewhere they have been."  It was a King Point cadet's personalization of the popular graffiti expression "Kilroy was here." 

We picked up an English family in Mombasa.  They were moving from Kenya to South Africa and were only on board as far as Durban.  I remember them because they had their pet dog with them, a beautiful Alsatian.

Walvis Bay sand dunes

On the return voyage, we stopped again at Lorenco Marques, Durban, Cape Town, Walvis Bay in South West Africa (now Namibia), and Luanda, Angola.  Walvis Bay lies on what has been called the "skeleton coast" due to the many bones washed up there from the whaling industry as well as the skeletons of ships that had run aground.  The sand dunes just outside the port were immense.

Luanda freighter docks

Luanda was our last African port and my least favorite.  It was a large city and you could see that parts had once been nice.  It wasn't nice in 1967.  The city felt like it was under martial law.  There were armed troops everywhere and they didn't appear to be friendly.  I went ashore for a short while but didn't stay long.  The ship was at anchor and it was necessary to take a launch back and forth.  Unfortunately for me, the launch broke down and I wound up having to spend the night on the docks, sleeping on some burlap bags full of coffee beans.  The ocean crossing back to the States was uneventful with the exception of me turning 21.  It wasn't that big of a deal because I lived in New York where the drinking age was 18.

I had joined the Meteor in Brooklyn and we had sailed directly to foreign shores.  Freighters routinely made coastwise US trips in between their foreign voyages.  Our first port after Luanda was Savannah, Georgia.  It was also common for a replacement Chief Mate to take over for the regular Chief Mate to let him get some well-earned time off.  Our new Mate, a Kings Pointer himself, had a whole different routine for me.  No more watch standing, I was now a deck worker.  It was a disappointing end to what had been a fantastic voyage.  After having experienced almost three months of exceptional professional development, I spent my last week on the Meteor sweeping out cargo holds.  I think this Mate must have been given a hard time during his own Sea Year because he went out of his way to make things difficult for me.  By the time we returned to Brooklyn, I was ready for another ship.

Somewhere in the Atlantic Ocean 1967

I gained seventeen pounds during my three months on the Meteor.  The food was excellent, especially breakfast.  I'm partial to hash and eggs and ordered it frequently.  Chris, the waiter in the Officer's mess, seemed to be able to read my mind and would order for me.  Whenever I'd walk in to the mess hall, he'd call down to the galley and say "Send up the Deck Cadet's."   Had I wanted to sail on freighters instead of oil tankers, I would have chosen the Farrell Lines South African run.

The African Meteor was "mothballed" to the Ready Reserve Fleet in 1980 and is currently scheduled for scrapping.  She remains one of the finest ships on which I was privileged to sail.

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