Really foreign

 I puzzled over what Colin had told us last night. Whites tomorrow! Well, as we neared the eastern end of the Mediterranean and Port Said, it was certainly warmer. Grandpa had helped me with my uniform shopping as Dad was at sea, so I had some white clothes. Time to dig them out and get ready for tomorrow.

First there was the short sleeve shirt with holes for epaulets on both shoulders. Attaching the epaulets was relatively simple, the laces go through the holes and are tied on the inside of the shirt. Quite grand with a single gold bar along the length of the epaulet much better than the lapel flashes of the blue winter jacket.

Then there were the shorts. Seemed to be a little long as they came to my knees but apparently that was the style.  Fastened with two buckles at the front, “Empire builders” Colin said. Especially important that they were not too short but also that they were not too wide. He told us that once as the ship came into port, the Captain with his wide empire builder shorts caught the heel of his shoe in the back of the shorts and went “arse over  tit” as we say. Just as he was about to greet the pilot!

No, mine were fine. Then there is the long white socks and the white suede shoes. Do not forget to “blanco” them, said Colin! What does that mean us first tripper shouted?

He passed us a bar of what looked like white soap and said: Get a brush, a little water and brush this white compound onto to your shoes. When it dries, they will be white and beautiful!! Cleaning shoes was never my most popular activity but to have white shoes, what next. Soldiers have used blanco for centuries so today we call it “to blanco your equipment”, said our much more experienced 18- year-old senior apprentice as he lit up his pipe. In your case your shoes. You will need to do it nearly every day!

Well there is a first time for everything, but I am not liking this bit at all.

Next morning, we duly dressed in our whites and all the officers similarly shone in their bright clean tropical uniform.

Here we all are. Note some lacked the white suede shoes and not everyone had their socks rolled up.

Nevertheless, we were now in our tropical rig. This is a later voyage and I am the one with a pipe, now a third mate. The apprentices are sat in front.

Later I learnt that “whites varied” from company to company. For instance, P&O and the Orient Line had quite different and very formal rigs. Perhaps because they were passenger ships, they had long white trousers, a white jacket with a white shirt and black tie. Must have been uncomfortably hot in the Red Sea!!

Of course, “whites were for watchkeeping” and not for daywork., For this we had khaki uniforms identical to our whites but khaki in colour. Much more practical for working on deck or in port. For really dirty work we had white boiler suits except Grandpa had neglected to mention this to me, so I was left with my khaki uniform for all work!

Tomorrow, Colin said, we will arrive in Port Said and I need to prepare you for this port arrival. It is nothing like Gibraltar and is really your first tropical port and you will need to take some precautions. That sounded ominous.

The approach to Port Said is relatively featureless with one exception. The ancient lighthouse at the entrance to the port (The Illustrated London News, No. 2255, Vol. LXXXI, July 22, 1882).

Other than that Port Said is on the eastern edge of the huge delta of the longest river in the world, the river Nile. Of course, in 1957 my knowledge of such things had not been covered in geography lessons at grammar school, so I was ignorant of Egypt, its history, and the role of the Nile. “Never mind, said Colin, your correspondence course will be arriving by mail here and then you can start studying”. Study, I thought that was all behind me now. Think again, boyo, you are to learn “on the job”, Colin said in his lilting Welsh accent. Bugger, that I had not thought of!

The fairway buoy marks the seaward end of the channel into Port Said and is so far offshore you do not even see the land! The pilot boat was there waiting for us and a swarthy overweight pilot clambered up the rope pilot ladder and was helped onto the main deck and escorted to the bridge. The Captain greeted him, and the pilot took over the pilotage of the ship. “Half ahead, he said, and the distinctive chimes of the telegraph rang out as the message to the engine signalled our intention to enter Port Said.

“Boy, said the Captain, what is your name again?”. “Douglas, I replied. “Ah, yes the apprentice who does not know his weather side from his leeward side”. “Go down and tell the Chief Officer we will be mooring to buoys fore and aft”. “Yes sir, I replied dutifully, happy to escape the bridge and probability of making more silly mistakes. I was later to learn that mooring to buoys was a common method of mooring on our voyage especially in rivers and sometimes with chains when there was a lot of current in the river.

The channel is also the entrance to the Suez Canal and as we approached the port city you could see the Suez Canal stretching away south into the desert.

We moored up on the starboard side in the city and what difference to Gibraltar. On the water everywhere were small colourful boats, some clearly ferrying people to the eastern banks of the canal whilst others seemed to be full of goods. “What are they doing, I asked Colin. “Bumboats, he replied, wanting to sell us useless things such as fake watches and cheap clothing! Lock your cabin doors, the circus is about to begin!

Looking ashore, I had never seen so many people. The streets were heaving with humanity and a breeze brought a very distinctive odour. “What is that smell”, I asked Colin. Spices and camel dung, replied Colin, sarcastically. Well, well, we are really foreign now.

Aft with my Glaswegian second mate I soon learnt the Egyptian mooring method. Two ropes from each quarter were passed to a mooring boat that towed them to the mooring buoy where they were fastened with quick release wood pins through the eye of the mooring ropes.

Mooring completed, the accommodation ladder was lowered to just above the water level and the pilot disembarked. The quartermaster on gangway duty muttered something about chaos and swarms of Egyptians clambered up to the main deck.