The Mud Pilot.

[Wansworth]

Going up under tower bridge to discharge at Chelsea flour mill we took a mud pilot who had intimate knowledge of height under bridges and depths of water,he came aboard with a roll up hanging off his lip ,an unassuming charachter looking the worse for wear and smelling of beer .With the tide under us we raced under the bridge’s seemingly with inches to spare whilst he’s upped his mug of tea and discussed the football.We brought up on a buoy and from nowhere a boat appeared and took him away.

 

[oldgit]

Still to be found in action on some East Coast rivers.
And still subject to some debate as to their being required.
None now on the Medway as no commercial wharves above Rochester Bridge.

 

[veshengro]

Freemen of the River, born into it as families and outsiders find it easier to get a job sweeping Barber Shop floors for the Cosa Nostra, than a job on the London River. At least that's how it was before the River was lined by multi million Pound dwellings for Chinese and Russian property owners.

 

[Wansworth]

Freemen of the River, born into it as families and outsiders find it easier to get a job sweeping Barber Shop floors for the Cosa Nostra, than a job on the London River. At least that's how it was before the River was lined by multi million Pound dwellings for Chinese and Russian property owners.

My tale relates to my time in the late 1970s

 

[veshengro]

I'm almost certain the River Guilds still controlled the employment on the River then, maybe they still do to some extent.
I was with London Rochester Trading Company ( Crescent Shipping) and used to berth at Erith quite often. The Watermen who moved the big Dumb Barges used to get picked up there and ferried out to where the Barges lay at mooring bouys. A great crowd but they all seemed to be Uncles, Cousins or related in some way.

 

[Wansworth]

I'm almost certain the River Guilds still controlled the employment on the River then, maybe they still do to some extent.
I was with London Rochester Trading Company ( Crescent Shipping) and used to berth at Erith quite often. The Watermen who moved the big Dumb Barges used to get picked up there and ferried out to where the Barges lay at mooring bouys. A great crowd but they all seemed to be Uncles, Cousins or related in some way.

I worked for Carisbrook Shipping

 

[veshengro]

I think Carisbrooke Shipping started up as a lot of the old companies were dying out, Fred Everard, London Rochester, Hudson Steamship etc : Modern ships, new ideas and European Offices to catch the trade.
I was hauling coal from Methil, Blyth and ports in the North East to Sammy Williams Dock at Dagenham on the London River for the big Ford car plant in the late 60's.
Old ships like mine just couldn't compete with the new Dutchmen, motor ships, small crews and cheap to run.

 

[Wansworth]

WhenI joined they had about four ships all ex small Dutch coasters but they seemed very go aheadand invested in modern ships long after I left.Theships had small crews normally only four

 

[Wansworth]

I think Carisbrooke Shipping started up as a lot of the old companies were dying out, Fred Everard, London Rochester, Hudson Steamship etc : Modern ships, new ideas and European Offices to catch the trade.
I was hauling coal from Methil, Blyth and ports in the North East to Sammy Williams Dock at Dagenham on the London River for the big Ford car plant in the late 60's.
Old ships like mine just couldn't compete with the new Dutchmen, motor ships, small crews and cheap to run.

A fine vessel

 

[38mess]

We had our compass swung by a similar sort of guy around 15 years ago. He came up from Plymouth took a morning to do his stuff, rolled fag after fag, really interesting guy but if he was walking down the street you would think he was homeless. I wonder if he's still working

 

[veshengro]

That yarn makes my face go red, 38. Years ago I wintered on the Tamar in my steel Gaff Cutter and arranged to get my compass swung before I went off to the Med in the Spring. The arrangement was I would sail down to a Marina in Plymouth and pick him up, which is what I did. I didn't even have to moor up, just come alongside and he nimbly stepped aboard with his little suitcase and off we went out into Plymouth Sound.
I was a bit dubious, he was an elderly man who apart from compass headings to steer said very little. I kept making daft comments like, " Of course being all steel she must be a lot harder to get accurate than a fibre glass boat"
He just grunted and eventually I asked " which was the last steel vessel that you swung"
To my everlasting shame he replied.."HMS Bulwark". It transpired he was an Admiralty approved Compass Adjuster who had recently retired..

 

[Wansworth]

We called a compass adjuster to swing the compass in ou steel boat iLittlehampton,I assumed we would be off out to sea.He was a neat dapper man with his tools in a small case to.Unfortunatly the tide was already ebbing and positioning the boat across the river was quite a challenge as we had little practice all of which he was completely oblivious.Anyway all went well and supriseing ly there was little deviation to correct

 

[38mess]

I used to love all these old school guys who used to turn up when required, no electronics or gadgets, just tool's for the job.

One elderly gentleman who I think was going to put one of our crew through one of his sea going tickets turned up at the wall on an old bike. Puffing and panting down the ladder to the boat. Once on board he moved like a youngster despite being a little on the large side.
He had recently lost his driving license, again, through drink driving.

He told us over lunch that he once tried to sail to the Carribbean on his little Hilliard only to fall down the companion way when a big sea hit him in Biscay and he crushed most of his ribs.

He couldn't move for days, couldn't radio for help, a passing tanker came to his aid. He was in his early 60s at this time.

 

[Wansworth]

Did the radio licence inHull the old codger almost did it for me as he was in a rush…

 

[Frank Holden]

Back when I was a pup and Noah was still a deckboy we had mud pilots on many of the small Australian ships I sailed on. They would be an AB in the crew but the preferred helmsman for river passages such as up to Launceston, Tasmania.
Many had 'Creeks and Gullies' tickets.
One I recall was Charlie Boyd Davidson - a member of the Boyd family from Eden.
Still at sea in the early 70's when I sailed with him - when he was in his mid 80's - no retirement age then.
He had a wealth of stories about sailing on yankee timber schooners in the Pacific pre the first world war