Sea Stories from Springbok

Forty former sea-goes, of all descriptions, live in a unique little country estate in Surrey. Their memories, from as early as 1957, have become the inspiration for this collection of varied, entertaining, and salty tales. Engineers, seamen, officers, fishermen, and yachtsmen (serving on general cargo and container ships, tankers, luxury yachts, trawlers, cruisers, and aircraft carriers) who have travelled the world in all its weathers, have given us some priceless accounts of their adventures. From tragedy to bullets flying, from hilarious to horrific and with loneliness and comradeship, it will keep you guessing and turning the pages. Stories include - paying not to have to buy the chief's daughter; emergency four hundred feet down in a diving bell; watching your thumb go off in a crane strop; losing power in a force ten storm (with your trawls down); bleeding on the floor of the Taverna; caught with your live-in girlfriend by the skipper; surviving the sinking ferry - and so much more! How did such a collection of seafarers come together in this unlikely place? It all began at the end of the First World War when a shipping magnate and a seamen's union boss got together to take care of the many injured Merchant Navy casualties. They organised a huge fund-raising occasion in London, which provided enough funds to buy a nursing home in Kent that did essential work for years - until the Second World War. In 1947, with the help of a magnificent contribution from the South African government (given in gratitude for our Merchant Navy keeping them supplied during the war) and the generosity of the RMT Union, they were provided with a new home in Surrey; 'Springbok' where they, and all arrivals since, have been given a home and supported ever since. The Merchant Navy has had to survive drastic changes over the years, moving from general cargo to container ships and then tankers. Each step meant that serious adjustments had to be made by all involved. When containers took over, the turnaround times in port meant there was no longer a week or more for unloading and no longer times for friendly relationships in port! Working in tankers meant crews were so remote at the distant unloading points that they often did not get ashore at all. Then, the introduction of 'Flags-of-convenience' provided much more competition from around the world for our countrymen - conditions changed again. Inevitably ships moved in and out of war situations, often supplying the combatants. Do not simply imagine lone cargo carriers ploughing the distant waters, the Royal Navy was always busy keeping seaways safe while there are so many other reasons for being on (or in) the oceans; including 'for the sheer pleasure of it'. We have got them all living here on the Estate. Through all the changes, our seafarers managed fascinating careers wherever they were around the world's oceans. Compensations came and went, and relationships too, but they always shared their work and experience to make life more liveable. It is all in this book of gripping yarns!

Gavin Russell - originator, editor, collector 'A picture by Wintz of a French seaside village was always on the wall in my childhood. It instilled within me an endless desire to get to the beautiful sea, with the boats visible in the distance, and to be one of those people messing about in them. For years I remained thwarted and envious. In 1957 I finally made it by being taken for my National Service into the Royal Navy. with enormous luck I ended up on their experimental diving ship, HMS Kingfisher, where beyond my wildest dreams I tended the deep (tin-hat) divers as a shallow water diver, descending in a bell to 400 feet and training with them in the pot. Later, with this background, I formed a successful small coastal diving company with a pal; so, keeping on (and in) my love; the sea. Now I am retired and living in a country estate among 40 or so ex-seafarers - and their memories! The inspiration was irresistible so I had to collect the stories, either written by them or relayed to me for tidying up. I am lucky to have tapped into such a rich seam - you might think so too'