" I had been destined for a life at sea for
as long as I could remember. In fact, I can recall vividly the first time my
family started to take it for granted that I was going to sea when I left
school.
It was at one o our family get togethers
when I was about six years old. All of my aunties were there sitting in a line
in the front room, pulling all their friends and acquaintances to pieces. It
was a room which at that time was only used for special occasions or when some
so called important visitor came. There was a fireplace with black cast iron surround
and coloured tiles with pictures of flowers.
The uncles, my dad and granddad were in
the sitting room drinking beer and talking of football and politics. The grandchildren in the conservatory
playing with the toys they had brought with them.
We all came together for a buffet supper
prepared by my grandmother, the aunties, uncles and eleven grand children.
Somebody, I cannot recall who, started to speculate about what would become of
all the grandchildren when they grew up and left school.
Suddenly Granddad put his large hand on my
shoulder and announced in a voice which brooked no argument. “ Edmund is going
to sea when he grows up. He will be the first Captain of a foreign going ship
in the family.”
Everybody in the room nodded sagely and I
did not protest. I suppose at six years old, I did not fully appreciate the
true implication of what was being decided on my behalf. Oh, I had sat at the
feet, so to speak, of my grandfather and listened to his stories of when he was
at sea on White Star Liners. He had talked of the people, the ships and the
sea. He made it sound so glamorous, mysterious and fascinating that I had been
attracted to the sea from that time. "
This is how my semi-auto biographical novel starts. I had a struggle to convince my Head master that I was going to sea as a cadet when I left school. He was convinced that most of the top boys in the school went to university and into the professions. So it came to pass that when I did leave school at sixteen with the required o-levels I joined Eagle Oil and Shipping Company as a cadet after a term at a pre sea training college.
The novel is a description of my twelve years at sea. It shows the good times and the bad., the characters I met and the ships I sailed on. There is the good weather and the bad. I call it a semi autobiographical novel because it mainly comes from memory. I did not keep a diary.
When I became a lecturer to keep the attention of my students at times I would relate tales of my time at sea. They told me I ought to write these down and get them published. This I have done hence Tales From The Sea.
When I became a lecturer to keep the attention of my students at times I would relate tales of my time at sea. They told me I ought to write these down and get them published. This I have done hence Tales From The Sea.
It can be purchase from Amazon as a paperback or Kindle as an ebook for downloading. From www.createspace. com as a paperback and www.smashwords.com for downloading as an ebook.
