Tales from the Sea

Tales from the Sea 
by Eddie Gubbins

The Sailor’s Mistress When the cargo is loaded and all falls quiet
The sea itself is calling,
Beckoning the sailor out there beyond the dock.
His mistress is waiting
Where the river meets the sea.
He has no real knowledge of what her reaction will be When he sails out to meet her.
She may greet him in a calm, balmy mood,
Like a gentle lover entwining him in her arms,
Leaving him refreshed and happy when they part.
It might be that she is angry
And will meet him with unmatched violence
A violence that beats upon the senses
And leaves the lovers drained and exhausted,
Ready to rush apart,
Ready to find a place of peace and quiet
Not the feeling of complete satisfaction.
Like all lovers, the sea and the sailor
Will never quite know what moods will greet them when they meet
Or how the mood can change very quickly.
This is the excitement of the sea.
Every time a ship leaves port,
The sailor approaches that love
With a mixture of exhilaration and apprehension.
Will they together make beautiful love under a clear blue sky
Or will they fight?
It is not for the sailor to subdue the sea
But to live with her moods
In the hope that he can survive.
The sea is calling, always calling
As a lover calls.  




Tales From The Sea is a semi-autobiographical novel following my time at sea as a ships officer between 1957 and 1969. The reader will meet the characters with whom I sailed,the good, the bad, the comedians and the tough guys. There are the nights ashore and the visits to exotic places to which I voyaged. Sail with me on the ships old and new, tankers, cargo liners and ferries as they ploughed across the oceans carrying the products of the world. Weaving a spell over everything is the sea and t dangers. To most semen, the sea itself calls. No seaman ever knows what mood will greet them when they sail out of the port to greet the sea or how the mood can change very quickly. This is the excitement of sailing the seas and it still excites me when I board a ship and sail.

Available from Amazon and createspace as a paperback, from kindle and smashwords as an ebook to download.

Yet more moaning about gambling!

Betting and advertising.
I have been watching sky sports which is not surprising as I like most sports. What has screamed out at me is the number of advertisements which involve gambling of one sort or another. Then they end with that admonition " Please bet responsibly!" Or Winston accepting money for his advert and saying " I bet responsibly" at the end. There is no thought for those whose lives have been ruined. No mention of the families that have been torn apart by gambling losses. Think of the heartache and the strife. The cost to the rest of society of these broken lives.
I hear you say that we cannot ban gambling. That might be true but we have a moral duty to mitigate against the worst excesses of gambling addiction.
I think a first step is to ban all gambling advertising. This might not stop gambling but it will help to lower the level and the prominence of gambling on our television sets. Then the government could ban sponsorship by gambling organisations of all sporting activities. Don't say this will not work as all the gambling companies will surely claim. We have banned tobacco adverts and alcohol and despite protests from the companies these have stuck.
SO LET US AT LEAST BAN ALL GAMBLING ADVERTS  AND SPONSORSHIP OF SPORT EVENTS, COMPETITORS AND TEAMS NOW!!!

The selfish rich

A question. Why are rich people so reluctant to pay their fair share of tax? They have enough money to be able to pay but they call it economic. In the scheme of things it is as much moral question as economic. They should see that they have a duty to pay taxes in the same way as ordinary citizens. In many cases the money they have has come from ordinary tax payers. They should be ashamed. The trouble is that the government of the UK is made up of people who support the rich being rich themselves.

For The Love Of Pauline by Eddie Gubbins

I received the copies of my thriller For the Love of Pauline the other day from www.createspace.com. Thursday, I was showing it to one of my darts team. They asked me how I came up with the idea for the book which made me think. The idea first cam when I was reading about somebody dying of a drugs over dose. The police caught the immediate suppliers but there was no mention of the drug baron. Later I read about criminals who are seemingly above the law. From this idea of one of Ken Flood's daughter dying of a contaminated drug supplied at a night club and using this incident to start a search for the real killers grew into the plot of the novel. Obviously the story expanded, took unexpected directions and at times the characters took over but essentially I followed my idea.
" It is six years since Ken Flood helped his brother Norman when he was running a short course in Mengambwe. When he returned home his daughter Pauline was kidnapped and then exchanged for Ken. When the perpetrators had been caught, his wife Doreen obtained an injunction banning him from having any contact with his daughters. His daughter Pauline dies from using some contaminated drugs. The police do nothing to apprehend the drug dealers. Ken sets out to find out who supplied the drugs which killed his daughter. He gets help from his brother Norman but they are pulled into the unfamiliar world of drug dealers. It is not long before they become the target of international  criminals involved with drugs, money laundering and people trafficking. Determined to find out who killed Ken's daughter , the brothers ignore the dangers and continue their search through the underworld."





Available from Amazon and kindle.