13-11-2016, 12:11 PM
I know I wouldn't get anywhere in electronics, leaving school today. The theory is way beyond my capabilities. As far back as 1973, I was sent on an advanced marine electronics course, but after about two months of intense effort on my part, I realised that it was all "double dutch" to me. I remained until the end of the first three-month module and even went into the exam room. As soon as the question papers were handed out, I folded them up without even looking at them and walked out with cries of "you can't do that" echoing in my ears 
I walked down to the docks where one of our big liners had arrived that morning, and found the superintendent, and told him that I had walked out, and wanted to go back to sea. He took it all very calmly and told me to go on leave. Off I went, and would you believe it, two weeks later I received a certificate in the post stating that I had passed the first model "Grade C average!! How phoney could that be? as I hadn't even put pen to paper in the "exam!" Anyway, another week went by, and I was told to report to the Southampton Dock Office where I was to join the "Fleet Management" team as Electronic Inspector! 
I put up with that for three months (Despite it being serious promotion) and then said I wanted to go back to sea. This time, they let me go, but after one voyage, I was despatched to Bilbao to supervise the fitting of the commuications and radar installations on one of our ships that had had a serious fire! - another three months gone At the end of that time, I said that I wanted to go back to sea, and was immediately appointed as Chief Radio Officer in the newly repaired mailship. The next two years were fantastic, but at the end of that time, they sold all the passenger liners, and I left the company. I then managed to find a company that couldn't care less about my qualifications, as I was sufficiently qualified to serve as radio officer in any ship in the world. My final years at sea from 1979 to late 1992 were fantastic, culminating in me getting a brand spanking new passenger liner with everything from satcoms/nav downwards. I left in late 1992 when I finally tired of being at sea, having got married in 1987. My wife was able to sail with me any time on the long-haul voyages to Cape Town and back, but in the end, they were piling so much modern electronics on board that I grew weary of it and took voluntary redundancy to take up model shipbuilding and writing, with vintage radio thrown in as a hobby - without the theory - of course 
Bob
I walked down to the docks where one of our big liners had arrived that morning, and found the superintendent, and told him that I had walked out, and wanted to go back to sea. He took it all very calmly and told me to go on leave. Off I went, and would you believe it, two weeks later I received a certificate in the post stating that I had passed the first model "Grade C average!! How phoney could that be? as I hadn't even put pen to paper in the "exam!" Anyway, another week went by, and I was told to report to the Southampton Dock Office where I was to join the "Fleet Management" team as Electronic Inspector! I put up with that for three months (Despite it being serious promotion) and then said I wanted to go back to sea. This time, they let me go, but after one voyage, I was despatched to Bilbao to supervise the fitting of the commuications and radar installations on one of our ships that had had a serious fire! - another three months gone At the end of that time, I said that I wanted to go back to sea, and was immediately appointed as Chief Radio Officer in the newly repaired mailship. The next two years were fantastic, but at the end of that time, they sold all the passenger liners, and I left the company. I then managed to find a company that couldn't care less about my qualifications, as I was sufficiently qualified to serve as radio officer in any ship in the world. My final years at sea from 1979 to late 1992 were fantastic, culminating in me getting a brand spanking new passenger liner with everything from satcoms/nav downwards. I left in late 1992 when I finally tired of being at sea, having got married in 1987. My wife was able to sail with me any time on the long-haul voyages to Cape Town and back, but in the end, they were piling so much modern electronics on board that I grew weary of it and took voluntary redundancy to take up model shipbuilding and writing, with vintage radio thrown in as a hobby - without the theory - of course Bob
