|
|
|
SS Mayo Lykes/KBNC Lykes Bros. SS. Co.
My African Adventure Please view the "Gulf Shipper" page first as this story begins there. --When it became time to go things went rather rapidly. I was told that I was to meet the ship's agent as soon as I got off the launch and he would take me to the airport straightaway. I was driven through the bustling Durban traffic to the airport where a met an aircraft pilot not much older than me. He explained that we should have been there an hour sooner because the day was getting late and the Portuguese personnel who run the Beira, Mozambique airport don't always "leave the light on for you". I then went over to the South African Doane (Customs shed) where the customs agent asked me where I was going. I told him I would be going to Beira, Mozambique then on to Tanga, Tanzania and return to Durban probably via Johannesburg and Nairobi, Kenya. The customs man said that I would have some problems with Tanzanian officials if any mention of the Republik van Zuid Afrika, (RSA) was to show up in my passport. He kindly did me a favor by writing a note on a 3 x 5 card in Afrikaans saying that the bearer was a seaman in transit and would be returning to South Africa and that any officer seeing this would pass me through with little problem. He said that when I should not have this card in my passport .....UNTIL.....returning to South Africa otherwise I would have big problems. I thanked him for his kind consideration (I found out how kind later on). I returned to the plane. The pilot did some last minute checking with the South African weather bureau and said "Well are you ready" .
Similar Aircraft to ZSRAT We walked out a door into bright sunlight and I will never forget the first glimpse of the plane. I believe it was a Cessna 310 or something like that. It was a twin engine plane much like the one on the TV Show "WINGS". I remember tail number/callsign being ZS-RAT. We got in and strapped ourselves in. He gave me some quick directions of what to do and not to do. He asked me to put on a headset so we could be able to talk to each other over the racket of the engines. The pilot asked for clearance to taxi we departed the General aviation area and headed for the active runway. Then we were off. It was a beautiful sunny African day and I was off on another exciting adventure. Our flight took us North northeast wards just to the west of Lorenco Marques (now Maputo) and out across the veld. I could see herds of wild animals grazing below. We flew at about 5 to 6000 feet and the view was spectacular. The pilot informed me that the reason he was so anxious was because it would be dark when we arrived at Beira. He mentioned it was a 600 mile flight and we would be flying over a war zone. At that time in history Portugal being one of the last countries to hold on to its colonies, was resisting the African freedom fighters and people were dying in the country below.
We continued on to the north passing over the dry scrub of East Africa I saw herds of zebra and springbok as we zipped along at about 185-200 knots. As we continued on the day grew short. My pilot regained his sense of urgency re-mentioning that we had to get to Beira soon before it got dark because they don't "Leave a light on for you". We tried contacting Beira radio via single sideband but no response. Finally the pilot decided to contact Bulawayo Radio in Southern Rhodesia. (Its called Bulawayo now I don't remember the english name of the city but it was still Southern Rhodesia at this point in time). We requested they call Beira radio on landline and inform them that we would be on our way. As we approached Beira I began to wonder what I was doing there. This was a lot of danger just to help out Lykes Brothers SS. Co. What was in it for me besides some overtime and nice scenery. I had my doubts at that point. In any event we made our final turn to line up for the unseen as yet runway. There it was way up ahead was the beautiful runway lights. The guys in Bulawayo had really called and let them know we were coming. When I landed a sleepy Portuguese customs officer stamped my passport and waved me through. I got a taxi and and in my High school Spanish I tried to slur and portuguese it so the driver would understand me. After much dialogue he took me to the docks where I did NOT find any American ships at all let alone the Mayo Lykes. I had with me a telephone number of the Steamship company agent I was supposed to call but it was the business number and not a home phone number. Here it was 8 p.m. and businesses especially those in Mozambique were closed at that time. There was nothing else to do except go to some known place where I could use a telephone and find some english speaking help. I had remembered the hotel Mozambique from a previous visit, so I had a taxi take me there. I arrived sort of tired and disheveled and asked the concierge – eu fala engles?? Much to my relief he answered sim…..yes. He informed me that the steamship agent would not be in until tomorrow but I could get a room and call them in the morning. Much to my relief I checked in, got a shower and went to bed. Early the next morning I called the agent. He was relieved to hear from me at last and said he was trying to arrange some transportation to the Ship. The agent asked me to call him back in 2 hours at 10:00 a.m. and he would have more information for me. At ten I called and the agent said that the Mayo Lykes had indeed left the port and was anchored outside of the city in the outer anchorage some 25 miles to the east and that he would endeavor to arrange some sort of travel…by Portuguese government Tug if necessary. Later that afternoon the agent called me back and said that the Portuguese government was uncooperative and that I would just have to "stow away" on an Italian cargo ship that was leaving late that afternoon. At about 5 p.m. I was taken aboard the MV Ugolino Vivaldi of the Italian shipping line whose name I cannot remember these 25 years later. I was introduced to the Ships Radio Officer a young chap much my own age who spoke pretty good English and told me he was from Venice. I was introduced to the other officers at supper and they were all very warm friendly guys who saw my predicament and offered their own stories and advice. While we were eating dinner we slid away from the dock and down the river towards the sea and the awaiting Mayo Lykes. I learned that Italian’s in general were very caring and fun loving people even with strangers. During the meal there was much teasing and loud shouting between the Northern and Southern Italian Officers. Since most of them were from Rome and Northwards the Sicialians were catching hell. It was great fun. The food was good all washed down with the usual wineglass. When we got out to the anchorage the Captain of the Ugolino who was a very kind gentlemen of I guess about 55-60 years, wished me good luck and said that he had arranged with the pilot to have the pilot boat run me over to the Mayo Lykes on its way back to the dock. The pilot boat was nothing more than a motor whaleboat from the Portuguese navy. We putt-putted over to the Mayo Lykes and went alongside. First my suitcase was hoisted up then I clambered up the ladder. At the top of the ladder the was the Mayo’s captain whose name I forget but do remember that he was a fine person who made me immediately welcome. Just to let you know how important my arrival was I must tell you that the captain said to me…."Sparks go to the Radio Room do your predeparture tests immediately and call me with the results we have been waiting for you for 2 days and I want to get the hell out of here." I did just what he ordered and up came the anchor and off we went for Tanga a small port in southern Tanzania. The trip up to Tanga was uneventful and as I recall it only took about 36 hours to complete. There I was relieved of duty by a gentleman named Paul Nicholson who had flown out from New York just to replace the injured Radio Officer. I then was thanked by the Captain and turned over to the steamship agent who made all the necessary arrangements to get me out of Tanzania and back to the Republic of South Africa (which was no mean feat due to the non-communication between RSA and the remainder of Africa at that time due to apartheid). After arrival at Tanga, events passed rather quickly. I remember being met by the the company's agent who picked me and my baggage up at the ship and took me directly to immigration where I was given permission to enter Tanzania for transit to Nairobi, Kenya. The airline for transit from Tanga to Nairobi happened to be East African Airways. This was an airline company owned by the governments of Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda. The Flight was supposed to leave at if I remember correctly about 2 p.m. however since some big high government official was late for the plane all the other people had to wait. We finally got underway from the Tanga airport at about 4.30 p.m. I remember we took off into ominous skies full of thunderheads. The aircraft was a DC-9 piloted by American pilots. The cabin staff were East African women wearing sandals and traditional garb. We had a rather rough trip to Nairobi and I don't remember too much about Nairobi as we landed after dark and I was met by an agent who took me to the Nairobi Hilton. I had enough time to check in get a shower and a meal and hit the sack. The agent was to pick me up early in the morning at 7 a.m. sharp for my flight to Johannesburg and on to Durban. The morning came early and I rushed to complete my packing and breakfast. The agent, who by the was was an very articulate African gentlemen who had studied in England picked me up at the Hotel and dropped me at the airport. I boarded a British Airways 747 for Johannesburg. I was flying first class. I remember drinking champagne at 9 a.m. and being kind of woozy on take off. The 747 was quite an experience the airplane had a spiral staircase which led up to the lounge above which sported a baby grand piano. We arrived in Johannesburg, South Africa at about 1 p.m. that day and I had to clear customs. At that time I had long hair and the big customs goon whom was assigned to check me in started giving me a hard time about why I was in Kenya and why I was coming to South Africa. I showed him the 3 x 5 card I had hidden away. This is the same card I mentioned earlier from the customs officer in Durban. This little piece of paper had a magic effect on this rather brusque Afrikaaner who got all polite all of a sudden and started asking me about ships. We parted on a rather friendly vein. I changed planes in Durban to a South African Airways 737 which carried me the rest of the way back to Durban where I began this round robin trip. I was glad to get back the the Gulf Shipper and my shipmates. The timing could have not been better we arrived in time for the weekend. After a fun filled weekend in Durban on the beach we completed discharging our cargo in Durban and then began our turnaround for the States, stopping I believe in Walvis Bay, South West Africa to load canned sardines. So ends one of the more exciting experiences of my years in the Merchant Marine.
12/26/2001 |
