Rockhampton Star Upload from web address

[David Fox]

Another uneventful passage up to Philadelphia, but on leaving the Caribbean it was into WNA, (for those that can remember their loading marks), and a corresponding drop in temperatures as we approached the Delaware, being about February at this point. After picking up the pilot there was about 120 miles (according to Google maps) to travel winding our way upriver.
We did notice on the voyage that the stern gland was weeping more than required despite tightening up at Panama, so first job was for the Chief Gavin Henderson to order in a diver.
For a couple of nights, I was Night Junior pumping out the Tunnel due to the heavy leakage. The GS pump was used I believe as it was clean. Though looking at the state of the water and smell (it stunk to high heaven with a mixture of chemicals deposited from local industries, but woe betide a ship depositing a few spots of oil and causing a rainbow) that was leaking in I don’t think we could have made it any more polluted had we used the bilge pump, but you have to be seen to be doing the right thing. Fred Frech the 2/E had me going round with the spares book whilst on nights. There were a few things I missed such as spare links to the main engine timing chain that I found out afterwards I had walked by many times as they were stored in an oblong box full of oil, well painted, so I learnt something then to always be inquisitive and ask what certain things were if I didn’t know.
The diver came and covered the rope guard in heavy duty polythene so as the stern gland was drawn back the water pressure forced the polythene in towards the stern tube bush stemming the water to a certain extent. After several of the old rounds of packing were removed the water flow increased so I think 4 rounds were refitted and tightening up the gland this cured it sufficiently until dry dock. It wasn’t a very pleasant job for the diver as February in the northern states with snow melt possibly finding its way in the Delaware made it pretty cold water and the days were grey and damp like we expect in the UK at that time of the year (I am writing this Feb 3rd so it’s that type of weather).
Whilst on nights, it allowed me to go ashore during the day to visit the Liberty Bell of which Philadelphia is famous (as well as the cream cheese). It must have been some Liberty as there was a crack 75% of its height with a couple of rivets jammed in to act as crack arresters. If it had been in England, we would have had Metalock in to fix it, rather than a bodge job.
After a partial discharge of this New Zealand Cheddar, we headed south to warmer climes of Galveston Texas.
I thought as with others, why are we taking cheddar cheese to the US, with all those thousand heads of cattle you used to see on the westerns on tv and the pictures. A box of this cheese appeared in the Duty Mess one day and we had a sample of one of the blocks. It looked and tasted like ‘pussers harr’ (hard bar yellow soap) that we used for cleaning our boilersuits on some ships, before the advent of the ER Hoover Tanglematic.
Well must say the NZ Dairy Board did a good job selling this cheese to the US. This was before Pizzas and Cheeseburgers where the staple diet of Americans.
Cannot remember much about Galveston as I was suffering my first bout of the ‘Channels’. I believe the Rocky laid up there for a while waiting a cargo.
The Fifth Engineer Jim Harrison stayed on board for a double header along with Stephen Harrison the Deck Cadet so he could get some sea time in for 2nd Mates.
John Rendle 2/O, Clive Sheriff 3/E, Phil Catchpole 4/E, Jim Massey CEE and myself boarded what looked like a crop duster at Galveston Airport to take us to Houston at which we transferred to a commuter plane with trolley dollies which took us to NY, NY.
At this point we said goodbye to John Rendle, complete with his llama as he headed west for the long flight home to Nelson N.Z to get married. John showed signs of double channels.
The rest of us landed at LHW via Jumbo and went our separate ways with the delights of what British Rail had to offer in those days. Not a lot!
Anybody who wants to carry on the story of what happened to the Rockhampton Star during her stay at Galveston and her onward voyages, jump in, adding any images to illustrate (must be under 250Kb). ‘Come on’ the former Captain Stephen Harrison, you can add a few words.