Marine Engineers

[Invernahaille]

Stanley,
Maybe you can rekindle this topic

[Stanley]

I've forgotten your first name.... I'll have a crack at it!



Let's start small... I love the 'puffers' that were the workhorse of the Western Isles. I have a particular interest in Jennie.

[Invernahaille]

Hi Stanley.
Robert

[Invernahaille]

Stanley are you still working on your engine projects?

[Stanley]

That's it, Robert!
Haven't done anything for over a year because of bad eyesight but I've just gone through the course of lens replacement and am now fighter pilot! My Mojo is getting going again. Funnily enough my last essay in the shed was two puffer engines.



Here's where Jenny finished up. Lodged in a cave on the East side of the Isle of Eigg. This was in 1988, she'll still be there....

[Invernahaille]

Stanley, Here is a clip from youtube. Does it bring back any memories
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ugtq1osh ... detailpage

[Stanley]

Lovely Robert! My firebeater at Bancroft, John Plummer fired at sea. He started on trawlers going up to Bear Island in winter.... Now he could tell some stories!
Peter Wells gave me this pic of the last puffer to visit Eigg. It's the Glenlight.

[Stanley]

Ex naval steam tug at the steam festival at Dordrecht in 1991. It had trouble on its way over with an overheated crosshead. From what I saw of the fitter 'repairing' it they would have the same trouble going back! Another thing I noticed was that though well painted, the rust was a major part of the hull plates! I think it was based at Ipswich.

[Stanley]

A nice steam tug moored in St Katherine's Dock in 1976.

[Stanley]

The redundant Nore Light Vessel moored at St Katherine's Dock in 1976.

[Stanley]

New York tug boat in 1980. (Yes, I like tugs!)

[Stanley]

Have a look at this LINK for a reminder that no matter how good we are at building ships, Mother Nature can undo everything in a moment.

[Invernahaille]

Hi,
I am attempting to download some pics but I hav'nt succeeded yet.

[Stanley]

Look up the topic Robert. Once you've cracked it, easier than ever.



Another workhorse in Mallaig Harbour.

[PanBiker]

Hi,
I am attempting to download some pics but I hav'nt succeeded yet.

Have a read here Robert, good starting point:

Images Tips and Tricks

[plaques]

Posting pics. Stanley you said keep them under 800 max dimension. I tried this yesterday but found I had to reduce the size to a point where they fell below a total Kilo bit size, ie below 100kbit.

[PanBiker]

There is no requirement to resize before uploading to the gallery, it's a personal preference. The uploader suggests the maximum dimensions and filesize you can upload and it will reject anything that is too large. You cant break it so just have a go with your native image and see what happens. When inserting previously uploaded images into posts form the gallery the software will auto resize the image to a predefined size for the thread.

If you have further problems can you post in the Images thread above and I will see if I can sort out what's going wrong.

[Invernahaille]

link seems to have diappered

[Stanley]

LINK TO IMAGES



Probably one of the most seaworthy small boats in the world. The Mallaig lifeboat.

[Wendyf]

I knew my Grandad was in the Merchant Navy during WW1, and that he was a signaller on minesweepers in the North Sea. I brought his war medals home with me from Mum's today, then downloaded his service record from the National Archives website. It seems he was serving on trawlers out of Tyneside, and he served on HMT Swallow and then the HMT Florio between May 1917 and February 1919. I found this about the Swallow a steam trawler.
The Florio was one of a group of trawlers which headed out and rammed then dropped a depth charge on a U-boat in September 1918.
Wow, Grandad.

[Stanley]

The Merchant Navy had one of the highest casualty rates in the war. Nice thing was that as soon as your ship was sunk your pay stopped because you'd left the ship.....

[Stanley]

The Calmac ferry Loch Mor off the Isle of Eigg in 1986. I was on the fly boat that served Eigg, the small boat you can see near the ferry is the fly boat from Muck which met the ferry at Eigg. See this LINK for details of service. I knew she was a tough little ship because I have been on board during a Force 10 but this was reinforced when my daughter brought back a picture of a sister ship built by Ailsa Shipbuilders (or to the same design) for the Chilean Navy to service lighthouses in the Magellan Strait, some of the roughest waters in the world.

[Stanley]

The Calmac ferry Pioneer off Eigg in 1988. Once again, taken from the fly boat after transfer in the open sea. It could get a bit hairy in rough weather! (LINK)

[Stanley]

Transferring from the Calmac ferry MV Pioneer to the Eigg fly boat Ulva in the open sea behind Castle Island in 1989. This was a calm day, it could be much worse. This transfer was the limiting factor and I have often tried to get to Eigg but it was too rough to transfer so we got a free round trip of the Small Isles.

[Stanley]

The pier at Eigg was the social centre when the fly boat brought in the supplies from the Calmac Ferry.