Page 223 - Michael Frost-Voyages to Maturity-23531.indd

we sped between the two rows of ships, I could see both captain and mate getting
very nervous. When the pilot indicated that we were nearly there, the two looked
at each other, and the captain promptly ordered full astern and for the 2nd mate,
on the bow, to drop both hooks. This sort of emergency response I had never
before seen, but it was remarkably effective, the concern that the stern might
swing around to port and strike a moored ship proving unwarranted. All ended
well … but I would not want a repeat performance.

I was happy, especially after that event, to go ashore and have lunch with
Bob Hammond. Needless to say, the topic of our stressful arrival did not come
up, for I suspect that he would have bewailed the nationalistic fervour that had
promoted local pilots with scant big-ship experience to positions that should
have been filled by deep-sea Masters. Nevertheless, it was an enjoyable lunch;
where we went I neither knew nor cared, but my appreciation of Chinese cuisine
was much enhanced.

Returning to the ship, now calm and peaceful, most of the crew and passengers
taking walks or tours, I had a restful afternoon and indeed evening as well; I do
not recall having any dinner companions.

But at breakfast I discovered that I had missed out on an entertaining
evening. Apparently without any particular motivation, a number of my
table guests had located a moon-lit terrace with a suitable bar, and taking
the opportunity offered, had leaped into the pool, none, however, having any
swimming gear. Judith and her sister had simply stayed in their underwear.
This was grist for ribald conversation!

Surprisingly, Flash had some more interesting news for me. Unusually, a
few new passengers had boarded in Singapore, presumably either for the voyage
to Hong Kong or for a Far Eastern Cruise (it now seems absurdly Eurocentric
to describe this part of the world as ‘the Far East’, ‘Asia’/’Asian’ being far more
appropriate. But, to a degree perhaps today difficult to understand, ethnocentrism
prevailed; “the Wogs begin at Calais” was still thought more of a truism by the
British than most of them would like to admit). Flash declared that there was
another ‘girl’ on board of more than passing interest (on second thoughts, his
ability to pick up ‘tips’ probably cast him for a future Bank Governor more than
all of the plain bankers who were to be ground down by their system), a fact of
which I had received no inkling.

But as I soon found out yet again, the Captain’s Cocktail party was a good
entrée into the newly aboard. I was again invited – perhaps because I was one
of the few who actually enjoyed these opportunities to drink the ship’s scotch at
another’s expense and I also kept the most convenient watch and was introduced
to Colonel Sheppard, the Commander of the British Army Garrison in Singapore,

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