(Click here for nautical ditty!)
THE STORY
This true story of a young boy, born just prior to WWII, follows him from his dreams and yearnings
of the sea to his gaining command at a very young age. His father comes home from the war and then the 7 year old boy and his mother travel to Australia
on an old coal burning tramp ship where the boy’s father is Master. His memories of this three month trip buttress his
passion to go to sea. The lad goes to sea eventually when he is 16 years old and he joins a British training ship
in Sydney Australia. The story then covers his three and a half years on the training ship. The very fast growing up and maturing that
was part of the life, losing his virginity in a back alley in Genoa, forays ashore in the Middle East and Africa, visits to
jungle ports many miles up river in Africa to barren desert ports in the Red Sea, the discipline and
training regime on board, qualifying as a fully fledged seaman and the general excitement and escapades of a lad growing up
at sea. Then
come the young officer years from five star passenger ship to cargo liners in the largest shipping company then flying the
red ensign. There are many adventures along the way including piloting an Iranian passenger aircraft in the Persian Gulf while
under the influence of alcohol, liaisons with young lady passengers, being harassed by the Red Guard in Shanghai and feasting
at a Persian Emirates Sheik’s Palace. He then joins a Hong Kong tramp company as Chief Officer and spends three years trading from
the South China Seas to Cuba, the United States, the Middle East and beyond. Running cargo up the Vietnam
coast to Hainan Island for the Chinese at the height of the Vietnam War, loading logs in Borneo and coal in Siberia, taking
steel from Korea and Japan to the United States and returning with grain. He falls in love with a Japanese beauty who starts
to dominate his thoughts. Promoted to Master and given his own ship at the age of 28 he labours to fulfill his responsibilities. He undertakes
his own pilotage in the Japanese Inland Sea and ports, comes under fire from Mainland China when departing
Hong Kong, suffers a mutiny in the Great Australian Bight, attacked and boarded by pirates when arriving Singapore, jailed
in Indonesia, passed through the eye of a typhoon in the Philippines, grounded when departing Bangkok and married his Japanese
sweetheart and took her with him for his last few adventures at sea. The book is made even more interesting by the inclusion
of over 100 black and white photos bringing all the adventures to life.
ISBN 978-0-646-51669-1
RRP AU$25.50
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
John Briggs was born in England on 20th June 1939 and went
to sea on a British Training Ship at the age of 16. After leaving
the sea in 1972 he spent a year in Japan and then migrated to Australia with his wife and child, settling in Sydney.
He joined the Maritime Services Board of
NSW (MSB) in 1973 and held various positions over the next few years. Appointed Assistant Harbour Master Sydney
Ports (Sydney Harbour & Botany Bay) in 1983 and Deputy Harbour Master in 1984 he was eventually appointed Harbour Master
in 1985 and served in this position until 1991.
During this period he was Commodore of the Australian Sail Training Association and served as Master
on the barquentine "New Endeavour". He was master of the British square rigged sailing ship "Eye of the Wind"
for a two-month period in 1983 taking the vessel from Honiara around the South Pacific islands and returning through the Great
Barrier Reef to Sydney, Australia. Past Branch Master of the Sydney Branch of the
Company of Master Mariners of Australia, Member of the Institute of Navigation and Fellow of the Nautical Institute.
He joined the Australian Maritime Safety
Authority (AMSA) in 1991 and was Chairman of the Marine Council and also Chairman of the Seafarers’ Assistance Service
Steering Committee.
Responsible for regulating operational functions on all Australian ships, setting standards and issuing
certificates of competency to officers and certificates of rating to all Australian seafarers.
Responsible for regulating safety standards
and issuing pilot licences for the Great Barrier Reef pilotage area.
Represented Australia as head of delegation at IMO
(United Nations) meetings on a regular basis and was Chairman of various committees from 1992 to 2003.
He was a member of numerous international committees, undertook assignments
in various countries on behalf of IMO and chaired a number of international panels of experts.
Enjoyed the intimacy and comfort of some of the most delightful
women God ever placed on this earth and retired in 2005.
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"Just finished the book, and congratulations John! I warmly recommend this one to everybody; it’s an
entertaining read from first page. John Briggs has lived his life to the full, and has the ability to put his adventures vividly
before our eyes. From BI cadet to master, you get an insight into what it takes to have responsibility at sea, dealing with
typhoons, pirates, mutinous crews, inadequate officers, medical emergencies, corrupt officials – and the insanity of
Maoism. Lots of maritime incidents and accidents, and quite a few pranks, and then much romance, this book has it all,
including 100 pictures.
Now we’ll just have to wait for the sequel, wherein will be told of his time as
assistant and deputy harbourmaster in Sydney, commodore of the Australian Sail Training Association, and master of the square
rigger Eye of the Wind, etc, etc…"
**************
"John, received your book in yesterdays post, started reading it this afternoon and have read it right through,
what a great life you have led, no holds barred, I felt as if I was on each of your journeys and enjoyed every minute of it-----so
much John that I forgot to pick up the wife from the hairdressers and she had to fork out for a taxi back home.
A great
read mate, only sorry that you did`nt sign it, could have made myself a fortune once you were a confirmed well known author.
Let us all know when you do another sea going novel."
**************** "One more accolade for this brilliant book which tells it how it was to so
many of us - my old BI pals' wife grabbed my copy, read it, and said to him " So THAT'S what it was all about
- if I'd known this 40 years ago, I would never have married you ...... ". Mind you, he was on CHANTALA ......
Thanks for a lot of laughs and a very good investment."
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