User:Dashers
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[edit] About dashers
I plan to expand this page further, but as most of my contributions are to articles about ships, I will briefly explain my interest in this area.
[edit] In The Beginning
I was born in Southport, England in 1964. My father was a Marine Engineer in the Royal Corps of Transport of the British Army. During most of my early childhood our family (Mum, Dad, my brother and I) lived near the Military Port at Marchwood, Hampshire. From 1977 until 1980 we lived on the RAF base at Akrotiri, Cyprus while my father was posted there. In 1980 we returned to England to be based at Gosport, on the opposite side of the harbour from the Royal Navy base at Portsmouth. During the time my father worked in the army, my brother and I were able to enjoy many outings on some of the boats and small ships operated by the Royal Corps of Transport.
[edit] A Brief Career at Sea
In 1980 I started an engineering cadetship with P&O studying Marine Engineering at Southampton College of Higher Education. In 1982 I joined the first of four ships on which I was to undergo the seagoing part of my training. These four ships were;
| Name | Ship type | Date Joined | Date Left | Comments |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| mv Island Princess | Cruise Ship | 26th July 1982 | 28th November 1982 | Vancouver, Alaska, US West Coast, Mexico, Caribbean |
| mv Pacific Princess | Cruise Ship | 28th November 1982 | 21st December 1982 | The ship from The Love Boat television series. California, Mexico |
| mv Resolution Bay | Container Ship | 4th February 1983 | 8th February 1983 | Yes, it was only 5 days. Did not leave Tilbury. Reassigned to Mairangi Bay |
| mv Mairangi Bay | Container Ship | 11th February 1983 | 15th July 1983 | Tilbury to New Zealand, via Europe and Panama Canal, return via Cape Horn and Europe- twice. |
| In 1984 I completed my cadetship, and was transferred to P&O's cruise ship division as an Assistant Engineering Officer. As such, I worked on three other cruise ships; | ||||
| ss Canberra | Cruise Ship | 7th September 1984 | 22nd October 1984 | Cherbourg/ Southampton to Atlantic islands and Mediterranean |
| ss Oriana | Cruise Ship | 8th November 1984 | 2nd March 1985 | Sydney. Far East cruise and South Pacific |
| ss Oriana | Cruise Ship | 2nd May 1985 | 5th September 1985 | Sydney based, South Pacific |
| ss Oriana | Cruise Ship | 1st November 1985 | 27th March 1986 | Sydney based, South Pacific. Finished with Oriana's final cruise |
| mv Sea Princess | Cruise Ship | 26th August 1986 | 19th October 1986 | Southampton to Mediterranean and Black Sea |
| ss Canberra | Cruise Ship | 29th November 1986 | 17th February 1987 | Southampton to Mediterranean, Refit in Bremerhaven, half a Round the World Cruise- Europe, Caribbean, Panama Canal, Los Angeles, San Fransisco, Acapulco, Honolulu, Fiji, Auckland, Sydney |
[edit] A New Start
While working on the ss Oriana in 1985 I met my wife, an Australian passenger enjoying a cruise out of Sydney around the South Pacific with a group of her friends. In 1986 we were married and in 1987 I resigned and completed my final trip for P&O, leaving the Canberra in Sydney halfway through a round the world cruise. Since then I have lived in Australia, from 1990 onwards in the small town of Maffra, Victoria. I currently work for a Dairy processing company, and my wife and I have two teenage children.
[edit] Ship Photos
I am not really an avid ship photographer, but over the years I have taken quite a few. Below are the ones I have posted so far in Wikipedia;
 mv Mairangi Bay, Rotterdam 1983 |
 mv Mairangi Bay, Vlissingen 1983 |
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 RFA Sir Bedivere, Marchwood, Hampshire 1984 |
 SS Canberra in the Azores 1984 |
 ss Canberra Port main steam turbine |
 ss Canberra Port main alternator |
 ss Canberra Port main propulsion motor |
 ss Canberra Starboard tail shaft and propellor |
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 mv Island Princess, Station Pier, Melbourne, 1986 |
 mv Sea Princess, Messina, Sicily, 1986 |
 mv Pacific Princess, US West Coast, 1987 |
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 mv Royal Princess, US West Coast, 1987 |
 mv Arcadia, leaving Station Pier, Melbourne, 1999 |
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 Pride of Kent approaching Calais April 2004 |
 Pride of Burgundy at Dover April 2004 |
 Queen Mary 2 from Hythe Pier, with ferry Great Expectations in foreground, April 2004 |
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 Great Expectations leaving Hythe Pier, Queen Mary 2 in background, April 2004 |
 MV Oriana, Station Pier, Melbourne, 2006 |
 MV Oriana and HMAS Norman, Station Pier, Melbourne, 2006 |
 HMAS Norman, Station Pier, Melbourne, 2006 |
 Paddle Steamer PS Pevensey, Echuca, Victoria, 2006 |
[edit] Ports Visited
These (I think) are all of the ports I have visited while working ar sea- 84 in 41 differant countries, betwwen 1982 and 1987. I have grouped ports together by country, in the order that I first visited those countries by ship. The ship named is the one I first visited that port in- many ports I visited multiple times, some of them on differant ships. All the countries and ports in brackets are ones where I never got off the ship. Country and territory names are as they were when I visited. Apart from the countries I have lived in (England, Cyprus and Australia), this list represents most of the places in the world that I have visited.
[edit] Ferries and Sight Seeing
The occasional ferry and sight seeing trip is the limit of my sea going voyages these days- an interesting contrast to the deep sea voyages on the ships I worked on.
| From | To | Date | Ferry Name | Comments |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hythe, Hampshire | Southampton | Numerous, 1970s and 80s | MV Hotspur IV and others | From Hythe Pier |
| Poole | Brownsea Island | 1970s | Not known | |
| Gosport | Portsmouth | Numerous, 1980s- 2004 | Gosport Queen, Portsmouth Queen | |
| Lymington | Yarmouth, Isle of Wight | Numerous, 1970s- 1980s | Not known | |
| Southampton | Cowes, Isle of Wight | 1984 | Not known | Hydrofoil |
| Portsmouth | Fishbourne, Isle of Wight | 1980s | Not known | |
| Portsmouth | Ryde, Isle of Wight | 1980s | Not known | |
| West Cowes | East Cowes, Isle of Wight | 1980s | Not known | Chain Ferry |
| Sydney | Manly, New South Wales | 1985 | Not known | |
| Devonport, Tasmania | Melbourne | 1987 | Abel Tasman | To Station Pier |
| Paynesville, Victoria | Raymond Island | 2000s | Not known | Chain Ferry |
| Sorrento, Victoria | Queenscliff, Victoria | 2003 | Searoad ferry | Around the Bay in a Day bike ride |
| Portsmouth | Portsmouth Harbour | 2004 | Not known | Viewing Royal Navy fleet |
| Dover | Calais | 2004 | Pride of Kent | |
| London | River Thames | 2004 | Not known | |
| Echuca | Murray River | 2006 | PS Pevensey | Paddle Steamer |
