Matters maritime
Heart of oak are our ships, jolly tars are our men,
We always are ready, Steady, boys, steady…
AT THE opening cruise of Royal Natal Yacht Club last weekend, they played Heart of Oak, official march of the Royal Navy (and several Commonwealth navies), before firing a small brass cannon out across the bay. No ball or shot was loaded but it made a heck of a bang. I wonder what the shipping moored on the other side of the harbour made of it.
Last time I heard Heart of Oak was in the Maritime Club in Dubai a few years ago.
The club is frequented by RN personnel who are based in Dubai for the anti-piracy patrols off Somalia; also by US Navy personnel who are based in Dubai for exactly the same reason (though both groups keep very much to themselves, being operational).
Then one evening this group of mercidler@inl.co.za
RN fellows came in. They had really tied one on somewhere. They were very jolly.
They were smoking huge cigars. They ordered more drinks and stood about the bar singing Heart of Oak. These guys were on a serious celebration.
“Who’s getting married?” I asked. “Married?” “This looks like a stag party.” “Stag party!” They fell about laughing.
A couple of days later an item appeared in the local paper. The RN had scored huge success capturing a Somali pirates mother ship in the Indian Ocean.
These were the fellows who’d done it. They’d just come ashore and were letting their hair down.
Steady, boys, steady…
From the Bluff
ANOTHER evening in that same Maritime Club in Dubai, I was discussing with a bloke a Currie Cup game I’d watched on TV. A group of RN fellows were nearby.
One overheard us and called across to me: “Are you from Natal?” “Yes.” “Me too. I’m from the Bluff.” “Hey, rough and tough and from the Bluff !” “You got it!” He told me he was a torpedoman with RN submarines. “Where did you train?” “Simon’s Town.” I wonder how many more of our people, trained at vast expense, are serving armies, navies and air forces elsewhere?
Hlaudi
DURBAN got in just in time with honouring SABC honcho Hlaudi Motsoeneng. The Supreme Court of Appeal seems to have other ideas.
Vital poll
THE row over the comparative health of American presidential candidates Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump simmers on, but it seems a new opinion poll might put it to rest. According to this