Christmas at sea can be a trying time, especially for first timers. My first Christmas away was on board the Irish Pine, back in 1974.

We arrived in Seattle in the State of Washington on Christmas Eve. Being the galley boy, the amount of work that had to be done was a nightmare.

Names from those days were Deckhand, Mick Byrne, who is one of the ‘Sainty’ Byrnes from Pearse House, Chief steward, Frankie Walsh and Chief cook Eric Byrne.

Getting up on Christmas morning, everyone was in great humour. Breakfast was served as usual. Later in the day came Christmas dinner.

The main difference on this special day was that the ship’s officers served the crew. When everyone had their dinner the officers then served us in the catering department. We then went into the officers’ dining saloon and had a great time with the very best of everything being served.

Later that evening, on deck, I well remember the view of the port, it was breathtaking when it got dark. Looking out aft in the distance was a big mountain. To see all the houses lit up and parts of the mountain covered with snow, it resembled a massive Christmas tree.

In my time at sea I was on the west coast of the United States several times. The last time we were there was in 1981. I was Chief cook and Stephen Deevy was second cook. This was my last trip with Irish Shipping and one of the best we spent away at Christmas time.

While we were at Vancouver and the decks were being loaded with bales of lumber, the ships bell was taken down and put up into the ship’s office. The skipper, ‘Micko’ Dwyer reckoned it would be stolen as the dockers were going to stack the timber up to the base of the cranes.

Anyway, a day or so out of Vancouver the bell could not be found. So today someone in Vancouver has a big ship’s bell with M.V. Irish Larch stamped on it. In fact they maybe planning to ring in the new millennium with it.

We arrived at the Panama Canal on the 20th. December and went straight through, heading north. That Christmas was very enjoyable and we had an excellent boss in Chief Steward Mr. Ted O’Connell, and as I had no second cook his help was invaluable. We had plenty to eat and drink.

Since most of us had been on board since the previous June, we were looking forward to pay-off. I remember well arriving in Dublin Bay on the 4th January 1982. As we tied up, our families and friends were waiting to greet us. We all signed off the next day and I well remember the snow that covered the country that year.

Christmas at sea was not to come again for me but I will always have great memories. Happy Christmas.

The M.V. Rathnew in dry dock during the 1980’s