brokencross
13-Jan-09, 12:31
When I was at sea in the Merchant Navy I had a rather unnerving experience. Has anyone else experienced anything similar, (not necessarily at sea)?
I was the 2nd Mate so did the 12 to 4 bridge watch. As usual I went off to my cabin and bunk at about 1900. I must have been really tired because I fell asleep very quickly.
The next thing I knew there was a loud excited voice which woke me up shouting “Here is the expletive, expletive, expletive dozy sod.”
I was still more than half asleep and very confused by my rude awakening; I looked and I could see myself in a mirror lying there in bed. I then sat bolt upright; there wasn’t a mirror there normally; I looked around and none of the surroundings were familiar, for a start the cabin was tidy and I was not a tidy beast.
By this time there were 4 or 5 people there, all asking me “What in the hell are you doing in here????”
“I dunno” was my reply, “Where am I?” I asked very dopily.
“In the ruddy 3rd Mates bed” was the reply.
To this day I have no idea, how, why or when I moved from my own bed and cabin to the 3rd Mates cabin which was a long way down the alleyway many cabins away. We all assumed that I must have sleepwalked.
Apparently the 3rd Mate had called me as usual for my watch by telephone at 20 minutes to Midnight. When he didn’t get an answer he sent his watchman down to my cabin to give me a physical shake, but when he got there although my bed had been slept in, there was no sign of me.
The 3rd Mate then phoned the officers smoke room and a couple of other public rooms to see if anyone knew where I was. The sailor also had a quick zoom around pantries and some cabins of people who were still up and about. Still no sign of me so the 3rd Mate called the Captain and told him what was going on. He instigated a search of the accommodation and ship. Everyone was woken up and asked when they had last seen me or if they had any idea at all where I was.
Obviously one person they didn’t have to wake was the 3rd mate, because he was already up and on watch. That was the same reason no-one thought to look in his cabin because in their eyes there was no reason for me to be in there……..HA, that’s what they thought.
By this time, about 0040, the Captain (and everyone else) thought I had gone overboard and the Captain had just started to turn the ship round to go back and look for me when the 3rd Mate popped into his cabin to get his walky talky radio and “found” me.
I was embarrassed to say the least and had the mickey taken out of me for weeks afterwards. It had never happened before and not since. Has this happened to any Orgers out there?
I was the 2nd Mate so did the 12 to 4 bridge watch. As usual I went off to my cabin and bunk at about 1900. I must have been really tired because I fell asleep very quickly.
The next thing I knew there was a loud excited voice which woke me up shouting “Here is the expletive, expletive, expletive dozy sod.”
I was still more than half asleep and very confused by my rude awakening; I looked and I could see myself in a mirror lying there in bed. I then sat bolt upright; there wasn’t a mirror there normally; I looked around and none of the surroundings were familiar, for a start the cabin was tidy and I was not a tidy beast.
By this time there were 4 or 5 people there, all asking me “What in the hell are you doing in here????”
“I dunno” was my reply, “Where am I?” I asked very dopily.
“In the ruddy 3rd Mates bed” was the reply.
To this day I have no idea, how, why or when I moved from my own bed and cabin to the 3rd Mates cabin which was a long way down the alleyway many cabins away. We all assumed that I must have sleepwalked.
Apparently the 3rd Mate had called me as usual for my watch by telephone at 20 minutes to Midnight. When he didn’t get an answer he sent his watchman down to my cabin to give me a physical shake, but when he got there although my bed had been slept in, there was no sign of me.
The 3rd Mate then phoned the officers smoke room and a couple of other public rooms to see if anyone knew where I was. The sailor also had a quick zoom around pantries and some cabins of people who were still up and about. Still no sign of me so the 3rd Mate called the Captain and told him what was going on. He instigated a search of the accommodation and ship. Everyone was woken up and asked when they had last seen me or if they had any idea at all where I was.
Obviously one person they didn’t have to wake was the 3rd mate, because he was already up and on watch. That was the same reason no-one thought to look in his cabin because in their eyes there was no reason for me to be in there……..HA, that’s what they thought.
By this time, about 0040, the Captain (and everyone else) thought I had gone overboard and the Captain had just started to turn the ship round to go back and look for me when the 3rd Mate popped into his cabin to get his walky talky radio and “found” me.
I was embarrassed to say the least and had the mickey taken out of me for weeks afterwards. It had never happened before and not since. Has this happened to any Orgers out there?