Part I: Seals teeth and whales ears - Scott Polar Research Institute ...

Chapter 5
To Sea in a Tub: Voyage of the John
Biscoe, 1947-1948
W
e were still in London on l9 December, and were due to sail next day.
Captain McFie had now recruited most of the crew from layabouts on
the dockside, a motley and unimpressive collection. After breakfast
we split up into parties tackling various jobs about the ship. I was checking the
medical stores with Derek Maling and David Dalgliesh - a RN Surgeon-
Lieutenant, who was to become a great friend over the years; he was about six
years older than myself. I took some representative photos of the general chaos
of the ship from the quayside and by climbing up onto moving cranes. After
lunch I switched to Bosun's stores party, which involved lowering drums of
paint and rope in very large coils, by pulley, into the forward hold. The Bosun
came along and was marked as a ‘Union man’ when he suggested knocking off
for tea at 3 o’clock. After tea I switched to lifeboat stores and continued until
dinner.
At 5.30 pm the ship cast off from Tilbury dock and moved down to a buoy
in mid-stream. The radio-operators installed radio sets and there was a
performance of Handel's ‘Messiah’. Later, in the ‘midships club’, we all sat
around puffing pipes or playing recorders - in and out of tune. In the aft cabin
there followed a discussion on biology, from sea snakes to seals. The expedition
members were formally signed on as supernumeraries at sh.1/- a month!
Next day at 9.30 am. we slipped our mooring and, with the Pilot aboard,
steamed downstream on one engine, pursuing an erratic course. We were told
that this was due to the helmsman not being used to the steering wheel, but
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