KEDLESTON TEA-LEAVES - By Lt.Cdr Martin MACKEY RN

We had just finished 'Operation Pike' (1991) and were on our final passage to Douglas, I-O-M - our affiliated town, when we were called to search for a life raft and fishing vessel on fire. We found the raft with four fishermen in it, and the the fishing boat, which was still ablaze.

There were some gas cylinders in the boat, so the CO decided to stand off for a while to see what would happen. Eventually he made the decision to fight the fire from the fo'c'sle, bringing the ship alongside the boat to do so.

The firefighting operation was successful and we took the fishing boat and her crew up towards one of the Irish fishing ports. We handed over the boat and her crew to another fishing boat that had come out to relieve us so that we could continue our passage. By this time it was about 0200 and we finally recommenced our journey to Douglas.

Standing outside the galley, with a brew in hand, the dits began. Interestingly, one of the lads, who had helped the fishermen down to the relief boat, noticed that they were a bit worse for wear. When he asked them if he could take one of their bags, the fishermen declined the offer, but there was a noticeable clinking coming from it. As the Wardroom Wine Caterer, I panicked a little.

So what had happened ?

When the fishermen arrived, you'll remember there were four, one of whom was the skipper, I took them to the wardroom. Three stayed with the boats skipper, going to the bridge to watch what was happening to their boat. Since we were about to start a visit to Douglas I had made sure the WR fridge was stocked up, and had just about finished mustering my spirit stock under the seats in the mess. I invited the fishermen, who had just been pulled from the life raft in the Irish Sea, to help themselves to a beer. As all the officers were preoccupied with events on the bridge there was no-one left behind to supervise our guests, who obviously took my offer to the extreme.

After the dit about the chinking bag I rushed straight to the fridge, not for my own solace, but to see what had happened. Although the fridge in the mess was small, there had been at least a crate of Guinness in there.....All gone. I then looked under the seats and did a quick muster of the stock that I had previously just checked and noticed some of the spirits were missing. Now there's gratitude !!

Having convinced the CO that they had, quite unbelievably, stolen some of our drinks - We gave chase. We called up the towing vessel and demanded to have our stock back. Of course they denied it until we called them up on VHS Channel 16, at which time Belfast Coastguard were listening. We eventually caught them up and sent a 'Boarding Party' across to retrieve our goods.

The fishermen claimed I had given them permission to take what they liked, there must have been something lost in the translation. I understand that when the boat returned to their harbour, the three men were set upon by the local fishing community who were disgusted with their behaviour and told them to find jobs elsewhere. This story made the national press at the time.