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Page Three
Reflections:
But finally we were home again, but this time
she chose to live in
In
However, in 1957 I remember one very special day when I was watching the MS Sibajak, which was making ready to depart. All her passengers had boarded and the gangplanks had just been lowered. From what I could see, she must have had at least 800 passengers aboard, yet most looked rather sad as did the masses of their families ashore standing there waving and crying at the same time whilst holding onto their many colourful streamers, not wanting them to break. The reason being that these streamers represented their final contact with their loved ones or close friends, either forever, or for a very long time!
Cheers were shouted, but as the tears flowed and the ship slowly pulled away from her berth and departed for far away lands on the other side of the earth. Strangely enough, I felt within me some sort of delight amongst all that sadness, for I dreamed that “one day I would be standing at that railing high above.” and guess what, I did and I was delighted and not sad at all!
Then in January 1958 my mother suddenly told
me that we would be going to
A few days later my mother gave me two brochures and the option of choosing the ship to sail on. One rather slim line brochure was very colourful and it was about the Netherland Lines more modern looking (for the day) MS Johan van Oldenbarnevelt (JVO), which I had seen and did sail in 1961/62. The other brochure was of the ship I had dreamed about, the MS Sibajak. I recalled that very special and exciting day I stood watching her departure, which had such an effect on me, for she looked so grand that day, as she was by far a more stately liner, possibly because of her more traditional two masts and her tall black funnel. However, no matter what she decided it was going to be the Johan van Oldenbarnvelt, thus I was going to be standing up that ship, not on the railing I originally had dreamed about, long before my mother decided she wanted to travel and take me all over Europe! I am sorry, but for a child it was not all fun, far from it, for I never knew where home would be as a child for we moved to different cities, towns and countries almost annually, even when we lived in Holland mother moved almost every year as well as her travels to other lands. But now it would be all the way to the other side to the earth, mother’s horizons had stretched as far as was possible! However due to certain circumstances, the ship we were going to travel on, was changed and I ended up on the Sibajak anyhow. And she was to depart earlier on May 17, 1958, thus I did end up at the railing I had viewed so long ago.
….
The suddenly the big day had come, and my
mother had made all the arrangements to head from
We had priority boarding the ship as we were full fare passengers and not migrants like the vast majority of passengers boarding, thus after we arrived we were rapidly taken through all the formalities and before we knew it we were up the gangplank and onboard the magnificent Sibajak.
I recall the delicate smell of freshly baked bread, which was a most welcoming smell, my mother was escorted to her luxury cabin topside, whilst I was shown to my rather modest abode on a lower deck and far aft, as far removed from her as possible. I first settled into my four berth cabin. But before my mother came to collect me from my room, I quickly headed out to view the foc’s’le, the ships bow for this was always my favourite part of any ship, and later my cruises on large lakes and seas when we travelled on smaller ships and vessels, and on the Sibajak, it would become my daily location and it usually had it to myself!
A quick view of the foc’s’le before the ship would sail
But back to my cabin and soon mother was there and we headed out onto Promenade Deck to watch the ship depart. I managed to head to the spot I had chosen on that special day when I was saw her sail so long ago, being just aft of the covered promenade deck and there is even a photograph, which I assume was taken by the ships photographer, we can be just seen under the marked section.
This
photo of me was taken just two days prior departure-
The Ship and Voyage:
Royal Rotterdam Lloyd sent the Sibajak to the Rotterdam Dry Cock Company in August 1951 for one of the most extensive refits in her history as she would now become a stylish One-Class Liner. Her old third class facilities were completely stripped and all the First and Second Class Lounges and Dining Rooms were completely refurbished and updated, and a new lounge was constructed under the old second class Sun Deck with a bar, a place I spent a great deal of time with my new found younger friends as during the voyage I would seldom see my mother! But sadly I have no photographs of this venue. The previous third class Smoking Room far aft on Promenade deck became the new Children’s Playroom. In addition all cabins received upgrades with superior bedding, soft furnishings and other modifications. Upon completion she accommodated a total of 956 passengers in the following accommodations; 598 passengers in 1, 2, 4 and several 6-berth cabins. 358 passengers in 5 medium to large dormitories each having the following; 18, 34, 40, 128 to 138 berths. She was completed on April 24, 1952 and she departed on her fist voyage as a One Class liner four days later! MS Sibajak now had an official Registered Gross Tonnage of 12,342 GRT.
Depart Rotterdam;……………………..May
17, 1958
Southampton:…………………….……..….May
18.
Willemstad, Curaçao;………….…..…….May
29.
Cristobal, Panama;………………..……..May
31.
Panama Canal;……………………..……….May
31.
Balboa, Panama;………………..…………May
31 & June 1.
Papeete, Tahiti;……………………….……June 13 & 14.
Arrive Wellington, New Zealand;.June 22, 1958.
Depart Wellington;………………….……June
23.
Sydney, Australia; …….…………..……June
27/28
Melbourne;……………………..…………….June 30.
As for my accommodation, I knew that mother had booked me in a four-berth cabin and I was allocated cabin 219 on “Tusshen” or C Deck, being on the same deck as the Dining Rooms. My cabin was located on the starboard side and just two cabins aft the Main Stairwell and what used to be the Second Class Dining Room where I dinned by myself. The cabin had a porthole offering light as well as fresh air! Although the room’s décor was relatively plain but at least the berths offered some comfort, even though it was somewhat lumpy and it sagged in the middle. My berth was the lower berth (A) as you entered the cabin, all four berths were located along the aft wall with a washbasin in between, and like all cabins on board each cabin had a porthole. The floor was covered with linoleum tiles and it was rather cold and always felt unpleasant underfoot! The cabin did offer ample wardrobe space, sufficient for my clothes, shoes and other needs, etc. There was sufficient space for suitcases as at least four regular cases fitted under each pair of bunks. By now the ship did have forced air installed that added fresh air from outside, and the nozzles in the cabin could be moved as needed.
However mother loved her comforts, and she desired to meet people of her own class, high society. Thus with her first class cabin being far forward and desiring me to be as far away as possible and she did not wish to see me during the voyage, unless she arranged to meet me somewhere on her terms. That was the reason I was inserted in that cabin down below right at the back of the ship and she ordered that we would never meet, and I was commanded to never come up to the main forward Promenade deck and the original first class lounges, etc or dinning room and decks. Thus during the voyage I hardly ever saw “Mummy Dearest” for she only gathered with the “Upper Class”. From what I gather there were around 90 full fare passengers aboard. As for me being just a youngster, obviously I would only be an interference to her enjoyment and pleasures whilst she was with her new fancy wealthy friends and at night mother would be in her elegant gowns covered in some of her finest jewels, including her Tahitian pearls or her amazing necklace containing countless diamonds. Of course that only came out on Gala evenings as that and other precious items were kept in the ships safe.
But as a teenager, it was the very first time in my life had to sleep with strangers, which was a fearful experience for me, living with three strange and much older men who had some very strange and horrible, filthy events in my room, which should not be seen!
However, on certain occasions during the voyage, mostly when there was a “Gala Dinner” her steward would come and give me a note, which would say;
“Get dressed in your dinner suit and make sure that you are in perfect condition to dine with me, your MOTHER, and my dear friends in the forward dinning room. Be there at 20.25 sharp.”
It would be only at these Dinners she paraded me in front of her wealthy shipboard friends, and of course I had been well trained for these occasions for I knew my manners, and I had been well trained when it came to etiquette, thus I knew which fork, knife and spoon was used for what, etc. Thankfully I was always a huge success for mother, considering I was an attractive young man, with the perfect manners and the knowledge of things she had me trained for, such as ‘proper conversation.” Therefore, for me to successful at these functions, “Mummy Dearest” would be delighted and obviously became even more popular with the “in crowd.” Thankfully, with my good performance, I received some additional spending money which was based on how well I pleased the guests, and it usually turned out that I had done even better than good.
At first, and again later, her friends were surprised that she 1. She even had a son, 2. That he was actually on the ship & 3. That she hid him and that he obviously had excellent manners.
But the truth is; I had to be good at mothers special events, for frankly I was on show, for if I was not absolute perfection, in appearance, manners or speech, life would be very, and I do mean very difficult for me to say the least, but that is another story, and a book I am simply am unable to write!
My wonderful Times on
Board:
I certainly came to know every corner of this ship for she was just like I imagined just amazing, and although this young lad had already travelled greatly, due to mother frequently travelling to so many cities, town in various countries, yet I had lived a greatly protected life and being home schooled so to speak!
There was no doubt about it, but this voyage commenced my great love affair with the ocean and ships to the point that whilst I was still aboard the Sibajak I decided that I was going to work in the Shipping Industry and amazingly less than two years later in May 1960, I did do just that!
I commenced working with Russell & Somers Shipping and Travel, Ltd., Johnston Street, Wellington and they were the General Sales Agency (GSA) of Royal Dutch Mails, being a combination name used for all of the Dutch Shipping Companies and they had managed the very ship I had sailed on until her final visit there late in July 1959 on her way to Sydney and Melbourne, and then to Hong Kong to the breakers. I was a hard worker in addition I learned everything about the shipping industry very fast and rapidly worked my way up the ladder to a sales agent.
Then in 1961 the Union Steamship Company of New Zealand (USSCo’s) sought me out to join their ship Provisions department in order to supply USSCo’s passenger ships with all their needs during their longer voyages, as well as their inter Island ferries. The items included pre-printed stationary, completed passenger lists for their longer voyages, blank menu covers and countless other needs required onboard in the ships passenger departments. Within six months I became the manager of this department, which looked after all USSCo passenger ships that included the inter Island ferries, and their delightful passenger cargo liners sailing the South Pacific from various New Zealand ports, as well as visiting Australia. These were the MV Matua and the MV Tofua!
Then in due course I was asked to come to Brisbane Australia where I became Manager of another company and then I became an Executive with Chandris Lines, but finally I operated a Cruise Company (which I later sold to Chandris my good friend Mr. Chandris) and all this began with a voyage on an old, but a wonderful ship the MS Sibajak from Rotterdam to Wellington New Zealand in 1958!
Back To the Voyage:
Having departed Rotterdam, we sailed to Southampton, England on May 18, where I remained on board and noted that at least a 120 or possibly more passengers boarded. This turned out good for me as having met a number of them a little later, thus as they could not speak Dutch, I was forced to practice the little English I did know and learn some more. I enjoyed the Atlantic crossing, which was remarkably smooth and it was during this time that I became friends with a good number of the Indonesian stewards who were without a doubt, looking back so honourable and they looked after this young almost deserted lad like their own son. My cabin steward very rapidly discovered that I had certain problems, and when he had time he would spend some time with me and told me that he understood and that I should not worry so much and if I was afraid and I should try and relax. Yet I told him how happy I was to be on the ship, but he could read me and see another picture that lay beneath the surface and yes, he was right! Soon the Restaurant stewards also took me in and I assisted in setting up tables and even helped in the Galley, which was jus amazing for I felt part of this great ship!
Memorabilia:
A very young Herman Wim Kuiper and his family also sailed on the Sibajak migrating to Wellington New Zealand and he sent me photographs of a small souvenir silver sugar spoon that his family purchased in the ship’s shop, and I present it below.
Above
& Below: Images of the sugar spoon are © &
the property of Herman Kuiper & are used with his
permission
A close up
of the decorative logo
The back
of the spoon with the silver stamp
I received another email from Frans Banens who sailed on the Sibajak from Rotterdam to Melbourne arriving there on September 1957. And whilst he was visiting the Netherlands in 2014, he managed to buy a spoon from the M.S. Sibajak and he has sent me a photo of it. You will not there is a small difference between these spoons shown above from Herman.
Photo of the sugar
spoon are © & the property of Frans Banens & are used with his permission
Panama Canal Region:
When we reached Cristobal, Colón on May 31, which is located on the Atlantic side of the Panama Canal and although we did berth, but we were not allowed to go ashore, but soon enough we were on the way again. Our Panama Canal experience was without a doubt amazing, for it was the most amazing voyage spectacular, as we saw so many things, besides crocodiles in the water and sleeping on the banks, and even monkeys and colourful parrots in the trees and the list just goes on! The Sibajak slowly slipped through the calm waters of the Canal, but it was the experience with those amazing locks, yes in Holland we are used to having locks, but these were huge and very different. Of course I loved those little locomotives that are actually called - “Mules” and they would pull ships of all sizes in and out of the different locks, it was a wonderful sight to behold! Since then they built new modern ones!
Voyage Map - Willemstad to
Wellington:
I was so happy to be back onboard for I disliked Panama City at first sight and thankfully the next morning as I woke we were sailing across the wonderful Pacific Ocean. I had eleven blissful days at sea giving me a wonderful time with some new made friends of my own age, but I also enjoyed spending some time alone on the fo’c’sle (forecastle) for I loved watching the sea and those wonderful and countless flying fish.
From Tahiti we had an eight-day ocean voyage ahead of us to before we would arrive at Wellington New Zealand and the weather was simply magnificent! There were days when the sea was, and what I am going to say is absolutely true, it was as smooth as glass and honestly on some days it looked just like a mirror, so shiny and it reflected the sun and the sky, it was like a mirage beneath you. The large flying fish, not the smaller ones we tend to see these days, disturbed the water and at times there would be up to 30 or more skimming above the water. Early in the morning I would head forward of the ship and go to the foredeck and up onto the Fo’c’sle and sadly what I would discover there at times was tragic, for there would be flying fish lying on the deck. If you look at the Sibajak you will note that she was quite a low-slung ship, and these large flying fish could fly quite high and reach the lower deck levels and once they were up there it was the point of no return. Most would be dead, but at times I would find several that would still alive, thus I would throw them back into the sea first and then I would throw the dead ones back overboard, for I could not just leave them there.
“There are about 41 species of flying fish that inhabit the western part of the Pacific Ocean and range from 30cm - 11.811inch to around 60cm - 1.11ft in length, although larger flying fish have been reported. The flights of flying fish are typically around 50 meters - 160ft, although they can use updrafts at the leading edge of waves and cover distances up to 400m - 1,300ft. Amazingly they can travel at speeds of more than 70 km/h - 43 mph with a maximum altitude is 6m - 20ft above the surface of the sea. Some accounts have them landing on the decks of ships.”
In regard to the last statement, I certainly can account for that, for there were times that, as I said above, I would find those poor fish forward of the main superstructure lying next to the forward hold and tragically most of them dead, due to them having been out of the water too long, but those that were still alive, who had obviously only arrived within the last half hour, I threw back first and as fast as I could, followed by the dead ones! Then back inside to wash my hands and I would go back and find my friends, for I could not go back to the forecastle that day.
During the day my younger friends and I would
spend sometime in the aft lounge on Promenade Deck playing cards or various
games, and enjoying a soft drink or two! But the voyage across this stretch of
the Pacific was perfect, par the sad fish experience.
Papeete, Tahiti:
We were about to arrive at a country in what I can only be described as heavenly Papeete! We arrived at 6 AM on June 13, and we did not depart until 11 PM, which was just great, for Papeete would turn out to be a very special experience and for me and the vast majority of passengers something very new and exciting!
Having had another delicious breakfast mother and myself disembarked and there were Tahitians having dancing and singing their beautiful songs, and some of the most beautiful young ladies in their coloured dry grass hula skirts and coconut bra’s (very nice indeed) awaited us with superbly smelling flower leis, which every single passenger received. Amazingly the wharf with the Sibajak was pretty much in the centre of town, thus we could walk around Papeete centre and I recall that like many others headed straight for the markets, which was just amazing! These wonderful markets are still there to this very day in the heart of town, but now they have been greatly enlarged and improved, but even back then it was a delight and we ate some of the wonderful fruits that were available and we had never heard about.
And although I was young, but those Tahitian girls were most pleasing to the eye for they were just beyond belief as they were so beautiful, with their smooth brown skin and slender with long legs and everything was just perfectly in place to say the very least, and this very rather young man did notice all that! However, then there were, well how can I say it delicately, those of the same gender and I now have to be very careful in this modern age, for we have to be so correct in everything we say! But these lovely ladies had obviously eaten extremely well over the years, and they were showing their grandeur in certain places on their delightful bodies. But like every single Tahitian they all had such wonderful natures and warm smiles that warmed the heart, and being with them was such a delight and they simply melted your heart! In the afternoon we also ventured around the town area and we loved the wonderful native plants and the odour of frangipani, for us Europeans that really left an imprint in our memories for it was so beautiful as it was something we had never encountered before! My garden had beautiful and fragrant frangipanis but they were all removed, as in my older age, I became allergic to their odour.
Another thing I remember is, as I was walking alongside the ship and looked into the crystal clear light blue water and I could see hundreds of multi coloured tropical fish swimming everywhere. To date, this is the only place that I had ever seen so many tropical fish just swimming in a harbour next to a ship in waters that was almost like crystal, indeed I had seen tropical fish, but in a tank in the Amsterdam “Artis Zoo” in their Aquarium that had tropical fish from Australia’s Great Barrier Reef. But here they were just swimming free and yet there were even children swimming with them. Many years later I would be swimming as an adult with tropical fish, just like these Tahitian children, but up in the Great Barrier Reef and I enjoyed snorkelling at the Reef!
I returned to the Sibajak in the afternoon for a rest and after my evening meal we had special arrangements to go out for we were taken by bus to the Tahiti Beach Hotel where we were provided with a wonderful buffet meal and again we experienced a menu, but with a good number of foods that were quite new to us, but the flavours and textures were a delight to behold! Of course, this was a 5 star luxury hotel, thus we knew that it would be spotless, remember the Dutch are very fussy and everything must be very, very clean, and it certainly was! The grand meal was followed by ample cool drinks out in the large Bure. However, at the appointed time we went outside where we sat in a huge circle in comfortable chairs and out came the Tahitian dancers in their Hula skirts and they danced the Hula and other traditional dances from the region, including a dance they called the “Tamuree.”
The Equator Crossing:
During the voyage as I already have stated many friends were made and there was no doubt a great time was had, the second day after we left Papeete we officially crossed the Equator. The ceremony took place directly aft of the forward section of the Promenade Deck main superstructure out in the open, where the canvas pool was located on the port side. I would say that the majority of passengers were up on the decks above, both on the forward and aft decks above, being Boat Deck, as well around the assigned area near the pool. The Equator Ceremony always begins with a parade with King Neptune at the front, together with his queen, being a male crewmember dressed somewhat hideously and carrying her baby, well a doll, and following them were King Neptune’s slaves and those prisoners who were to be baptised and cleansed.
I was one of about fifteen of all ages chosen from the passenger list that would be the ones to be blessed, or better said had to suffer this baptism, for the actual baptism actually consisted of three large bins of the most hideous thick different brightly coloured porridge kind of glue like muck. When my turn came, I was dunked head first into each stinky bin, whilst King Neptune’s happily read out why I needed this baptism to all and sundry and then I had gone through all three, I was thrown into the Pool, which was sort of a relief as it partially washed off the gunk! However, there was one big problem, I could not swim, thus someone had jump in to get me out of there! Nevertheless, it was all great fun!
But, I certainly had a great time at the meals drinking some of the world’s finest wines, yet I never became what one may call “a drinker” and I hardly drink at all these days, like I did when I was in business. However, I do enjoy the occasional fine Red and I do have a fine Cellar with some of the greatest!
However, being a young boy, rather innocent in all things in life, being left so alone far removed without any supervision can be dangerous and I certainly discovered that for there were some scoundrels on board who would attempt to entice me away. I became very scared at times, but I had my wonderful stewards and with them I was in complete safe hands, as they lived clean and pure lives, well whenever they were with me anyway. I am certainly thankful to these wonderful men who were so kind, for I was unable to speak to anyone else, not even mother, for she would just blame me, as always.
During the voyage mother and I had a camera and we took many wonderful photographs, however years later when I moved from New Zealand to Brisbane Australia one of my boxes was lost in transit and sadly it contained many of my older shipping photographs, including all those I had taken aboard the Sibajak voyage, I can tell you I cried! Thus you will have noted that on this page, the best I have are several, I did have set apart, which were taken by the ships photographer, and no, they were not like today a massive sales operation, I only managed to get them later through my work at Russell & Somers the GSA for Royal Rotterdam Lloyd!
But then came that notice that tonight there would be the “Diner D’Adieu” and later in the evening the special "Farewell Grand Buffet." Apparently this was always held before Wellington for both the New Zealand and Australian passengers, and it was a grand feast for the eyes, but better still, it was simply delicious!
June 22, 1958 – Wellington:
As the Sibajak carefully entered the inlet into the Harbour entrance, which I learned later just happens to be one of the most dangerous, as many ships have floundered there in the past. In addition, as I discovered later when I actually lived there, that these events would have occurred mostly during Wellington’s well known wild weather storms, for the region is well known for its gale force winds and there are times when massive waves break high over the bridge of a ship together with pouring rain makes visibility almost impossible!
But thankfully our arrival day was a delightfully sunny and a calm day as we slowly entered the harbour. One we had entered, it was like being in an inland sea as the ship was completely surrounded by hills and mountains. The other thing that stood out once we arrived closer to the city; were all those timber houses for they were rather strange to me, as I was used to brown brick houses and buildings back home in the Netherlands, and these houses were all pained in different colours. In the sun, these colours looked and seemed to be so vivid, blue, yellow, brown, green, and white and all the aforementioned would come in various tones, like beige, light blue or dark, etc! They were built along the shoreline as well as quite high up those steep hills.
But it did not end there, for the majority of roofs were also painted in a suitable colour that would match the colour of the house and it was either green, red, brown or a silver, in addition, they were all tin roofs, and I had never seen a tin roof in a civilised country, in the pacific yes! From the water all these houses looked extremely colourful to say the least, but, I did get used to them and now when I think about it, I wish they were still there, for Wellington has become a very modern city and many of those delightful coloured homes seemed to have disappeared! But there was no doubt that Wellington made huge impression on me as I looked upon them from the decks of the MS Sibajak, for it was my special welcome to New Zealand!
Welcome
to Wellington
Upon arrival I would have liked to have remained in Wellington and I could have visited the Sibajak when she was in port before she was lost to the breakers! But instead mother had arrangements to go northward to a town by the name of Palmerston North where we lived, but just as past history proved it was all repeating again for around 10 months later “Mummy Dearest” was ready to move again. Before I knew it we were on an overnight train north to Auckland for another ten months, give or take, and it was then we finally returned to Wellington, but by then the Sibajak had already been handed over to Chung Hing Enterprise of Hong Kong and was broken up, having faithfully served RRL for 31 long years, including coming out unscathed of WW2 having carried countless Australian, New Zealand and English/British troops all over the world! It was at this time in mid 1960 I commenced working with Russell & Somers Ltd., and my career in Passenger Shipping had begun and the rest is history. Today, January 2020, I am long retired due to old age and extreme poor health and eyesight! But I did manage to update some of this page having enlarged it.
I trust that you will have gained something from my experiences on the Sibajak, although as you will have gathered, it is not the typical family story, but it was still a wonderful voyage for me and I enjoyed every little bit of it, especially the ship, for she was simply wonderful! I loved her old world feel, as she felt so elegant, although I did stay far away from the old First Class regions, for more than one particular reason, as I really liked the aft section much better, having said that I did love both the forecastle where I spent a great deal of time, as well as standing at the stern watching her wake. As you have read, I spent most of my time on those aft decks and the aft lounge on Promenade Deck and down on A Deck, which were wonderful. But it was my relationship with the wonderful and kindly Indonesian crew that made my voyage most of all, and I thank my Heavenly Father for them for they in many ways kept me safe and sane!
Over the years, ever since I have placed the Sibajak feature online, I have now received well over two thousand emails from folk who have sailed on the Sibajak and never have I heard a bad word said about this wonderful ship. I have even heard from a number of wonderful folk who sailed on the same voyage as me, just a joy! She took people from the Netherlands and the United Kingdom to the “New World,” be it what we today call Indonesia or Canada, the United States of America. But I believe that she is most fondly remembered by the people of New Zealand and Australia the two countries she served for nine years from 1950 through to her final voyage in July/August 1959, although she did have a couple of voyages to other destinations in between.
Reuben Goossens.
Page Two: Brochures, Deck Plans, Photographs Menus and Memorabilia.
Page Two-b: The Ships Interiors, Deck by Deck.
Page Three: The Author’s voyage on the Sibajak from Rotterdam on May 17, 1958.
Page Three-b: The Family Salden-Van Mulken sail to Australia on May 17, 1958.
Page Four: Ships Chef H B Hulspas story, a floor show programme and a farewell menu dated 1955.
Page Five: Family van der Net and their voyage to Australia in 1956.
Page Six: Family van der Biezen sailed on her second last voyage in 1959.
Page Seven: The Nieborak Family’s voyage to Australia in 1959.
Page Eight: Mr & Mrs Petzold sail from Rotterdam to Cape Town on October 25, 1949.
Also visit the Three other Dutch Liners on
the New Zealand - Australian Service
Please
Note: Email service to ssMaritime, is
sadly no longer available,
This is
due to the author’s old age and illness as well as being disabled, etc.
***********************************
“Blue Water Liners sailing to the distant shores.
I watched them come, I watched them go and I watched them die.”
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