"Bashert" by Conrad Singer             Chapter 4 Aboard the Verbormilia

four 

ABOARD THE VERBORMILIA

   Within a few days, the ship sailed from Braila, laden with timber. I felt joy in my heart because I was fulfilling my old dream of going to sea. The huge expanse of water was so calm and peaceful. I looked out to the far horizon, searching out all the different countries. I could not come to terms with the wonder of it all. 

   However, I did not have a great deal of time to stand and stare, working from 5 in the morning, until 9 at night. Shabby clothing and hard work

I'm posing as Charle Gabon in an old movie in which he played  a poor sailor. I really was a "poor sailor!"
were forced on to me again. The first job of the day was to scrub out the galley, a big wooden table and wash all the pots and pans. In a short time, my hands were badly burned and a couple of nasty boils erupted.

   My second voyage took me, on the same ship, to Hamburg, Danzig and Cydinia. The ship’s company included two other Jewish lads. It was quite a surprise when, on the day of Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement, Captain Bass invited us all to his cabin, that evening, to break our fast. The ship had entered the Kiel Canal and as we sat around the dinner table, we were interrupted by the arrival of the Canal pilot. The Customs men who came on board to inspect the ship’s papers were all wearing Swastika armbands. Captain Bass did not falter and carried off his part, as the Russian skipper of a vessel flying the British Flag. He did this while speaking to the German authorities in Yiddish, which was sufficiently similar to their language to be understood.

   On return to the quayside in Braila the older crew members pointed out to me the rats that were leaving the ship for the shore by running down the ropes. They muttered that this bad omen could only point to some disaster ahead. Sure enough, the next voyage was not to be without incidents.

   As we sailed through the Bay of Biscay, on the northbound leg of the voyage, the pipes to the ship’s boiler blew up. We sailed on to Denmark. Shortly before reaching the port of Esjberg, the cargo was smoldering.  A radio signal was sent ahead to the port authorities. They sent out the fire brigade as we docked. This was so that the cargo could be damped down as soon as the holds were open.

  On return to Braila, the members of the crew were discharged. We all returned home to face the rigour of winter and another period of unemployment. 

 

Verbormilia, Bay of Copenhagen, 1936, my ship is trapped in the icepack

Home      Contents

 Previous       Next