I sailed on a tanker on the Valdez trade and we had a de-clawed cat aboard. You could pat it for a while then she would bite you for no reason. The cats name was vapor because she always farted. The old man took care of her. When in the yard in Singapore she would greet us on the main deck ladder well at 0515 when we arrived from the hotel every morning.
Ohhhhhhh Yes !!! Plenty plenty of animals … 
Where were you sailing Capitol hill?
When you sail with someone like that … you don’t need any more animals ! 
Yep. A couple of times.
On the “Obregon” in 1990…the old man had a cat. There was a litter box on the bridge and my first full day aboard, went above to do the wheelhouse sanitary and where I was promptly informed it was part of the sanitary to clean the litter box.
The only time in my sea going career I refused a direct order. I was threatened with being logged, fired, etc…
I bitched LOUDLY and refused to clean it.
I think my exact words to the old man and chief mate were along the lines of…“It’s your stinking cat, not mine. You clean up after it.”
And I didn’t either AND kept my job.
Also…while sailing with the SUP on some Matson ships, we carried livestock back to the lower 48 on the Container RO/ROs “Matsonia”, “Lurline” and even on the “Maui”. Pens were constructed on the aft main deck of the RO/ROs and on the fully box boats, cattle were shipped in livestock containers.
A couple of stocktenders were aboard to look after the livestock. They would ride over eastbound then fly back to Hawai’i for the next load.
Sure made the washdowns interesting…
I was sent to Recife to check out a generator problem. When I got on board, the captain had just received notice that his wife had filed for divorce. He said he was due for a drunk and would see us later.
The company had sent a letter to all vessels the week before prohibiting booze, women or pets on board.
I finished up after midnight and was sitting in the galley when the captain arrived with a “lady”, half gallon of rum and a monkey on a chain. As they stumbled by, the captain mumbled something about not getting the memo. The next morning, the agent came by and informed me I was required to ride the boat on a rig move from Maceio to Vitoria. He escorted the “lady” off the boat and we got underway. A couple of days later, we were on the towline with an old jackup. The monkey’s tether came loose and he was climbing all over the pilot house and chart room. He eventually got tangled up in the old Sperry MK14 power supply. His chain shorted it out and he was toast. We almost crossed over the other tugs towline before the mate switched to hand steer. The crew was pissed off because they had to hand steer by magnetic compass for a week or so. I often wonder how the captain logged the incident…
[QUOTE=injunear;97095]I was sent to Recife to check out a generator problem. When I got on board, the captain had just received notice that his wife had filed for divorce. He said he was due for a drunk and would see us later.
The company had sent a letter to all vessels the week before prohibiting booze, women or pets on board.
I finished up after midnight and was sitting in the galley when the captain arrived with a “lady”, half gallon of rum and a monkey on a chain. As they stumbled by, the captain mumbled something about not getting the memo. The next morning, the agent came by and informed me I was required to ride the boat on a rig move from Maceio to Vitoria. He escorted the “lady” off the boat and we got underway. A couple of days later, we were on the towline with an old jackup. The monkey’s tether came loose and he was climbing all over the pilot house and chart room. He eventually got tangled up in the old Sperry MK14 power supply. His chain shorted it out and he was toast. We almost crossed over the other tugs towline before the mate switched to hand steer. The crew was pissed off because they had to hand steer by magnetic compass for a week or so. I often wonder how the captain logged the incident…[/QUOTE]
Now there’s a story with some salt in it. Steven Spielberg and James Cameron couldn’t make this shit up…
[QUOTE=PaddyWest2012;97098]Now there’s a story with some salt in it. Steven Spielberg and James Cameron couldn’t make this shit up…[/QUOTE]
You have to take into consideration this was '74 and '75. Back when going to sea was fun. In the 2 years I lived and worked in South America, I’ve seen several unusual mascots including boa constricters, coatimundis and a 3 toed sloth.
[B]Also…while sailing with the SUP on some Matson ships, we carried livestock back to the lower 48 on the Container RO/ROs “Matsonia”, “Lurline” and even on the “Maui”. Pens were constructed on the aft main deck of the RO/ROs and on the fully box boats, cattle were shipped in livestock containers.
[/B]
I sailed on the Lurline and we carried cattle to Hawaii. I was told this was a true story. A cow got loose and somehow made it’s way down the car ramps to the door to the engine room. It entered the open door and went down a flight of 5-6 stairs (if you ever sailed on those ships you know what I mean, not too steep either). The engineer on watch almost shit his pants when this cow runs in front of the console and into the MSD room on the other side of the ship. The stocktenders drugged the cow and Art Th---------h an SUP bosn rigged slings and saved the annimal.
The captain had 2 German Shepards on a tug I worked on. They would shit and piss in the passageways and get into the grease can in the galley then puke it on the carpet of the day room. I refused to clean it up after a while and ended up leaving the job. The crew was pissed at me!
[QUOTE=“Too bad steam is gone;97116”]Also…while sailing with the SUP on some Matson ships, we carried livestock back to the lower 48 on the Container RO/ROs “Matsonia”, “Lurline” and even on the “Maui”. Pens were constructed on the aft main deck of the RO/ROs and on the fully box boats, cattle were shipped in livestock containers.
I sailed on the Lurline and we carried cattle to Hawaii. I was told this was a true story. A cow got loose and somehow made it’s way down the car ramps to the door to the engine room. It entered the open door and went down a flight of 5-6 stairs (if you ever sailed on those ships you know what I mean, not too steep either). The engineer on watch almost shit his pants when this cow runs in front of the console and into the MSD room on the other side of the ship. The stocktenders drugged the cow and Art Th---------h an SUP bosn rigged slings and saved the annimal.[/QUOTE]
Heard a similar story from a Honolulu pilot. As he was boarding a Matson ship, he looked up and saw the deck gang scatter. When he reached the deck, the only living creature around was an irate cow on the loose. It might have been the same incident. BTW, I sailed with Art - great ship mate, they don’t make them like that anymore.
I worked on a tanker running from Valdez to Ferndale with a captain who had a cat. The captain used to be a miserable pita to work with, but was almost bearable after he got the cat. We took good care of the cat. This one wasn’t declawed, so we’d still vent our frustration with the captain by poking his personal leather chair with dividers, then blame it on the cat.
I worked on a tractor tug (stern azimuth drive) in Puerto Rico and the captain had a couple of dogs. We where happy to have the dogs around but the dog hair was a bitch to keep clean. But I must say he did do most of the dog related cleaning.
I bring my mastiff on my tug in the harbor for short shifts sometimes.
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[QUOTE=Too bad steam is gone;97116] The stocktenders drugged the cow and Art Th---------h an SUP bosn rigged slings and saved the annimal.[/QUOTE]
Art was a great shipmate.
[QUOTE=Too bad steam is gone;97116][B] Art Th---------h an SUP bosn rigged slings and saved the annimal.[/QUOTE]
Art was a great shipmate.
Sailed with his son George on the old “Manukai” too.
We’ve got 2 dogs onboard.
They are encouraged to poop on the helideck. No one seems to mind too much as they aim for poopie mats, a washdown hose is handy and they are nice to play with if you have some free time.