All at Sea: A Memoir

"All at Sea: A Memoir" describes the career of a ship captain and salvage master from joining his first vessel at the age of sixteen when British ships dominated the oceans to his present status as a marine consultant in Hong Kong.Full of interesting characters and incidents, this memoir is told with humour and enthusiasm by a man who claims to have enjoyed almost every day of a career spanning more than 50 years.Alan Loynd describes leisurely voyages on general cargo ships around the Pacific islands, the arrival of the container revolution, life on tankers during the Iran/Iraq War, and the high-pressure world of offshore supply vessels. Perhaps his most memorable tales are from his time as a tug captain and salvage master in Hong Kong, where he repeatedly pitted his skills against ships which seemed determined to sink under him and, in his 'fifteen minutes of fame', recovered a Boeing 747 aircraft from the waters of Hong Kong harbour.Loynd describes several off-shore postings, including a spell running a maritime school on a remote island in the Pacific where he met the Queen and made the Duke of Edinburgh laugh.Written with humour and great enthusiasm, this is a fascinating account of a career which has spanned more than 50 years and has witnessed great changes both at sea and in Hong Kong. It features a diverse cast of characters, from the ever-reliable Big Yip to a horde of vicious Philippine pirates who did not really exist.The final chapters record the author's career as a marine consultant in Hong Kong and his concern at the rising tendency to prosecute mariners whenever they make mistakes. By turns amusing and thought-provoking, this is an enjoyable tale of a most interesting life.// ALAN LOYND left school at sixteen and joined the merchant navy as a deck cadet. At the time, the British merchant navy was at its peak and general cargo ships dominated the world's shipping lanes. After six years with the Royal Fleet Auxiliary he joined the Swire Group and served with the China Navigation Company, Swire Pacific Offshore and Hongkong Salvage & Towage for the next thirty years.After serving on a wide variety of ship types, he obtained his master mariner's certificate in 1980. For most of his career he was based in Hong Kong, where he still lives and works.In a career spanning more than fifty years, the author describes a period of remarkable change. From general cargo ships which loaded items of cargo individually and spent long periods in port, to the advent of the container revolution, and the introduction of the mega-ship, Alan Loynd has seen an industry transformed. For twenty years he was a salvage master, and became an expert in salvage and towage. Among his most interesting accomplishments was the recovery of a Boeing 747 from Hong Kong harbour in 1993, but he also describes many other salvage operations where he and his team battled fires or flooding to bring stricken ships safely back to port.He now runs his own marine consultancy where he specialises in towage and salvage, marine accident investigation, expert witness work, towage approval and supervising the construction of new tugs. He also writes a monthly tug column for an Australian publisher.Alan Loynd is a Fellow of the Nautical Institute and the International Tugmasters Association, and a Freeman of the Honourable Company of Master Mariners. //"Alan ... has done readers a service by putting on record so many of his experiences in such a charming and accessible manner. ... it is both an honour and a pleasure to commend this volume to almost any curious and enthusiastic reader." -Barnaby Swire. Chairman, the Swire Group