Newsletter for the Rotary Club of Greater Geraldton - Issue No.: 782 Issue Date: 29 Apr, 2024

Past President Raj Mavath, introduced our guest speaker:

Douglas Bruce came to Australia in 2001 having sold his business in the U K and retiring from work aged 50. The best decision he have ever made!!! In December 1987.

Molly and he then went to sea for the next 14 years in their 50 foot motor yacht which he had built at home over the previous 5 years.

In the 14 years at sea they visited Germany , Denmark, Sweden, Norway, Finland, Russia, Estonia, France and Spain.

Since living in Australia he has built two replica Le Mans race cars, a Ford Gt 40 and a Porsche 917.

He has also built a model railway which now resides in the Nanson museum.

He loves most sports and during his time in the UK he was a keen field hockey umpire and before his retirement in 1987 he spent the previous 12 years on the World Cup and Olympic panel which took him to many parts of the world.

Around the World in a Container Ship

Douglas and Molly set off on their journey travelling to Sydney and Melbourne on the Indian Pacific and after a delay of a week or so finally left on 18th of May, travelling to Colombo, Sri Lanka via Fremantle.

In Sri Lanka, they were there at the time of the war and it was quite noticeable with fortifications on the streets and armed soldiers everywhere you went.

There was no entertainment on the container ship – it was a matter of making your own.  It was very much a case of “passengers were to be seen but not heard”.  One of the activities that exhibited Douglas’s finest skills was embroidery.  A few examples of exquisite embroidered art were displayed on the wall during the meeting.

Was very much a rhythm about the activities on the ship – from his and Molly’s point of view a typical day would consist of breakfast followed by a session at the gym, 2 turns around the deck, 0.8 km, then lunch, then some more walking.  They also played table tennis with crew.

There were a couple of other passengers, one was a doctor who was quite reasonable and good company, but the other was an Austrian woman who knew everything and make sure she told everyone what she knew.  Fortunately, they were to “lose her” along the way.

Next was Suez canal and because they had had engine difficulties on the way they had extra time for a camel ride to the pyramids.  Douglas suggested that while 1.5 hours on a camel is romantic and a good way to travel in Egypt – it can lead to long-lasting injuries and is in fact not all that pleasant.

Continued in convoy down the Suez canal, which by the way is one way because it’s quite narrow.  They then went to Italy where, to the great relief of all, the Austrian lady left the ship.  From there they continued through the Mediterranean and on to England, to Tilbury, on June 13, where they had 6 weeks off the ship.

One week before rejoining the ship, Douglas contracted shingles, with an outbreak on his back.  And for anybody who has had shingles they know it is not a very pleasant experience.  Their journey continued on to Rotterdam, Dunkirk, Le Havre.  Douglas explained that on a container ship everything is controlled with the contents of every container logged and monitored on computers.

Their journey continued across the Atlantic where they experienced force 8 winds (the worst they experienced in the past was forced 4).  They visited New York, Norfolk, Savannah and although Douglas and Molly were able to leave the ship, he found it inexplicable that the Sri Lankan crew were not allowed to land.  Douglas felt this was simply discrimination.

Then headed down to the Panama Canal and was “lifted” and towed through the canal with mechanical “camels” either side of the ship.  The final part of the journey across the Pacific saw them visiting Tahiti, Noumea, Brisbane and then arriving in Melbourne on 6 September – journey’s end – May to September, around the world on a container ship.

Michelle Mitchell, thanked Douglas for his very informative talk, exclaiming “WOW, WOW” and congratulating Douglas for his good public speaking suggesting that he would be a very good teacher.