Six months on the Black Pig (Tiny Pook)

Capt Sam Mayl

I loved the Discovery. I first joined her November 1984 in Falmouth after she had had a refit. The master was Sam Mayl from Falmouth to Gibraltar. During this passage we did workup trials of the 3km seismic array that we would be using down in the Antarctic. When we got to Gibraltar, Sam Mayl was relieved by Mike Harding. From Gibraltar we transited to Port Stanley, arriving New Year's Eve.

Here we picked up the scientists and the technicians, then we sailed Port Stanley New Year's Day at 17:00 to start work down in the Antarctic a few days later [Cruise 154 led by Peter Barker, University of Birmingham]. We then went to Punta Arenas in February for fuel, water, and provisions. We also got all new officers, as they only did two months on two months off. The master was again Sam Mayl. We went back down into the ice [Cruise 155 led by Bob White from the University of Cambridge] and took fuel and water in Grytviken South Georgia. We came out of the ice on April 1st, and headed for Montevideo to offload the scientists and technicians. We then transited our way back to the UK, arriving in the Clyde on May 13th. I have some great memories of that ship, and I re-read my journals smiling inwardly to myself remembering great times, and the antics we got up to.

Tiny Pook, Bosun, also known as Glenn Pook, (Chief Petty Officer Deck in modern parlance)

RRS Discovery