Portrait of a Voyage

About the Book

This is the story of the last voyage of a ubiquitous British Tramp Ship trading in the North Pacific during the early sixties, when the sun began to set on the British Merchant Navy. The voyage described by the ship's Chief Officer took place over forty years ago. Hence the episodes and facts referred to are constrained by the parameters of one's memory of the time.

About the Author

The author, as a child during the Second World War, was evacuated to the fishing village of Ardglass in County Down., Northern Ireland. After the early German Blitz on the City of Belfast he returned to Belfast. In 1946, he joined the Sea Cadet Corps, and in 1947, he left school at the age 14 to work at the Harland & Wolff shipyard. He attended the Belfast College of Technology during the evenings to further his education.

In 1949, he joined the Anglo American Oil Company, now known as Esso, as an officer cadet. In 1961, after service in all types of ships from Coasters to Ocean Liners, he obtained his Masters Certificate which is endorsed for Extra Master 'A' and Orals. As a qualified shipbroker, he was a onetime member of the Baltic Exchange. He read Law with Wolsey Hall, Oxford and London University as an External Student.

He operated his own Shipping Company, 'Potts Line', for some years. He returned to seafaring after he discovered it was more compatible and less pretentious than the maritime business world.

Captain Potts, after some eighteen years as a master in the Merchant Navy, retired through ill health.

He is also the author of The Master.