Service Details
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Petroking Vessel Ordinary Seaman (OS) period Mar 1962 to Oct 1963,
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Phoenix Vessel Able Bodied Seaman (AB) period Feb 1964 to May 1965,
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Bulktrader Vessel Able Bodied Seaman (AB) period Sep 1965 to Dec 1966,
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Petroqueen Vessel Able Bodied Seaman (AB) period Mar 1967 to May 1968,
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Ore Jupiter Vessel Able Bodied Seaman (AB) period May 1968 to Nov 1968,
Bio
Introduction:
- My Story
- Edgar Ashton Bodden JP
- Without a past, there would be no future
- Some history of my life at sea
- Like most young men of the 1950s and 1960s, the desire and urge to go to sea were always on
- my mind. It was a way to better my own life as well as my family at home. So, at the age of 18
- years I signed up with the late Dennis Foster for a job to go to sea. Not long after I received
- word that I had been selected to go with the National Bulk Carriers Company. A Company
- operated out of New York and was owned by Daniel K. Ludwig. Going to sea meant leaving my
- loving Family and home and signing a contract for one year minimum before returning back
- home.
- So in February 1962, I left for Grand Cayman to go to Portland, Maine. U.S.A. Up until this day, I
- remember so clearly the morning I arrived on board the Steam Ship Tanker “Petro King”. It was
- freezing with below-zero temperatures that cold February morning in Portland, Maine. Ice was
- hanging from everywhere that you can imagine. Railings, catwalks, Bridge, smoke stacks, pipe
- lines and the Masts and any other structure where ice could form. Temperatures I had never
- imagined or experienced back in the warm and sunny Cayman Islands. It was a very challenging
- experience for me, but I learned to overcome it, and never looked back, as my Parents always
- taught to me.
- Conditions on board the ship were good, that is considering it was a whole new world for me in
- a sense. Adjusting to living 24/7 hours on board a ship 850 feet long, with 35 crew members
- (including the Captain) and 11 different nationalities was something I had to get used to. I think
- I adapted to the way of life on board quite quickly, I would say. The Officers were very firm and
- commanding but at the same time very nice about it. The Crew always respected them and
- looked up to them, and overall, we got along very well. Note: Today a ship that size would be
- operated with approximately 12 to 14 crew members, including the Captain. The reason for this
- is because the ships nowadays are all automated. Therefore, they required less crew members.
- The culture and way of life was different for most of the crew, as one can imagine, but we learnt
- to work together and get along. Reporting to duty for an 8 o'clock shift meant that you had to
- be there 10 minutes before, in order to relieve the next sailor at 7:50 am. No excuse was
- accepted for being late for work other than physically being sick.
- My first 92 days on board that ship we sailed completely around the world. Which meant when
- We sailed out of Portland, Maine, we went through the Atlantic Ocean, the Caribbean Sea, the
- Panama Canal, Pacific Ocean, Philippine Sea, South China Sea, Indian Ocean, Arabian Sea,
- Persian Gulf (via the Strait of Hormuz), the Gulf of Aden, the Red Sea, the Suez Canal, the
- Mediterranean Sea, Straits of Gibraltar and again into the Atlantic before arriving back at
- Portland Maine. A voyage I will always remember. This we continued for three consecutive voyages
- around the world before going on to another charter.
- These are some approximate figures of the distances steamed, and the time taken in between Ports
- during the voyage from Portland, Maine, and around the world and back to Portland, Maine.
- Ports Distance Times
- Portland, Maine to Puerto La Cruz, Venezuela, 2,250 miles, 7 days
- Puerto La Cruz, Venezuela, via the Panama Canal and on to San Francisco, California, 3,150 mls, 12 days
- San Francisco, California to Yokohama, Japan 5,500 miles 20 days
- Yokohama, Japan, to Kuwait, Persian Gulf 7,200 mls 26 days
- Persian Gulf to Port Suez, Egypt (Suez Canal) 3,600 mls 10 days
- Suez Canal to Portland, Maine 5,700 mls 17 days
- ________ _______
- 27,400 mls 92 days
- Note: The above times/dates include the time spent in Ports on the voyages as well.
- I signed on the ship as a Bedroom Steward (BR). (Which meant I made up the officer's bed. And
- when I retired from the sea someone was making up my bed. I worked in that position for a
- few months. All along, I knew I was missing my calling. Then I was transferred to the deck
- department as an ordinary sailor. Then I was promoted to Quarter Master AB. The Quarter
- Master main responsibility was to steer the ship. A job I enjoyed very much. The deck
- department was where I always wanted to be. Navigation always fascinated me. To see
- someone take a Sextant, a watch, an almanac and some tables from a book and determine by
- Celestial Navigation, the position of a ship, always made me want to learn how to navigate. The
- main celestial bodies used for navigation being the Sun, Stars and Planets and sometimes the
- Moon.
- It would be remiss of me not to mention and thank the late Mr. Dennis Foster, Mr. Colin Panton
- and Ms Gwen Bush and others who still remain active in our society up until today, for all the
- help, advice and guidance they rendered to me and to the other Seamen from Cayman Brac
- and the Cayman Islands as a whole. I would also like to mention Ms Elsie Bernard for providing
- meals and boarding for the Seamen from Cayman Brac whenever we traveled through Grand
- Cayman on our way to sea. Ms Bernard was such a nice lady. I would also like to thank Mr. Ira
- Walton for Taxi service while we were going back and forth to sea during Southwell and
- National Bulk years. Mr. Ira was a very kind and obliging Gentleman. Those same people are the
- ones who started to show the “Cayman Kind” from back then. We, the few that remain will
- always be grateful to them for such kindness.
- In my humble opinion I feel it was us, the Seamen that started to help build the economic
- foundation of the Country that has come to what it is today. We went away and sent home our
- wages/money (referred to in those days as allotment) which served to support and help our
- families, build homes and other infrastructure and pay TAXES. All of which helped build these
- Cayman Islands that we love so much, and are blessed and privileged to call home today.
- It was a few ships later that I sailed with Captain Fred E. Scott. He inspired and encouraged me
- to learn navigation. He took time out to show and teach me how to determine my position by
- using a Sextant, a Chronometer, an Almanac and Tables. That’s what was used for celestial
- navigation. Which is how a ships’ position is determined at a giving time. He was a good teacher
- and he knew navigation inside out.
- As I continued sailing I enjoyed navigation very much. In my early days of sailing I enjoyed it so
- much that I could hardly sleep in the nights waiting for morning to come to get out my sextant
- and take observation. Being a young sailor it was sure exciting. To those that have experienced
- it they know exactly what I am talking about.
- Over the years I worked my way up through the ranks and at the age of 29 years old I started to
- sail as Captain on smaller ships running around the Western Atlantic Ocean and the Caribbean. I
- enjoyed the life very much and felt great pride for my accomplishment. The responsibly of the
- Crew, Ship and cargo seemed very heavy (especially in bad weather) but I quickly learnt to gain
- big shoulders and accept it.
- After I got married I had the opportunity to take my Wife on board the Ship for some time. She
- still remembers sailing on the ship and seeing the difference parts of the world. That part of it
- she enjoyed, but not the rough weather.
- My life at sea afforded me the opportunity to see and visit approximately 60 difference
- Countries. It also allowed me to sail around the world a number of times. On one voyage while
- at anchor In Port Suez, Egypt I had the privilege to go over to Cairo ad see the Pyramids, fished
- and rowed a boat on the River Nile. At that time I my life to see and do such thing was very
- exciting.
- During my career at sea I sailed on Oil Tankers, other Chemical and oil carriers, general cargo
- ships and Seismic Ships. On board the Seismic Ships we did exploration for Oil as far away as
- West Africa. My favorite of them was the Seismic ships. The Navigation equipment such as
- (Radars, Sonars, gyro compasses and Satellite Navigation and other technology on board was
- very sophisticated, modern and interesting to use. The equipment was accurate within one
- foot. While exploring for oil the ship was towing a (2 ½ miles) long cable which recorded data
- received from guns that was fired in the water.
- After almost 5 years on that job I went to work for Cayman Energy Ltd as Pilot and Mooring
- Master doing Ship to Ship transfer off of Cayman Brac ad Little Cayman. The common practice
- was to berth and tie two ships together but several time we berthed 3 ships together of smaller
- size. After 5 ½ years the Company took the business to the U.S. Gulf of Mexico and that was the
- end of it. At which time I decided to end my sea career and spend more time with my Wife and
- 2 Children. I learnt from a very early age that my biggest asset was my family, and thank God I
- never forgot it.
- My time at sea did not end without facing a lot of hardships, dangers, accidents, challenges and
- a lot of very bad weather. But I thank the good Lord for guiding me and protecting me during these
- uncertain times.
- My favorite words : With God all things are possible.
- Captain Edgar Ashton Bodden, JP
- Justice of the Peace
- Cayman Brac
- 345 9168723
