brimmed baseball hat. The pilot looked around at our bridge,
compass wheel and telegraph – that was it. Turning to our
captain he asked, 'what does she do?' 'Seven knots' replied the
captain. 'Woah' he said turning his peaked cap back like a racing
driver and crouching down holding onto the wooden dodger,
said: 'Let's go.'"
10 years after Johnny left the Bloemfontein Castle, he heard
that the man who once tried to kill him had battered the chief
steward into pulp coming through the Panama Canal.
Further sea miles were sailed until Johnny Mac eventually
found himself in Indonesia where the company paid them off and
a flight to Sydney. "I then felt the call of the South Seas and was
soon on a plane to New Zealand and back on the coast as an AB."
One of the many ships he sailed on was the MV Holmburn to
Campbell Island where surf boats were used to discharge cargo and
replacement teams. They also serviced Raoul Island taking hay and
stock (heifers, bull, sheep, chooks) with a team of 12 men. "The
trip north was like being on a lake, the only ripple was our wake –
the 4-8 watch, rooster crowing, cattle mooing and sheep baabaaing.
At the island we steamed around to a beach where we had the bull
in his box, surfboats lashed alongside, a rocket line to the beach, the
end made fast to a ring in his nose, opened the 'gate' and he headed
ashore. The next job was getting a ferro cement septic tank lashed
alongside the 32 footer – but that's another story."
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I paid more than union rates
because I believe that the labourer
is worthy of his hire
Although Johnny Mac thoroughly enjoyed being at sea, he
decided to come ashore when his son was five years old. In the
1970s shipping was undergoing a revolution of containers and
fast turnarounds. Shore side options were limited to working on
the wharves. With support from the seamen, Johnny Mac set up
a self-contained ship painting service using a 26-foot workboat
and barge.
Johnny Mac provided a quick and efficient hull painting
service. "Before we did it, crew would have to put the lifeboat in
the water and then more crew would shift the ropes along from
the deck as they worked around the ship. Then hoisting the boat
back up again and cleaning it up took three to four crews. It was
such inefficient use of manpower. We'd have floating rope, run
around it and work away till it was done."
"Pretty soon I was painting American ships, Matson line,
cargo ships, and Scandinavian ships at their berth. Eventually
I was getting so much work that I got a gang of men working
with me. I paid more than union rates because I believe that the
labourer is worthy of his hire."
From 1971 to 2011 Johnny Mac and his gang flourished paint
brushes and rollers on ships berthed in and around the Auckland
Harbour. In the early days, safety was about not taking chances
and looking out for your mates in the finest tradition. "It was
a very interesting 40 years and the most challenging issue was
to avoid falling overboard. I only done it twice – once sober,
the other time hopelessly drunk," he laughs. Looking back, he
believes that it was the combination of the amount of support he
received from seamen and finding a niche market.
Now retired, Johnny Mac walks through life, and along the
waterfront with a peace and a comfort that is worth more to
him than gold.
www.skipper.co.nz
VIP.S95
Phone 0800 YANMAR
info@powerequipment.co.nz
www.yanmar.co.nz
September/October 2013 Professional Skipper 45
