21st March 2005
The weekend commenced on the Friday evening with people meeting at the “Feathers Tavern” a central city watering hole for Wellingtonians. The landlord kindly allocated a corner and allowed a Company’s Flag to be displayed. It was a very pleasant informal gathering commencing at 5 pm although it is understood that a few arrived early to test the water. Many stayed until closing time and took advantage of the pub’s menu.
On Saturday evening 143 people attended the dinner at the Skyline restaurant, which is at the top of the cable car and overlooks the city and harbour. There were 75 B.S.L. staff members including 15 from Australia, 1 from U.S.A. & 1 from the U.K.
Here we had a ‘Blue Star’ theme to the evening. The dining room was draped with House flags and The Red Duster. A model of the Wellington Star (1952) was on display as well as various plans and other memorabilia brought in by the guests. Oil paintings of various ships and cartoons of ship board activities decorated the walls, painted and drawn by our own Wally Trickett (ex BSL Engineer).
On the tables could be found red, white or blue napkins, along with menus showing four different ‘Blue Star’ designs. Wine glasses sported BSL paper mats. Throughout the evening a continuous power point display projected 550 coloured photographs of Ships and life at sea to an 8’ by 8’ screen. For a small charge, 50 CDs containing the projected images were snapped up by the end of the evening. A ‘Bridge Bell’ from the old New Zealand Star was used to summon people’s attention.
On arrival guests were issued with suitably printed name cards and a BSL funnel booklet containing a list of attendees and their service along with a short story of the first BSL ships to visit New Zealand by Ian Farquhar.
With all this in place it was then up to the guests to make the most of the evening and this they did. Praises were kindly bestowed upon the organisers and before the night was out our Australian guests came forth with a proposal to reciprocate in Queensland. They suggested two years time with a possibility of Brisbane or the ‘Gold Coast’. Being a bit short of memorabilia, the Aussies never fail to miss a trick and suggested that we hand over one of our ‘House’ flags as they do in the Olympics. We managed to hold on to the flag – for the time being.
The Organisers are truly grateful to all that attended in making it "a night to remember", a grand time was certainly had by all. It reflects the great pride we had in our association with Blue Star Line and the friendships gained from that association.
On the Sunday 65 hardy souls braved the weather and the odd hangover for a lunch cruise around Wellington’s fine harbour. Due to a rare but rather strong wind, lunch was served while at anchor in the lee of Somes Island. The convivial atmosphere of the previous meeting was obvious and continued on terra firma with a small hard core retreating to “Black Harp” an Irish Pub.
Memorable moments: - Chris Brown from U.S.A. who met up with Peter Entwistle of Auckland who last saw each other when they left the Conway in 1951. Graham Crisford recognised Cliff Latham, 3/0 Tasmania Star 1956, in a group photo, as being in school with him and was unaware that he had joined B.S.L.
Lots of memories surfaced and many tales were told some true, some false but most exaggerated.
Thanks must be given to CentrePort–Wellington for their kind sponsorship towards the cost of printing and the loan of their projector and laptop computer.
Ifor Owen and Peter Stacey ~ Organisers
Those Attending from Australia:
Beale, Tony and Kathy
Afloat : 1965 - 1972, Cadet to 2nd Officer
de Jong, Chris and Carla
Ashore: - 1998 Planner. Operations Manager, Sydney
Dent, Malcolm and Margaret
Afloat : 1962 - 1971 Extra 3rd Officer to Chief Officer
Devenish, John.
Afloat : 1957 - 1960. Empire Star, Main Greaser, Brasil Star, Fireman, Melbourne Star, Main Greaser
Frech, Fred and Alison
Afloat : 1966 - 1977 Engineer Cadet to Chief Engineer
Geels, Alex and Irene
Afloat : 1964 - 1976 Cadet to Chief Officer
Headley, Allan and Coral
Afloat : BSL Service 1965 -1967 Radio Officer Halifax Star
MacKillop, Carol
Wife of Captain Don MacKillop,
Don's Service 1952 - 1994 Cadet to Master
O'Hare, Peter and Jenny
Afloat :1965 - 1970 Cadet to 3rd Officer
Payze, Dave
Afloat :1970 - 1980 Junior Engineer to Chief Engineer
Pelecanos, Steve and Dianne
Afloat : 1970 - 1981, Cadet to Chief Officer
Poynter, Graham and Patricia
Ashore : 1970's Various Positions in Management BPACT 1981-1982 Operations Manager BSL San Francisco
Smith, Tony and Esme
Afloat : 1953 - 1958, 2nd Engineer / Chief Engineer BSL and Austasia Ashore :1958 - 1989 Supt. Engineer & Marine Manager
Tonge, Roger and Gail Tonge
Afloat 1960 - 1973 Cadet to Chief Officer
Wood, Ian
Afloat : 1953 - 1968 Cadet to Chief Officer
Those Attending from United Kingdom:
Webb, Richard J (Dick) and Pam
Afloat : 1950 - 1960 Cadet to Chief Officer Ashore : 1960 - 1997 Marine Superintendent/Stores Controller/Fleet Safety Officer BSSM London/Liverpool
Those Attending from United States:
Brown, Christopher (USA) and Hilary (daughter)
Afloat : 1954 - 1955 Cadet - 4th Officer ( came into BSL through Donaldsons)
Those Attending from New Zealand:
Aitken, Robin and Julie
Afloat : 1967 - 1973 3rd Officer - Chief Officer Ashore : 1973 - 1993 Auckland Terminal as Planner, Port Chalmers as Terminal Manager and New Plymouth as Terminal Manager
Ali, Michael
Afloat : 1960 - 1965 Deck officer Ashore :1965-1970 NZ Head office, Wellington 1970 - 1974 BSL agent, Tauranga
Anderson, John and Linda
Afloat : 1964 - 1976 Engineer Cadet - Chief Engineer
Banks, Steve
Afloat :1979 - 1981 2nd Officer
Bjorklund, Pat (formerly Lambert)
Wife of Bill Lambert, Assistant General Manager
Cashmore, Mike and Mary
Ashore : 1987 - 1998 Port Agent / Central Ship Planner
Churchouse, Colin and Bronwyn
Son and Daughter-in-law of Mr Ken Churchouse, Managing Director Blue Star (NZ) 1938 - 1950 and 1958 - 1976
Churchouse, Peggy
Mrs Ken Churchouse, Managing Director Blue Star (NZ) 1938 -1950 and 1958 - 1976
Colebrook, Ron and Marie
Afloat : 1953 - 1962 Cadet to 2nd Officer
Cooper, David and Yvonne
Afloat : 1961 - 1972 J/E to Chief Engineer
Cooper, Denise (formerly Beecham) and Gavin
Ashore : 1970 - 1974 Telephonist/Telex Operator/Secretarial
Crisford, Graham and Janet
Afloat: 1950 - 1957 Cadet - 2nd Officer
Cubin, Bob and Jacque
Afloat : 1959 – 1969 Port Line 2nd Officer (Latter portion under BSL/Port Line Ship Management). Ashore : 1969 -1989 ACT (NZ) Ltd, Blueport ACT (NZ) Ltd, Various roles/DP Mgr, BSL NZ, IS Manager
Curry, George
Afloat : 1971 - 1986 Junior Engineer to 2nd Engineer
Dickinson, John and Christine
Ashore : 1989 -1994 NZ Line/Blue Star NZ Head Office Planner then Operations Supervisor.
Dickson, Ian and Beverley Sayer
Afloat : 1970 - 1973 6th Engineer to 3rd Engineer
Dickson, Russell and Gillian
Afloat : 1964 - 1965 Third Engineer
Durham, Ross and Jennifer Roe
Afloat : 1973 - 1981 3rd Officer to Chief Officer
Eastwood, Philip
Ashore : 1978 – 1996 Trade Accountant BSL Wellington
Entwistle, Peter and Barbara
Afloat : 1951 - 1961 Cadet to Chief Officer
Fanshawe, Ian and Isobel
Afloat : 1963 - 1975 Engineer Cadet to Chief Engineer
Farquhar, Ian and Shirley
Ashore : 1950 - 1995 Dunedin Agent for Blue Star Line
Fleck, John and Kathleen
Afloat and Ashore : 1974 - 1998, Engineer, Superintendent Engineer & Technical Manager
Fozard, Bob and Jacqui
Afloat : 1959 - 1966, 1971 - 1976 Cadet to Chief Officer
Ashore : 1976-1998 Planner - Terminal Manager Wellington - National Ship Planner
Francis, Dave and Christine
Afloat : 1974 - 1985 Engineer Cadet to 3rd Engineer
Fraser, Ross
Ashore : 1971 - 1973 Wellington, Inward Freight/Claims, Sydney, Accts
Garnons-Williams, Kent and Helen
Afloat : 1967 – 1972 Junior Engineer to 2nd Engineer
George, Bryn and Diane
Afloat : 1964 – 1981 Engineer Cadet to Chief Engineer
Gibb, Alex and Wendy
Afloat : 1967 - 1981 Cadet to Chief Officer
Gill, David and Dorothy
Ashore : 1971 - 1997 Managing Director Blue Star Line (1991- 1997)
Hall, Mike (Malcolm) and Jenny
Afloat : 1963-1973 Cadet to 2nd Officer
Henderson, Lew and Tracey
Afloat : 1977 - 1981 3rd Officer to Chief Officer
Hoggarth, Alan
Ashore : 1963 - 1991 Manager BSL Napier
Hulme, David and Gaylene
Afloat : 1955 - 1960, 1962 - 1967 Cadet to Chief Officer
James, Bob and Carole
Afloat : 1970 – 1982 Cadet to Chief Officer
James, Gordon and June
Ashore : 1974 - 1992 Engineer
Jenkins, Mark and Anne
Afloat : 1973 - 1984 Cadet to 2nd Officer
Kennedy, John and Jill
Afloat : 1959 -1968 Cadet- 2nd Officer
Lewis, Iain and Diana
Ashore : 1978 - 1997 National Ship Planner and later Operations Superintendent
MacKean, Neill and Kathy
Afloat : 1975 to 1986 2nd Officer, Ashore : 1989 - 1992 Ship Planner
McArdle, Barry
Afloat : 1969 - 1980 2/Electrician / Chief Electrician
Meek. Nigel and Lorraine
Afloat : 1971 - 1985 Cadet to Chief Officer
Mockett, John and Beverley
Afloat : 1965 - 1997 Cadet to Master
Morrissey, Gary and Karma
Ashore : 1969 - 1973 London, Outward Freight 1973 Wellington, Traffic 1973 -1998 Napier, Traffic & Branch Manager
Morrissey, Karma and Gary
Ashore : 1969 - 1973 London, Accounts 1973 Wellington Outward Freight
Musgrave, Graham and Ruth Minn
Ashore : 1965 - 1989, Wellington, Freight Manager
Nicholls, Ian and Noreen
Afloat : 1957 - 1968 Junior Engineer to 2nd Engineer
Ashore : 1968 - 1978 Engineer Manager Wellington 1978 - 1981 Engineer Manager and General Manager BSL Dubai
Norman, David and Dawn
Afloat : 1965 - 1973 Cadet to 2nd Officer
Notman, John and Gretta
Afloat : 1950 - 1960 Junior Engineer to Chief Engineer
Ashore : 1960 - 1961 Asst. Eng. Supt for BSL - London Docks 1961 - 1970 Eng. Supt - BSL(NZ) Ltd. 1970 - 1975 Eng. Supt. ACT(NZ) Ltd. 1975 - 1989 AGM Operations Blueport ACT (NZ) Ltd 1990 - 1991 Operations Director NZ Line
Owen, Gareth and Jenny
Afloat : 1967 - 1973 Junior Engineer to 3rd E
Owen, Ifor and Clare
Afloat : 1946 - 1953 (L+H) 1953 - 1964 (BSL) Cadet - Master Ashore : 1964 - 1969 (London) Cargo Superintendent 1969 - 1991 Assistant and Marine Superintendent
Plester, Dave and Frances
Afloat : 1975 - 1982 3rd Engineer / 2nd Engineer
Proctor, Ken and Veronica
Afloat : 1958 - 1966 Cadet to 2nd Officer
Rendle, John and Gail McLeod
Afloat : 1966 - 1981 Cadet to Chief Officer
Ritchie, Bill and Jan
Ashore : Auckland Manager
Robertson, W A (Sandy) and Louise
Afloat : 1947 - 1958 , 1959 - 1966 Cadet to Chief Officer Ashore : 1966 -1974 Stevedore Supervisor Gannaway & Co
Skinner, Don and Adrienne
Afloat : 1968 - 1968 3rd Engineer
Stacey (O’Sullivan), Alison and Peter
Ashore : 1972 - 1976 Secretary / Private Secretary Assistant General Manager & Superintendents
Stacey, Peter and Alison
Afloat : 1965 - 1980 Cadet to Chief Officer
Stocking, Brian and Gillian
Ashore : 1969 - 1987 Sales and Marketing BSL and BPACT Wellington
Taylor, Paul and Robyn Leigh Taylor
Ashore : 1973 - 1998 Trade Manager
Trickett, Wallace (Wally) and Susan
Afloat : 1974 - 1979 Junior Engineer to 4th Engineer
Williams, Graham and Jan
Afloat : 1949 - 1959 Cadet to 2nd Officer
Wood, William (Bill)
Afloat : 1962 - 1971 Cadet to 2nd Officer
John Devenish left (former fireman/head greaser on Brasil Star and Empire Star, who rose to be manager of Australia's largest mining company in W.A. and more recently has written a book about his life at sea on the ships mentioned called "Sailors in Civvies." Peter Stacy (centre) co-organizer, now Master and pilot Wellington Harbour Board with Wally Trickett (right)
John
Anderson of the Wellington Star with
Wally Trickett again together after 30 years
Photo by John Devenish
