THE CROSSING OF THE BAR

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Is that the sound of breaking surf,

Or sighing wind in stays,

Who else can feel the rising breeze,

Or hear the slapping sails?

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I hear a ship’s deep whistle,

Feel rise of ocean swell,

The telegraph is muted by,

The tolling fo’c’sle bell.

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It’s gone eight-bells, my shipmate dear,

And you’ll be soon away,

It tolls like this at sailor’s end,

It’s time to leave the quay.

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Then shroud me in the colours

That flutter in the breeze,

Commit me to the sunlit spray,

I’ve reached my full degrees.

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The fo’c’sle bell must ring out well,

Not muffled when I go,

I’ll no more slip my anchor

Where the sea winds gentle blow.

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Michael Walsh Maritime Poetry

THE LEAVING OF LIVERPOOL  ex-Liverpool seaman Michael Walsh. Bestseller: 70 stories and over 100 pictures. A first-hand account of the British ships, seafarers, adventures and misadventures (1955 – 1975). A tribute to the ships and seamen of the then-largest merchant marine in history. BOOK LINK    https://tinyurl.com/3kuja2s5

BRITANNIC WAIVES THE RULES The last White Star Liner (1845-1960) by Michael Walsh. In 68 lavishly illustrated stories the company’s last deckboy vividly recalls shipboard life. The liner’s colourful characters and jaw-dropping incidents both on board and in New York’s notorious Hell’s Kitchen. A unique collector’s item. LINK TO BOOK https://tinyurl.com/42zns8n2