[Public-List] Whitby Ontario

[Gordon Laco]

Hello Marcello - 

Well HMCS ORIOLE is interesting down below decks… she was once the personal yacht of one of North America’s wealthiest men… but that was a long time ago.  So down below she is a mixture of past opulence and modern navy.  When I served aboard her it struck me that she’s pretty much like a submarine with regards to quarters… but here and there utterly lovely stained glass on cabinet doors and intricate carved mahogany peeks through.  

A funny thing happened back when I was a junior officer and had just joined ORIOLE.  In the officers mess down below my new shipmates decided to watch the movie ‘Master and Commander’ after supper.  We’d all seen the film before and of course knew every scene. Cross talk developed about the technical advisor on the film.  One guy said ‘I heard someone in our service worked on that movie’… another said ‘yah, I think he joined recently, I talked to someone who met him…anyone know who did it?’ and so on.   I kept my mouth shut.   Then the end of the film came and my shipmates watched the credits roll with curiosity to see if anyone knew the name… and there was my name.   They fell silent as all eyes swivelled to me.  Then the CO said a with a little too much surprise in his tone ‘YOU?!’

Ha ha oh what fun…  I had a good day aboard ORIOLE today.  She’s an absolute honey of a training ship, and much loved by sailors all over the country.

Gordon Laco
#426 Surprise




> On Aug 10, 2018, at 8:23 AM, Marcelo D. Gentinetta via Public-List <public-list at lists.alberg30.org> wrote:
> 
> Gordon,
>     Thanks for the “lagniappe” as we say in New Orleans. What a beautiful yacht! Stunning lines! She must be beautiful belowdecks. 
> I always wondered about the Whitby area and boatbuilding. Very interesting.
> Have a great day!
> Marcelo
> 
>> On Aug 10, 2018, at 6:56 AM, Gordon Laco via Public-List <public-list at lists.alberg30.org> wrote:
>> 
>> Good morning gang
>> 
>> Well here I am in Whitby Ontario, where our boats were build, standing outside the very building.   I’m here to meet HMCS Oriole (google her) to work with her trainees for the day.  
>> 
>> There’s a boat repair business still operating in part of the building; mice people, I think I’ll say hello while waiting for Oriole to arrive.  
>> 
>> Lovely cool morning... I’m imagining Oriole gliding on the nw breeze reaching across the lake... watches about to change, breakfast being rustled up in the messes... 
>> 
>> And also thinking of what a busy boat building town this was... Whitby Boatworks was here, Aloha Yachts, nearly twenty more in the general area.  All closed during the 1980’s    I used to call that time ‘the great age of extinctions’.   What did it?   Market saturation? Higher interest rates?  Dumping of cheap US built yachts onto the market without regulation?  Higher costs for resins connected to oil market dips and surges?   All those things I guess.  What a time that was... I was just out of school and in my first full time job... we couldn’t build rigs fast enough... for a while.  I just caught the end of the glory days.  
>> 
>> Gord 
>> 426 Surprise 
>> 
>> Sent from my iPhone
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