Bart Bear's Blog

You can see these strange -looking things sticking up through the decks of most old ships. I always wondered what they are, and on the "James Craig" I had a chance to find out. We were allowed onto the ship an hour before it sailed, so there was plenty of time for me to have a good look at things before we headed out into the rough seas outside Sydney Heads. After we hit the rough stuff it was every bear for himself and all I could do was hang on tight and try to keep clear of sea-sick passengers. Anyhow, it turns out that these things are ventilators. They pipe air down to the lower decks. In the days before air-conditioning, they were the only way that sailors below-decks could get fresh air. I found other uses for this one. If you can find a way to get to the opening and lean way over, you can drop things on the heads of people on the deck below. And they work really well as sound amplifiers, so a small bear can growl into one and it sounds like a giant roarasourasus to unsuspecting passengers underneath. It's great fun, until Mum sees what you are up to.

Labels: boats, New South Wales, Sydney