Herald - Lantern - Dispatch 26 February '86

Salty 'Skip' Chambers ' Swallowed the Anchor '

By JACK SMYTH CAPE MAY — If you are in a mood for some seafaring lingo, one of the best sources around is George W. "Skip" Chambers. Chambers not only looks like an old salt, he has the credentials to prove it. Born in Cape May. Chambers. 74. was a licensed seaman from the time he was 23 until he retired. He worked as a quartermaster or bosun on dry cargo vessels, colliers. and tankers. "Too damn long." he said last week when asked how long he has been retired. "I got my keel stuck in the sand now. I swallowed the anchor." He also shipped out on passenger boats, but didn't like them. "Too damn formal." he said. "I became a tanker stiff because on tankers you could run around the deck in your skivvies. " The dictionary defines skivvies as "slang for underwear." "I don't look at the bow wash anymore. I just look at the wake," said Chambers, a small, wiry man with a sailor's peaked cap and tight-fitting jersey. Translated, that means roughly. "I don't look ahead anymore, I just reminisce." "THAT'S MY OLD SCOW." he said, point to a 1975 red Ford station wagon parked on Beach Avenue and carrying an American flag on the fantail (rear) "She has only 30.000 miles on her. but the hull is starting to rust out." One of eight children. Chambers comes from a seafaring family. His father. Joseph, a chief engineer on lightships, was found beaten to death near the Staten Island docks. Two of his three brothers went to sea : three of his four sisters married seamen. Quitting school in the sixth grade to go to work. Chambers first felt the roll of the sea on party boats and commercial fishing vessels. When he got a seaman's license, conditions on the ships he sailed were far different than they were after the National Maritime Union organized under the late Joe Curran. "You slept on straw mattresses and you took your own blanket and soap on board." said Chambers. "And there were only two watches. You worked four hours on. and four off But after the union came in. we worked four hours on and eight off." With Curran at the helm. Chambers remembers seamen playing "ball" on the docks between voyages. •WE DIDN'T HAVE ANY BALLS. But GEORGE W. CHAMBERS "

we had bats. And we used the bats to turn over the cars of the scabs." he said. Before he retired. Chambers sailed on Gulf Oil Co. tankers, including the Gulf Wing. Gulf Pride, and Gulf Meadows that hauled crude oil from places like Port Arthur. Tex: Aruba. Puerto Rico, and Venezuela. He also visited such exotic places as Tonga. Pago Pago, and Papete. Tahiti, in the South Pacific. "I've been to places we've sent missionaries to. but. when you see the way these people act. I wonder why they aren't sending missionaries to us." he said Asked to name a country he hasn't been to. Chambers thought a moment and said. "Afghanistan;" its landlocked. His sense of humor runs to things like. "I always liked the run to Hawaii because I liked to watch the navel maneuvers " Or he. will tell you about his mother who taught school in England and was good at math. "They said she was so sharp because she came from Sheffield." he said. The Cape May he knew as a boy. Chambers said, "was much nicer than what it is now. A person could do what he wanted without having to ask city officials what they had to do." Chambers said current city officials remind him of robber barons "They're going to double the parking meter fees: they say it will hold down taxes, but they're just covering up." he said. "IF YOU WANT TO PUT STEPS in front of your house, you have to get permission now . Your home is not yours anymore." he said. Chambers questions many of the historical- claims made about the city nowadays. "They say it's Victorian, but it's not Victorian. They never used to paint the houses so many different colors." he said. "Si." Spanish, for yes. figures prominently in any conversation with Chambers. It probably reflects the time he spent in South American ports. He pronounces Cuba "Kooba." and our neighbor to the south as "Meheeko." To most people, the C-View Inn is a bar at the north end of Washington Street. But to Chambers it's "Buoy l — that 's what the Coast Guard used to "call it. It's the first bar into town." If Chambers can no longer go to sea. there's nothing to stop him going to the beach And that's w here he spends a lot of time <;heachcombing" with a metal detector. He mostly finds class rings which he tried to return to the owners by writing to the high school or college, asking them to identify the Initials that most rings bear Chambers often finds wedding rings in the sand. too. "One time I was finding so many that I thought people were tired of being spliced." he said. "IT'S A WAY OF PASSING TIME." Chambers said of his "beachcombing " "You can't make a living at it. but it's better than sitting between the four bulkheads .(walls)." Asked how many other people use metal detectors, he said. "Too damn many." If you ask him what pleases him most, you get a quick reply : "Women." he said. "I was spliced once I have four kids, three sons and two daughters. But I very seldom see any of them." A younger sister. Mary Naomi Carmeiita "Babe" Sonntag. lives in Philadelphia < And Chamwrs is proud that his niece. Dottie Sonntag. has a black belt in karate Asked to describe himself. Chambers said. "I know I was born and I know I will die. Outside of that. I don't know what the hell." Chambers regular port of call is George's Place. Beach Avenue and Perry Street. "They have good java." he said.

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Flotilla Installs SOMERS POINT - Division VIII of the United States Coast Guard Auxiliary held its Change of Watch Dinner recently at Daniel's Restaurant here John T Lincoln. Captain of Division VIII. a member of Flotilla 82 Cape May. organized and presided over the event. Lewis Hazel was sworn in as the 1986 commander of Cape May Flotilla 82 and Bernard Ebba as the vice commander Dorothy MiCully was sworn in as a staff officer of Division VIII FLOTILLA H2 staff of ficers who took the oath of office were: Lincoln. Ebba. John McQue. Mel Ellis. Robert Hill and McCully. The high point of the evening was the "roast" for Chief Tom Dickey. U.S.C.G.. Cape May Bade It was followed by many speeches of appreciation and gifts. Hazel presented Dickey with a plaque to express the respect, appreciation and thanks of the flotilla. GOP Meeting WILDWOOD CREST - Mark Diederick. director of the county Office of Consumer Affairs, will be the great speaker at the meeting of the Wildwood Crest Republican Club 7:30 p.m' lonfiprrow at the N e s b i 1 1 Community Center. Rambler Road.

K .'J y ■L " " j; KHw /y ' ^ ^ / V J " V ON A CRUISE — Martha Leuschnrr. resident of the Lutheran Home. Ocean View, accepts a tropical drink from aide Mary Gervasi of Woodbine«iuring a makebelieve Caribbean cruise aboard the SS Ocean View. Activity Director Nancy Kennon originated the theme, w hit h lasted several weeks. Each week a new port was visited with related activities residents.

All-SJ Band Names Six

ERMA — Six students of the Richard M Teitelman School have been selected to ffttform with the AllSouth Jersey Junior High Band this year. . They arc Joshua jAverill.' alto sax. eighth grade. Robin Bailey and George Emblcy. baritone horn, seventh grade. John McColgarv Jason DoFalco. and Matthew Nelson, per cussion. also seventh grade They competed with about -loo students from the Seven southern New Jersey counties These students, with others from Middle Township Middle School and Dennis Township

School, will represent the county in the All South Jersey Band concert at Glasshoro State College March It. GEL) Tests Set COURT HOUSE The General Education I) c v e I o p m e n t E x a m . through which adults can obtain high school diplomas, is given the first Thursday and Friday of each month at the Vocational Career Center here For further information, call 465-2161

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