CAPTAIN HARRISON MAYCROFT
MOTHER RACHEL V
CAPTAIN HARRISON MAYCROFT
Sea Level, N.C., July 27, 1998
....I never saw him for about ten or fifteen years, and then he came aboard this big
supertanker, and everyone said, 'oh, we got Mother Rachel for a steward'...I did
see him once before that in Galveston ...I was nightmate on a ship, I was just a
relief officer for the night, and the captain came back on the ship, he says....'has anyone
come aboard?' ...it was on a Saturday...I say 'why?'...he says 'we ordered a new
crew'....and I say 'well, there's this guy came aboard, says he's a steward'...at
that time I didn't know they call him Mother Rachel either ...and Rachel came aboard dressed
with a pair of slacks, and he says 'no cooks aboard?', and I say 'no'... he says
'who are you? are you the nightmate?', and I say 'yeah', and he says 'oh, I know
you'...and I say 'yeah, you were with me long time ago, during the war', and he says 'oh yeah,
well, I guess I better cook dinner'.... so, here comes Rachel back a little while
later, and he's wearing a pair of purple shorts and a Mexican sombrero and a Hawaiian
shirt... and the captain comes back and he says 'did anyone come a-board?', and I say
'no', he says 'well, we're gonna sail later on tonight, I'll make up your wages and
tell about ten o'clock...we're supposed to leave at ten, I'll pay you off'....he
says 'we didn't get any cooks?'...I said 'no, but the steward's in there, cooking dinner'...and
it was about four thirty or quarter to five and there was a ship in the shipyard....
it was in Galveston....and it had been there for a long time, it had lost a screw.... called 'the Midway Hills'... the Midway Hills had been in the shipyard for about
three months, and she starts to back out of the dock...if you back out of the dock,
you're supposed to give a full long blast on the whistle, and this guy, I guess,
was so happy to leave the dock, he really gave a full long blast....he must have blew that
whistle for about two minutes, you know....and the captain is standing on the poop
deck*, he says 'oh, the Midway Hills is leaving'...and then Mother Rachel stepped
out of the galley with his Mexican sombrero and these purple shorts, saying 'Ah-WHOOOH-HOOOOOH!!!!!'
.... he says, 'that's the only thing in Galveston that could outblow me'....
*poop deck = the aftermost and highest deck