Herbie Jones: 1933 – 2012

July 18th, 2013 by JCB
Posted in Obituaries | No Comments »

 

Herbie Jones was born on 10th June 1933 at Dundee . He was educated locally in Dundee and he then went to the Abbey School at Fort Augustas at the Southern End of Loch Ness. This school was run by Benedictine monks and he and his two brothers all attended there for their secondary education. In May 1951 he was indentured as an apprentice to Eagle Oil and Shipping and served four years  starting out on the MT San Leonardo. He then served on various vessel during his apprenticeship and after three years was promoted to 3rd Mate for the rest of his time.

After passing the 2nd Mate’s certificate  he returned to Eagle Oil and continued to serve on various vessels until 1960 when he briefly sailed on the vessels of the Ellerman Papayani Line. He seemed to like the short sea trades and in October 1961 he joined MacAndrews and was promoted to Mate in 1961.

Around this time he went to see a Yehudi Menuhin concert at the Royal Albert Hall and met Mara, from Italy who had gone to see the same concert. They could not get tickets so instead went to the Cafe de Paris and danced the night away. Two years later they were married in Treviso, in Italy but  settled in Shenfield near Brentwood in Essex.

In 1968 Herbie was called by Trinity House to the London North Channel district as a pilot and with Mara and their children Paul, Robbie and Mark moved to Dovercourt (Harwich) . He settled well in Harwich and became a well known personality. All those who knew him were rewarded with the “Happy Herbie” smile. He was one of life’s gentlemen who always looked on the bright side of life.

He served out of Harwich until the change over in 1988 when he continued to pilot for Harwich Harbour. He eventually retired in June 1998 at the age of 65 and the photograph was taken during his retirement party which was held on a Thames barge that the following day he sailed up the Orwell to Ipswich.

This was not the end of Herbie’s career in pilotage since he was so fond of ships and the sea that he became licensed pilot for Brightlingsea and Creeksea. He continued serving as a pilot there until 2012 when he broke his leg. By this time he was 77 years young and the oldest serving pilot in the United Kingdom.

In addition to piloting Herbie also served time as navigator onboard the Sail Training Association vessels Malcolm Miller and Stavros Niachos.

Herbie and Mara had a holiday home in Italy and they loved to go there in the summer months and spend time in the surrounding vineyard.

Herbie was one of those characters who never seemed troubled and always smiled, was always happy and looking forward to whatever the day would bring. He will be sadly missed by all who knew him as witnessed by the numbers who attended his funeral. He had one request that on his tombstone was the word Seafarer which sums up his love of the sea and ships. Goodbye to a seafaring gent.

Martin Dicks. (Harwich Retd.)