Life in the navy, well what can I say, Patrol boats were the best times ever especially as "McHale's Navy" was a favorite of mine and I got to do things that were along the same lines at times.
During my 2 years aboard the Bombard as the Electronics Technician, I was part of the making of "Patrol Boat" a successful TV series but one in which our hull number of 99 was changed to 83, that of HMAS Advance for continuity, as Advance started the series but was soon deployed north, leaving Bombard to take on the role. This hull number change was later to prove a source of confusion when we had a serious engine room fire leaving us dead in the water, pre-dawn, with receive capability communications only due to a load stone peninsular (Point Perpendicular) and a changing ionosphere with dawn, one spotter plane(a Grumman Tracker from HMAS Albatross), who was looking for us (now over due) overflew us, mistaking us for the Advance 83 and continued on to look for Bombard 99.
Needless to say we were found and towed to harbour, the engines were replaced, a new funnel bolted on, some lagging, a lick of paint and we were off again (6 months in Garden Island). From that point, all Patrol boats in the fleet were fitted with engine room exhaust fan shutdown switches on the outside of the main engine room hatch as prior to this incident it was located down with the engines.
Patrolling the Bass Strait oil platforms was cold, rough and a lot of fun, keeping shipping from taking dangerous shortcuts across the restricted zone endangering the platforms themselves (it was like a mouse herding elephants,
The great barrier reef, tropical islands (inhabited and deserted)Cairns, fishing, hiking, parties ashore, good friends workmates and stepping buddies, through heavy seas where the entire Boat shudders to the surface under the weight of mighty waves in the south accompanied by freezing winds to the glass smooth waters north of Thursday Island in dead calm sundrenched seas........see for yourself.