My old man went to sea all his life, in Oz at 14, claimed to have visited every country in the world with a coastline, by the time he retired at 56 penniless and suffering from TB. He was tough as old boots, and so where his shipmates, his stories especially the WW2 ones were legendary and not for the faint hearted, he was torpedoed three times and served on the Russian convoys, he was awarded for his bravery twice but as with his medals dismissed them as worthless. In spite of this background he was unassuming and very literate, and its his unique vocabulary, rooted in his lifelong experience of the sea, that I miss most and will never forget.