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Message: [QUOTE="Inger Sheil, post: 248975, member: 139659"] I agree with Michael that it was, to an extent, being in certain places at certain times. We also tend to have a slightly skewed perspective, because Lightoller did live to write about his adventures - although he undoubtedly did have more experience with ships foundering than his colleagues! Pitman had experienced a sinking, although he thought it a fairly minor affair, and Blair also experienced the [i]Oceanic[/i] grounding. Between them, they had some fairly hair raising experiences - Moody went through some horrific storms at sea, and at one point his vessel was thought lost by the owners when her prop shaft broke and lost propulsion. We only know about these experiences through his letters. Lowe was a man of action from childhood, when he was credited with saving the life of a playmate. In his early years at sea, he volunteered to go aloft to reef sails when no one else would do so, and jumped after a man who had fallen overboard, keeping him afloat until they could be picked up. Blair earned accolades for his actions in another 'man overboard' incident. If they'd all recorded their experiences it would have made for some remarkable reading - even allowing for the necessary salt that one must add to a yarn of the sea. [/QUOTE]