Oddly enough I found their life a lot easier than mine in 1958/9. My frigate was a wicked cow which did it's best to kill us all. I was frequently transferred in an unpowered rubber boat to trawlers in order to carry out repairs. Such bliss!! Smooth rolling, little pitching, excellent food and comfortable warm accomodation. That was in the old recip coal burning steamers like "Stoke City" and "Sheffield Wednesday". However, I was even then aware that high earners often spent equally well on not very much. Many of the skippers wives considered themselves to be effectively widows because the men dared not take a leave as it often cost them their boat. In my family in Bristol, it was a toss up who had the worst deal between coal miners and clay pit workers.