MONDAY

02 Jul 1999 - by Staff reporter

I check in my almanac; yes, today is a blue moon and Paul Voigt is in Jhb buying lunch so I rush to get a place at the trough. As my business revolves mainly around containers, there is unfortunately not much if any work I can ever give Inchcape but Paul has a big heart and it is pleasant to be invited for friendship's sake. He tells me he feels a lift in the market and that Rod Eaton's efforts on the reef are now bearing fruit.
In the hope of scoring a post prandial digestif, I tell him that I have used Inchcape's Dubai office recently for a shipment to Bombay and found the service professional and efficient. Alas, the steadying hand of Tony Schillachi descends on the credit card and the bill is asked for.
Oh, well - there's always next year....

TUESDAY

I forgot to tell you of my dinner last week with MACS Maritime Carriers.
We go to Vilamoura in Hurlingham which is quite pricey yet as good as ever. Unfortunately Bill Hall and the LBJ couldn't make it (Comrades training) but I was in the more than capable hands of Markus Popken and my rep, the ever-lovely Jenny Frye. We were also joined by MACS' Houston agent Rene Siverton and a new addition to the family from their Hamburg office, Sven Folsch. The GAL service (MACS' American venture) is going well. I've used it on a few occasions and apart from some initial teething problems it now seems to be running with the Teutonic precision we have come to expect from our German brethren. I think the Conference will have to look to its laurels...

WEDNESDAY

Rafi Porath is no longer with us, having departed this vale of tears for his Levantine homeland. His replacement at Marimed arrives in the form of Mike Katz and I am invited to the office to be given the once-over. I wonder what it's like, being thrown into a new country and market at the same time. But Mike appears to be no stranger to the sharp end, having been involved in the reorganisation of Portmar in Lisbon. Anyone who can manage that and get out unscathed, gets my vote. Ask Kevin Bradley at MACS Dbn - he was their agent some years ago. Mike has not been here very long but already his knowledge of our end of the pond is quite impressive, no doubt due to the ministrations of the delightful Suzette Menge who is as, er, robust as ever. Welcome to the zoo, Mike.

Thursday

Only now am I starting to calm down after the cricket semi-final debacle and I have cleansed my computer of the impudent e-mails sent from our Sydney office. Wimbledon is upon us and nearer home the Durban July.
Unless I can convince my sainted editor of the need for live coverage I will not be attending this year but will envy those who will, especially those invited by Island View Shipping who traditionally use this event for some heavy entertaining. I was a guest of IVS some years ago and can testify that Saul Goldblatt and his team really push out the boat. It is a weekend not to be missed. Rennies also had a site just down the drag from IVS and, by strolling around in general, one could normally find half the industry in one tent or another. All in all, a great experience.

FRIDAY

Battling to find a lunch partner, I ponder the diaspora that has taken place in the industry over the last year, with the accent seemingly on the Cape. Not only do we have Mike Anderson, Muller and Terry the Greek forming Avalon, but also Graham Combrink and Kevin O'Donovan moving there with aptly-named Odyssey. On the agency side, Conor Quinn and Declan Butler head up Seaquinn and my old friend Richard Bettison has, at great expense, established the world headquarters of Sea Shipping in Franschoek. When I queried the advisability of such a move I recall Richard telling me that his clients in Jhb would see more of him after the move than before; a frightening thought but I hope a true one.
After all, out of sight is out of mind....

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