Helmut Lucka – författare

A story could not begin more ingloriously. Young Willi Lenz is bored at school and tries to cover up his lack of preparation with a fever. When he is caught stealing, he is expelled from school. There are also problems in the family because the father is building a house on his own with the help of his sons'' labor. While his friends spend the weekend at the disco, Willi is "allowed" to work on the building site. Eventually, the idea of attending a ship''s boy''s school matures in him. The theoretical training is followed by two years of practical training on the ship MS "Fryga". This is followed by exciting adventures on deck, but also many professional insights into seafaring and the so-called "economic miracle era".

The first few months on board a ship are over. In addition to hard work and the constant battle against seasickness, the ship''s boy has several "amorous" adventures. By a lucky coincidence, Willi has to temporarily take over as cook and spends more time in the galley than on deck, which spares him a lot of hard work, much to the displeasure of his colleagues. Willi''s story takes us across the "seven seas", from the docks in Liverpool to Miami, from Hamburg''s "red light district" to New Orleans. Along the way, we also gain interesting insights into the development of cargo shipping.

Unrühmlicher könnte eine Geschichte nicht beginnen. Der junge Willi Lenz langweilt sich in der Schule und versucht, mangelnde Vorbereitung mit einer Fiebererkankung zu kaschieren. Als er auch noch bei einem Diebstahl erwischt wird, verweist man ihn von der Schule. Auch in der Familie gibt es Probleme, weil der Vater mit Hilfe der Arbeitskraft seiner Söhne ein Haus in Eigenregie errichtet. Während seine Freunde das Wochenende in der Diskothek verbringen, "darf" Willi auf dem Bau schuften. Schließlich reift in ihm die Idee, eine Schiffsjungenschule zu besuchen. Auf die theoretische Ausbildung folgt eine zweijährige Praxis auf dem Schiff MS "Fryga". Es folgen spannende Abenteuer an Deck, aber auch viele fachliche Einblicke in die Seefahrt und in die sogenannte "Wirtschaftswunderzeit".