talking of walkie talkies .....
When I was in the Merchant Navy one of the first things a new crew member on their first trip was given to do once we set sail was to go on "Whale Watch"....
It would involve them being kitted out in all the wet weather gear, given a walkie talkie & told to go and stand at the bow of the ship for a 4hr "Watch" & to radio the bridge if they saw any whales in front of the ship .............The walkie talkies didn,t have any batteries fiitted
Another joke we used to play on new first trip crew ....
We,d all receive an Electric Bill under our cabin door with instructions that the bill must be paid at a specific time at the pursers office that day....we were all "in on it" & so we used to queue up to pay our bill......only after the new crew member had paid their bill would we tell them the joke & the money from their Bill was used to buy everyone a drink in the bar ( the bill was only usually £10 or so )
cheers
andy