Brunswick Jr. College

This is a longer story than others posting but I have a few things to say. About high school and Brunswick Jr. College.

I graduated Glynn Academy in 1968, not at the top of the class but not at the bottom.  I think I was about one third form the bottom.  Going through high school I really did not have any plans until I received a letter from the US Government. I was told I had to sign up for the selective service system.

The Selective Service System (SSS) was an independent agency of the United States government that maintains information on those potentially subject to military conscription. The SSS was and still is a U.S. federal agency that facilitates the mobilization of military forces by requiring the registration of males between the ages of 18 and 26 years. The names were distributed to the Services for recruiting purposes on a quarterly basis.[

The Military Selective Service Act of 1967 (Selective Service Act of 1948) (30 June 1967) expanded the ages of conscription to the ages of 18 to 35. It still granted student deferments, but ended them upon either the student's completion of a four-year degree or his 24th birthday, whichever came first.

I was a year older that all my classmates, due to repeating the third grade when I went to California for a year. I returned to St. Simons Elementary School, a little smarter resulting the higher education standard in California but now with all my friends in fifth grade and I was in fourth grade.

I was 18 when I started my senior year. I registered for the Selective Service upon notice about the time of my birthday. I was 18 when I started my senior year.  I did not receive my draft card until I graduated.

I was motivated to attend college and what better college than the Brunswick Jr. College.  Attending College seemed like high school with a lot of our teachers not professors and our fellow classmates.  I took the same classes as in high school, English, History, and Math. 

I had a passion for photographer and found out that the college had a dark room and upon questing found that I would work on the college year book and get paid to take photography.  The pay was not a lot, just enough to buy a couple of books but being the year book photographer was an honor.  I took most of the photographs for the 1969 and 1970-year book and all the Public Affairs Photos the college needed, such as when someone donated a large check, or someone important visited the college, I was asked to take the photos. Each academic year, the faculty selects students for inclusion in the nationally-recognized program, Who's Who Among Students in American Junior Colleges. For my work on the yearbook staff I was selected as a student Who's Who Among Students in American Junior Colleges 1970.

On December 1, 1969, the Selective Service System of the United States conducted a lottery to determine the order of call to military service in the Vietnam War for men born from 1944 to 1950.  My lottery number was 23 which meant if I was not in college and had a deferment, I would be drafted.

The Selective Service System assigned lottery numbers in December 1969 were used during calendar year 1970 both to call for induction and to call for physical examination, a preliminary call covering more men.

No one wanted to be drafted into service.  I did a little research and found that I could join the Navy Reserves, go to boot camp, then a “A” School and then back as a civilian having drills only two days a month.  There was also a requirement for two weeks service in the summer. This offer to join the reserves allowed me to pick my A school if I pasted the tests and boot camp.  The “A” School I wanted was the US Naval Photography School NAS Pensacola.  I had selected West Florida University to finish out my Junior and Senior year of College, but being from Ga. I would pay out of state intuition.  By going to US Naval Photography School NAS Pensacola (3 months), I would only have to wait 9 months before attending West Florida.  Being in the Reserves also kept me from being drafted.

I met my future wife, Gordy Carmichael, while attending BJC.  One day I was shooting photos for the year book at one of the Humanities of the Sea lectures put on by the Continue Education Department run by Capt. Carmichael. I was distracted by the motion of an energetic person seated half way down the row.  She was excited about something, moving her hands while talking to her friends.  I shot a photo looking down the row of people to focus on this one person.  Later that day I processed the film and from the black and white negative developed a photograph.   We both were at Glynn Academy and graduated in the Class of 1968 but out  paths not crossed until that day at BJC. 

Brunswick Junior College was very cliquish, which the same high school groups sticking together.  I was only in the band in high school, that was my clique but in college, there was no band, no clique to belong?  Many people were like me and we ended up all sitting together in a corner of the student union.  I remember that we had members of the Drama Club, Nursing Students, Secretary Sciences Majors, Veterans and anyone who enjoyed plying spades.  It was in our small group that the girl in the photo appeared.  She had long hair, wore cloths that she made, rode her horse to class, and danced in the rain.  She acted like a hippy and I was way too conservative to be interested. 

At BJC we did not really date but did group dates.  We would plan to go out and do something, like watch the turtles lay eggs on the beach on Jekyll.  Someone would bring a guitar someone else build a fire and sing songs around the campfire. I had a car, Gordy had a cooler and we would bring the drinks (no Alcohol). After a few of these group dates, we started to really date.

One chilly night on the beach at Massengale Park, I asked the question.  Well it was not a question, I said, “I have places to go and things to do, you can stay here or come with me.”  I got no reply at first and then a quite, yes.  On 21 February 1970 we were married in St. Williams Church that is no longer a catholic church by a priest that is no longer a catholic priest.  I have asked if that we are still married. 

Now we are having our fifth-class union and Gordy and I will have our 48^th anniversary. 

I graduated in the fall of 1970 BJC with an Associate Degree in Biology and with my desire to be an Ichthyologist (study of fish).

Douglas Seaman GA Class of 68 and BJC Class 1970

Arriving in Saudi Arabia and driving around town

Warning some of the information contain in the following observations may be helpful to people that wish to harm Westerners as their way of expressing extreme Moslem faith. Do not share these observations with anyone other than who the email attachments have been copied.

It is for security and safety of us Westerners that some of this information could be used to cause us harm.

I have been reluctant to mention or tell my family and friends my two year’s saga of living in a foreign land.

I arrived in Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA) on 8 September 2014 in the dead heat of the summer. At 2 AM the temperature was over 100 degrees F. This extreme temperature was notice as soon as you depart from the airplane. At the King Abdulaziz International Airport (KAIA) (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/King_Abdulaziz_International_Airport), the plans land then taxies to the airport apron or tarmac, planned places alone the runways and taxiways where plans are parked for services and the boarding and exiting of passengers. Passengers are debarked into buses who then will drive you to the terminal. King Abdulaziz International Airport (KAIA)is actually two airports, the north Terminal and the South Terminal. The south Terminal is use by Saudi Arabian Airline (Saudi) is the national airline of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and the largest airline in the Middle East. It flies 12 billion passengers per year (http://www.encyclopedia.com/topic/Saudi_Arabian_Airlines.aspx). King Abdulaziz International Airport (KAIA)t is a busy airport due to its location to the two holy Cities, Medina and Mecca.

Thirty minutes prior to landing the Captain makes his announcement to prepare for landing. After the announcement you will observe many of the woman on the plan that are dressed as Western woman are going to the restroom and exiting wearing Niqab and abaya. I have spent many hours traveling in and out of the Gulf States where I have noted many Western Woman are clueless on what is expected they are to be dressed and require by local customs.  At customs it is common for improper dressed Western woman to be given a abaya and asked to ware it.

The plane in many Arab airports will taxi to large apron areas where passengers are asked to debark and to be ferried to the terminal in busses.   It is when you exit the plan that you realize you are not in a hot dry or humid (depending on the seasons).  It is a ten-minute trip to the terminal.  The south terminal is reserved to Saudi Airlines the national air lines of the Kingdom.

The Abaya (the outer garment) that covers the woman from shoulder to ankle and the head scarfs or Nijab.  The Nijab comes in several styles, the two most common forms are the half niqab and the gulf-style or full niqab.

The half niqab is a simple length of fabric with elastic or ties and is worn around the face. This garment typically leaves the eyes and part of the forehead visible. The gulf-style or full niqab completely covers the face. It consists of an upper band that is tied around the forehead, together with a long wide piece of fabric which covers the face, leaving an opening for the eyes. Many full niqab have two or more sheer layers attached to the upper band, which can be worn flipped down to cover the eyes or left over the top of the head. (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Niq%C4%81b#Styles).

Upon arrival everyone must clear customs, sometimes this can take a couple of hours.  Upon one arrival I was surprise that it took 15 minutes to clear custom.  I was told that the King had heard of the many complaints of the long time to clear customs and he order more men to be assigned.  Six month later it took over an hour to pass customs.  One thing you observed in Saudi is change is slow.

On the way home from the airport you observe the uniqueness of the Saudi Transportation System.  First, you notice the many cars on the road of basically two types, small compact or sub-compact and Large SUV of all makes and models.  You also notice that the smaller cars are almost all white and the SUV are almost always black.  Since the Saudi population is made up of many nationalities, this cultural difference is reflective in the driving habits of the drivers on the streets of Jeddah.

Driving in Jeddah is unlike driving in other countries.  In 2005 there was 158 cars per 1000 people, in 2015 the number of cars is over 450 per 1000 people. In the cities driving for a Westerner can be quite a challenge. For example, here are some of the challenges:

1`             1)     There are few stop signs in the City of Jeddah.  And when there are stop                         signs no one stops.  Tee intersections are always a place to use caution                           because the cars from the side streets believe they have the right o way over                   the cars on the main street.

2)     Speaking of right of way, no one in Jeddah knows what yielding to the person on the right is all about.

3)     When on a three-lane road and at a stop light, be mindful that the car in the far-right lane will turn in front of you to make a left turn.

4)     Everyone double and triple parks in the road making a two-lane road just narrow enough for a car to pass.

5)     Most major roads are divided highways but not a lot of left turns or cross over at main streets.  You must pass the main intersection and drive .5 or 10 km to make a U turn to turn left.

6)     There are no traffic enforcement officers so a lot of driver’s speed.  If you are in the left lane going the speed limit do not be surprise that someone will ride you bumper, flash their lights and honk their horn until you move over.

7)     With no traffic enforcement the local government resorts to use traffic cameras to ticket speeders and people who run red lights.  The average fine is 300 SAR or about $78.

8)     On the divided highways people will pass you on the shoulder and the shoulders are not a lane in width.  You must move over to the right for them to pass safely.

9)     All big SUV are bullies when it comes to driving on the road, they will cut in front of you, tailgate you, stop without notice or care of location to drop off and pick up passengers. Note: I had my first traffic collision by a SUV parking behind me and in my blind spot.  I backed up and hit their finder.

10)             Many Saudi driver are impolite, rude and will not give an inch when inline.  Merge is not some word Saudi drivers understand.

11)            When at a stop light the cars behind you will honk their horns as soon as the light turns green.  In Saudi Arabi the yellow light will flash a second before the green light giving you notice to take off as if you are on a drag strip, Red, Yellow, Green and Go.

You may not know that it is against the law (in 2014) for woman to drive in Saudi Arabia.  The king in 2017 has passed a law allowing woman to drive.  It is to soon to tell what impact this will have on Saudi woman as to their freedom and how they are treated by men.  To some this may sound like a good thing but the all-male drives in Saudi Arabia display some of the poorest driving abilities in the middle east.  The poor drivers will straddle the lane line taking up two lanes and will be going under the speed limit.  They will do this for miles and do not realize the cars behind them cannot pass (or maybe they do).

Living in Bahrain, over the rainbow

Some asked me what it is like living in Bahrain?

Well first off, the internet is slow.  I have had issue with internet service since I arrived in2014.  In Saudi Arabia a person with a business visa is not allow an expat to have a Saudi phone number.  I had to ask a friend to buy a Sim Card to have a local phone number with internet.  I asked another friend to buy a sim card for my home wifi. The internet is costing about $85 per month. Internet speed test was 1.8 download and zero up load for those that understand the internet. This post might not go out until the internet is running faster.

I have been asked why to live in Bahrain?  Well first the position was available because the folks I work for planned with the project in Jeddah was finished the project in Dhahran would start.  Out Jeddah staff was all moving to Dhahran and I could move too but had to switch companies. I knew that the project in Dhahran within driving distance to the country of Bahrain.  Gordy could not get a visa to live in Saudi Arabia but Gordy can get a visa to live in Bahrain.  She arrived at the airport and purchase a thirty-day visa.  We had to get the visa extend for two weeks while her five-year visa application is being processed.

Living in Bahrain has its advantages.  In Bahrain you can buy pork, buy alcohol, and go to church. The drivers are politer on the road and woman can drive here. In Bahrain you can rent an apartment without having resident permit.  I can buy a car here but could not in Saudi Arabia.  Woman can dress in normal western clothing and not have to wear a abaya (black outer garment worn over your regular clothing).  Woman should dress with consideration given to the local customs. Woman should at least cover their arms and keep the dress to the knees.  If possible, wear a dress that covers your legs and a top that covers your arms. There are no restrictions on woman as to where they go and who they meet.

There are areas where American should not go in Bahrain.  These areas are where the Shiites living.  The ruling class are Sunni which are the Bahrain and the Shiites are the same as Iran.  At night these neighborhoods are guarder by national police.  As you drive around in the day time you will notice concrete barriers placed on the side of the roads where the police will part there their vehicles at night. The police are on call every night in case there is a disturbance.  In some neighborhoods you see on the side of the roads stacks of concrete bricks, stone and tires that at night would be put across the road to keep the police out.  Sometimes the tires will be on fire. 

One night I was in Jaffar at the office where I rent my car.  From the location I drove a few blocks, made a wrong turn and ended up in one of these neighborhoods.  Across the road was a blockade with fire.  I looked around to see what was the reason for this stoppage.  Al the people on the road were walking around the blockade and did not seem to be acting if there were any issues.  I saw no police at this location.  I backed up and drove to another street that also have a barrier and a fire burning.  I backed up again and drove to the car rental place and checked my Google Maps.  I now could see how to find the nearest highway.  This time I could find the major highway and retuned home safely. 

The US Navy has a port in Bahrain, it is the HQ of the Fifth Fleet and Naval Forces Central Command.  Which provides the area that are considered off limits for service members and US employee.  About one third of the neighborhoods are Shiites and are the areas off limit for safety reasons.  In Saudi Arabia there were some town we were not to go and we could not travel within 75 miles of Yemen There might have been on neighborhood we should not go but not as many areas as here in Bahrain.

I live in the land of Oz, or at least it seems that way.  Yes, thing s are different here.  You can hire a maid service or have a live-in maid. The cost for a live in made in $250-300 a month but, Gordy does not what. I am hiring a driver for $400 a month.  He will drive me to work in the morning and then pick me up and take me back home.  I will be able to work on my laptop or even sleep.  The driver will take Gordy and I out shopping.  My driver is from Pakistan and he speaks Arabic, I will use him to be our interpreter if need.  I will ask him to find us stores to go to finds things like, health food, organic food, vitamers, and other places of interest.

Our apartment is call a flat, it is in a building with 10 other flats.  We are on the ground floor and have a three bedroom with two bathrooms.  It has a large living room and a nice size kitchen.  The kitchen needs more counter space and the refrigerator door opens the wrong way and no way to switch the door. I have a private entrance which means I do not see my neighbors.    The only person I have met is our building supervisor.  He is a very nice man from India and washes my car a couple of time a week.  I have an enclosed and attached garage but it is very small in width of 8 feet.  The garage has a roll up door with remote access.  My private access has a door that opens to the pool.  The pool is small but refreshing on a hot summer day.

My apartment comes furnished with utilities, the monthly rent is $1740.  My company pays for the rent.  They will pay up to $2250 a month so when my rent contract is up, I will look for rent a Villa or an apartment in one of the buildings downtown Manama. When I was living in a compound in Jeddah, we had a three-bedroom apartment which the company paid $7500 a month.  The cost included security and daily bus services.  In Jeddah I could move out and had the company pay me $3000 a month for my living.  I found an apartment furnished for $600 a month, and put in my pocket the unspent amount.

I drive to Saudi Arabia over the causeway, the distance is about 25 Km.  The drive in the morning is less than an hour and in the after work the drive is one hour.  It has taken me up to three hours to cross the border.  The cost for toll is 2.5 BD each way and for insurance is 1 BD, the total is about $13.30 a day. The ride is not bad and I have major highway to the work site.

Friday is like a Sunday for the Muslims and all the stores in Saudi Arabia are closed.  In Bahrain the stores are open. In Saudi Arabia you are required to pray five times a day and all the shops are closed.  In Bahrain they do not have a law to make you pray allowing stores to be open.  Few stores will be closed for some that will not work on Friday.  The big corporate stores will be open. 

Gordy and I will go out shopping on Friday and Saturday for food and house hold items.  We do not want to buy too much because when we leave we will have to sell what we have or give all away. The grocery stores are in the large malls allowing you can do all your shopping at one location.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                 

Sierra Family 2014

http://sierrafamily2014.blogspot.com/

Crossing the border from Bahrain to Saudi Arabia on the King Fahd Causeway

I live in Bahrain and work in Saudi Arabia. The process of crossing the border is as follows:




The connection between the two countries is the King Fahd Causeway. The causeway is 25 Km in length with five bridges, totaling 12.43 km in length, along the route of the entire causeway. The first three bridges measure 934 m, 2,034 m and 5,194 m in length and form part of the Saudi side. The Bahrain side of the causeway contains two bridges measuring 3,334 m and 934 m in length. The bridges are interconnected by islands and dams. Approximately 12.5 km of the causeway has been constructed as a dam.


http://gulfnews.com/news/gulf/saudi-arabia/one-stop-crossing-on-king-fahd-causeway-to-start-on-monday-1.1988414

The process of crossing the border is simple. The process of crossing the causeway starts at a set of booths that are for paying the Saudi Insurance.  If you do not have Saudi insurance you will be stopped from crossing the causeway.  You can buy Saudi Insurance by the day, week or month.  A month of insurance will cost you 25 BD ($66.50).  The second stop is at the entrance of the causeway where you stop and pay a toll of 2.5 Bahrain Dinar (BD) ($6.63).  You also will pay 2.5 BD ($6.63) on the return trip.  Daily toll cost is $13.26. 

I go to work at 05:30 am when the traffic flow is low.  There is one large island where the customs and passport control for both countries has their facilities.

 

The causeway is a four-land divided highway until you reach the first bridge where you are on a two lane bridge in one direction.  The speed limit is 100 Km but on the Bahrain side of the causeway there are no speed cameras and many people speed.  If you happen to be in the left lane when one of these speeder approaches, they will flash their light telling you, they are more important then you and you need to get over.  It is not uncommon for the speeding car to pass you on the shoulder should you not move to the right fast enough.  There is not much to see, just water on both sides of the bridge and most days the haze is so bad you cannot see the horizon.

The third stopping point will be the Bahrain custom booths.  There are thirteen booths (two lanes for diplomat, fast pass and students) but at this time in the morning two or three are open.  At his customs stop they will take your license plate number and check to see if your registration is up to day and that you have insurance.  They will provide you a printed ticket with all your details, name, nationality, car, insurance, etc.  You need to keep this ticket to be use later.

The fourth stop is at the passport booths.  There are about the same number, thirteen or so (two lanes for (students, diplomats and fast pass), and only three or four are open.  It takes a little more time to have your passport check.  I hand them my passport open up to the Bahrain visa page.  Passport control will check the passport and will sometimes stamp the visa page or sometime they do not stamp every day.  The next stop, the third set of booths, will be the Saudi Arabia passport control.  At this stop I hand over my passport showing the Saudi visa page.  It takes between one and three minutes to verify my information. 

The fifth stop is Saudi Customs.  You stop at the covered entrance and wait to be directed where to park for inspection.  When you park, you are expected and required to exit the car, open your trunk and back door for inspection.  This is where the ticket you received is given to the custom inspector who will check out your car and finding nothing will stamp your ticket.  You close your trunk and back door and drive to the six set of booths, one or two booths are open out of four that are provided.  At this last stop you give the man in the booth your stamped custom ticket. 

You are now free to exit the island and to drive west towards Saudi Arabia but beware, there are four or five speed cameras which will take your photo and send you a speeding ticket should you exceed 105 Km.

The process going from Saudi Arabia to Bahrain is about the same, first stop will be at the toll booth. Second stop you pick up your custom ticket, but on the Saudi side it is stamped at the third booth where you passport is checked.  At the fourth set of booths you hand in the stamped custom ticket then proceed to the fifth set of booths for a Bahrain custom inspection. The six set of booths eastbound is to purchase Bahrain insurance.

It is noted that going from Saudi Arabia to Bahrain at the passport booths, some of the booths have two booths in a row.  The first booth is for female passengers to show there ID and face for proper identification.  Sometimes the women are in the wrong lane and have to get out and stand at the window to be identified.

One observation I would like to make is that some of the travelers on the causeway try to make it a game as to how quickly they can make the crossing.  They start off on the Bahrain side where they exceed 150 Km/hr. (93 mph).  As you enter the passport island there is a stoplight.  It is common for a driver behind you to race around you to beat you to the booths.  At the time I cross the causeway early in the morning, sometimes a third or fourth lane will open up.  When this happens, watch out! The people behind you will race around you like a bronco out of the shoot just to get one or two cars ahead.

On several occasions the traffic has been heavy with the lines extending onto the two lanes of the cause way.  When this happens the time to go through all of the stops is between two to three hours.  When in line, no one is polite, it is bumper to bumper and no one will give an inch.  When the cars are piled up this way, sometimes a line will not be a line or two lines will merge into one.  Neither the Saudi drivers nor the Bahrain driver will let you in, I have meet many rude drivers on the road but the ones at the causeway are by far the rudest.  

The bigger the car the ruder the drivers are.

Twice, I fell asleep waiting to move when in line.  One time I tapped bumpers the second time I dented the other guy bumper.  The other guy wanted to report the accident which took about an hour and the result I paid a 10 BD ($26.60) traffic ticket.

Making a shark fishing pole

Making a shark fishing pole.

Photographs copied from http://www.wikihow.com/Make-a-Homemade-Fishing-Rod

I had fond memory of watching people fishing for sharks off the pier.  John Palmer was one that I could remember by name.  John did not talk much but he did talk with me.  I must have asked him a thousand questions about fishing for sharks and about his homemade shark fishing tackle.  John use a fishing rod mode of Calcutta bamboo with a 6 ought Penn/Senator reel.

The rods were easy to make but took considerable time depending on just what results you're satisfied. The poles I made took many, many hours from start to finish. It's all in the finishing, just how many coats of varnish, how the guide wraps are to look, etc.

After many days of asking John questions I finally had enough information to make my own shark fishing Pole. J.C. Strother Company had supply of Calcutta bamboo poles.  They were about an inch in miniature and twelve to fourteen feel long. The cost was $1.25.

Calcutta bamboo is not just any type of bamboo growing in someone’s back yard. Calcutta Bamboo, I believe it comes from India. The bamboo it very different from other type of bamboo. It is treated when it is harvested, by soaking it in used motor oil.  As a result, the bamboo has that brownish color. This bamboo is super strong, it bends just like fiber glass fishing rod. since these are holding a reel on I use the hybrid polyethene because it soaks into the cord much better than epoxy would. In fact, I used this same poly on the guides to. I had to do several coats but it dries fast, is easy to use and you can put on multiple coats with no issues. I use this same coating on the bamboo gaffs I make, I use it on the cord and the bamboo, it acts like a glue holding everything together. The poly is like water it soaks into everything also this poly is not slippery when it gets wets. The guides are placed on the nodes of the bamboo so you do not really notice the nodes. 

The first step was to cut (the saw was provided from my father’s work shop without his permission) the bottom off square the pole off at the nearest knot to the bottom of in the bamboo. 

The next step was to make the pole smooth by, remove the knots at the joints especially the areas where the "branches" were attached. The sanding was done heavy grit sandpaper all over, then using fine grit sand paper.  The sand paper was $0.10 total.

  

An easy to make pole would be 10 to 12 feet long, or whatever length you might like, with 5 or 6 guides plus the top or rod tip. The tip of the Calcutta bamboo was kind of large and finding a tip to fit was a challenge.  The tip was set by the size of the eye that would fit. You needed a tip of #26 or larger. The pole was cut to fit the tip and set the pole length to be about ten to twelve feet.  All total there were five guide eyes of different sizes.  Total cost guide eyes and tip was around $6.00

The tip was secured to the bamboo with a special glue (stick shellac) The shellac is better because it can be softened by heating if the tip‐top ever needs replacing. This glue was solid and had to be lit under a flame to melt the glue on the tip of the pole to secure the tip eye.  Once the glued cooled the tip was stuck on securely, not to move under the most extreme condition. The glue stick was $0.95

     

https://flyrods.weebly.com/the-pliant-rod-blog--news/category/vintage%20tackle/5

After a few hours, the pole was ready for the first coat of varnish.  Don't use anything less than marine type varnish because it just will not last.! This varnish was made specially for work around salt water and could be purchased from Strother for $1.25 for a pint can.  Attaching the tip of the pole first allowed tied off with string tied to a branch of nearest tree.  This allow the pole to be varnish with any drips going down the pole.  These drips then could be sanded smooth.  The first coat of varnish It took a day to dry. 

I don't use manufactured reel seat. Instead, just measure up from the butt end about 26 or more inches and then, using nylon twine, color of your choice, wrap an area about 8 to 10 inches and use stainless steel hose clamps to secure the reel where ever fits you best. The area was wrapped with heavy line to provide a firm footing for the reel, and if the wrapping is extended a considerable distance forward of the reel it also serves as a grip. 

Photos provided from https://saltykeen.wordpress.com/2016/04/05/diy-how-to-make-a-custom-calcutta-bamboo-fishing-gaff/         

The eyes guides were fastening to the pole with nylon thread that was rainbow colors.  This takes a special wrap where just as you finish the wrapping, you pull the ends of the string back under the twine you have wrapped on There are no knots to tie, the tension of the wrappings holds the now hidden ends in place beneath the wraps. This wrapping is a time-consuming step in building the rod as you must make two such wraps for each guide.

The pole then received two coats of varnish.   The most popular reel was the Penn/Senator 000000 (6 ought).  This real could hold 875 yards of 80 lb. braided Dacron line.  The cost of the reel was $75 and the line was $12.50 for one spool of 800 yards. 

http://deanlevin.info/fishing-reels/penn-sea-fishing-reels/

The fishing hooks were stainless steel forged with Piano wire for leader with stainless steel swivel.  Cost was about $2.50.

The total cost of the rod and reel was over $150 and took 50 to 80 hours to make.  Not many teenagers in 1960’s had the money to buy a store-bought fiberglass pole and resorted to make their own Calcutta pole.  

Fishing for sharks is another story.

http://www.georgiasharkfishing.com/