Last journey for Benny the Sailor
I was informed today that Benny Weber resigned for the last time at 16:20, 02-02-2022.
I got to know Benny in 1999, when I was the Chief Officer onboard M / S Lone Boye and he was captain. Benny suggested that I switch to his own ship, the M / S Lis Weber, named after his wife. I said yes to that and the next trip was therefore on the good ship Lis Weber, built in 1978 at the North Sea shipyard in Ringkøbing and bought by Benny Weber in 1998.
Benny was a sailor by heart. He lived and burned for the maritime and his family. It was obviously hard to sail a small coaster in the North Atlantic, but Benny’s attitude was that it did not have to be boring. He could easily stop the ship so we could just fish for dinner. We should also eat well, he thought.
At Lis Weber, everything was in order. Things were where they should be and there was a sign on Benny’s door with a quote I use to this day “Everything in place – place for everything”. In addition to enjoying Benny’s good company, I also had the pleasure of sailing with his son John Weber, who worked as a machinist. I spent a lot of hours on the bridge with the two – they were simply just good company. We left the beard and competed over who could wait the longest to wash the coffee cup – John won, but his cup also looked like something that could have been dug up from the swamp.
Benny was a sublime navigator of the old school. He knew it all – and a little more. He was not afraid to learn from him and treated both a young lad like me and the other crew members with understanding and respect. He represented an era in Danish shipping that has burned into my heart. An era where you both partied and worked hard. Where work ethic was high and there was a pride associated with being a sailor. A period of much less administration – and much more adventure.
I subsequently met privately with Benny several times and have always enjoyed his warm-hearted and humorous way of being. He was a man of the world in the most positive sense of the words.
His family welcomed me as if I were part of their family. My thoughts go to those who a few years ago also said goodbye to John, who left the world far too soon.
Benny and his family will always have a very special place in my heart.
Honor be his memory,
Jakob le Fevre
