A Son de Marvideo
125. Miguel Félix Chicón. A Sailor's Life.
7 May 2026 · 1h 12m · 12 views
What this video covers
Miguel Fériz Chicón, author of *Navegar es Necesario* and former head of the Maritime Rescue Coordination Centre in Baleares for 26 years, describes his career spanning fishing boats, merchant tankers, refrigerated ships, and ferries.▶ 2:52 Raised in Tánger in a fishing family, he began his merchant career aboard the tanker *Calvo Sotelo* around 1978–79 with CAMPSA, then transferred to the *Campafas*, an older vessel running on direct current with reciprocating pumps.▶ 11:46 He explains the three-island tanker layout — bridge amidships, engine aft, forecastle forward, pump room just forward of the accommodation block. His salvage coordination work drew on years of handling real emergencies at sea, including the experience of sailing "candrays" — decrepit, rust-bucket vessels that demanded constant problem-solving.▶ 20:02 He stresses calling for help early and keeping the engine room clean to catch fuel leaks before fire starts.▶ 24:21 The episode also includes a book segment on *El fiero turco en Lepanto* by Federico Supervielle, covering Álvaro de Bazán, Don Juan de Austria, and Cervantes at the Battle of Lepanto, and a separate segment with Roberto Bucetas on maritime positioning, latitude, longitude, and the historical dangers of navigating without reliable longitude fixes.▶ 48:07
More from A Son de Mar
From A Son de Mar — see the channel’s boat, crew, and every analysed video.