Arrr! Can a sailor's marlinspike fix a busted backplane?

'Ancient mariner' who came to make the fix in historical costume was such a shock nobody made a pirate joke

On Call Tech support people play many roles, and The Register celebrates them all in On Call, our reader-contributed Friday column in which we share your tales of adventure.

This week, meet a reader we'll Regomize as "Horatio" who told us he once planned to spend a long weekend aboard a 95-year-old tall ship that was preserved in its 1913 condition (a time when ships were often powered by both engines and wind).

"It had big, heavy sails and many lines to haul by hand," Horatio told On Call, though it lacked showers or air conditioning. Electricity was available for a few hours a day, but at night conditions reverted to the age of sail.

Horatio planned to spend four nights afloat and was wearing what he told us was "full old-time sailor dress." He also carried a knife and a marlinspike, a long metal implement that sailors use to help work with rope.

One modern item that made it into Horatio's seabag was a mobile phone, because he was on call.

One night, the phone rang and Horatio was forced to roll out of his bunk, take the call, and learn he was needed at work.

Horatio sought and received the Mate's permission to go ashore, allowing him to return to the 21st century - 2008 to be specific - and head to work.

"I rolled in and walked across the main floor and all the heads swiveled to look," he told On Call.

That reaction was entirely understandable because Horatio hadn't changed into modern clothes.

"I was quite a sight in period costume with the knife and marlinspike," he told us. The elaborate knot wrapped around his wrist was also not the sort of thing you often see in an IT department, and the whole outfit came as a complete surprise to colleagues because despite Horatio holding this gig for a decade, he'd never mentioned his after-work maritime activities.

Horatio reckons his colleagues were so stunned by his appearance that none could even muster a lame pirate joke.

The job he was called out for was simple. "It was a broken backplane power connector and I was able to do temporary repair by moving some of the cards around a bit to reduce the power load on that connector."

Once everything was shipshape, Horatio had the choice of returning to sea or staying ashore.

He chose the latter. "After a hard day sailing and hard hauling by hand, I was done. I went home and slept hard."

This On Call tale was sent in response to another about a reader who showed up to a support call dressed as a Klingon.

What's the weirdest outfit you've worn when fixing tech? Click here to share your sartorial story and help us dress up a future Friday column. ®