tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8767940331074568092024-03-16T04:59:10.345-08:00Pauline's Pirates & PrivateersPolitics is nothing. We are free only on the ocean. ~ Renato BeluchePaulinehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11730716060906158244noreply@blogger.comBlogger1166125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-876794033107456809.post-10143196630831074882015-08-01T17:01:00.000-08:002015-08-04T13:39:25.620-08:00History: A Call for Help<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Hale and fair winds to one and all! This is a shout-out to my distant cousins who come from the far flung clan Beluche and to pirates and lover of history - particularly maritime history - everywhere.<br />
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Above is a bust of my ancestor, Renato Beluche. I know the Brethren are familiar but for anyone who would like to know more about this man's contributions to the life and liberty of the United States and the greater Gulf region, click on the label at the end of this post.<br />
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This bust, executed by a Venezuelan artist in the 1950s, was donated as a gift to the Louisiana State Museum. It was unfortunately swiftly relegated to an attic in the Cabildo in New Orleans for over half a century: disrespected, unseen, nearly forgotten.<br />
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Thanks to the Friends of the Cabildo and the hard, dedicated endeavors of people like my particular friend and distnat Beluche relation Thais Solano, the bust was found and restored. This just in time for the Bicentennial exhibition celebrated the Battle of New Orleans. This is currently on exhibit at the Cabildo and I highly recommend it. Beluche's bust features prominently in the exhibit with pride of place in the first hall.<br />
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The problem? The Battle of New Orleans exhibit will be taken down in October of this year. Where, we as Beluches' descendants and admirers wonder, will his stately bust end up?<br />
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We need your help, Brethren, to ensure that this does not happen. We need to you to raise your voices - as only we pirates truly can - to insist that the bust stays on permanent display. The options are many, but what a wonderful home could be made at the home where he was born on Rue Dumaine. This former private residence is now known by the fictional name of Madame John's Legacy and is part of the Louisiana State Museum as well.<br />
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Please take a moment to email Mr. Tulios at the Louisiana State Museum at mtulios@crt.la.gov and respectfully request that Beluche's but remain on display permanently. You can also reach out to Jason at the Friend of the Cabildo at Jason@friendsofthecabildo.gov with the same request. The more people they hear from, the more seriously they will take this petition.<br />
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The moment is now. We need to act. I count on the Brethren to come through to preserve a fading part of the maritime history of the Americas: the memory of Renato Beluche.<br />
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Please leave your comments with any questions or concerns, or to let me know if you had any response to your emails.<br />
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Finally, thank you my dear friends. My heart is still here, with Triple P, even if my mind must be elsewhere.<br />
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<i>Merci, and bonne chance!</i><br />
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<i>Bust of Renato Beluche with a mural of the Battle of New Orleans in the background, by kind courtesy of Thais Solano</i> <br />
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Update: so it does look at is the email address I included in this post are incorrect. Corrections:<br />
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Mr. Tullos - <a href="mailto:mtullos@crt.la.gov">mtullos@crt.la.gov</a><br />
Jason - <a href="mailto:Jason@friendsofthecabildo.org">Jason@friendsofthecabildo.org</a><br />
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My mistake (that's what I get for hurrying!)<br />
<br />Paulinehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11730716060906158244noreply@blogger.com15tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-876794033107456809.post-3858057378896993762014-06-14T15:23:00.000-08:002014-06-14T15:24:50.054-08:00Books: "Remains of ... Unhappy Creatures"<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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On Thursday the 11th, the U.S. Coast Guard <a href="http://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/coast-guard-report-blames-captain-crew-sinking-bounty-n129961">published </a>the findings of its inquiry into the sinking of the HMS <i>Bounty</i> off the Atlantic coast in October of 2012. According to the evidence available, the Coast Guard found the Captain and a too small, too green crew to be at fault. From the NBC News article:<br />
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<i>Specifically, the choosing to navigate a vessel in insufficient material
condition in close proximity to an approaching hurricane with an
inexperienced crew was highlighted. </i><br />
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A similar situation occurred some 160 years ago in January of 1854 when the brand new iron clad merchant vessel named RMS <i>Tayleur </i>encountered foul weather on her voyage from Liverpool in England to the far away shores of Melbourne. In her new book, <i>The Sinking of RMS </i>Tayleur, author and psychologist Gill Hoffs tells the sad tale of the sinking of a "Victorian <i>Titanic</i>".<br />
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As Hoffs tells us, both candidly and engagingly, <i>Tayleur</i> had everything going for her on her maiden voyage. She was a massive vessel, 230 feet long and displacing over 1,700 tons. Her holds were 30 feet deep and she would carry 650 souls toward a new life in New South Wales. Her Captain, John Noble, was a veteran seaman with a laundry list of successful voyages and happy owners under his belt. No one seemed to doubt his capability to select a crew and run and tight ship.<br />
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No one bothered to scrutinize the fact that the crew of <i>Tayleur</i> had quite literally been foisted on Noble without his consent, or that the Captain himself had taken a horrible fall from one of <i>Tayleur's</i> masts only days before she was to get under weigh. The persistent hurry of her owners, specifically Pilkington and Wilson and collectively the White Star Line, to get her out onto the open sea overshadowed these issues. Along with the unfortunate havoc that <i>Tayleur's </i>iron hull was playing with her three compasses and the "patent rudder" - not built for a ship as fast and large as she was - that she shipped, anyone well versed in the art of sail would have wondered at her speedy launch.<br />
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Speedily launched she was, however. This to the utter calamity of all aboard her.<br />
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Hoffs walks us through the terrible tragedy of that January night when, after apparently steering in the wrong direction due to those ill-working compasses, <i>Tayleur</i> found herself in the middle of a frightening Irish Sea storm on a rocky lee shore with sails wide open to the brutal wind and her rudder unable to answer. The incompetent crew, despite help from more than one seaworthy passenger, could not rescue the ship from her fate. Captain Noble himself, seemingly dazed to unresponsiveness by consecutive sleepless nights, made no decisions at all. Precious moments ticked by as <i>Tayleur</i> inched toward her doom.<br />
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Her passengers panicked; men trampled women and women stumbled over children in a desperate attempt to save themselves. Some made it to land, only to cling to the cold, wet shore in desperation. 360 people, including most of the 70 crew members and the gallant, heroic ship's surgeon Robert Cunningham along with his wife and children, would go to their death in or around the wreck. Survivors spoke of seeing bloodied bodies in nightclothes sloshing on the surface of the water. Battered body parts, ripped apart by the force of waves and shore, would be found along the coast for weeks to come.<br />
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The sinking of this "unsinkable" iron clad sent shock waves through English society. In total, four inquiries were heard and it was found that the crew, and particularly the Captain of <i>Tayleur</i> - who himself had survived her demise - were at fault. The White Star line was also soundly castigated for rushing <i>Tayleur</i> to sea with a hold full of innocent lives. The company went bankrupt and was reinstated again only to produce another tragic vessel: RMS <i>Titanic</i>.<br />
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Hoffs telling of the sad story of RMS <i>Tayleur</i> is energetic and insightful. The author is at her best when she is painting vignettes of the people whose lives were effected by the mighty ship and its sinking. There is the sad Dr. Cunningham who lost one of his sons while trying to save him, returned to the ship for the other and lost him as well, all while his wife watched. Then there is the man transported for theft who returned to the mother of his child after ten long years. He married her and planned to take his family back to Australia where they would grow rich in the gold rush, only to see them all drown.<br />
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Her most intriguing point, however, and one that I have not been seen before, regards Captain Noble himself. Did his fall just before <i>Tayleur's</i> launch cause damage to his brain that did not have time to heal and was then exacerbated by long nights of stress on his ship's deck? Did this unfortunate chain of events lead an historically solid Captain to tragic decision making - or lack thereof?<br />
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Thoughts worth pondering just as much as the book is well worth reading. Find the book at <a href="http://www.amazon.com/The-Sinking-RMS-Tayleur-Victorian/dp/178303047X">Amazon</a> or your local bookseller.<br />
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*<i> I believe I have to add that Ms. Hoffs' publisher, Pen & Sword, provided me with a copy of </i>The Sinking of RMS <i>Tayleur for the purposes of this review. Hopefully I did that right; I'm used to buying the books I review so this is quite the thrill.</i>Paulinehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11730716060906158244noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-876794033107456809.post-16999855072820422482014-03-09T14:45:00.001-08:002014-03-09T14:50:38.679-08:00History: Vikings: More than "Hairy Raiders"<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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I don't usually wish I would soon be off to Europe but the new <a href="http://blog.britishmuseum.org/2014/03/07/the-vikings-are-here/">exhibition </a>now open at the British Museum makes me long for a jet-setting trip to London. There I would explore all things Viking - an old Norse word meaning "pirate". I'd probably just sleep at the Museum; why miss a moment of so much history? If you'd care to see a wonderful video on the exhibition, and be briefly schooled in the fact that our Viking ancestors were "more than just hairy raiders", click <a href="http://www.breitbart.com/Big-Peace/2014/03/04/Exhibition-argues-Vikings-more-than-hairy-raiders">here</a>.<br />
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My thanks to the First Mate for the link and to The History Channel for Seasons 1 and 2 of "The Vikings" (picture above via <a href="http://www.history.com/shows/vikings">THC</a>). I'm sure all the Brethren are watching the show - now on Thursday evenings - and have a favorite character. Mine, you ask? No, not Ragnar's warrior first wife; it's the cheerfully sinister boat builder known as Floki. I love that guy!Paulinehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11730716060906158244noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-876794033107456809.post-3843187249722557152013-10-25T18:13:00.000-08:002013-10-25T18:13:47.848-08:00A Special Request<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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We all need a little help, from the Universe, from our Saints and Spirits, or from our fellow creatures here on Earth - and sometimes from all three. So when a highly thought of member of the Brethren is in that kind of need, I know that one and all will jump to.<br />
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That's why I'm here to ask your help on behalf of that Triple P favorite and long time supporter, Captain John Swallow. The Captain and his Quartermaster have come upon troublesome times thanks to unethical people over whom our fellow sailors have no control. The ship's at stake, and it's up to us to save her.<br />
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Please take a moment to click over to this <a href="http://www.gofundme.com/21s96g">link </a>and read about the entire situation. Then, as the goodhearted pirates you all are, please give what you can. Your gift need not be monitary either; remember, the wayward Universe hears the prayers of privateers and pirates alike.<br />
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My thanks go out to you all. Your goodness is your reward... But then none of us would ever sail in company with a wretch who didn't know that already, would we?<br />
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<i>Header: Three Ships via <a href="http://navalarchitecture.tumblr.com/">Naval Architecture</a></i>Paulinehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11730716060906158244noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-876794033107456809.post-8096547797116902822013-09-13T23:41:00.002-08:002013-09-14T00:08:47.588-08:00Women at Sea: Lilac Chen Part II<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Last we spoke of Lilac Chen, the unfortunate girl from China circa 1893, she was on her way to San Francisco without anyone asking her whether sailing across wave to an entirely alien world was something she might care to do. A slave, Lilac had no choice in the matter. And so, we pick up her story as told by her from the standpoint of her own salvation by a missionary in San Francisco named Miss Cameron:<br />
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<i>Oh, God has just been wonderful. Just think, I was in such close waters for damnation myself! This woman, who brought me to San Francisco,, was called Mrs. Lee, and she kept the biggest dive in San Francisco Chinatown. Oh, she had a lot of girls, slave girls, you know. And every night, seven o'clock, all these girls were dressed in silk and satin, and sat in front of a big window, and the men would look in and choose their girls who they'd want for the night. Of course, I didn't know anything, never heard about such things, you know. And whenever police or white people came, they always hid me under the bed and pushed a trunk in front of me and then after the police had left they let me come out again. And I saw these girls all dressed in silk and satin, and they were waiting for their business, see. But I didn't know anything.</i><br />
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<i>When this woman needed money, she had to sell me to another party. Everywhere I had been they were very kind to me, except this last place she sent me. Oh, this woman was so awful! They say she was a domestic servant before and was cruelly treated. She used to make me carry a big fat baby on my back and make me to wash his diapers. And you know, to wash you have to stoop over, and then he pulls you back, and cry and cry. Oh, I got desperate, I didn't care what happened to me, I just pinched his cheek, his seat you know, just gave it to him. The of course I got it back. She, his mother, went and burned a red hot iron tong and burnt me on the arm. Then someone reported me to the home. But they described me much bigger than I was so when they came they didn't recognize me. And then the woman who had reported to the mission said, "Why didn't you take her? She's the girl." They said, "She looked so small," and then they came back again. But even then, they weren't sure that I was the one, so they undressed me and examined my body and found where the woman had beaten me black and blue all over. And then they took me to the home. Oh, it was in the pouring rain! I was scared to death. You know, change from change, and all strangers, and I didn't know where I was going. Away from my own people and in the pouring rain. And they took me, a fat policeman carried me all the way from Jackson Street, where I was staying, to Sacramento Street to the mission, Cameron House. So I got my freedom there.</i> *<br />
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Lilac became an integral part of Miss Cameron's work, helping the American missionary and rescue worker to find girls even less fortunate than herself and rescue then from where they were "... sold to work in the dives, or as domestic servants, and bring them to Cameron House so they could be free... When we went on a raid we always took several of our own girls with us to help. Generally I would follow Miss Cameron as interpreter and she and I would go into the house through a door or a window... Poor Miss Cameron, she never knew about these dives, you know. Scottish people, especially the refined, never discussed these things... So nobody told her, she was so innocent. These slave girls used to have terrific sores, and she had to dress the sores, you know. She never wore gloves, you see, and really, it's just the providence of God kept her from these diseases."<br />
<i> </i><br />
Lilac's admiration for Miss Cameron shines through like the innocence Lilac managed somehow to keep through all her harrowing, horrific experiences. Perhaps the saddest and most poignant fact that comes from the story of Lilac Chen is that children like her exist, and are being abused, neglected and exploited, even as I type these words. Slavery and its horrible consequences are not issues for historical research, they are very real matters of global economics that should be addressed far more explicitly than our current climate of "look the other way and we'll all feel good" journalism allows.<br />
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Thank goodness there are still people who will march into dives and rescue those who go unnamed, unknown and under-served.<br />
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* All quotes from the book <i>Victorian Women</i> Edited by E. O. Hallerstein, L. P. Hume and K. M. Offen, Stanford University Press c 1981<br />
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<i>Header: Chinese Slave Prostitute via National Women's History Museum <a href="http://www.nwhm.org/online-exhibits/chinese/20.html">online</a></i>Paulinehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11730716060906158244noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-876794033107456809.post-14630063478355154392013-09-08T22:14:00.000-08:002013-09-08T22:14:22.410-08:00Women at Sea: Lilac Chen Part I<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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When women came from the far east, or Asia if you prefer, to North America, they were not always well treated and welcomed. Particularly children - both girls and boys - were used as sexual slaves and made into what they may not have been in their home state or wished to be for themselves.<br />
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The story of Lilac Chen, whose beautiful name does not resemble her unfortunate life, is an extreme example. Swept from her home and over the sea, she may never have amounted to much. But Lilac, a fighter, a survivor, made more of herself than most of us do. Thanks to the wonderful editors of <i>Victorian Women</i>, c 1981, we know a bit about this amazing child who fought so hard to become an amazing woman:<br />
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<i>I was six when I came to this country in 1893. My worthless father gambled every cent away, and so, left us poor. I think my mother's family was well-to-do, because our grandmother used to dress in silk and satin and always brought us lots of things. And the day my father took me, he fibbed and said he was taking me to see my grandmother, that I was very fond of, you know, and I got on the ferry boat with him, and Mother was crying, and I couldn't understand why she would cry if I go to see Grandma She gave me a new toothbrush and a new washing in a blue bag when I left her\. When I saw her cry I said, "\Don't cry, Mother, I'm just going to see Grandma and be right back." And that worthless father, my own father, imagine, had every inclination to sell me, and he sold me on the ferry boat. Locked me in the cabin while he was negotiating my sale. And I kicked and screamed and screamed and they wouldn't open the door till after some time, you see, I suppose he had made his bargain and had left the steamer; Then they opened the door and let me out and I went up and down, up and down, here and there, couldn't find him. And he had left me, you see, with a strange woman. That woman, it was suppertime, took me to Ningpo, China, to eat, and I refused to eat, I wanted to go home, and then she took me to Shanghai and left me with another woman. That woman never asked me to work and was very kind to me, and I was there, I don't know for how long. Then a woman from San Francisco came, and picked me up and brought me over. </i><br />
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And the horror has only begun for poor Lilac Chen. But that is all for tonight; isn't it?<br />
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<i>Header:Ladies of Vancouver via <a href="http://china.org/">China.org</a></i>Paulinehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11730716060906158244noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-876794033107456809.post-44833995790724707752013-08-03T15:14:00.001-08:002013-08-03T15:14:36.386-08:00History: A Tantalizing Find<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Ahoy Brethren! I hope this post finds you all in booty, wenches and grog... Or at least grog. I've missed you all and think of you often, honestly.<br />
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Today I'm sharing a recent find of shipwrecks in the Gulf of Mexico, that haven for Laffite, Beluche, Aury, Gambi, Youx and a hundred other early 19th century pirates/privateers who served the revolutionary states of Central and South America to various degrees of faithfulness.<br />
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This <a href="http://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory/researchers-discovery-shipwreck-tantalizing-19777351">article </a>from ABC online talks about a "thrilling" find of not one but three shipwrecks from around the Laffite era - circa 1810 to 1825. The ships are small, two masted, and carrying no more that eight guns. From the minimal information in the article, which as it notes raises more questions than answers, it appears that the ships may have wrecked in weather such as a gale or hurricane.<br />
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For me, a distant relative of Renato Beluche and an old archaeologist at heart and by training, this really gets the imagination running. Could one of these ships be the lost <i>L'Intrepide</i>, captained by Beluche before the War of 1812 and lost in a hurricane off the Louisiana coast some time in 1810 or '11? Beluche and his surviving crew were stranded for some weeks on Little Cat Island, which is now under water, and only rescued when another Laffite associate happened to sail close enough to the island to see their driftwood fires. The size and armament of the ships certainly raises the possibility.<br />
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A little knowledge is a dangerous thing, however. It may be too much to hope for, and perhaps just my wild, seafaring imagination taking me places that the same archaeologist in me knows I should not rightly go.<br />
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And yet, oh how exciting are all those possibilities...<br />
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<i>Header: The Night Watch via <a href="http://navalarchitecture.tumblr.com/">Naval Architecture</a></i>Paulinehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11730716060906158244noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-876794033107456809.post-2829224981734875422013-05-12T13:35:00.000-08:002013-05-12T13:36:34.451-08:00Sunday Sea Stories<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQIE5dRuwsqHPAk6MY02yTcaXOxZZomKOuZ8TpI4dst3rLAg1KCMRFS-Yedc2QAhcpYpiFlZ7CRiU0JX8Rcjjrxluo4oSO0fz-6_7Edltkuv5XliPgkcuF4IT7mpF8tkDmdjbdQj1JJI4/s1600/Carvel+pin.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQIE5dRuwsqHPAk6MY02yTcaXOxZZomKOuZ8TpI4dst3rLAg1KCMRFS-Yedc2QAhcpYpiFlZ7CRiU0JX8Rcjjrxluo4oSO0fz-6_7Edltkuv5XliPgkcuF4IT7mpF8tkDmdjbdQj1JJI4/s400/Carvel+pin.jpg" width="335" /></a></div>
It is Sunday once again and, here in the U.S., Mother's Day. So happy, happy to all the mothers among the Brethren. Here's a few offerings for your reading and viewing pleasure.<br />
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First off, you can once again walk the streets of the town of Epecuen, Argentina. The place has "come up for air" after being underwater since 1985. See amazing photos <a href="http://photoblog.nbcnews.com/_news/2013/05/10/18169883-ghost-town-comes-up-for-air-after-25-years-under-water?lite">here</a>.<br />
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Over at the Berkshire Eagle, there's <a href="http://www.berkshireeagle.com/news/ci_23182799/herman-melville-rsquo-s-homestead-getting-new-victorian">word </a>that famed sailor and author Herman Melville's homestead is getting a makeover.<br />
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Meanwhile, it looks like the STARZ network is jumping on the series bandwagon with a new one about a subject near and dear to my heart: the Golden Age of Piracy. Watch the trailer for "Black Sails" <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=7FPRzH7Nrg4">here</a>. (Thanks to my friend Ken <a href="http://woodsrunnersdiary.blogspot.com/">over </a>at "A Woodrunner's Diary" for the head's up on this.)<br />
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Do you like Vikings? Of course you do. So you'll love that the British Museum has <a href="http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/art/news/british-museum-to-display-largest-viking-ship-ever-discovered-following-135m-building-revamp-8595275.html">revamped </a>a building to display the largest Viking ship ever discovered.<br />
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Still hungry for more? Might I suggest my dear friends Undine and Blue Lou's new ventures on the web: <a href="http://strangeco.blogspot.com/">Strange Company</a> and <a href="http://blueloulogan.wordpress.com/">The Journal of Blue Lou </a>now at Wordpress, respectively. You won't be able to stay away.<br />
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<i>Header: A cog or caravel rendered in gold, mother-of-pearl and semiprecious stones as a brooch made in the 16th c via my friend Erick on <a href="https://twitter.com/hitchhikingDNA">Twitter</a>.</i>Paulinehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11730716060906158244noreply@blogger.com11tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-876794033107456809.post-55009902074950809952013-05-11T14:05:00.003-08:002013-05-11T14:05:51.701-08:00Sailor Mouth Saturday: Iron<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhNs57AvEf4ptIfMNCmrLEearRjAQSGHzv43gCJHEDAa29MK3WN0m_dQ6NGXb-0b7IInJ6YI3z7pZ5nweLljT3QeCh1PKVk7DrNKahTEY8xEPMFIDCRrw0V04bEou67MxaOLII-9xOeQK0/s1600/Hudson+River+by+Moonlight+by+MF+Hendrick+de+Haas+via+American+Gallery.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="267" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhNs57AvEf4ptIfMNCmrLEearRjAQSGHzv43gCJHEDAa29MK3WN0m_dQ6NGXb-0b7IInJ6YI3z7pZ5nweLljT3QeCh1PKVk7DrNKahTEY8xEPMFIDCRrw0V04bEou67MxaOLII-9xOeQK0/s400/Hudson+River+by+Moonlight+by+MF+Hendrick+de+Haas+via+American+Gallery.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
And, I'm back. Miss me? Just time enough today for a look at the word iron at sea and on the dock. And we're not just talking about the famous <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Hampton_Roads">ironclads </a>CSS <i>Virginia </i>(ex-<i>Merrimack</i>) and USS <i>Monitor </i>here.<br />
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So let us start, then, with ironclad vessels. Also spoken of as ironcased, coated or plated, these were the ships, emerging in the 19th century, entirely encased in iron plates. The trick of making such vessels seaworthy was one that led to the practice of putting plate on only specific parts that were more open to missiles until the dawn of the 20th century iron age ship.<br />
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By the 19th century, most ships had some iron parts. Iron work was the general name for these and any pieces of iron used in the construction of ships or equipment for ships. Iron bound blocks were those fitted with iron strops. The "iron horse" was the latter-day iron railing of the head attached most usually to the fore- or boom-sheet. A ship was said to be iron-sick when her iron work was coming loose from the timbers and her sheathing nails are rusted. A sorry condition that no right-thinking sailor would allow.<br />
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A coast may be spoken of as iron-bound when it is made up of rocks that are predominately perpendicular to the sea as they rise up from it. These are dangerous shores indeed, and should be avoided at all costs.<br />
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A ship may be said to be in irons when, as Admiral Smyth explains in <i>The Sailor's Word Book</i>:<br />
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<i>... by mismanagement, she is permitted to come up in the wind and lose her way; so that, having no steerage, she must either be boxed off on the former track, or fall off on the other; for she will not cast one way or the other, without bracing in the yards</i>.<br />
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Irons are the tools used by caulkers, of which my grandfather was proudly one, to hammer oakum into the wooden seams of a vessel. These are sometimes known as boom irons, probably for their loud racket while in use. Grandpa went deaf caulking. Irons were also, of course, the bilboes that would be fitted around a miscreant sailor's ankles to keep him both in place and in discomfort. Sailors, with their sarcastic wit, might euphemistically refer to same as "iron garters."<br />
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And a ship might be lovingly spoken of as having "iron-sides" when she seemed immune to the blasts of enemy cannon. Here in the U.S., we still know one of our first frigates, USS <i>Constitution</i>, as "Old Ironsides."<br />
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Thus ends another addition of SMS. Fair winds and following sees, Brethren, until next we meet...<br />
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<i>Header: Hudson River Under the Moonlight by M. F. Hendrik de Haas via <a href="http://americangallery.wordpress.com/2013/05/09/mauritz-frederick-hendrik-de-haas-1832-1895/">American Gallery</a></i>Paulinehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11730716060906158244noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-876794033107456809.post-1871101269944499062013-05-05T12:41:00.001-08:002013-05-05T12:49:29.551-08:00Sunday Sea Stories<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhEVkvBwt791YF-1bNZ0Y_J4UB4s_3efdrQb9XYAjY0UbButOXBEgWYmw5JVzWPH8GobR7AXbjl-hP3HMP4x2seby3T-xEp_Q3J_FhR0wKSiME6LUG5_mN2LNoL9Yd0r6gIDzQtnuQrh1I/s1600/Nelson+Then+and+Now.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="248" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhEVkvBwt791YF-1bNZ0Y_J4UB4s_3efdrQb9XYAjY0UbButOXBEgWYmw5JVzWPH8GobR7AXbjl-hP3HMP4x2seby3T-xEp_Q3J_FhR0wKSiME6LUG5_mN2LNoL9Yd0r6gIDzQtnuQrh1I/s400/Nelson+Then+and+Now.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
Since my time is limited right now, but my curiosity continues at a pace, I'll try to update the Brethren on stories from history and around the web on Sunday afternoon. Nothing fancy of course, but hopefully a good read or two to start off your week.<br />
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First up, the awesome paintings above are from <a href="http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/culturepicturegalleries/10030619/Historical-Figures-for-the-21st-Century.html">this </a>article over at the UK Telegraph entitled "Historical Figures for the 21st Century." Of course there's Nelson as above, a little heavier due to his modern fate as a desk jockey but with a splendid prosthetic arm. Whatever would Emma say? Also in the mix are Henry VIII looking vaguely like Gerard Butler, his daughter good Queen Bess and a surprisingly hipster Will Shakespeare. Who knew?<br />
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Next, <a href="http://worldnews.nbcnews.com/_news/2013/05/02/18020514-aaargh-ladies-of-english-town-misunderstand-intent-of-pirate-night?lite">this </a>little winner from NBC News. A women's group thought they were hiring an pirate expert to speak on the Golden Age. Instead they got a victim of modern piracy with a harrowing tale of survival. But, being a good sport, he did stay to judge the pirate costume contest after his lecture.<br />
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While not particularly related to seafaring per ce, <a href="http://opinionator.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/04/25/rape-and-justice-in-the-civil-war/">this </a>article from the NYT's continuing series on the Civil War should be of interest to anyone with a fascination for history in general and women's history in particular. Entitled "Rape and Justice in the Civil War", the author discusses the Leiber Laws and their application to Southern women attacked by Union troops; both free and slave.<br />
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On a modern note, USS <i>Anchorage </i>arrived on Tuesday in hers and my home city, Anchorage, Alaska, for her commissioning <a href="http://www.adn.com/2013/05/04/2890504/uss-anchorage-is-commissioned.html">today</a>. <br />
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Also of interest: On May 3, 1810, George Gordon Lord Byron along with his friend and marine lieutenant Ekenhead of HMS <i>Salsette </i>swam across the Dardanelles Strait.<br />
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Today, May 5, in 1828 the American Seaman's Friend Society of New York City was established. Their mission: to supply books via "floating libraries" to U.S. Navy and Merchant ships at sea. Also on this day in 1861 the U.S. Naval Academy moved from Annapolis, Maryland to Newport, Rhode Island for the duration of the Civil War.<br />
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And so I will leave you with a quote: <i>The real difference between civilized and savage man consists in the knowledge of knots and rope work</i>. ~ A. Hyatt VerrillPaulinehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11730716060906158244noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-876794033107456809.post-88716770972818210462013-04-27T15:37:00.002-08:002013-04-27T15:37:16.811-08:00Meta: A Picture Worth a Thousand Words<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj0XpPwqGd_xs_ZgRYfjLpWfILHQ25aPrUXqpTvvvdElrndJj9DjEtEoSS1cqUL7JoapNbu0NK9EeQ10ZDlqJ5YSkq5A32e_rcC7Juzj5CBKsE0phaoAjfGkbjcAE4J2afW_3AV7_Nb6o0/s1600/Frigate+via+Naval+Architecture.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj0XpPwqGd_xs_ZgRYfjLpWfILHQ25aPrUXqpTvvvdElrndJj9DjEtEoSS1cqUL7JoapNbu0NK9EeQ10ZDlqJ5YSkq5A32e_rcC7Juzj5CBKsE0phaoAjfGkbjcAE4J2afW_3AV7_Nb6o0/s400/Frigate+via+Naval+Architecture.jpg" width="265" /></a></div>
It has been rather a troublesome week here at <i>chez </i>Pauline and, along with that, I am preparing for a licensing exam on Tuesday so just a brief post today. I wanted to share this gorgeous frigate whose picture I found over at the always engrossing <a href="http://navalarchitecture.tumblr.com/">Naval Architecture</a>. The first picture today is equally as lovely and daydream inducing. Fair winds to all!Paulinehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11730716060906158244noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-876794033107456809.post-90195847706236977062013-04-21T13:28:00.000-08:002013-04-21T13:28:42.058-08:00Seafaring Sunday: Doctor van Riebeeck<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhRvmtSucchxLjy5_pAy7Pt0zlicK9kblN6Gudu3baz8Q5IgLKGkdsOdr5OF9v66wFuoQmpVHNhKcmAZ8JCRFEah22NOyCCwHfjpoJLgluLpf3QIh8m70bX9jLxhvGRemPG0bf9pWpeVy0/s1600/Jan+van+Riebeeck+via+Wikimedia+Commons.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhRvmtSucchxLjy5_pAy7Pt0zlicK9kblN6Gudu3baz8Q5IgLKGkdsOdr5OF9v66wFuoQmpVHNhKcmAZ8JCRFEah22NOyCCwHfjpoJLgluLpf3QIh8m70bX9jLxhvGRemPG0bf9pWpeVy0/s400/Jan+van+Riebeeck+via+Wikimedia+Commons.png" width="305" /></a></div>
April 21, 1619: Jan van Riebeeck is born in the Netherlands. Van Riebeeck will follow his father into the physician's trade. He became a naval surgeon and was instrumental in the founding of what is now Cape Town in South Africa. The stop, complete with van Riebeeck's brainchild the Fort of <i>Goede Hoop </i>(Good Hope), would give sick and injured seamen a resting point on the long, arduous cruises undertaken by the Dutch and later the British East India Companies. <br />
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<i>Header: Contemporary portrait of van Riebeeck by an anonymous artist via Wikimedia</i>Paulinehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11730716060906158244noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-876794033107456809.post-18423355441502758562013-04-20T13:54:00.002-08:002013-04-20T13:54:50.093-08:00Sailor Mouth Saturday: Steer<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh5LMcYfnacWEy0WzdvhX6htYbmzPWJ8B4GZ1RAzens59NJr-o1t73F0nd8U2pI5slPrbLLX5UhDO59xBWDaTnKT7eYfTSThEWGB7hpkG8vOQIrI1wuxMkAJxwlOG1fpHNA1lBe5OHnQWM/s1600/HMS+Surprise+by+Randall+Wilson+via+NAVART.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh5LMcYfnacWEy0WzdvhX6htYbmzPWJ8B4GZ1RAzens59NJr-o1t73F0nd8U2pI5slPrbLLX5UhDO59xBWDaTnKT7eYfTSThEWGB7hpkG8vOQIrI1wuxMkAJxwlOG1fpHNA1lBe5OHnQWM/s400/HMS+Surprise+by+Randall+Wilson+via+NAVART.jpg" width="300" /></a></div>
Most of us are familiar with today's word. We steer our cars, our bicycles, our skateboards, our lives; and steer at sea has similar meaning. Not surprisingly perhaps, it has different ones as well.<br />
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Steering, according to the oft-quoted Admiral Smyth, comes from the Anglo-Saxon word <i>steoran</i>. To quote the Admiral once again:<br />
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<i>The perfection of steering consists in a vigilant attention to the motion of the ship's head, so as to check every deviation from the line of her course in the first instant of its commencement, and in applying as little of the power of the helm as possible, for the action of the rudder checks a ship's speed</i>.<br />
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Thus a skilled helmsman is capable of keeping a ship at her optimal speed while staying on her optimal course. A helmsman might also be called a steersman for this very reason. As an aside, the word for helmsman in French is <i>timonier</i>, from the French word for helm: <i>timon</i>. Thus in the Cinque Ports era and somewhat beyond, the word timoneer might be used for the steersman.<br />
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To steer large is to allow her to go free or to steer her loosely. To steer her small is the opposite; as the Admiral puts it "to steer well and within small compass, not dragging the tiller over from side to side." To steer her course is to go with a fair wind, allowing it to move the ship along on her charted course. Steerage way indicates the ship has enough room to use her helm effectively for steering.<br />
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An old, and the Admiral notes incorrect, term for studding sails is steering-sails.<br />
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Steerage, that fateful term so familiar to many an American whose ancestors came over in it, originally meant the act of steering. Steerage, when one spoke of the decks of a fighting ship, often referred to where the mechanisms of the helm worked their way to the tiller. Thus, the deck below the quarter and immediately before the bulkhead of the great cabin was steerage. Sometimes, the Admiral's cabin on the middle deck of a three-decker was known by this name. When passenger ships came into vogue in the late 19th century, steerage acquired its less-than-savory reputation as the lowest deck before the bilge where the least of the passengers were crammed together like the rats among them. It is only one such as Jame Cameron, in his high fantasy film <i>Titanic</i>, who would have the temerity to portray this steerage as the most delightful and carefree deck aboard a liner.<br />
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And finally, on a similar note, there is the word steeving, which applies to the painting above. In this now mostly archaic form of rigging, the bowsprit's angle was some 70 or 80 degrees above the horizon. This made it a proper mast upon which a sail could be rigged as shown.<br />
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And with that, I wish you a happy Saturday once again and all steerage way upon your cruises, Brethren.<br />
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<i>Header: HMS Surprise by Randal Wilson via <a href="http://www.navart.com.au/">NAVART</a></i>Paulinehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11730716060906158244noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-876794033107456809.post-25573923995840573542013-04-17T20:53:00.000-08:002013-04-17T20:53:05.912-08:00History: Aboard The Terrible<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhVNqql_0wMDie-rsd74Ky6oCLC1T-ZiMEx2SSCO2laK7bXEcDfx_SGzFIyOTnBsURnotJ2rNT1g8ZS2GCO3ht6l4lZ8lowRxSKFuxT9GJgiIh5ev5VOvrx5FoanYN4bboep7m5EQNZWBU/s1600/Towing+a+Privateer+by+A+Roux+c+1806+via+Naval+Architecture.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="312" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhVNqql_0wMDie-rsd74Ky6oCLC1T-ZiMEx2SSCO2laK7bXEcDfx_SGzFIyOTnBsURnotJ2rNT1g8ZS2GCO3ht6l4lZ8lowRxSKFuxT9GJgiIh5ev5VOvrx5FoanYN4bboep7m5EQNZWBU/s400/Towing+a+Privateer+by+A+Roux+c+1806+via+Naval+Architecture.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
<i>April 15: Light Aires and Fair Weather: at 7 PM saw 2 Sails Bearing NbE: to the SoWard at 5 AM Saw a Sail on the Lee Quarter Ware and gave Chace Sett all Sailes & Chace bore away and Set all Sailes She could Perceived her to be a Brigg At 9 saw a French Man of War to Windward She hoisted her Colours We hoisted ours we in full Chace at 12 hoisted our colors and fired a Shot at the Chace at 12 she hoisted American Colors fired several shots at her at noon she fired two stern Chaces at us, continued the Chace </i><br />
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<i>April 16: Still in Chace Fired several shots at her 1 Chace struck her colours and Shortened Sail, we began to take in our Sailes brought to as did the Chace Hoisted out a Boate and sent an Officer on Board She proved to be an American Privateer Brigg called the Rising States, Capt Thompson Commander Carr, 12 six pounders eight of which she had hove overboard chased and 61 men She had taken three English vessels</i><br />
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~ copied verbatim, including spelling and punctuation, from the log of Captain Richard Bickerton, HMS <i>Terrible </i>of 74 guns, in the English Channel, 1777<i> </i><br />
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<i>Header: Towing a Privateer by A. Roux c 1806 via <a href="http://navalarchitecture.tumblr.com/">Naval Architecture</a></i>Paulinehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11730716060906158244noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-876794033107456809.post-82119973385264499712013-04-14T11:29:00.001-08:002013-04-14T11:30:03.051-08:00Seafaring Sunday: Royal Navy Uniform<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhXf5kjzyBzO9GhfYpHlS9LZS1havp9ezz9c9la_E7CntYvDp48N00C8wYWe-yby49k5sSlU0XFq61J2nscoObjM6zgBiX0kH0_NIoKxmootInF3LpreA2QOGEfRgjz8773fpUISzeDFRg/s1600/RN+Captain+Undress+via+Not+By+Appointment.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhXf5kjzyBzO9GhfYpHlS9LZS1havp9ezz9c9la_E7CntYvDp48N00C8wYWe-yby49k5sSlU0XFq61J2nscoObjM6zgBiX0kH0_NIoKxmootInF3LpreA2QOGEfRgjz8773fpUISzeDFRg/s400/RN+Captain+Undress+via+Not+By+Appointment.png" width="160" /></a></div>
April 13, 1748: The first official uniform was prescribed for officers in the Royal Navy of Britain. The standard included a white waistcoat, breeches and stockings, a blue coat with cuffs and gold buttons, and a black, tricorn hat with gold lace and cockade.<br />
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For a more in depth discussion of this milestone, see this excellent post at <a href="http://nba-sywtemplates.blogspot.com/2010/11/royal-navy-captain-undress-uniform.html">Not By Appointment</a><a href="http://www.blogger.com/null">,</a> where the above example of the original captain's undress uniform came from.Paulinehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11730716060906158244noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-876794033107456809.post-7928360076424719192013-04-13T13:38:00.002-08:002013-04-13T13:38:53.017-08:00Sailor Mouth Saturday: Break<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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While the word break generally makes lubbers think - when they think of the sea at all - of those rocks upon which the ocean waves so noisily crash, it has and had many more meanings to men and women who belong to the sea.<br />
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Breakers are indeed those reefs, rocks and so on that stop the mighty ocean waves, particularly at shallower points along the shore. Admiral Smyth describes this situation most poetically in <a href="http://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/26000"><i>The Sailor's Word Book</i></a>:<br />
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<i>... those billows which break violently over reefs, rocks, or shallows, lying immediately at, or under, the surface of the sea. They are distinguished both by their appearance and sound, as they cover that part of the sea with a perpetual foam, and produce loud roaring, very different from what the waves usually have over a deeper bottom. Also, a name given to those rocks which occasion the waves to break over them</i>.<br />
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One imagines that, in a heavy sea, the rocks pictured above might become breakers. "Breakers ahead!" This call warns the helm of broken water in a ship's direct course.<br />
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A break water may be a natural bar or a man-made jetty or mole that protects a harbor or bay from the more violent roiling of the open ocean, thus keeping the ships there safe from being beaten up by waves and wind.<br />
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Breakers is also a term for the small barrels used to store water or other liquids, rum for instance. A crew might break such things out; breaking out meaning to pull up stores or cargo from stowage. Thus breakage was the empty spaces where nothing was stowed in a ship's hold. In ocean marine insurance, however, it is the part of the cargo that arrives damaged. Break bulk means to open and unload the hold of said cargo and can allude to the "disposal" of ill-gotten, perhaps piratical gains.<br />
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A sudden end to a deck's planking was called the break-beams. A break was the rise of a deck; the break of the poop was where that half-deck aft ended at its fore-point.<br />
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At sea, breaking ground means the beginning of the weighing process; breaking the anchor from the ground beneath the water. A ship may break sheer when she is forced toward her anchor rode, or sheer, by the wind.<br />
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A gale is said to break when it slows down and gives way to better weather. But the breaking of a gale can mean the mournful howling of the wind through shrouds and rigging. Those sailors familiar with the East Indies would speak of the "break-up of the monsoon", when winds would rage so violently as to literally break a ship caught off guard apart. A ship may break off her course when the wind is such that the direction intended cannot be maintained. Break off is also an order for a sailor or sailors to move swiftly from one chore to another.<br />
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A man is said to break liberty when he does not return to his mess after shore leave. To break a man is to "deprive him of his commission, warrant, or rating by court-martial." To break up a ship is to dismantle her when her parts are worth more to the service than she is. All of these instances may be a very sad time indeed.<br />
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And that is all for today, Brethren. Fair winds, following seas and full tankards to y'all!<br />
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<i>Header: A Maine Windjammer from Isa Bella's Pics via <a href="http://navalarchitecture.tumblr.com/">Naval Architecture</a></i><a href="http://navalarchitecture.tumblr.com/"> </a>Paulinehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11730716060906158244noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-876794033107456809.post-72400929611049592262013-04-07T13:35:00.002-08:002013-04-07T13:38:36.865-08:00Seafaring Sunday: "A Desperate Fight"<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<i>Captain Barry was given command of Lexington, of 14 guns, on 7 December 1775. The Lexington sailed 31 March 1776. On 7 April 1776, off the Capes of Virginia, he fell in with the Edward, tender to the British man-of-war Liverpool, and after a desperate fight of one hour and twenty minutes captured her and brought her into Philadelphia. Barry continued in command of Lexington until 18 October 1776, and captured several private armed vessels during that time.</i><br />
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~ from Naval History and Heritage Command's <a href="http://www.history.navy.mil/bios/barry_john.htm">biography </a>of Commodore John Barry<br />
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<i>Header: Commodore John Barry USN by Gilbert Stuart via Wikipedia</i>Paulinehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11730716060906158244noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-876794033107456809.post-42739571083396818402013-04-06T14:34:00.000-08:002013-04-06T14:34:01.776-08:00Sailor Mouth Saturday: Lee<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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The word lee is commonly heard in discussing the sea and sea terms. "Have I brought you by the lee," is one of those euphemisms that just about everyone but the dog uses around <i>chez </i>Pauline. But what does it <i>really</i> mean? Let us look closer, shall we?<br />
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According to Admiral W.H. Smyth writing in <a href="http://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/26000"><i>The Sailor's Word Book</i></a>, the English word lee comes from the Scandinavian <i>loe </i>or <i>laa </i>which roughly translates as the sea. With that in mind, we know that the word always had two feet firmly planted in the water and probably came from our intrepid Viking ancestors. To English speakers, lee has long meant the side of a vessel opposite the side upon which the wind is blowing. Thus leeward versus windward and leewardly meaning a ship unable to keep up with the wind versus weatherly, a ship that is capable in almost any weather.<br />
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Larger ships may have a lee anchor; any anchor catted to the leeward side. All ships riding at anchor may refer to their lee anchor if indeed the kedge is to the vessel's lee.<br />
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The lee beams are those on her lee side, positioned at right angles to the keel. The lee boards are wooden frames that are attached to the sides of small, flat-bottomed vessels like wings to keep them from drifting to leeward. The lee side of a ship is considered to be the portion of her that lies, as the Admiral describes it, "between the mast and the side farthest from the wind, the other half being the weather-side."<br />
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The lee side of the quarterdeck, which is often relatively shielded from the wind, is said to be the prerogative of the captain. It is here aboard the dear <i>Surprise </i>that Patrick O'Brian's Jack Aubrey took his exercise daily on the advise of his physician and particular friend, Stephen Maturin. On men-of-war, the lee side of the quarterdeck was sometimes known colloquially as "the midshipman's parade" since they were often being instructed there by the ship's captain or lieutenants.<br />
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A lee tide runs in the same direction of the wind and must be taken into account in navigation as it can push a ship to leeward. Thus the lee gauge refers to being farther from the wind than another vessel, either friend or foe. A ship may take a lee lurch and roll to leeward when struck by a unusual wave on her weather side. The dangerous lee shore is directly on a ship's leeward side with the wind battering her into it.<br />
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When a ship is on a lee hitch the helmsman has allowed her to drift to the lee. Being under the lee-gunnel is slang for a ship being troublesomely over taxed by wind, weather, or enemy fire. "Take care of the lee hatch!" This is an order to the helmsman not to get off on a lee hitch.<br />
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And then there's that bit about being brought by the lee. A ship is said to be under the lee when she is in water near a weather shore where the wind is coming off the land and the sailing is easier than it might be further out. In the uncomfortable situation known as to lay by the lee or to be brought by or come up on the lee, a ship is run out, brought by the lee quarter and looses the wind in her sails. Thus, when one is brought by the lee, they are speechless, dumbfounded; something a loquacious person like your humble hostess finds very vexing indeed.<br />
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Happy Saturday, Brethren. I do apologize for the long absence and hope to have that corrected within the next month. Until than - and in between as well - may your ship be weatherly, and never troubled by being brought by the lee.<br />
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<i>Header: The lovely </i>Mouzho<i> on a sunset sail via the wonderful <a href="http://navalarchitecture.tumblr.com/">Naval Architecture</a> on tumblr</i>Paulinehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11730716060906158244noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-876794033107456809.post-92088690868599482902013-03-31T00:29:00.001-08:002013-03-31T00:29:32.211-08:00Meta: Yet More<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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No kidding, right? Hoppy Easter to all y'all and I do hope to be back sooner than later. Love you... seriously...<br />
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<i>Header: "Ahoy me Bunnies" via my friend Jeff Coyle via <a href="https://www.facebook.com/louisianajeff">FB</a></i>Paulinehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11730716060906158244noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-876794033107456809.post-6297882409176222922013-03-23T16:22:00.001-08:002013-03-23T16:22:23.083-08:00Meta: A New Adventure on the Horizon<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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I apologize for skipping my favorite post of the week, Sailor Mouth Saturday, today but I am short on time. I will be embarking on a new adventure starting Monday in the form of a full time, away from home job. I'm thrilled to be so fortunate; the company is an excellent one and they are offering the all-important medical benefits that my family very much needs right now. I cannot gush enough about how lucky I am.<br />
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Unfortunately, though, this will impact my ability to spend as much time on Triple P as I have in the past. While I will certainly continue this labor of love, there will be some "down time", at least for a little while. Meanwhile, though, please enjoy the archives. I will return to some form of regular posts, perhaps two or three a week, sooner rather than later. Thank you all for your support, Brethren. And now, let us pack on all sail and put her bow toward that promising horizon...<br />
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<i>Header: Captain Kermit Sparrow, apparently, via my good mates at Under the Black Flag on <a href="https://www.facebook.com/UnderBlackFlag">FB</a></i>Paulinehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11730716060906158244noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-876794033107456809.post-80855557083849186862013-03-22T08:48:00.000-08:002013-09-14T20:09:46.749-08:00Booty: Remembering the Decatur vs. Barron Duel<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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March 22, 1820: After years of bad blood between the two, U.S. Navy captains Stephen Decatur and James Barron meet to settle their honor with a duel. While the hows and whys of the actual duel continue to be disputed by historians, the facts are clear. After Decatur shot first, wounding Barron in the hip, Barron shot Decatur in the lower abdomen. With his bowel punctured, Decatur would linger two days at his Lafayette Square home in Washington D.C. crying out in abject pain.<br />
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For more on the details of this unfortunate moment in American naval history, see this <a href="http://paulinespiratesandprivateers.blogspot.com/2010/12/people-unfortunate-commodore.html">post </a>on James Barron.<br />
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<i>Header: Miniature of Stephen Decatur and the plaque now attached to the home where he died via <a href="http://thedecaturminute.com/2009/03/">The Decatur Minute</a></i>Paulinehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11730716060906158244noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-876794033107456809.post-90586785387083990202013-03-21T08:52:00.000-08:002013-03-21T08:52:41.280-08:00History: The Home Remedy<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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While sawing off bones and applying blisters may have been more dramatic, the surgeon at sea was usually more occupied with the dispensing of pills and syrups to keep his mates going. Often, perhaps more often than we might suppose, these little remedies came from home rather than the wards of a training hospital. The truth is, most naval surgeons had no formal training and most pirate surgeons were simply kidnapped away from various navies.<br />
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The cures were generally for such recognizable maladies as colds, sore throats, indigestion, nausea and "the itch" (more on that in a minute.) Some of these are documented, to one degree or another, in the large seafaring memoirs of doctors like Alexander Exquemelin but most are more readily found in writings more close to shore. Mrs. Child in her <i><a href="http://books.google.com/books/about/The_Family_Nurse.html?id=qCFRqMoIUGYC">The Family Nurse</a> </i>of 1837, for instance, gives us some insight into the time-tested cures that were certainly in use for centuries when she wrote them down.<br />
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Just as a few examples, colds could be treated by soaking the feet in warm water, binding them up with a warm onion each and then putting the patient to bed with a half pint of strong penny royal or calamint tea. Mrs. Child assures the reader that this is "almost sure to cure a cold."<br />
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Likewise, a small lump of saltpeter held in the mouth until it dissolves will help alleviate a sore throat. Wrapping the neck in warm flannels will hurry the process along. Given that saltpeter can be poisonous, one imagines that dosing would need to be carefully monitored.<br />
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A tablespoonful of "the brine in which rennet is preserved is extremely salutary in cases of indigestion and an acid stomach." This ancestor of Alka-Seltzer, Mrs. Child says, "is less disagreeable" if taken with a little water, "but it is better to take it clear." <br />
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"Common ashes," as from a fire, stirred into twice as much boiling water is given a teaspoon at a time "at intervals" to help control nausea and vomiting. Mrs. Child notes that "some prefer to stir it in cider" and given that cider was most often an alcoholic beverage at the time the results must have varied to say the least.<br />
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"The odor of burning feathers, horn or leather, is good for hysteric fainting fits," and "O'Meara, surgeon to Napoleon, declares that a teaspoon of salt, moistened and put upon the tongue of a patient during an epileptic fit, affords immediate relief."<br />
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Finally, both Mrs. Child and Exquemelin, in his <a href="http://books.google.com/books/about/The_Buccaneers_of_America.html?id=8qwKctnigNIC"><i></i></a><i><a href="http://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=876794033107456809">The Buccaneers of America</a></i>, agree on the cure for what they refer to as "the itch." This, of course, would have been the infestation of various crawling, biting parasites that have the habit of crawling around on the human body. Particularly in warmer climates the problem could become incapacitating fairly quickly. The recommended remedy is as follows:<br />
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<i>... to stand half an hour, or more, in a tight barrel, cover to the throat with old blankets or carpets; two or three lighted brimstone matches should be placed inside the barrel, by means of a small hole near the bottom, and every crevice stopped, that no smoke may escape. It is well to take moderate doses of sulphur, night and morning, for some days after.</i><br />
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Exquemelin notes that this cure was risky at best at sea and generally reserved for times ashore, such as when careening or plundering.<br />
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<i>Header: The Astrolabe and Zelee Aground in the Torres Strait by Louis le Breton c 1810s via Wikimedia</i> Paulinehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11730716060906158244noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-876794033107456809.post-72097042042506548152013-03-19T08:31:00.001-08:002013-03-19T08:31:36.700-08:00Tools of the Trade: Navigation Essentials<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<i>If there is doubt as to advisability of including some item of equipment, the safer decision is to include it. It is better to have unused equipment than to risk danger of becoming lost because of lack of needed equipment. </i>~ from the <i><a href="http://books.google.com/books/about/American_practical_navigator.html?id=1ThHAQAAIAAJ">American Practical Navigator</a> </i>by Nathaniel Bowditch<br />
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What to bring, then? A ship can be a small thing with little room for human bodies much less spare equipment. Of course, as the advice above notes, it is better to have a thing sitting around than to not have that same thing when your life depends on it. According to Peter H. Spectre,<i> </i>Bowditch recommended this bare minimum in the early 19th century:<br />
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A watch with a second hand for timing courses<br />
Gimbaled lamp to light your charts<br />
Barometer for forecasting weather<br />
Parallel rulers for making courses<br />
Dividers for stepping off distances<br />
Pencils, paper, etc.<br />
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All of these things would most often have been found at the so called "navigation station" aboard ship. Generally, but not always, this would have been located in the captain's cabin. Today, much of the busy work has been eliminated by GPS and computers. All the same, better have the above just in case. Technology is a wonderful thing... until it ceases to function, that is.<br />
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<i>Header: View of Ships Near Venice by Oliver D. Grover via <a href="http://americangallery.wordpress.com/category/grover-o-dennett/">American Gallery</a></i>Paulinehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11730716060906158244noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-876794033107456809.post-88444932363483577292013-03-17T01:10:00.000-08:002013-03-17T01:10:15.965-08:00Seafaring Sunday: Sea Language<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<i>The sea language is not soon learned, much less understood, being only proper to him that has served his apprenticeship: because that, a boisterous sea and stormy weather will make a man not bred on it so sick, that it bereaves him of legs and stomach and courage, so much as to fight with his meat. And in such weather, when he hears a seaman cry starboard, or larboard, or to bid alooff, or flat a sheet, or haul home a cluing, he thinks he hears a barbarous speech, which he conceives not the meaning of.</i><br />
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~ from the <a href="http://archive.org/details/navaltractsofsir00monsuoft">Naval Tracts</a> of Sir William Monson. Monson, who was from a landed family in Lincolnshire, ran away to sea in 1585 at the age of 16. He saw service in a privateer as one of Queen Elizabeth's sea dogs and was a lieutenant in the <i>Charles </i>when she joined the English fleet against the Spanish Armada. Monson retired in the 1630s with the rank of Vice-Admiral and settled in to write his now famous tracts. He died in 1643.<br />
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<i>Header: English ships and the Spanish Armada by an unknown artist of the British School via Wikipedia</i>Paulinehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11730716060906158244noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-876794033107456809.post-17570637137961473072013-03-16T16:37:00.001-08:002013-03-16T16:39:50.477-08:00Sailor Mouth Saturday: Fresh<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Tomorrow is Saint Patrick's Day: the day we're all Irish. Aside from corned beef, beer and all things green I always harken back to - and I'm really dating myself here - <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VjSNrg7T0Wo">these </a>very old Irish Spring soap commercials. Making a "strong" man "fresh" was what Irish Spring was about and thus, today's SMS word.<br />
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Fresh at sea generally refers to one of three things: water, wind or rigging. Let's look at them in that order, shall we?<br />
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Fresh water if, of course, that that is not salt. A ship freshens her water by taking on more casks of same for drinking and cooking but rarely if ever for washing. Other fresh water, particularly that from rain or snow, was used for that purpose. If none of that was to hand one might have the good luck to use the freshening from a local river. The so called fresh shot was the fresh water that came down stream from a large river and emptied into a body of salt water. As Admiral Smyth notes in <i>The Sailor's Word Book</i>, in such cases - particularly after a large dump of rain or with snow melt inland - "... fresh water is often to be found on the surface a good way from the mouth of the river." There is, in similar cases, the freshes which refer to the large deposits of silt and other materials swept into the oceans and gulfs by the world's mightiest rivers. With the Nile, Congo, Ganges, Mississippi and others, the discolorations in the salt waters can be seen from outer space.<br />
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In relation to rivers, a sailor with blue water experience may refer to one who works rivers and lakes pejoratively as a "fresh water jack." This was essential an insult and meant that the individual was just this side of a lubber. Samuel Clemens, as an example, might be called a fresh water jack by the likes of Richard Henry Dana, Jr. or Joseph Conrad. Sorry, Mark Twain...<br />
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Fresh water seas are those that are so large, they essentially behave like the ocean. Probably the best example of these is the Great Lakes at the U.S. and Canada boarder. Superior, Michigan, Huron Erie and Ontario are all example of lakes that are just as vast - and potentially deadly - as any gulf we know.<br />
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A fresh breeze is a brisk and often sudden wind but can also refer to the way a ship is handled in known channels of wind, such as the trades or gulf stream. A fresh gale is just a more powerful form of a fresh breeze. When a ship begins to feel the push of a fresh breeze, she is said to freshen her way. Fresh way is also said of a man who picks up his stride or sets out at a run. Fresh way is slightly different, and refers to a ships increased speed through the water; she gathers fresh way, for instance, after completing a successful tack when her sails once again catch the wind.<br />
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One can freshen rigging by adjusting ropes or cable, thus relieving pressure points and potential failure on or of same. To freshen the hawse, for instance, means to relieve the part of the cable that has been repeatedly exposed to friction from the hawse hole. This is necessary in times when a ship sits at anchor for some days. The term freshen the nip follows this rule and essential refers to the same duty. It also has been used to essentially mean "the sun is over the yardarm" for those officers who are ready for a glass.<br />
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The ballast is freshened when it is raked and/or moved to better purpose. Fresh grub are new stores taken aboard. A fresh spell means new men to taking on a repetitious task such as turning the capstan. And finally, your mate might be fresh meaning not that he is a bit too friendly but that he is just this side of drunk. As the Admiral puts it delicately, "excited by drink."<br />
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So cheers mates and a Happy St. Pat's. Perhaps a Guinness rather than a grog is in order. <i>Slainte</i>! <br />
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<i>Header: Merchant's Quay at Newry; photo from the National Library of Ireland via <a href="http://navalarchitecture.tumblr.com/">Naval Architecture</a></i>Paulinehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11730716060906158244noreply@blogger.com5