Working the Waters

Helen Nesbitt                                                                                                               ww7

            Existence aboard a sailing vessel in the 1800s is often depicted as a mad adventure, a wild romp not for the meek or faint of heart. Whether romanticized to demonized the captain and crew of these historic ships are show to live a life of passion and excitement at every turn through literature and movies throughout the ages. Pirates and killer whales ran rampant through churning seas and fierce savages awaited you on shore. What these stormy tales failed to include was the day to day life of a sailor, for some times the seas are calm and the monsters don’t bite. These men lived aboard a ship for years at a time and like any home were as much exposed to petty squabbles, and the politics and doldrums of life. These men came from all walks of life and led the harsh realties of the world that all civilizations of the time endured within the microcosm of a sailing vessel you see the same picture of humanity as every where else men trying to eke out a living for themselves as best they can.

Due to illness im still working my way through the book but this is the idea that has stuck out at me the most; even the most highly romanticized professions include the reality of the everyday doldrums and small trails of life.

 An example on page 55,

“…We had “plum duff” for dinner, and the crew quarreled with the steward because he did not give us our usual allowance of molasses to eat with it. He thought plums would be a substitute for the molasses, but we were not to be cheated out of our rights this way.”