United States Merchant Marine Academy - Midships Yearbook (Kings Point, NY)

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sound body and set mind-already he sees him- self as the one he now serves; singing out orders to set the sails for some far and distant sea. Already he feels the deep inner urge to command and master a whaler on an open voyage. Yes the captain sees Skip and knows his thoughts only too well. It was only those few short voyages ago that he was shanghied on board a whaler. He didn ' t like the idea when it happened, but he learned to love the sea and its ordeals after four years of the most intimate relations with it. The coastline was beginning to take on a nondescript appearance and already it was dif- ficult to locate the estuary of the Acushnet River from where they had taken their departure only a while ago. Within the next few hours, towards sunset, the coastline would fade and with dawn the Anne B. would be alone in the kingdom of the whale. The crew was made up of men, both ex- perienced and green, from New Bedford, foreign lands, and small inland towns such as the one from which Skip had come. Within this crew, the cross section of young America could be seen. There were immigrants, decendents of the original settlers, and representatives of various Indian tribes that had populated the vast North American continent long before the European white man. Every ethnic group imaginable was represented and all were of the same hardy, sincere, and dependable stock. These men were whalemen and in no other industry on earth could their likes be found. To Skip, this was all new— but as the coastline faded, he was still overcome by a strange feeling of loneliness that accompanied each fleeting glimpse of the fading coastline that he caught as he hurried about doing his duties. Fortunate- The wives of wlialemon. These were the women who stayed home waiting for the return of their husbands for many years at a time or went whahnR with them aboard the vessels they commanded. ly, he was young and had never really set down to survey his emotions. His mind was burdened with what lie thought were more important things— he had to get to know this strange kind of a boat, or rather ship that he had come to call his home. His duties, or chores as they were called back on the farm in Vermont, were easy enough. It was the things that were not of im- mediate importance to him that he was con- cerned about— the things that his success would someday be contingent upon. A cutaway view of a bark industry in the nineteenth cei nployed in the whahng ■■• ■ ' • ■ ' ' '

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W ifta i r » grounds. laying idle at a New Bedford wharf awaiting itfittcd and crewcd for a voyage to distant whaling i he mate sings out forward Anchors avveigh— man the star- board watch and the voyage begins. The entire ship ' s company is in a dither and men are running hither and yon trying to accom- pHsh things at the last minute. Back aft by the helm, the captain stands braced against the list as the sails fill with wind and bend the ship towards the sea. He is the master of this vessel, one of many whalers setting sail from the whaling capitals along our New England and Long Island coasts during the golden era of whaling, and is quite capable of assuming this position of esteem and respon- sibility. Five voyages ago, he set sail on the bark Wanderer as a green hand and now at the age of thirty-one, he is captain of the schooner rigged Anne B. for his second voyage. If fate dealt him as good a hand as it did last voyage, he would be retiring after this trip. Last voyage, he earned over twenty-two thousand dollars and was only gone for a little less than three years. With a good voyage now, he should be able to retire at the age of thirty-five with no difficulties for the rest of his life. The captain that he had replaced retired after four voyages as skipper, but he was not a family man and wasn ' t as prone to settle ashore as he. Amid all the excitement and confusion, the cabin boy is detailed to run forward and deliver a message to the boatsteerer that was brought to the ship by launch. Looking in both direc- tions. Skip, the young cabin boy, finds his sense of direction and scampers off to discharge his duties. The envelope is heavy with the smell of perfume and, while the lad is of a young and tender age, he knows only too well that the en- velope contains a message of love wishing this brave and gallant man a safe voyage and a speedy return. Speaking of Skip, he is fourteen years of age and is putting out to sea from Williamstown, Vermont for the first time. He is young but of a

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Just before the mate went forward to weigh anchor, Skip heard the captain tell him to have the crew muster on the poop deck promptly on the first even bell after they cleared the estuary of the river. Just what the captain had to tell the crew was of great importance to Skip and he knew that he must make that meeting. Little did he know that it was customary for the captain of a whaler to address the crew and inform them of how things were to be run aboard his vessel at the start of each voyage. Little did he know about how his stern but impressive idol would conduct himself on this voyage. Up until this point, Skip thought him to be a pretty democratic person and definitely not the type that would be a tyrant as soon as the land ceased to be in view. Except for a little matter called wages, Skip thought him to be pretty fair and level headed. As he signed articles, the captain told him that his lay was 1 250 and if he didn ' t like it, he could look for a berth on another ship-he was too green to be worth anymore than that. A lay. Skip found out, was the share a man received of the net profits of the voyage after he signed off articles at the end of the voyage. Well, these few seemingly stern words could be forgotten and with youth. Skip didn ' t even consider the money end of the voyage. He was young and through his eyes, the most important thing was success-that would definitely include wealth and was definitely the most important of the two. A view of the forecastle of a typical whaler Take note of the seachests located in the low i r right Seanu n stowed all of their gear in these chests. What are you here for? the captain shouted at the crew. What are you here for? Maybe some of you don ' t know, so I ' ll tell you. You come to go awhaling-to get oil-to work. Work! That ' s what you ' re here for. We don ' t ship you to play. If you ' ve got any other idea, you ' ll find out you ' re mistaken. I ' ll see to that I will! And I warn you-Fll have no fighting aboard my ship. Any quarrels you have, bring ' em to me. I ' ll settle ' em for you, I will. And I don ' t want to hear no cussin ' . It ' s an infernal bad habit, and I won ' t have it. If I catch anybody swearing, I ' ll see to it that he ' s flogged-dammed if I don ' t! As for grub, you ' ll get plenty of vittles-if you work. If you don ' t work, there ' s a good chance you ' ll starve. No need to grumble about the grub, neither. If you don ' t get enough, tell me ' bout it. Obey the officers ' orders at all times. Do your duty, and I ' ll treat you well. But if you make trouble, look out! I ' m no man to stand for it, I ain ' t! No, not me— and don ' t you forget it. Well, the sooner we get a cargo of oil, the sooner we ' ll get home. I guess that ' s all. Now go forward, where you belong. As Skip set out to work his way forward, he began to consider the meaning of the captain ' s words. What are you here for? The words seemed to hang in the breeze about him. Whales . . . oil . . . work. Even a landlubber could see the difference between a whaler and a merchant man and between a whaleman and a merchant sailor, even Skip was beginning to understand. Well, the ne.xt thing on the agenda for a green cabin boy was to learn his ship from stem to stern. So it was that Skip started forward to explore this island that was to be his home for the next few years-a home as strange to him as a virgin jungle to the young explorer on his initial expedition.