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

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equator into the South Atlantic wlicic they in- tended to make tlieir first cruise. With the stories he had heard on deck, Skip went below to attempt to get some sleep. Need- less to say, the night was a restless one and Skip was awake the next morning before the watch on deck came below to rouse him out just before daybreak. Skip washed his face hastily and then ventured out on deck to let the fresh salt air awaken him the rest of the way. Well, today was the day-today Skip would start his new job. About the best place to start anything is at the beginning, so Skip started aft to the galley to see the cook. After learning more about his duties from the cook. Skip went below and set the table in the saloon for breakfast. After serving the morning meal, Skip cleaned the officer ' s quarters, the steerage, the saloon, and the pantry and then went on deck to catch a breath of fresh air. The captain had ordered all green liands into the boats for pulling practice immediately after breakfast and the men were still working diligently at mastering this difficult art. Lookouts were posted high in foremast and were already busy scanning the horizon for the plumed spout of the great leviathan and the re- ward of one silver dollar. The carpenter was busy at his bench cutting planking for the boats and assembling barrels to hold the oil tr ' ed from the first whale that was yet to be captured. His was a busy job, often as many as three whales a day would be «iSitffii:

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A jaggini; wlieel carved from whalebone b y a wlialema skilled in the art of scrimshaw. The men sat smoking their pipes, talking, scrimshawing, and joking about their friends and their occupation. But most of all, these men scrimshawed carving trinkets such as fancy cor- set stays, jagging wheels, or just fancy ornaments and knick-nacks out of whalebone and teeth. Some of these carvings are so delicate that they have come to be attributed to be the works of genuine masters. This was the way a whaleman lived with death by violence on one hand and extinction by boredom on the other. Skip sat by this gathering listening and watch- ing with awestruck senses. The stories were many and varied, but all pertained to the only topic— whaling. The songs, mostly ballads, were of wine, women, adventure, and their love of the life as a whaleman. They talked at length about Mocha Dick, the great white whale that was continua lly out- smarting the best of boatsteerers and running away with the irons of deft harpooners after they were fast to his hump. Stories such as this and about the otlier monsters of the ocean deeps gave young Skip a lot to think about. Were these tales merely the boyish fancies of the minds of old and aging men? Could there be a whale, a white one at that, that was capable of being in one ocean one day and another ocean on the opposite side of the world the ne.xt day? Ships, whales, and whalemen— what an adventure this voyage was going to be. As dark approached, the men began drifting towards the forecastle hatch. Tomorrow would probably be a rugged day with the green hands practicing at the manly art of pulling an oar and the first day on lookout for whales. The captain passed on his offer of a silver dollar for the first man who sighted a whale and one to each member of the crew that brought the first whale to bay alongside the ship. With a prize as noble as this offered, you could be sure that action would begin well before they crossed the A landlubber ' s impression of what a man on lookout aboard a whaler must look like. The shoes and clothing are definitely not the type used.

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L toms of the south sea h V h ilenien taken by the boats when the ship started cnoising the whaling grounds and it was his duty to have an adequate supply of barrels assembled and ready in the hold to place the oil in. A supply of hoops and staves were stored in the hold and he received no assistance in assembling the casks. Jim, the sailmaker, was busy making minor repairs to old canvas just aft of the main mast. Skip looked up towards the sails and saw that old canvas was being used today. With this he continued his glance skyward and smiled know- ing that the captain expected fair winds for today or he would have ordered stronger canvas to be hoisted. So it was that hfe aboard the bark Anne B. continued from da ' to da ' and would thus sus- tain itself for the ne.xt few but long years until the voyage was over. As for Skip, he will most likely be captain of his own whaler someday. But no matter what the final outcome of his life- time is, he will never forget his voyage as a green hand aboard a whaler and especially these first few days. For more about the highlights of the cruise of a whaler, consult the sectional dividers. A whaler dischar ttr a Ions voyage.