A Sailing Adventure

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This unique Fishing tackle box used by fishermen includes various articles to collect for your fishing tackle box. After work on Friday I thought I would take my fishing tackle box, a cup of coffee and find a quiet spot to scratch around and find an article about sailing.

Lets go back in time to 18th century .

Escape from the stresses of the 21st century and enjoy an experience of sailing as it was long ago.

I when at sea a sailor was kept fully employed; he worked watch and watch, four hours on and four hours off, and in a sailing ship there was usually plenty to do.

At times it was also necessary to call up the watch below to give aid in shortening sail.

Authorities differ as to the amount of work done in harbour. Some say that a man had little or nothing to do. Some say he was kept fully employed, being turned out at 6am, if not earlier, to scrub decks and thereafter employed at drills until piped down at 8 or 9 pm.

It is probable that this picture applies more to the Victorian Navy than to that of a century earlier, but on a sailing ship there must always have been much refitting to be done.

And now let’s go sailing.

“But he, being a man well expearienced in the navigation of those seas, bids us all to prepare agains a storm…..Finding it was likely to overblow, we took in our sprit-sail, and stood by to hand the fore-sail; but making foul weather, we looked the guns were all fast, and handed the mizen.

The ship lay broad off, so we thought it better spooning before the sea, than trying or hulling. We reeft the fore-sail and set him, we hauled after the fore-sheet; the helm was hard a weather.

The ship wore bravely. We belayed the fore-downhaul; but the sail was split, and we hauled down the yard, and got the sail into the ship, and unbound all the thing clear of it.It was a very fierce storm; the sea broke strange and dangerous.

We hauled off upon the lanyard of the whipstaff, and helped the man at the helm. We would not get down our top-mast,but let all stand,because she scudded before the sea very well,and we knew that the top-mast being aloft,the ship was the wholesomer,and made better way through the sea,seeinig we had sea room .

When the storm was over, we set fore-sail and main-sail.and brought the ship to;then we set the mizen,main-top-sail and the fore-top-sail.

Our course was east-north-east.the wind was at south-west.

We got the starboard tacks aboard.we cast off our weather-braces and lifts; We set in the lee-braces,and hauled foreward by the weather-bowlings,and hauled them tight,and belayed them,and hauled over the mizen tack to windward, and kept her full and by as near as she would lie.”

Quoted from A Voyage to Brobdingnag by Captain Lamuel Gulliver(1727)

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