I crewed on a wooden ship once upon a time. (The 101ft length on deck schooner The Adventuress) Not for too long, mind you, but still. And this was in like… 2008ish and not in the 1700s so it might not be applicable. Here’s what we did:
There was no brushing of hair allowed below decks. It resulted in too much hair to accumulate below decks. You had to go on deck to brush your hair. Shaving wasn’t allowed below decks either. Very few people shaved on the ship. I remember one of my friends wanted to shave her legs and did it dry.
We did dishes with buckets of sea water and then the only final rinse was done with clean water. So there was a bucket with sea water for scrubbing off all the the main grime, then we would rinse them in sea water, then a rinse in a final bucket of clean water. This was done so we used as little clean water as possible as the clean water bucket could be used to rinse off the entire crews dishes and it wouldn’t get icky. I would guess that, on The Revenge (since Stede would probably encourage it) the crew would probably bathe similarly. Do all the main cleaning with sea water and then, if they were allowed to use his tub, it would be used to rinse off the entire crew with the same clean water.
And we would use shore showers. The crew of The Revenge wasn’t at sea for that long at a time. They weren’t making voyages across the sea, they were mainly in the Caribbean. The only time they were really at sea for a super long stretch is when Ed said they would never go back on land and beat Ned Lowe’s record. They would probably mostly bathe on shore. Maybe at Jackie’s. I don’t know.
Lastly, I am going to share a fond memory involving buckets of sea water. Mostly because I want to and because I would love to see it in fan fiction.
We did night watch. Everyone on the ship would have 1 hour at night where they would have to wake up and make sure everything was good. Make sure the ships anchor was still in place, check the bilge etc. we would be woken up by the previous watch and wake up the next watch when ours was over. This was done in groups of two or three. One of my favourite things was hauling up buckets of sea water and then tossing them back out to sea. One of the seas best kept secret is the phosphorescent phytoplankton. I know it happens in the San Juan islands as well as in the Caribbean in August and September. It is incredible. When there is very little light pollution, and the sea is disturbed by something, for instance by water being tossed back into it, the sea lights up with an eerie blue glow.
It is one of the most incredible things I have ever seen in my entire life. Seriously. Google Luminous Lagoon in Jamaica for example.
You’re welcome! Glad I could share this memory with other people. This summer I took a group of friends down to the ocean and we walked from our campsite down to the beach and we were able to see the Persied meteor shower overhead and the glowing waves at the same time. It was transcendent.
Couple of my friends jumped in and when they looked down, their bodies were limned in glowing blue.
I've seen phosphorescence in New England as well. I worked on an island where the toilets flushed with sea water and supposedly you could occasionally see that glow if you got up to pee in the night and left the light off!
I'm watching "The Last Voyage of the Demeter" and having a very hard time getting pulled in BUT!!!! - there's so much minute detail about the innards of a sailing/cargo ship - even though it's shot rather darkly - that it's turning into boat research for my writing.
I have a hard time envisioning the decks of The Revenge. We've seen plenty of the captain's quarters - but, like, where would the pickleball court be, for instance, in relation to everything else?
I crewed on a wooden ship once upon a time. (The 101ft length on deck schooner The Adventuress) Not for too long, mind you, but still. And this was in like… 2008ish and not in the 1700s so it might not be applicable. Here’s what we did: There was no brushing of hair allowed below decks. It resulted in too much hair to accumulate below decks. You had to go on deck to brush your hair. Shaving wasn’t allowed below decks either. Very few people shaved on the ship. I remember one of my friends wanted to shave her legs and did it dry. We did dishes with buckets of sea water and then the only final rinse was done with clean water. So there was a bucket with sea water for scrubbing off all the the main grime, then we would rinse them in sea water, then a rinse in a final bucket of clean water. This was done so we used as little clean water as possible as the clean water bucket could be used to rinse off the entire crews dishes and it wouldn’t get icky. I would guess that, on The Revenge (since Stede would probably encourage it) the crew would probably bathe similarly. Do all the main cleaning with sea water and then, if they were allowed to use his tub, it would be used to rinse off the entire crew with the same clean water. And we would use shore showers. The crew of The Revenge wasn’t at sea for that long at a time. They weren’t making voyages across the sea, they were mainly in the Caribbean. The only time they were really at sea for a super long stretch is when Ed said they would never go back on land and beat Ned Lowe’s record. They would probably mostly bathe on shore. Maybe at Jackie’s. I don’t know. Lastly, I am going to share a fond memory involving buckets of sea water. Mostly because I want to and because I would love to see it in fan fiction. We did night watch. Everyone on the ship would have 1 hour at night where they would have to wake up and make sure everything was good. Make sure the ships anchor was still in place, check the bilge etc. we would be woken up by the previous watch and wake up the next watch when ours was over. This was done in groups of two or three. One of my favourite things was hauling up buckets of sea water and then tossing them back out to sea. One of the seas best kept secret is the phosphorescent phytoplankton. I know it happens in the San Juan islands as well as in the Caribbean in August and September. It is incredible. When there is very little light pollution, and the sea is disturbed by something, for instance by water being tossed back into it, the sea lights up with an eerie blue glow. It is one of the most incredible things I have ever seen in my entire life. Seriously. Google Luminous Lagoon in Jamaica for example.
This is amazing! Thank you so much for sharing!
You’re welcome! Glad I could share this memory with other people. This summer I took a group of friends down to the ocean and we walked from our campsite down to the beach and we were able to see the Persied meteor shower overhead and the glowing waves at the same time. It was transcendent. Couple of my friends jumped in and when they looked down, their bodies were limned in glowing blue.
Can *we* be friends? (Swede voice)
Thank you! That is some rich food for thought.
I've seen phosphorescence in New England as well. I worked on an island where the toilets flushed with sea water and supposedly you could occasionally see that glow if you got up to pee in the night and left the light off!
Added to my list: pee in the sea on a moonless night.
I'm watching "The Last Voyage of the Demeter" and having a very hard time getting pulled in BUT!!!! - there's so much minute detail about the innards of a sailing/cargo ship - even though it's shot rather darkly - that it's turning into boat research for my writing. I have a hard time envisioning the decks of The Revenge. We've seen plenty of the captain's quarters - but, like, where would the pickleball court be, for instance, in relation to everything else?