Angus spent two years on his father’s ship, the Nyanza. One spring, the ship struck a patch of ice, ripping a large hole in the hull, and the crew had to escape in the dories. The ship was lost, and Angus went on to work for other captains.
Angus worked on a number of ships. He was learning everything he could, in preparation for the day when he would captain his own ship. There was a lot to learn, about reading the weather, navigation, keeping the ship’s log, how to manage a crew, keep their morale up and where to find the best catch of fish. These skills took years to develop.
Angus was in his late teens when he became first mate on a trip to the West Indies. On this trip, his brother John, who was captain, was washed overboard by high waves. Angus took command, and luckily the crew was able to find John before he was swept away into the sea. Angus already knew the dangers of bad weather; he had seen a man lost that way before.
A ship’s log is a record of data about weather conditions, activities of the crew and visits to port. It was often filled out daily, since what was reported in it could be important for navigation and weather prediction. A log was not required for fishing vessels, but many captains kept them anyway.
Other navigation tools used were a sextant, a taffrail log, compass and geographical charts. Captains also used “dead reckoning”, an educated guess involving such factors as speed and distance travelled, allowing for current and wind, which helped them find their way in the fog.
(see the glossary on page 61 for definitions of nautical terms)
A shipwreck