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Frank,

BTW, thank you for pointing out these logs!

Fred

On Dec 18, 2003, at 3:12 PM, Frank Reed wrote:

> Last week I wrote:
> "While I'm here, I can elaborate a bit on one of those logs. The first
> mate's
> (?) log from the maiden voyage of Mystic Seaport's whaleship, the
> Charles W.
> Morgan, has miraculously survived. The ship left New Bedford in
> September of
> 1841 and returned home when the barrels were full of oil in January of
> 1845.
> This was a typical length for a whaling voyage in mid-century. She
> spent most of
> this time in the Pacific and made port every few months in Peru or
> California.
> The vessel also stopped a number of times in the Galapagos to pick up
> the
> ingredients for turtle soup. In those 39 long months, there is one
> "longitude by
> lunars". The rest are "by chrono". But there are a couple of terse
> references
> to officers "working lunars" which make it clear that the ship's
> navigators
> were aware that they needed to keep in practice. This level of usage
> is about
> what you would expect: c.1840 is often cited as the time period when
> lunars had
> become decidedly secondary in navigation. "
>
> I was *wrong* about the count of lunars being "only one". Right after
> I posted this message, I started having doubts since I had personally
> verified only a few months of the log and the rest was hearsay.
> Fortunately, the log of the Charles W. Morgan has been digitized
> recently and it is now available in the online library at Mystic
> Seaport's web site
> (http://www.mysticseaport.org/library/initiative/FunderList.cfm?
> FundingAgent=Andrew%20W.%20Mellon%20Foundation).
>
> There are 22 longitudes by lunar in that log in the period from Sep.
> 6, 1841 to Jan. 2, 1845. Here's a complete list of lunars/luners with
> the dates if you want to take a look at them yourself. Notice the
> clustering in certain periods when someone aboard must have taken a
> special interest in the technique. These periods are usually separated
> by gaps of four to six months when no lunars were taken at all.
>
> 1841/11/17
> 1841/11/21
>
> 1842/04/16
> 1842/05/15
> 1842/07/11
>
> 1843/01/06
> 1843/01/08 (being worked, no lon)
> 1843/01/23
> 1843/01/24
> 1843/05/04 (being worked, no lon)
> 1843/12/15
> 1843/12/16
> 1843/12/17
>
> 1844/01/14
> 1844/03/10
> 1844/03/12
> 1844/03/26
> 1844/03/28
> 1844/08/04
> 1844/10/03
> 1844/10/07
> 1844/10/20
> 1844/12/13
> 1844/12/14
>
> There are also a number of other logbooks from other vessels which
> they've digitized recently, and they include some really fascinating
> navigational details. You could explore for years!
>
> Frank E. Reed
> [X] Mystic, Connecticut
> [ ] Chicago, Illinois
>

   

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