Greasy luck

Chapter 12: A TYPICAL STERN

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About This Book

A richly illustrated sketchbook that documents the techniques, equipment, and daily life of traditional whaling through detailed plates and diagrams. Sequential images and captions depict fitting out, sail handling, whaleboats, harpooning and lancing, the struggle of the chase, cutting-in and rendering blubber, shipboard trades and tools, and shore activities such as gams and recruiting. A foreword frames the material by contrasting the romantic image of sail whaling with mechanized modern whaling, while the artwork emphasizes technical accuracy, danger, and the labor and culture of the whalemen.

A TYPICAL STERN

Unlike merchant ships, whalers had to keep their forward deck clear so that all space could be devoted to the “cutting in” and “trying out” of blubber.

The forward deck-house, characteristic of cargo carriers, which contained the gallery and crew’s quarters, was moved far aft—half to starboard—half to larboard—with a deck overhead from which the quarter-boats were lowered.

The stern shown is that of “Lagoda,” a half size model of which has been installed in the Whaling Museum in New Bedford.