At Sea
Another day at sea; approaching the Azores from the southwest finds us surprisingly busy. A presentation on the techniques of digital photography starting immediately after breakfast was the first of several contrasting activities on offer for the day. Later in the morning some tried their hand at knot tying, under the direction of officers and crew; in the afternoon we had a classical concert from our guest duo, Geoffrey and Penelope Haydock, on clarinet and piano respectively. Our evening Recaps, a Lindblad tradition at which members of the staff speak briefly and answer questions on a topical item of their choice, have provided the ship’s historian with several opportunities to explore the byroads of maritime history.
Samuel Plimsoll, after whom plimsolls - the original deck shoes - were named, was known in his lifetime as “the sailor's friend.” Born in the English Atlantic seaport of Bristol in 1824, he moved to London as a young man to work in the coal trade. At that time, coal for the great metropolis was brought down the east coast from Newcastle – bringing coals from Newcastle, not taking them there – using collier ships of the type on which Captain James Cook had cut his teeth as a sailor (and no doubt learned how to tie knots) in the previous century. Plimsoll became highly concerned at the high accident rate on overloaded ships. When he entered Parliament as the member for Derby in 1868 he successfully campaigned for government safety regulation at sea. The Merchant Shipping Act (1876) made it compulsory for every ship to have a disc painted on the side with a horizontal line through it down to which the vessel might be loaded. This law is the basis for the regulation of the international merchant fleet today.
What I now need is a photograph of the Plimsoll line on the National Geographic Endeavour to accompany this text. Shall I lower myself overboard with my camera? Perhaps instead, I'll go over the notes I made in this morning’s presentation on digital photography…
Another day at sea; approaching the Azores from the southwest finds us surprisingly busy. A presentation on the techniques of digital photography starting immediately after breakfast was the first of several contrasting activities on offer for the day. Later in the morning some tried their hand at knot tying, under the direction of officers and crew; in the afternoon we had a classical concert from our guest duo, Geoffrey and Penelope Haydock, on clarinet and piano respectively. Our evening Recaps, a Lindblad tradition at which members of the staff speak briefly and answer questions on a topical item of their choice, have provided the ship’s historian with several opportunities to explore the byroads of maritime history.
Samuel Plimsoll, after whom plimsolls - the original deck shoes - were named, was known in his lifetime as “the sailor's friend.” Born in the English Atlantic seaport of Bristol in 1824, he moved to London as a young man to work in the coal trade. At that time, coal for the great metropolis was brought down the east coast from Newcastle – bringing coals from Newcastle, not taking them there – using collier ships of the type on which Captain James Cook had cut his teeth as a sailor (and no doubt learned how to tie knots) in the previous century. Plimsoll became highly concerned at the high accident rate on overloaded ships. When he entered Parliament as the member for Derby in 1868 he successfully campaigned for government safety regulation at sea. The Merchant Shipping Act (1876) made it compulsory for every ship to have a disc painted on the side with a horizontal line through it down to which the vessel might be loaded. This law is the basis for the regulation of the international merchant fleet today.
What I now need is a photograph of the Plimsoll line on the National Geographic Endeavour to accompany this text. Shall I lower myself overboard with my camera? Perhaps instead, I'll go over the notes I made in this morning’s presentation on digital photography…
