Cuffers Spun In The Dog Watch

Auckland Star, Volume LXIX, Issue 226, 24 September 1938, Page 2 (Supplement)

Cuffers Spun In The Dog Watch

By .. . Captain R. McKenzie Cliffe

; It the cu»tom in thr daps ; : of nail for both watches to gather \ , either on the fori- or main hatch ! ; in the srrond dor; ,rntrh (« p.m. , to H p.m.) in exchange experience* I , or tell stories. These stories irere ! ; nil rii I led "Cuffers," whether Hue '• ! or otherwise, for there was uheiius ' , some I inn hi in r/ Thomas In thai- ' ; lenr/r rentei/i/, > '' i» " I hill so fe-e n' ' these stories tin re heen preserved. ' for lit thr bast //in/ were inter■ 1 rihn-/ mid in lots ol <«ims ipn e th a I,'n/t mid i/ntmi/tr srnmen -g I sirindiud nf pluck and endurn m e ; ' ° l"e up to. It 'ins the pleasure "f 1 !■writer of "Cuffers Spun m tie I),,II Wateh" to attend at , , hundreds of these gatherings. | 'these stories range from life in ; ; Sinn* and sehoonrrs to the Infti/ ! ; vif'nirr mi led. sl. usnil gnrders ; ! ni fife as it was in the '. guide,l dai/s nf sail in nearly \ e< ery type nf ship afloat. ! No. 111.

littla a* we do." Anyway, we got o«T coal aboard and next day at noon we sot sail. It was midwinter, and midwinter iu the Western Ocean is no picnic, and so we found it. Kvcry thing went wrong from the start head winds and high sea®, and the \ (t--cI battling hard to got to windward. <'\\ ill ir tn that last tons of cm i'!»'o he was much doc|>er and she wallowed in the heavv -ens which simply broke mer her. The wind-driven spray cut like a whiplash, and everything was wct and gloomy. We eoul»l not drive her into those liuye comi»ers. and as it uii- we had to keep the pumps going • 'oi.i~ t a nll v. tine riiir 111 we nearly lost her on the bleak Irir-h coast, and we just dragged clear. I hen. knowing that he had done winii'.' in allowing himself to bo overruled ii'inut takin-j that last J(l tons of coal, the captain was angry with himself and liU temper was very short. We determined to help him all we could, and soon lie saw this and his manner towardis us changed. Aft, we were a happv crowd. Right here I may say that I never .sailed with a finer man.

Mo wild n splendid sentniiii. a j;ood navigator a iid a gent leman. On wo wont, link I'nr tuck. and we ill h tin "t'd to clear ( ape Fiiii-1 one. Hero no fell in with a Id of ship*. anil tin* wind came out ft<Mil the-southward. and it Mow hard with tierce squalls and we could only lay about west-sou'-west. Tack for tack it wa». and we were now under four topsails and the old ship wa* straining heavily. She also was making water very freely. We were pumping 20 minute* every hour, and that is pretty solid. Then the wind went around to the sou'-east. and the captain decided to get as far southward as we could and see if we could pick up some fine weather. But no. the weather grew worse, so we put her around on the other tack and away she went to the east-nor'-east. This was no good to us, so around again we went. She now lay about sou'-sou'-west. and it came on to hlo%v hard. were deeply laden and the old vessel strained heavilv in the seaway. One ntsr'nt I had turned in at eight bolls (S p.m.'. and 1 was aroused out at six bells in the first watch by the mat".

"Better get your crowd out. Mister. There is nearly three feet of water in tier. We will have to keep the pumps

going all the time." So out on deck cnme the men and. wonder of wonders, there was no growling. The mate put the position squarely l>efore them. "Shr's leaking badly, men, and we will have to keep the pumps going till she is clear of water. Man both pumps and the rest of you get the force pump up and see if we can use it anywhere." So the pumps were manned; and the end of the hose of the force pump was put down the after booby hatch, and a space cleared to allow it to work. One man was deputed to keep the end of the hos« in the water. It was no fancy job this, for that man. Down in that dark, coal-laden hold, with the ship pitching and tossing about in the heavy seas, keeping the end of the hose in the water and keening it clear, of the smell coal was a cold, wet and miserable task, yet he did not growl but stuck to his job like a man. We on deck were in no better plight. Oreen water came out of her and on went the pumps, while all around us the elements were raging with the wildest

boardinghouse ashore,

fury. "I'liinp. pump. pump, boys'." And pump they did. We took the upper topsails oil - her. al-o the jib. Later on we took the fore lower topsail nil her. ami finally let her he.nl reach under main lower topsail. maintopmast i-t.ivsail. fore topmast staysail, and mi/./.en >taysail. Still we pumped, until it grew monotonous.

There we were, oil those sea-swept decks, wet through and miserable, having our faces cut and our eyes blinded with the cold salt spray as it drove over the rails in the squalls. "Pump, pump, boys, pump'." Everybody took a hand, the captain taking his turn with the rest.

"Send a hand to light the galley stove!" As the order wag given one of the men in the little group detached himself and went to the galley. It was the cook. We had not known he was on deck, but he had come of his own volition and taken his place so quietly at the pumps that we did not recognise him. (Jood, old cook, he had been a sailor and knew his place, and was always ready to help with the foresheet or a pull on the halyard*.

In half an hour we were drinking hot coffee and munching biscuits. It put heart into us, I tell you. that coffee did. and the clank, clank, of the pumps had a different sound when our bodies were warm with hot coffee.

Taking .-":.tches of sleep when we could, and having our meals the same way, we did our be*t to keep the old ship afloat. Despite our best efforts, we were slowly failing to keep the water down. Indeed, it was paining on us «it the rate of an inch an hour.

Next morning, it had gained 2ft, as [ found when I sounded the well. There was now 6ft in her, and she was slow and uncertain in her movements. In fact, she was wallowing badly and there was danger that she would turn over and capsize. From now on the water jrained on us, though the sea was smooth and there was little wind. Some of us cleared the boats out, for we saw that we should have to leave her.

There was only now a slight, smooth swell and hardly any wind at all We put two boats over the side and provisioned them and filled the beakers with water. We determined that the captain should take one boat, we two

7 he landsman will never understand the sailor, for sea life maizes the sailor a race apart, "Old H ire Whiskers" served his lime as bo\), ordinary seaman, able seaman, ho'sun, second male, first mate and master in schooners, brigs, barques, barquenlines, full-rigged ships and steam and motor vessels. Retiring from the sea, for eighteen years he trained and coached many hundreds of men for all grades of certificates in the mercantile marine. He was until recently still on deck as a compass adjuster, but has been compelled In retire through ill-health. He is now resident in Auckland. Most of these flories are written in the first person and are just as they were told either on a ship's fore hatch or in a sailors'

mates the smaller boat. All day we pumped ami slept. It was hot—we had

well <»outli. '1 lie ship was wo!i '!<>uil in the water. but we -till jumped. It was ilear. beautiful weather, aiul we tried our utmost to dear her of the

water. Our efforts wore in vain, and at two bells in the first dog watc! l the captain ordered all hands into the boats. A\ e had lind tea in readiness to leave-' her, fur the water was now up to her covering boards and she was wallowing badly. It was painful to watch tl.e dear old ship in her death throes as she vainly struggled to keep afloat. We were now in the boats alongside of her. and the creaking aloft and alow and the moaning sounds that came from the open booby hatch seemed to tell woefully of the old ship's imminent dissolution. Slowly she sank in the water, slowly the water came over her decks, then

she seemed to shiver, then #he managed to straighten herself up as if to strengthen herself for that la«t fatal p'vnge into the cold embrace of old Mother Ocean. "Sheer off." whispered the mate. The captain. in the other boat, followed our example. She seemed to sink by the stern, and a* she ?aitk she moved slowly astern. This movement became more rapid the lower she sank. Now came the final plunge, and as she sought the lower depths the air trapped in her hold blew out the fore hatches with a roar. Then her fo'e'sle head and jibboom were thrown into the air anil the grand old sank rapidly to her final rest. Soon the seas closed over her and nothing but two boats filled with men denoted that a ship ha<l gone to her doom. As her iiead sank beneath the waves we. her crew, sprang to our feet and wildly cheered her. giving her at least a cheerful send-off. As we settled ourselves, again the mate said to me: "Look to the westward.'' Turning, I saw the lower limUj of the setting sun had just dropped j below the western horizon. So. really I and literally, the noble old ship had j plunged to her filial lest v I ' "Just As The Sun Went Doivn." We were alone on the wide expanse of ocean and. before we had time to prepare for it, darkness was on us. Then the wind, which had been light, started to . increase, causing the sea to rise. Now we were in the boats the position was altogether different. A breeze which to the ship would seem negligible, to a boat was a strong breeze, and we felt the sea in the same way. Every wave was a danger, and we had to watch" her carefully. Then we had difficulty with the provisions.

We stowed the boat as best we could and put the sail on her and set a course for the Azores, or the Western Islands, as all sailors call them. Before midnight

it whs blowing a fre-ili gale and ue| reefed the sail, but it blew away before | the sheet, which had been made could be let go. We now used the mast and two oars for a sea anchor, and we bailed hard to keep her free of water. However, she wa*t a bad sea boat and we frequently shipped big dollops of water. So we had to lighten her somehow or other, especially when a huge dollop came aboard and washed the helmsman over the side.

Poor fellow, he could not ewim, though we heard him and tried to help him. Suddenly he gave a great scream of terror. We shouted, but there was no answer—only a great silence.

"A shark, I suppose," said the mate, and I concurred. This happening caused a gloom to settle on is, and we decided to dump some of the cases overboard to lighten the boat. In the darkness r>n« of our precious water beakers had either been thrown or washed overboard, but it lightened the boat. There had been eight of us in this boat, and seven in the capt*in*s boat. and. now we had lost on« man, we also had seven.

It was a horrible»'night, and, remembering that wild yell of the doomed man, we could imagine some huge, fierce maneater waiting for another person to fall over the side and provide him with another meal. The rest of that night was like a foretaste of Hades, and our hearts were full of gloomy foreboding for the future. When the day dawned we looked around eagerly for the captain's boat, but it was not in sight. So all we had to depend on was about 201b of raw salt beef, one small beaker of water, and about 201b of biscuit, sodden with salt water and nearly useless.

Of course, we were hungry, but we would have to be a good deal hungrier than we were to be able or anxious to eat either beef or bread. We took a drink each of the water; it was like nectar to us, it tasted of the wood. We took the beaker aft and agreed to whack it out. Then we got the sea anchor aboard and stepped the mast and set the rigging up. We had

only the remnants of tlic sail, so we each gave an article of clothing, in nearly every case a shirt, and, unlaying some of the strands of the painter, we tried to sew them together as a makeshift for a sail. Anyway, it was only a makeshift, but we fixed it .ip as best we could and set it.

We knew the course about to the Azores and knew the position of the Western Islands, and so we set a course for there. The wind ..was now light and the sea smooth and we made about two knots per hour. All that day we suffered greatly from the heat of the sun and there was no shade.

One man became light-headed and began to eat the raw salt meat, and we had quite a struggle to get it away from him. We were now hungry enough to eat the half-dried biscuit and sample some of the meat, but I can tell you candidly it didn't compare favourably at all with a meal like you people have ashore. The light-headed man that night .went mad, and we had an awful job with him.

In the melee that ensued he jumped from one end of the boat to tjie other, and he seemed to be possessed of--super-liuman strength. Getting aft, he picked up our p/ecious beaker of water and threw it overboard. With a wild "yell he followed it, and we saw him no more. We picked up the beaker, but the damape had been done. The water in it was nearlv brackish.

Through the rest of the night we kept watch and watch, and our thoughts were sad. At daylight next morning we discovered that the man who was sitting on the forward seat had quietly cut his throat during the darkness, choosing rather thie way out than to suffer what he thought he could see in store for all of us. Thus that night we lost two. There were five of us left. We quickly put the last victim over the side and pulled rapidly away. We washed the boat out. Then the wind failed us and it was dead calm.

It w.i.s sweltering hot, andt we suffered severely, our arms, feet, and faces being liurnt. The food, which was nearly finished, was giving us bad

internal pain«. and we =utfered damnably frnm thir.-t. Then one night it rained hard. and. lowering the sail, we quarter-filled the beaker.

Then the mate, who had been suffering cruelly from abdominal pains, died one afternoon, and we slipped him overboard. We had now been 10 days in the boat, and there were four of us left. Our water was nearly finished, and we had also finished the meat, which for two days had been nearly rotten. The biscuit had been badly mildewed. Think of it—rotten raw "salt horse," and halfdried, mildewed biscuit, and we were sorry it was finished, for now we had nothing.

We had one stick of tobacco left, and we whacked it ont. We had no matches, so we had to chew it, and it was a relief and a blessing all in one.

On the eleventh day another man died, and we put him overboard. That night a flying fish came on board, and we three who were left whacked him out and ate him as he was.

Next day was sweltering hot. First one man, then the other, fell down to the bottom of the boat, and lay there. I hung out a little longer, realising that I was alone in that boat (as the others were unconscious) and perishing from starvation and thirst, for our water was finished and we had no immediate hope of rescue.

I, too, began to wander in my mind, a-nd the last thing I remembered was seeing the sun dip beneath the western horizon. Then I fell to the bottom of the boat and knew no more.

When I awoke I was astonished to find myself in a bunk with lovely white sheets in a clean, white-painted room. I knew we had been rescued.

They came and spo&e to me. They told me we had been sighted early that morning, and picked np. My two shipmates, they told me, were also alive and doing all right. Satisfied, I turned ever and slept the clock rotind.

So that is the story of how onr dear old ship, for the sake of 22 tons of eoal, and at the cost of almost a whole ship's complement, went to her final -test "just as the sun went down."