IN DAYS OF SAIL

Southland Times, Issue 22130, 26 September 1933, Page 2

IN DAYS OF SAIL

THE VOYAGE HOME, CAPTAIN HAMILTON’S RECOLLECTIONS. (From Our Bluff Correspondent.) It has often been said that Bluff could provide a crew to man a sailing ship the members of which could not be surpassed by a crew gathered at! any other port in the Dominion. This is probably true, for quite a number of residents had a long experience in sail before settling down to harbour duties, fishing, waterfront work or other occupations ashore. Of these ex-sailors, one of the best known both locally and further afield, is Captain R. J. Hamilton, whose steamer, the Tamatea, has carried many hundreds of holiday makers of (and beyond) the province to and from Stewart Island. Many stories told in reminiscent vein by the Bluff skipper have appeared in the columns of the Southland Times. Like other men who have “served in sail,” Captain Hamilton still looks back with unfeigned pleasure to the days of “white wings,” and in an interview recently he spoke interestingly of his youthful experiences while

“serving his time” in the sailing ship Weathersfield, which traded between the Homeland and this country. “Of all the time a sailor has spent at sea, voyaging in sailing ships, that first period during which he was serving his time furnishes the most pleasant memories,” Captain Hamilton said. “The part of the whole voyage that seemed to be the very best was that spent in the trades and tropics when Homeward bound with wool. There was an eagerness and expectancy about the whole ship. When another vessel was sighted our first thought would be: ‘ls she the Zealandia, Taranaki or some other ship from New Zealand?’

Sailors’ Yarns. “We boys listened to wonderful tales the sailors told as they spoke of what they would do with their pay days when we arrived in London. The yarns of the older sailors regarding older ships and their ways were wonderfully exciting and inspiring to us. Strictly speaking we were not supposed to go forward. But, of course, we got there—and we always, managed each time to frame a plausible excuse when caught there. “In the Trades and Tropics the warm weather, bright sunshine and blue sky were very pleasant after the cold grey days with the high seas and roaring winds experienced on the run from New Zealand to the Horn. No longer was the dread cry ‘All hands’ to be apprehended as a prelude to the often long struggle with half frozen sails, sheets and halliards which left us wet through, stiff with cold and minus a watch below. The change from scrubbing teakwood clean with sand and canvas to the more active sailor-like jobs of overhauling gear, changing sails, ratling down and painting ship was much more congenial to us. The doldrum weather with its calms, changeable winds and heavy rains (during which we saved much needed water for washing and other purposes); the pulley-hauling of yards and sails to catch any favourable slant of wind; the meeting and signalling other Homeward bounders (we boys at the flags all agog to pick the news of the other vessel, where she was from and where bound, etc.); the tropic sunrises and sunsets; the glamour of moonlit nights; the singsongs on the fore hatch with the men in the dog watches—all these remain with us clearly and vividly, unforgettable memories. The old songs such as ‘Belle Mahone,’ ‘Out on the Deep,’ ‘Good Old Jeff,’ ‘Annie Laurie,’ ‘Yellow Rose of Texas,’ ‘There’s a Tavern in the Town’ and others equally musical were sung and sometimes an accordion or violin would be brought out and played by a sailor.

In the Trades. “Sundays in the trades and tropics were the days of all days. In the Weathersfield nothing was done except the necessary work of making or taking in sail and trimming yards; so that we had time to do our washing and mending. On Sundays we indulged in what was known as ‘a sailor’s pleasure,’ that is, we turned out all our belongings for an airing and look over. Often we would sneak away forward to watch a sailor making a model or another making a fancy cover for his clothes chest, or, perhaps, shackles (handles). These were beautifully made the sailor being always patient and skilful at a job of fancy work. “In the north-east trades the masts and yards were painted down from truck to deck. A steady breeze and a bright sky made the trick at the wheel in the trades very pleasant. The Weathersfield was an easy steering vessel, and we (in pants and shirt only) could steer and watch the ship going her nine or ten knots without any cares or worries—other than keeping her a good ‘full and by.’ All the painting and cleaning would be finished by the time we got to the Western Islands, where on two successive voyages we met the Abiona—one of Allan’s Line—the little wool ship being as spick and span as it was possible for her to be, the result of weeks of work by a good crew, and now ready to make her bow to the London river. “Then followed the excitement of picking up the Scillys, Lizard or Start, thence up the channel to Dungeness for a London pilot, the green of Devon, the pleasant, clean, trim fields (so very different to the high, bush-clad hills of our Cook Strait). Then came the Thames with its unending variety of ships, barges and everything else that floated on the sea; and after docking would be heard the mate telling the sailors: ‘That will do, men,’ the signal that their voyage in the Weathersfield was over

“And of it all we remember best those nights in the tropics—‘With the moon on the tips of her spars And her towers of pale ivory canvas That lost themselves in the stars.’ ”