Captain Moore’s logbook (6) – Maintenance

07 Oct 2016

Maintenance on a clipper is an ever constant job. Rigging and sails take a lot of strain and need regular replacement but other areas also need attention, if less frequently. 

Cutty Sark was in a particularly poor condition following the twelfth voyage and Captain Moore was taking every opportunity to get the ship back in order. Below are sections of various log entries showing some of the maintenance being attended to:

8^th November - Carpenter repairing Gallant Forecastle deck Sailmaker and one hand repairing topsail Crew employed variously also fitting new Main yard foot ropes

16^th November - Carpenter fitting Moulding on Glt Forecastle Sailmaker and one hand as yesterday crew cleaning and chipping chain plates

20^th November - Carpenter fitting facing pieces on Nighthead [knightshead] Sailmaker and one hand making new upper Mzn topsail Crew chipping chainplates and scrapping waterways etc

Even the officers might be required to help with maintenance if it was urgent enough and the apprentices were treated as any crew member. During the stay in Samarang so many crew fell ill that the second mate helped the sailmaker on several occasions. Chipping paint off iron parts and re-painting, repairing the concrete in the scuppers, re-painting the outside of the hull and keeping the limbers clear were major areas of concern. All crew members might be required to do any task, hence the carpenter cementing.

11^th September - 4 hands painting and 4 cleaning overside and remainder  cleaning away ballast down the fore hole also cleaning limbers Carpenter caulking decks – second mate  and one hand repairing sails

15^th December - Carpenter as yesterday sailmaker repairing main glt sail Crew employed working cargo also sent main royal yard aloft and bent royal [illegible] gear 17 coolies working cargo took in 696 bags jaggery [dark sugar.] Paramore apprentice refused to work cargo

Paramore’s refusal seems not to have affected his standing with the captain as he was re-engaged for the following voyage and made up to third mate in December 1883.

16^th January - Carpenter and one boy cementing scuppers Sailmaker one hand repairing fore sail Crew employed variously about rigging

Sailcloth and lengths of timber were part of the ship’s stores, but a make do and mend philosophy was also part of the maintenance regime.

23^rd November - Carpenter employed variously. Sailmaker cutting out Crossjack sail out of second main sail one hand making tarpaulines for main hatchway.

An account for the stop in Madras shows that 2 doz [2 dozen = 24] sail needles were purchased along with 8 skeins of sowing twine. To run out of these items when at sea could prove very costly.

By Roger Hodge

About Roger

“I have been a volunteer at Cutty Sark for eighteen years; assisting with school programmes, acting as a tour guide, carrying out surveys for the archival records and, during the conservation project, assisting with the recording of items dismantled and removed from the ship to be preserved and reinstalled. Recently I was asked to research the log of Cutty Sark’s thirteenth voyage, which has formed the basis for this series of blogs. I also write comedy plays for adults as well as plays and pantomimes for children, several of which have been published. The writing stems from forty years of acting and producing plays with amateur dramatic societies.”