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Daily Life Aboard Sailing Ships
How crews lived on working sailing ships: the watch system, bells, daily chores, cramped quarters, rank and pay, meals, rest and the hazards of the job.
Seafaring Life and Navigation
Life at Sea
Daily life, customs and hardships aboard ship.
Figureheads and Ship Decoration
The carved figures, gilded stern galleries and painted ornaments that marked ships from ancient eyes and Viking prows to naval lions and the end of the figurehead.
Food and Provisions on Long Voyages
What sailors ate on long voyages, from ship's biscuit and salted meat to casks of beer and water, and how food was stored and cooked before refrigeration.
Knots Splices and Rope Work
How rope, knots, splices and seamanlike skills held a sailing ship together, from hemp cordage and rigging to the decorative ropework sailors made.
Press Gangs and Naval Discipline
How the Royal Navy and other fleets manned their ships through impressment and volunteers, and how articles of war, flogging and mutiny shaped order afloat.
Sailor Superstitions and Customs
The beliefs, ceremonies and traditions of seafarers, from sailing day omens and the albatross to crossing-the-line ceremonies, launch rites and coins under masts.
Scurvy and the Search for Its Cure
How scurvy struck crews on long voyages, what early physicians and captains tried, and how lemon and lime juice entered naval use before vitamin C was understood.
Sea Shanties and Work Songs
How rhythmic work songs coordinated hauling and heaving on merchant sailing ships, the main types of shanty, and how the tradition faded with steam and winches.
Ship Surgeons and Medicine Afloat
Medical practice aboard sailing ships and early steamers: naval surgeons, sick berths, common diseases, merchant ship medicine chests and the rise of ship's doctors.
Women Who Went to Sea
Captains' wives, women disguised as sailors, whaling wives, pirates and passengers: the many ways women lived and worked aboard ships despite official barriers.
Related topics
More in seafaring life and navigation
Navigation and Instruments The tools and methods that let ships cross open water. Ports and Harbours Harbours, dockyards and the people who worked them. Shipwrecks and Maritime Disasters Famous losses and the rules and reforms they led to. Ship Archaeology and Preservation Finding, studying and keeping historic vessels.