Ellsworth American. [volume] (Ellsworth, Me.) 1855-current, 1926-08-04
BREAKERS AHEAD!
Story of Trip In Old Hancock
Schooner Stampede.

| cock.1
I was captain of the schooner
Redondo Of Ellsworth during the
summer and fall of 1875. In No
vember I shipped as mate on the
schooner Stampede. Capt. George
Dow was in command. The schooner
was chartered to carry cargo from
Boston to Mobile, then take cargo
Of lumber to Port au Prince, Hayti.
We sailed from Boston the day after
Thanksgiving.
Soon after had joined the
schooner, I asked the captain II he
had the new, patent log that was
then coming into use on ships. He
said that he was going to get one, as
the old log had been lost or the log
line had been used for something.
The day we sailed, l asked about the
new log, as it was nearly time to use
it. The captain said he had ordered
one to be sent on board, but 1t must
had been overlooked but, he added
II don't need log, for l have sailed
| this schooner several years, and
| can judge her rate of sailing within
two or three miles every twenty-four
hours" I told him 1t would bother
ukc W ACCQ OOdu lOChOA4u6 WAtAOUC
any log. WELL" he said, II will
give you my figures every twenty
four hours, so you can make your
record in the log book, and then
every day when we take the observa-
ton Of the sun, we can make cor
rections IL any are needed"
We had a fair passage to Mobile.
After the cargo was discharged, we
loaded the lumber. We had a deck
load, and the deck Of the schooner
was only three inches out of water,
but that was the regular load line
for a Maine schooner. When we
sailed out Of Mobile bay, thought
of the great naval battle that had
been fought there during the Civil
war. 1 had brother in that battle.
A few days after we sailed from
Mobile, we ran into gale. The cap
tain ordered the sails close reefed.
We reefed the mainsail, then the
foresail; then came the order to reef
the lib, and that is the worst sail to
reef. The schooner had a large
boom lib, and as soon as it was
hauled down, big sea came over
the bow and broke into the jib. AS
it was an old sail, the jfb split In
several pieces. Then it was all
hands to clear the old jib and get up
a new one that we had ready when
the old one gave out. 1t was an
all-night job from the time we began
to take in sail and reef, but the
worst of all was to bend the new jib
then reef it, and the schooner was
going bows under every little while.
Rv1ic of a
Then the captain said: "You had
better start the pump, and see If the
schooner is leaking" She had never
leaked any, but as she had heavy
deckload and was rolling heavily be-
fore we got the sails reefed, there
was danger Of starting a leak. l
ordered the pump started, and
pumped several minutes. Then the
captain asked me to get the sound
ing rod and see how much water
there was in the we'll. 1 sounded,
and found three feet and two or
three inches of water.
We rugged up both pumps, and all
hands worked. We pumped one
hour, sounded again, and found we
had gained several inches. That
made US feel better, for pumping
leaking vessel is the most discourag-
ing work that ever was, I think. 1t
was several hours before the pumps
sucked clear, but from that hour,
there had to be man at the pump
all the time. One man could just
keep it clear by working steadily.
But when we had to reef or make
sail, when all hands were required,
it was necessary to put on both
pumps and suck her out. That was
the program until we arrived in port
and had discharged the deckload.
We worked up the Gulf Stream
with head winds most of the time,
nearly to Cape Hatteras, then we got
slant of wind so we could work
easterly for our longitude. When We
had run that down, we kept the
schooner off in southwesterly
course for Port an Prince. We had
rain squalls all the time, and for
seven days we never saw the sun to
take an observation. was worried,
| as we had no log, but the captain
was one of the best of navigators
and was confident in his judgment,
but he had never had this experience
| NO
| to guide him.
| For three days we had been run
ming with half a gale of wind on the
port quarter. We carried double
reefed mainsail, foresail and two
ibis. The sea was running high,
with the full sweep of the Atlantic
ocean. It was my watch on deck
from s to - a. M, on the seventh
day-without an observation of the
sun. 1 noticed that the sea was not
so heavy as it had been. About l
a M, there was such a change that
it seemed as If we were under the
| lee of the land.
called the captain on deck. He
looked about, and said that he had
seen lust such a smooth spot in the
middle of the Atlantic, and that 1t
would be rough water again soon.
1t was raining, and we could see
only about two miles. Very soon we
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