Lesson Plans

 

Lesson VI: Crew PacketsAdobe Acrobat/Reader iconDownload [PDF]
At this point the students should already be broken up into their crews, with a designated mate. Whether you choose the crews and the mates or let the students do it is up to you. If you have questions about how to divide up your class, consult the teachers manual or give the office a call.

Purpose:
During this lesson, students will work together in their crews to learn about specific information that has to do with their work on board the Balclutha. Each crew will have time to review their information, do some further research on their topic, and create a presentation with visual aids for the class. This is also an important time for the mate to establish a leadership role, and for the crew to start to work well together.

Materials:
Crew Packets, computers, reference books, poster-board, construction paper, colored pencils / markers, scissors, glue, etc.

Introduction: (10 minutes)
Most of the material in this lesson is contained in the individual crew packets, but this is also a great opportunity to review some of the information that you have covered in the last five lessons. You can do this by asking students to make an individual list and then share aloud, or you can make a class list on the board of things that you have learned so far. Explain that the list represents things that ALL sailors need to know. Once they are on board, they will use this knowledge, but they will also need to have more specific knowledge depending on which crew they are in. Do they know any other types of jobs that have “specialists”?

During this activity students will have a chance to learn about the specific information that they will need to know as part of their crew. Each crew will then create a short presentation to inform the rest of the class about their job on board and why it is important. It is important to note that there is more information to learn than there is to present! Explain to the students that they need to be EXPERTS on their crew’s work, but they only need to explain the basic concepts to the class. Each crew will have questions in their packet to guide them in making their presentation.

Setting up the Activity: (20 minutes)
Let the students know that they will be working together in their crews, and that you will be monitoring them to see how well they work. The mate will be in charge, but different people in the crew will have a chance to lead different parts of the project. It is helpful if you can have their desks arranged in crews. The mates should make sure that the crews are behaving according to the following rules of conduct:

  • Mates are in charge of the behavior of the group
  • Mates will hand out roles and responsibilities
  • When you are given a role, that means that you LEAD that part of the task, not that you are the only person allowed to do it
  • When you are done with your work, help someone else OR if you need help, ask someone who is not busy
  • You all get one grade, so make sure all the work is the best it can be!

 

Instructions to the Class:
Before the students know how they will be working, they should know what they are working on. Below is an intro for a basic poster presentation project, and the evaluation section contains a basic rubric for grading. If you have a preferred class presentation style or would like to adapt this to another format, please do so. The roles that the students will be in can be easily adjusted, and the important thing is that they are working as a crew and learning the material. Likewise, you may need to adjust your evaluation criteria. If you use a rubric for evaluating presentations, you may want to pass it out now.

“Make a poster-board that answers all of the Presentation Questions in your crew packet. There should be an image and a written explanation for each question. You will present your poster to the class at the end of this (lesson). You will be graded as a crew based on the rubric that I am passing out right now…”

Pass out the rubric and review any information that is new to the students. If you are using a standard class presentation rubric, they should be familiar with the grading criteria.

Crew Packets:
Before you pass out the crew packets to the class, you may want to list the following instructions on the board and discuss the roles as a class. There are further instructions in the crew packets, but this serves as a good reference if they get confused about with they are supposed to do:

 

Responsibility

Role

1)

Read your crew packet aloud, taking turns by paragraph………………..

Whole Crew

2)

Take notes as the crew reads the packet aloud…………………….…….

Recorder

3)

Look online to find more information about your questions…………….

Researcher

4)

Choose images and create a layout for the poster………………………..

Designer

5)

Draw/create the images for the poster…………………………………...

Artist

6)

Write a sentence or two to go with each image on your poster………….

Writer

7)

Create a plan or script for the presentation………………………………

Presenter

Work Time: (45 minutes)
Use your discretion for this. These packets can be covered in as little as 30 minutes, but you may want to allow the students extra time to get creative. Consider assigning this as a week-long project that they get to work on for 15-30 minutes per day. Also, during the time that the students are working, take time to observe each crew, evaluate their social interactions, check in with mates, and trouble shoot problems individually.

Presentations and Evaluation: (30 minutes)
Limit presentations to 5 minutes each, most will probably be only 1 or 2 minutes. You may use the evaluation criteria below or choose to use your own. Give the students a self-evaluation at the conclusion of the presentations as well.

 

Grade

Score

Presentation Characteristics

4
Advanced

 

Excellent posture and eye contact. Animated, confident voice

 

Speaks mostly from memory and knowledge of topic, keeps audience’s attention

 

Information is exceptionally well organized, topics flow easily from one to another

 

Presentation directly addresses and answers all of the presentation questions

3 Proficient

 

Good posture and frequent eye contact, strong voice

 

Relies on notes and poster but knows topic well enough not to read directly

 

Clear topic, clear connection between various pieces of information, sense of continuity

 

Presentation addresses all of the presentation questions

2
Basic

 

Acceptable posture, attempted eye contact, clear voice

 

Combination of reading from poster / notes and speaking from memory

 

Information relates to the overall topic

 

Presentation answers most of the presentation questions

1
Below
Basic

 

Poor posture and eye contact

 

Entire presentation read from notes and poster

 

Information does not clearly relate to the topic

 

Presentation questions are not answered or addressed

 

 

Lesson VI: Using the Crew PacketsAdobe Acrobat/Reader iconDownload [PDF]
(alternate)

Purpose: Getting ready to spend the night working aboard the Balclutha involves learning new skills and new content.  Some of this knowledge will be needed by everyone in the class.  You have already found much of this material in Lessons I-V of this section. 

But some of the new knowledge needs only be learned by members of a particular crew.  At this point, you should have already divided your class into five crews: Boat Crew, Deckhand Crew, Rigger Crew, Galley Crew, and Bosun Crew.  Each crew has a specialized packet that contains material only they need to know.  The packets also contain some material that everyone needs to know, but which is best reviewed in the smaller crew groups.

Each crew is responsible for the material in its crew packet!  This lesson plan outlines one possible way to introduce each crew to their crew packet.

Materials:

  • The appropriate crew packet for each student (ideally), or (at a minimum) one master packet for each crew. Remove the first page from the packet that talks about the different roles.

Introduction (5 minutes) 
Review the structure and the schedule of the overnight voyage.  Remind students that they will be working in their crews for the duration of the voyage—they will be depending on their crewmates for support.  They will need to cooperate with each other and help each other.  They will also have to work together to master some specialized knowledge.
            Explain that during this lesson they will get to know each other better and will begin to learn what they need to know to do their work aboard the ship.

Icebreaker  (10-15 minutes)
Use this bonding game, or another of your choice.

  • Give students 10 minutes to find what they share in common!  Those simple directions will prompt them to ask each other all sorts of questions, fast!  The crew with the most viable commonalties (“We all breathe” doesn’t count!) wins.  You might suggest the kinds of questions they can ask: Do they all have pets?  Do they all have a sister?  Do they all have summer birthdays?  Do they all like mint chocolate chip ice cream? 

Introduction of Crew Packets (30 minutes)

  • Ask the students to read their entire packets out loud in their crews.  They should then write down any questions they have. 

Vocabulary Lookup & Knot Tying (15-20 minutes)
This is the opportunity for crews to make sure they understand the specialized vocabulary and knots they are required to know.  They need to work together to makes sure everybody in the group is comfortable with what is required!

Closing:  (5-10 minutes)
Use this opportunity to answer any questions the students came up with about the voyage or their work in crews. 

 

Follow Up Lessons:

  • How To Give And Receive Orders—You will want to review this section together (the same for all crews).
  • Line Handling Skills—You will want to review and practice the commands in this section of each crew packet (the same for all crews)

 

 

BOAT CREWAdobe Acrobat/Reader iconDownload [PDF]
Instructions: (mates read aloud)
This crew packet contains important information for you to know aboard the Balclutha, and it will help you complete your project. First, read the part about your roles. The mate will assign roles to everyone in the crew. If there are not enough roles for everyone, then the mate may assign 2 people to 1 role. Once the mate assigns the roles, there is no switching, but you are allowed to help each other. Once everyone has a role, read the ENTIRE packet through once, taking turns reading aloud. After you have read through once, you can go back and re-read different sections if you need to.

Roles:

 

 

Recorder

While the crew is taking turns reading the packet out loud, the recorder is responsible for writing down important information for the presentation. The recorder should have legible handwriting, and the rest of the crew should be sure to give the recorder enough time to write things down before moving on.

Researcher

The researcher is responsible for finding new information online or in books that will help with the presentation. The researcher should come up with at least three different sources to get more information from. Once the researcher has come up with the three sources, the mate can assign some other crew members to help with the research.

Designer

The designer is responsible for the layout of the poster that will be presented to the class. He or she should come up with a theme for the poster that includes how big (or small) items will be, how many pictures to use, color scheme, and other elements of design.

Artist

The artist is responsible for either picking or drawing the images that will be displayed on the poster during the presentation. The images should fit into the theme determined by the designer.

Writer

The writer is responsible for writing one to two sentences for each image, to be displayed on the poster. These sentences should answer the Presentation Questions and should be coordinated with the images on the poster.

Presenter

The presenter is responsible for coming up with a script for the presentation. The presenter should NOT be the only person who talks during the presentation. This person will decide what can be read off the poster, what should be said that is not on the poster, and what order different people in the crew will speak in.

 

Presentation Questions:

  1. Why do large ships carry small boats with them?
  2. What are some important parts of small boats? Are they the same or different than large ships, and how?
  3. Why is it important for a crew to complete commands at the same time and at the same speed when lowering the boat? What about rowing the boat?

 

About Ships and Small Boats:

Large ships need to carry small boats for a number of reasons. When people think of small boats on ships today, many think of lifeboats. In the unlikely event that it starts to sink, a ship should have enough small boats to hold all of the people on board. (Can you think of a famous ship that did NOT have enough lifeboats for all the passengers?) Today this is the most common reason that ships carry small boats, but historically there were many other reasons as well.

When ships used to go out to sea fishing and whaling, they would bring small boats with them for that purpose. The ships would first sail out to the fishing grounds, sometimes a whole month’s journey away. Once they reached their destination, every day the sailors would launch the small boats and sail or row away from their ship. They would spend all day out fishing, hunting seals, or whaling, and return in the evening with their catch.

Ships also used small boats to get into port, or to get their cargo into port, before there were docks with deep water to tie up to. In some ports, the sailors would have to lower the small boats miles from port and tow the big ship all the way in to the harbor. When the ship was anchored in the harbor, the only way for anyone to get ashore was on the small boats. Even if they were willing to get wet, most sailors did not know how to swim. Many captains were very strict with their crews about when they were allowed to go ashore, and how much time they were allowed to spend there.

Boat Crew Responsibilities

The boat crew is responsible for the proper handling of the small boats (dory, longboat, etc.). The Boat Crew must be able to prove their capabilities to the Captain, and be prepared to carry out any order he may give them regarding these boats. In addition, the Boat Crew must have knowledge of the proper use and location of safety equipment (i.e., life jackets), proper use of lines, and small boat operating orders for both the dory and longboat.

The Boat Crew will lower and raise the dory to the commands given by the Mate. The mate must make sure that the boat is level, or “even keeled”, as it goes up and down. If it is not level, the Captain or whoever is in the boat could fall out! This means that the crew must work together to let the boat down and pull it up at the exact same speed. It is up to the mate to make sure that the crew does this. It will also be the Mate's responsibility that all lads are properly handling the lines.

DORY PROCEDURES

Lowering the dory: These are the commands the Boat crew must know/learn

 

1. "SECURE THE BOAT PLUG" - The boat is always hung in davits with the plug open so that the rain water will drain freely from the boat.  The plug needs to be secured so the boat does not fill with sea water.

2. "STAND BY" - The crew is divided into two (bow line and stern line) and the last person in line scoops up the coil and carries it away from the cleat at a 45 degree angle to the pier.  Once it has been laid out with enough room for the crew to hold it, capsize the coil, taking care not to block the entire pier.  Once everyone is holding the line (with everyone on the same side of the line), stand ready for the next order.

3. "MAKE READY" - The last person in line goes forward to grab the fall line, shouts “line secure” and continues holding it while the cleat hitch is taken off the cleat by the first person in line. The first person gets back into position, shouts “line secure” and then the person on the fall goes back to his position at the end of the line.

4. "PREPARE TO SLACK AWAY, SLACK AWAY TOGETHER" - Lower the boat evenly using "hand-under-hand" motion
(Note: DO NOT LET THE LINE SLIDE THROUGH YOUR HANDS AT ANY TIME). When boat reaches the water, the order of "avast" is given.

To recover (lift up) the dory:

1. " PREPARE TO HAUL AWAY, HAUL AWAY TOGETHER" –
Using a chantey or “heave-ho”, pull the boat up keeping the dory level. When you haul keep your feet in one place. The chanteyman must keep an eye on the position of the blocks to know when the boat is raised to the proper location.

2. "AVAST" - When the boat reaches the upper block, the order "avast" is given.

3. "MAKE FAST" - Using the same procedure as "Make Ready," secure the bow and stern lines with a cleat hitch.

4. “COIL DOWN” - Lines are coiled clockwise directly on the horn.

5. “FREE THE BOAT PLUG” – Unplug the boat plug.

If the Boat Crew proves to the Captain their capability in working together and following orders, the Captain may decide to send the crew rowing; part of this decision is dependent upon weather and tidal conditions. Just as the crew must work together when handling lines, the crew must work together while rowing a longboat. Each oar will be handled by one or two crew members. If the whole crew makes the same movements at the same time, the boat will glide quickly through the water in the right direction. If some crew are pushing while others are pulling, or the timing is off, the oars may hit each other, the boat will move slowly, and everyone will have to work harder.

 


ROWING ORDERS
These commands will be learned by the boat crew

"OUT OARS" - Oars are held in a horizontal position (parallel to the water) with the blades perpendicular to the water.

"PREPARE TO GIVE WAY" - The crew bends over and extends their arms, lower than chest height, which sets the blade forward (remember that the crew is facing aft and where the bow is), ready for the next command.

"GIVE WAY TOGETHER" - Pulling the oar handle up, which lowers the blade into the water pull toward the body and row, taking full strokes, keeping in unison with the first oarsman on the port side, known as the "stroke" oar.

"WAY ENOUGH" - Stop rowing by pushing down on the handles which brings the blade out of the water and wait for the next command.

"PREPARE TO BACKWATER" - Holding the oar handle close to your body at chest level, prepare to row in the opposite direction, pushing the handle away from you as you extend your arms.

"BACKWATER TOGETHER" - All hands keeping in unison with the "stroke" oar, push the handle away from you as you extend your arms.

"PREPARE TO HOLD WATER" - Hold the oars, ready to dip the blade into the water.

"HOLD WATER TOGETHER" - Dip the oars into the water; this will act as a brake, so if there is any momentum be prepared for resistance.

"SHIP OARS" - Pull oars across the boat so that they lay on the gun’l from port to starboard.

VOCABULARY

The crew must have knowledge of the following nautical terms:

Aft - in the rear or towards the stern of a vessel

Bitt - small posts or timber heads fixed through the deck of the ship for fastening lines or cable

Blade - the flat end of the oar which moves through the water

Block and tackle - block, a wooden or metal shell pulley device used with line (called tackle) for mechanical advantage or to redirect the line

Bow - the forward (front) end of the ship

Chantey - chorus songs sung by the crew to help keep rhythm as they work

Cleat - piece of wood or metal used for belaying (tying off) lines

Coxswain - person in charge who gives longboat orders

Davit - light crane on a ship's side (or pier) for lowering and raising boats

Dory - flat-bottomed boat, usually kept hanging in davits

Fall - the line to be hauled on as it comes from the top block

Gangway - narrow platform or bridge passing from one deck of a vessel to another

Gun’l or gunwale - top rail of the dory or longboat

Horn - the wooden hook for holding the coil

Longboat - strong rowboat over 20 feet long propelled by eight or ten oars

Oarlocks - U-shaped metal piece for holding the oars

Rudder - instrument which steers the boat

Thwart - seat on a small boat

Tiller - handle for the rudder

 

BOSUN CREWAdobe Acrobat/Reader iconDownload [PDF]
Instructions: (mates read aloud)
This crew packet contains important information for you to know aboard the Balclutha, and it will help you complete your project. First, read the part about your roles. The mate will assign roles to everyone in the crew. If there are not enough roles for everyone, then the mate may assign 2 people to 1 role. Once the mate assigns the roles, there is no switching, but you are allowed to help each other. Once everyone has a role, read the ENTIRE packet through once, taking turns reading aloud. After you have read through once, you can go back and re-read different sections if you need to.

Roles:

 

 

Recorder

While the crew is taking turns reading the packet out loud, the recorder is responsible for writing down important information for the presentation. The recorder should have legible handwriting, and the rest of the crew should be sure to give the recorder enough time to write things down before moving on.

Researcher

The researcher is responsible for finding new information online or in books that will help with the presentation. The researcher should come up with at least three different sources to get more information from. Once the researcher has come up with the three sources, the mate can assign some other crew members to help with the research.

Designer

The designer is responsible for the layout of the poster that will be presented to the class. He or she should come up with a theme for the poster that includes how big (or small) items will be, how many pictures to use, color scheme, and other elements of design.

Artist

The artist is responsible for either picking or drawing the images that will be displayed on the poster during the presentation. The images should fit into the theme determined by the designer.

Writer

The writer is responsible for writing one to two sentences for each image, to be displayed on the poster. These sentences should answer the Presentation Questions and should be coordinated with the images on the poster.

Presenter

The presenter is responsible for coming up with a script for the presentation. The presenter should NOT be the only person who talks during the presentation. This person will decide what can be read off the poster, what should be said that is not on the poster, and what order different people in the crew will speak in.

 

Presentation Questions:

  1. Why is it important for the Captain of a ship to know the depth of the water?
  2. What sort of equipment did sailors use historically to find the depth of the water? What do they use now?
  3. What might cause the depth of the water change on the same day? What about over the course of a year?

 

Bosun Crew Responsibilities

Bosuns must be thorough seamen for they are responsible for many types of tasks. Bosuns, along with the Deckhands, are in charge of most tasks done "on deck”. These tasks may include: using a leadline, throwing a heaving line, setting hawsers and keeping bell time.  Of course, the captain may order additional tasks that require the skills a Bosun possesses.

One of the most important jobs when a ship is coming into port is finding the depth of the water. The Captain knows how far his ship goes under the water, called the draft of the ship, and the water needs to be at least that deep for him to be able to sail or be towed somewhere. If the water is not deep enough, the Captain could run the ship aground. When the bottom has sand or mud on it, running aground is bad because it will delay you and it can be very hard to get the ship unstuck. If the bottom is made of rocks or reef, not only could the ship get stuck, but it could get a hole and start to fill up with water.

Even when a Captain is bringing his ship into familiar waters, he needs to be careful about checking the depth of the water because it can change! Most areas of the world have tides that rise and fall every day. In some places it is only a few feet, but in others like the bay of Fundy it can be as much as 20 feet. This means that if your ship goes 10 feet under the water, and you have 25 feet of water underneath you at high tide in the bay of Fundy, you could still be stuck on the bottom at low tide. Sometimes the sand and mud on the bottom can shift over time as well. These changes are generally less noticeable day to day, but can still be important.

Modern ships have a lot of different tools that they use to determine the depth of the water. The main piece of equipment is called a depth sounder. It is an electronic device that sends out a sound signal from the ship or boat. The sound signal bounces off the bottom and the device measures how long it takes for the sound to return. This is the same way that cetaceans (dolphins and whales) find their way under water, and the way bats find their way through the air. Modern ships also use paper charts and electronic charts to help them tell what is underneath their boat. The charts have soundings on them that were taken within the past few years.

Leadline

A leadline is a tool for finding out the depth of the water and the composition of the ocean floor. It is probably one of the earliest devices used in coastal navigation. A leadline consists of a hemp line and a 7 lb. lead weight. Often the bottom of the weight is cup-shaped. Tallow (a type of animal fat) is pressed into this space to tell a sailor what type of an anchorage he has. If sand is stuck in the tallow he will know to use an anchor designed for sandy anchorages. If it comes up with small rocks stuck in the tallow he knows to use a different type of anchor. If the tallow comes up clean, he will know that he is above rocks.

The average leadline is about 25 fathoms long. The line is marked with fathom marks (one fathom equals 6 feet). Fathom marks vary in size, shape, and color. The 2-fathom mark is 2 strips of leather. The 3-fathom mark is 3 strips of leather, and a 10-fathom mark is a square piece of leather with a round hole cut out from the middle.

Leadline

 

Hawsers

Hawsers are large, thick lines used for either securing a vessel to the dock or towing another vessel. Hawser means ‘thick rope’ and so sailors give hawsers more specific names depending on the exact job they have. Hawsers also vary in length depending on which part of the ship they are meant to tie to the dock. Typically there are two very long hawsers; one set at the bow, called the bow line, and one at the stern, called the stern line. A hawser set from the middle of the ship is called either a breast line or a spring line, and usually does not need to be as long as the bow and stern lines. A typical configuration is to have two spring lines that cross each other, just like the diagram below. It is one of the jobs of the deckhands to prepare the correct lines in the correct places when a ship comes into port. Once the lines are distributed, the crew will get ready to send the lines ashore. Since the hawsers are large, they are also heavy and hard to throw. For this reason, sailors use heaving lines to get the hawsers across to shore.

Heaving Line

A Heaving line is a long, thin line with a heavy knot at the end called a monkey’s fist. This line is used for throwing to the dock or another boat when you need to pass a line across that is too heavy to throw. The first step to throwing a heaving line is to hitch the bitter end of the heaving line to a stationary part of the vessel. This will ensure that both ends of the line are not thrown over and the heaving line lost at sea. Once the line is secure, two neat coils are made in a clockwise manner.  NEVER WRAP THE LINE AROUND YOUR ELBOW OR OTHER BODY PART.  Other lads can be sent to the shore in order to catch the heaving line as it hits the dock. The person throwing the line holds one coil in each hand with the monkey’s fist coil in their throwing hand. Move to the closest point to the dock and heave the line in a smooth arcing motion towards the dock WITH BOTH HANDS. Once the heaving line reaches the other side, untie the bitter end of the heaving line and bend it to the eye of the hawser using a heaving line bend or bowline (not a square knot). At this point, part of the crew must go ashore to haul and part of the crew stays aboard to slack on the hawser.  Once the eye splice reaches the pier, untie the heaving line from the eye splice and secure it to the bollard or cleat. On board the crew will haul any slack from the line (leaving enough slack in the line to allow for the changing tides) and, using a figure-eight pattern, secure the bitter end of the hawser to the vessel.


 

VOCABULARY

Aft –the direction towards the stern of a vessel

Bell time -time kept by ringing a series of bells every half hour

Bend -attach or tie

Bitter end -the inboard end of a line

Bollard -single or double steel posts secured to the pier and used for mooring vessels

Bow -the forward end of the vessel

Breast line -a mooring line at a 90 degree angle to the keel, set abreast of the vessel

Cleat -a piece of wood or metal with 2 horns used for belaying (tying) lines

Ensign -a national, maritime, or nautical flag

Eye or Eyesplice (on a line) –a permanent loop at the end of a line

Foredeck -the raised deck at the bow of the vessel

Forward - direction towards the bow of a ship

Hawser -a line with a diameter of 2 1/2 inches or more

Heaving line -a light weight "messenger" line with a monkey's fist knot at the end

Lead line -consists of a hemp line, a 7 lb lead weight at the end and fathom marks used in finding the depth of the water

Line station -where a line is secure to the vessel

Spring line -a mooring line at less than a 90 degree angle to the keel

Stern -the back end, of a vessel

 

 

DECKHAND CREWAdobe Acrobat/Reader iconDownload [PDF]
Instructions: (mates read aloud)
This crew packet contains important information for you to know aboard the Balclutha, and it will help you complete your project. First, read the part about your roles. The mate will assign roles to everyone in the crew. If there are not enough roles for everyone, then the mate may assign 2 people to 1 role. Once the mate assigns the roles, there is no switching, but you are allowed to help each other. Once everyone has a role, read the ENTIRE packet through once, taking turns reading aloud. After you have read through once, you can go back and re-read different sections if you need to.

Roles:

 

 

Recorder

While the crew is taking turns reading the packet out loud, the recorder is responsible for writing down important information for the presentation. The recorder should have legible handwriting, and the rest of the crew should be sure to give the recorder enough time to write things down before moving on.

Researcher

The researcher is responsible for finding new information online or in books that will help with the presentation. The researcher should come up with at least three different sources to get more information from. Once the researcher has come up with the three sources, the mate can assign some other crew members to help with the research.

Designer

The designer is responsible for the layout of the poster that will be presented to the class. He or she should come up with a theme for the poster that includes how big (or small) items will be, how many pictures to use, color scheme, and other elements of design.

Artist

The artist is responsible for either picking or drawing the images that will be displayed on the poster during the presentation. The images should fit into the theme determined by the designer.

Writer

The writer is responsible for writing one to two sentences for each image, to be displayed on the poster. These sentences should answer the Presentation Questions and should be coordinated with the images on the poster.

Presenter

The presenter is responsible for coming up with a script for the presentation. The presenter should NOT be the only person who talks during the presentation. This person will decide what can be read off the poster, what should be said that is not on the poster, and what order different people in the crew will speak in.

 

Presentation Questions:

  1. How did ships out at sea communicate with each other historically? What about modern ships?
  2. How do big ships get into port? How do they keep from drifting away once they are there?
  3. How do the sailors and cargo get ashore?

 

Deckhand Crew Responsibilities
Deckhands must be thorough seamen, for they are responsible for many types of tasks. Deckhands, along with the Bosuns, are in charge of most tasks done "on deck”.  These tasks may include: flying the ensign above the ship, throwing a heaving line, setting hawsers and keeping bell time.  Of course, the Captain may order additional tasks that require the skills a Deckhand possesses.

Signal Flags
When ships are out at sea, they need to communicate with each other for a number of reasons. They may want to know what port another ship is from, where they are going to, what kind of ship they are (cargo, passenger, warship?), if they have any medical supplies on board, or they may just want to see if a friend of theirs is onboard! Today, modern ships have many different ways of communicating with each other such as radio, satellite phone, and radar signals. Even with all of this technology, many ships still use the old method of communication: signal flags. There is an international system of signal flags, and each flag represents a letter or number. Most of the flags ALSO have a meaning other than the letter they represent. Sometimes it makes a lot of sense, like the “N” flag also means “No” or “Negative Response” in answer to a question. Sometimes it is a little more confusing, like the “J” flag which also means “I have dangerous cargo on board”. What do you think might constitute dangerous cargo? Refer to the signal flag key at the end of this packet: can you use the code of signal flags to spell out your name? What about the school or class name?

Ensign
The ensign is a special flag that represents the ship’s crew! The ensign must be finished prior to your arrival as you will have no time to work on it once you arrive. It’s up to your class’s imagination to create the flag’s design, but we ask that there be NO PIRATE MOTIFS. The school or class name and the date are good things to include in the design. The Ensign should be:

24” tall by 36” long is an ideal flag size.
Non-Absorbent fabric is recommended.
Remember to reinforce the left side of the flag to handle the Bay winds. Grommets at the upper and lower corners of the left side are recommended. Grommet kits are available at many hardware or fabric stores.
Acrylic paints and or shapes cut out of felt are ideal in creating the ensigns design.

It is best for the Teacher or a responsible adult to keep the ensign until the class arrives on the pier, that way it will not get left behind.

Hawsers
Hawsers are large, thick lines used for either securing a vessel to the dock or towing another vessel. Hawser means ‘thick rope’ and so sailors give hawsers more specific names depending on the exact job they have. Hawsers also vary in length depending on which part of the ship they are meant to tie to the dock. Typically there are two very long hawsers; one set at the bow, called the bow line, and one at the stern, called the stern line. A hawser set from the middle of the ship is called either a breast line or a spring line, and usually does not need to be as long as the bow and stern lines. A typical configuration is to have two spring lines that cross each other, just like the diagram below. It is one of the jobs of the deckhands to prepare the correct lines in the correct places when a ship comes into port. Once the lines are distributed, the crew will get ready to send the lines ashore. Since the hawsers are large, they are also heavy and hard to throw. For this reason, sailors use heaving lines to get the hawsers across to shore.

hawsers
Heaving Line

A Heaving line is a long, thin line with a heavy knot at the end called a monkey’s fist. This line is used for throwing to the dock or another boat when you need to pass a line across that is too heavy to throw. The first step to throwing a heaving line is to hitch the bitter end of the heaving line to a stationary part of the vessel. This will ensure that both ends of the line are not thrown over and the heaving line lost at sea. Once the line is secure, two neat coils are made in a clockwise manner.  NEVER WRAP THE LINE AROUND YOUR ELBOW OR OTHER BODY PART.  Other lads can be sent to the shore in order to catch the heaving line as it hits the dock. The person throwing the line holds one coil in each hand with the monkey’s fist coil in their throwing hand. Move to the closest point to the dock and heave the line in a smooth arcing motion towards the dock WITH BOTH HANDS. Once the heaving line reaches the other side, untie the bitter end of the heaving line and bend it to the eye of the hawser using a heaving line bend or bowline (not a square knot). At this point, part of the crew must go ashore to haul and part of the crew stays aboard to slack on the hawser.  Once the eye splice reaches the pier, untie the heaving line from the eye splice and secure it to the bollard or cleat. On board the crew will haul any slack from the line (leaving enough slack in the line to allow for the changing tides) and, using a figure-eight pattern, secure the bitter end of the hawser to the vessel.




VOCABULARY

Aft –the direction towards the stern of a vessel

Bell time -time kept by ringing a series of bells every half hour

Bend -attach or tie

Bitter end -the inboard end of a line

Bollard -single or double steel posts secured to the pier and used for mooring vessels

Bow -the forward end of the vessel

Breast line -a mooring line at a 90 degree angle to the keel, set abreast of the vessel

Cleat -a piece of wood or metal with 2 horns used for belaying (tying) lines

Ensign -a national, maritime, or nautical flag

Eye or Eyesplice (on a line) –a permanent loop at the end of a line

Flag halyard -the line used to raise and lower the flag

Foredeck -the raised deck at the bow of the vessel

Forward - direction towards the bow of a ship

Hawser -a line with a diameter of 2 1/2 inches or more

Heaving line -a light weight "messenger" line with a monkey's fist knot at the end

Lead line -consists of a hemp line, a 7 lb lead weight at the end and fathom marks used in finding the depth of the water

Line station -where a line is secure to the vessel

Spring line -a mooring line at less than a 90 degree angle to the keel

Stern -the back end, of a vessel

 

 

GALLEY CREWAdobe Acrobat/Reader iconDownload [PDF]
Instructions: (mates read aloud)
This crew packet contains important information for you to know aboard the Balclutha, and it will help you complete your project. First, read the part about your roles. The mate will assign roles to everyone in the crew. If there are not enough roles for everyone, then the mate may assign 2 people to 1 role. Once the mate assigns the roles, there is no switching, but you are allowed to help each other. Once everyone has a role, read the ENTIRE packet through once, taking turns reading aloud. After you have read through once, you can go back and re-read different sections if you need to.

Roles:

 

 

Recorder

While the crew is taking turns reading the packet out loud, the recorder is responsible for writing down important information for the presentation. The recorder should have legible handwriting, and the rest of the crew should be sure to give the recorder enough time to write things down before moving on.

Researcher

The researcher is responsible for finding new information online or in books that will help with the presentation. The researcher should come up with at least three different sources to get more information from. Once the researcher has come up with the three sources, the mate can assign some other crew members to help with the research.

Designer

The designer is responsible for the layout of the poster that will be presented to the class. He or she should come up with a theme for the poster that includes how big (or small) items will be, how many pictures to use, color scheme, and other elements of design.

Artist

The artist is responsible for either picking or drawing the images that will be displayed on the poster during the presentation. The images should fit into the theme determined by the designer.

Writer

The writer is responsible for writing one to two sentences for each image, to be displayed on the poster. These sentences should answer the Presentation Questions and should be coordinated with the images on the poster.

Presenter

The presenter is responsible for coming up with a script for the presentation. The presenter should NOT be the only person who talks during the presentation. This person will decide what can be read off the poster, what should be said that is not on the poster, and what order different people in the crew will speak in.

 

Presentation Questions:

  1. What kinds of foods did sailors usually eat when they were out at sea?
  2. What factors limited the types of food that sailors could eat?
  3. How is the food that sailors eat related to their health? Talk about a common disease that sailors got, its signs and symptoms, and how it can be prevented.

 

 

Nutrition at Sea

When sailors go out to sea, they have to bring all the food that they needed for the entire voyage with them. Sailors have been doing this for thousands of years and have had to come up with many different solutions to the same problem: how do you keep the food from going bad?

Modern sailors have a lot of ways to keep food from going bad, and the most important way is refrigeration. Modern ships that sail or motor across the ocean have refrigerators on them that work just the same as the one that you have in your house, but with one catch: they have to make their own electricity in order to run the refrigerator! Can you find out how ships make their own electricity?

Historically, sailors had to find other solutions to keep their food from rotting. Fresh fruits and vegetables go bad very quickly, so even if a ship started out from port with them, they would not last more than a week. Sailors mainly ate bread and meat when they were at sea. Salt acts as a preservative, so they would actually pack their meat in salt in order to make it last. Even then, sometimes the meat would go bad before they reached their destination, sometimes 5 or 6 months after leaving port. One of the least expensive types of meat was pork, so “Salt Pork” was a common item on the menu. Sailors also baked special bread, called hardtack. Hardtack is basically just a biscuit that has been baked for a really long time. The less moisture it had in it, the less likely it was to mold or get bugs in it. After baking hard tack for hours and removing all the moisture, it can be nearly impossible to eat. Sailors usually soaked the hardtack in their daily ration of water before they could bite into it.

Eating salt pork and hard tack every day is not what we would consider a “balanced diet” in our modern society. Science has told us that there are nutrients in food like carbohydrates, proteins, vitamins, and minerals that our body needs to function properly. If a persons body gets too many or two few of any of these nutrients, over time it can make that person sick. Today we know a lot about which nutrients are in which foods, and each person in your crew may already know that milk has calcium, oranges have vitamin C, bread has carbohydrates, or that meat has protein. However, until recently most people had no idea about the content of their food, not even scientists. All they knew is that when people didn’t have fresh food, they got sick.

One of the most common illnesses that sailor got was called scurvy. We know now that scurvy is caused by a lack of vitamin C, but back then they didn’t know the cause. When a person gets scurvy, the first symptoms are that they become lethargic, or tired, and it’s hard for them to do their daily work. (Sometimes sailors would joke that their lazier shipmates had scurvy or were “acting scurvy” if they were not doing their work!) After a few months, a person with scurvy may have trouble breathing, have pain in their bones, and bruise really easily. In the advanced stages of scurvy, a persons gums and fingernails start to turn black and their teeth may fall out. (Picture the meanest, grossest looking pirate from the movies!) If a person has scurvy for long enough, he or she will die from it. Fortunately, even though they didn’t know what caused scurvy, sailors have known for a long time what cures scurvy: fresh fruits and vegetables! Mainly citrus fruits were used to treat scurvy once a ship was in port, but out at sea citrus fruits were not available. Many sailors did die of scurvy during the long ocean passages.

Scurvy is now mostly a disease of the past, but ship cooks still have a big responsibility to keep their crew healthy by cooking good food. Good Luck!
Galley Crew Responsibilities

The Galley Crew is responsible for cooking and serving a snack, dinner and breakfast. The Captain will supply all the food and cooking equipment for dinner and breakfast, but the crew needs to arrive with a snack already prepared. It is a good idea to think about the nutritional value of what you are making, as well as how to keep your food from going bad! Below you will find a recipe for some cookies that will keep away tummy aches and stay good for a while, you might want to give it a try! Once on board, the Galley Crew will be cooking on a wood-burning stove and will therefore be responsible for maintaining the fire in the stove. Timing is very important (so you don’t burn things) and the mate needs to be very organized. The Galley Crew may also be called on deck to work with other crews or complete tasks including raising the staysail.

RECIPE – A suggestion for a seaworthy snack!

Joe Froggers (Cookies)
These cookies are excellent because of their “keeping qualities” when stored in an airtight tin.

You will need:

½ c. shortening
1 c. sugar
1 c. dark molasses
½ c. water
4 c. all-purpose flour
1 ½ teaspoons salt
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 ½ teaspoons ground ginger
½ teaspoon ground cloves                 
½ teaspoon grated nutmeg                 
¼ teaspoon ground allspice

Stir the flour and the spices (dry ingredients) together in a bowl and set aside.  Cream the shortening and sugar in a large bowl, mixing well. Stir in the molasses and water.   Add the dry ingredients to the shortening mixture.  Chill dough in refrigerator for a few hours or overnight.  Pre-heat oven to 375 degrees F. and roll to ¼ or ½ -inch thickness on a floured board. Cut with 3-inch round cutter (the top of a glass works well) and place on greased baking sheet. Sprinkle with sugar. Bake for 10 to 12 minutes in a 375° F. oven. Let the cookies stand on cookie sheet for a minute or two before removing to prevent breaking. Store cookies in airtight containers.
This recipe makes about 3 dozen cookies.

 

VOCABULARY

Aft –the direction towards the stern of a vessel

Bell time -time kept by ringing a series of bells every half hour

Bitter end -the inboard end of a line

Bollard -single or double steel posts secured to the pier and used for mooring vessels

Bow -the forward end of the vessel

Cleat -a piece of wood or metal with 2 horns used for belaying (tying) lines

Cutting board – a wooden board used for chopping food on

Ensign -a national, maritime, or nautical flag

Foredeck -the raised deck at the bow of the vessel

Forward - direction towards the bow of a ship

Galley – kitchen on board a vessel

Recipe markings of “c”– cup measurement

Recipe markings of “t” or “tsp.” – teaspoon measurement

Recipe markings of “T”“tbs.” - tablespoon measurement

Measuring cup – a special cup with measurement marks

Measuring spoon – a special spoon with measuring marks

Recipe – a list of ingredients and how to put them together for a cooking or baking

Stern -the back end, of a vessel

Wood-burning stove – a stove which requires wood as its heat source

 

 

RIGGER CREWAdobe Acrobat/Reader iconDownload [PDF]

Instructions: (mates read aloud)
This crew packet contains important information for you to know aboard the Balclutha, and it will help you complete your project. First, read the part about your roles. The mate will assign roles to everyone in the crew. If there are not enough roles for everyone, then the mate may assign 2 people to 1 role. Once the mate assigns the roles, there is no switching, but you are allowed to help each other. Once everyone has a role, read the ENTIRE packet through once, taking turns reading aloud. After you have read through once, you can go back and re-read different sections if you need to.

Roles:

 

 

Recorder

While the crew is taking turns reading the packet out loud, the recorder is responsible for writing down important information for the presentation. The recorder should have legible handwriting, and the rest of the crew should be sure to give the recorder enough time to write things down before moving on.

Researcher

The researcher is responsible for finding new information online or in books that will help with the presentation. The researcher should come up with at least three different sources to get more information from. Once the researcher has come up with the three sources, the mate can assign some other crew members to help with the research.

Designer

The designer is responsible for the layout of the poster that will be presented to the class. He or she should come up with a theme for the poster that includes how big (or small) items will be, how many pictures to use, color scheme, and other elements of design.

Artist

The artist is responsible for either picking or drawing the images that will be displayed on the poster during the presentation. The images should fit into the theme determined by the designer.

Writer

The writer is responsible for writing one to two sentences for each image, to be displayed on the poster. These sentences should answer the Presentation Questions and should be coordinated with the images on the poster.

Presenter

The presenter is responsible for coming up with a script for the presentation. The presenter should NOT be the only person who talks during the presentation. This person will decide what can be read off the poster, what should be said that is not on the poster, and what order different people in the crew will speak in.

 

Presentation Questions:

  1. What are the six basic simple machines? Why do people use them?
  2. What are the most common simple machines that you find on a ship? (name the different ship parts as well!)
  3. What is “mechanical advantage”? How do you figure out mechanical advantage when you are using a pulley?

Simple Machines

Simple machines are the most basic elements of complex machines, and they provide something called mechanical advantage. When we think about machines, we picture certain things in our head like a car or tractor, a large engine, a computer, or even a robot. These things are all machines, but they are very complex. Each one of them is made up of hundreds or thousands of smaller parts. If you can picture a set of Legos then you can understand how simple machines relate to complex machines. In a set of Legos, you start out with lots of little pieces. There are some big, some small, some skinny, some slant shaped. When you put them together in a certain way you can build a house or a fortress or a car, whatever you want really. But the pieces that you start with are always the same. The big difference between Legos and simple machines is that one Lego on its own doesn’t really do anything. That is not true for simple machines, each one can do an important job all by itself, or it can be combined with other simple machines to make a complex machine.

There are six different things that are considered “simple machines”: The incline plane, the wedge, the level, the wheel and axle, the screw, and the pulley. Each of these simple machines helps to make a job easier. Another way of saying that is to say that each of these machines provides mechanical advantage. Look at the pictures below to get a better idea of how simple machines work. Can you think of some places in your daily life where you see simple machines?

 

 

Simple Machines on Ships

The reason that people use simple machines is to make their work easier, and on ships there is a lot of work to be done. There are many places that you find simple machines on a ship. Below are some pictures of ship parts, can you identify which simple machine each ship part is using?
                                  

Block and Tackle

The most common type of simple machine on a ship is a pulley, but on a ship, like most things, it has a different name. Pulleys on ships are called blocks. You see blocks everywhere in the rigging, and they are bigger or smaller depending on how much mechanical advantage they need to provide. The place where a rope goes through a block is called the sheave. For each sheave that a rope (called a line on a ship) goes through, you can divide the amount of weight you are lifting by that number. If you have a 100 lb weight and the line only goes through 1 sheave, you are still lifting 100 lbs. (100 ÷ 1 = 100). If you now run the line through 2 sheaves, you are only lifting 50 lbs. (100 ÷ 2 = 50) and if you have 3 sheaves then your work is cut down even more, so you are only lifting 33 lbs. (100 ÷ 3 = 33). The more sheaves you have, the less weight it feels like you are lifting, but the extra weight doesn’t just disappear, there’s a catch! Each time you add a sheave, you have to pull more line through it to make the weight go up the same distance! This time to figure out how much line you will need to pull, you multiply by the number of sheaves. If you want to lift your weight 10 feet in the air and your line passes through 1 sheave, you need to pull 10 feet of line (10 × 1 = 10). You’ll need to pull 20 feet with 2 sheaves, 30 feet with 3 sheaves, and so on.

Rigger Crew Responsibilities

The Rigger’s main task is to put together a block and tackle (pronounced “tay-kle”) and operate a bosun’s chair.  The Rigger Crew will also stand a two hour night watch.

There are two types of rigging on any vessel: the standing rigging and the running rigging. The standing rigging is stationary and consists of wires called stays and shrouds, which hold the masts in place. The running rigging is moveable and consists of lines (ropes) attached to one or more blocks for lifting power. Running rigging is used for hoisting sails and flags and lifting cargo or people (in the Bosun’s chair). As with all crews, the Rigger crew will perform any and all orders given by the Captain.

The Mate has to know how to give and receive orders; the crew must know that they have to wait for the mate’s orders before doing anything.  The Mate is responsible for the crew’s well-being, behavior of the crew and all the work assigned to the crew; therefore the Mate makes all decisions regarding the crew’s activities and tasks and the crew reports directly to the Mate upon completion of a task or if any questions need asking. Working together, mate and crew will need to assemble a double-sheaved block and tackle and mouse a hook.


 

VOCABULARY

Bosun’s Chair – a swing-type chair used to reach parts of the mast that cannot be
reached by climbing the rigging

Becket – see Block diagram

Bitter End – end of a line

Standing Part – working part of a line that is attached to something

Block-and-Tackle (pronounced tay-kl) – One or more pulleys and lines used to create mechanical advantage (or lifting power) for heavy objects; the block is the pulley and the tackle is the moving line through the block

Cheek – see block diagram

Mousing – see diagram

Tag Line – a line used in conjunction with a block and tackle to guide an object that
has been hoisted aloft to the intended target.

Seize – to secure or fasten something by means of a smaller binding line (similar to mousing)

 

 

 

STEVEDORE CREWAdobe Acrobat/Reader iconDownload [PDF]
(only for crews with more than 35 students)


Instructions: (mates read aloud)
This crew packet contains important information for you to know aboard the Balclutha, and it will help you complete your project. First, read the part about your roles. The mate will assign roles to everyone in the crew. If there are not enough roles for everyone, then the mate may assign 2 people to 1 role. Once the mate assigns the roles, there is no switching, but you are allowed to help each other. Once everyone has a role, read the ENTIRE packet through once, taking turns who reads aloud. After you have read through once, you can go back and re-read different sections if you need to.

Roles:

 

 

Recorder

While the crew is taking turns reading the packet out loud, the recorder is responsible for writing down important information for the presentation. The recorder should have legible handwriting, and the rest of the crew should be sure to give the recorder enough time to write things down before moving on.

Researcher

The researcher is responsible for finding new information online or in books that will help with the presentation. The researcher should come up with at least three different sources to get more information from. Once the researcher has come up with the three sources, the mate can assign some other crew members to help with the research.

Designer

The designer is responsible for the layout of the poster that will be presented to the class. He or she should come up with a theme for the poster that includes how big (or small) items will be, how many pictures to use, color scheme, and other elements of design.

Artist

The artist is responsible for either picking or drawing the images that will be displayed on the poster during the presentation. The images should fit into the theme determined by the designer.

Writer

The writer is responsible for writing one to two sentences for each image, to be displayed on the poster. These sentences should answer the Presentation Questions and should be coordinated with the images on the poster.

Presenter

The presenter is responsible for coming up with a script for the presentation. The presenter should NOT be the only person who talks during the presentation. This person will decide what can be read off the poster, what should be said that is not on the poster, and what order different people in the crew will speak in.

 

Presentation Questions:

  1. Why did people in San Francisco need to trade goods with different cities and nations?
  2. How did goods move around the country and around the world 100 years ago? What about today?
  3. What does the phrase “Cargo is King” mean? What does it tell you about what people thought of sailors 100 years ago?

 

Stevedores
People who load and unload cargo from ships are called Stevedores. In other places they are also called longshoremen or dockworkers. Stevedores need to be strong, have a thorough knowledge of how to handle different types of cargos, and be able to follow orders precisely. Stevedores also need to have a good working knowledge of a block and tackle for lifting and moving cargo.

People have been trading goods around the world for thousands of years. Since different regions of the world have different natural resources, trade helps people have access to things that are hard to find in their own region. In some cases, the goods that people trade for are not available at all in their own region. One example is plants that are endemic, or native, to a certain region of the world. In addition to plants, there were many other things that were traded across oceans. Look at the map below to see some examples of plants, animals, and other things that were traded after Columbus landed in the Americas.

The Columbian Exchange map

Other types of goods can be found all over the world, but some regions have a surplus and others have a shortage. A good example of this is lumber from trees. Some regions are densely forested and have an abundance of lumber for building houses and ships. Other regions are mostly desert or plains with few trees. These places need to ship lumber in for building up their towns and cities. Can you find out what natural resources are easily available in the San Francisco Bay Area? How about scarce resources that need to be shipped in?

Whether people are trading for something they don’t have in their region, or something that they need more of, there are a few things that are always the same. Traders want to move their goods as quickly as possible and they do not want to spend a lot of money doing it! Since people have been trading for thousands of years, they have had time to come up with the most efficient ways of moving goods from one place to another. In ancient times, traders used to load carts pulled by animals (donkeys, camels, or horses) across trade routes to get between Europe and Asia. During the time of Columbus, traders took to the high seas and loaded cargo onto ships. This allowed them to travel faster, and to new places, but it also created new risks. Traders had to protect their goods from weather and sea water.

About 100 years ago, from the late 1800’s until the early 1900’s there were many different ways to move cargo around the country and around the world. Each way of moving goods had some benefits and some drawbacks. Traders could load their goods onto a covered wagon and have it pulled across the country by horses. This took several months and could be very dangerous. The transcontinental railroad was complete in 1869, and this was another way to ship goods across the country. Trains represented the most modern form of cargo transportation at that time, but this technology was also fairly expensive. Sailing ships were the main mode of transportation for bulk cargo moving from the east coast of the United States to the west coast. The voyage took several months, but it was inexpensive and the ships could hold large amounts of cargo. This did not stay the same with the passage of time, however. As technology continued to improve, prices dropped for shipping goods by rail (train) and by the 1930’s sailing ships became obsolete as a method of shipping cargo.

Major businesses still ship millions of tons of cargo around the world each year by cargo ship. Modern ships are not powered by sail, though. They have engines that run on fossil fuels, like diesel. You may know about hybrid and electric cars that use little or no fossil fuels. Similarly, some modern shipping companies are trying to use sails in a more modern form to try and use less fuel.

No matter how it is shipped, cargo needs to be loaded and unloaded carefully by stevedores all over the world. Captains, sailors and stevedores alike in the 1800’s often used the phrase “cargo is king”. For the sailors and stevedores, this was not a favorable saying, and what it meant was that cargo was the most important thing on board the ship. The cargo was worth money, and if it got wet, rotted, or got spilled overboard, that meant the captains and the shipping company were losing money. When sailors and stevedores said “cargo is king” what they were really saying was “respect that cargo as if it were royalty”. If a stevedore dropped a bail of hay into the San Francisco Bay while loading a ship, they were responsible for the cost of that hay. Imagine how careful they had to be!

 

Stevedore Crew Responsibilities

The Stevedore’s crew main task is to move a barrel of cargo from the ship onto shore.  The Stevedore Crew will also stand a two hour night watch.

There are two types of rigging on any vessel: the standing rigging and the running rigging. The standing rigging is stationary and consists of wires called stays and shrouds, which hold the masts in place. The running rigging is moveable and consists of lines (ropes) attached to one or more blocks for lifting power. Running rigging is used for hoisting sails and flags and lifting cargo or people. As with all crews, the Stevedore crew will perform any and all orders given by the Captain.

The Mate has to know how to give and receive orders; the crew must know that they have to wait for the mate’s orders before doing anything.  The Mate is responsible for the crew’s well-being, behavior of the crew and all the work assigned to the crew; therefore the Mate makes all decisions regarding the crew’s activities and tasks and the crew reports directly to the Mate upon completion of a task or if any questions need asking. Working together, mate and crew will need to move a barrel of cargo from the ship onto shore.

block and hook diagram


 

VOCABULARY

Bosun’s Chair – a swing-type chair used to reach parts of the mast that cannot be
reached by climbing the rigging

Becket – see Block diagram

Bitter End – end of a line

Standing Part – working part of a line that is attached to something

Block-and-Tackle (pronounced tay-kl) – One or more pulleys and lines used to create mechanical advantage (or lifting power) for heavy objects; the block is the pulley and the tackle is the moving line through the block

Cheek – see block diagram

Mousing – see diagram

Tag Line – a line used in conjunction with a block and tackle to guide an object that
has been hoisted aloft to the intended target.

Seize – to secure or fasten something by means of a smaller binding line (similar to mousing)

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Version 2.02, 21 Nov. 2013