Life at Sea

One of my roles in the play is the master of the ship. My given circumstances are that I live aboard this ship with my crew and I am in charge of everything that goes down. All the lives of those aboard my ship are in my hands and everyone has a great deal of respect for me but as the Royals are aboard my ship, I have to swallow my pride and respect them. To gain a better understanding of my character's background and given circumstances, I will research what it would have been like to live at sea.

When a man went to sea, he was leaving behind the life he knew and was about to venture into a whole new lifestyle nobody could prepare for. A sailor could be at sea for a few weeks, months, years, it was uncertain. Their pay was extremely poor, the food was stale, they drank alcohol as it's the only thing that gets better over long periods of time, their living quarters were cramped and the punishment was considered a form of torture.

Let's start with punishments and healthcare. A seaman's life wasn't easy and he had to be tough, so discipline was harsh to stop mutiny's from happening and to keep everyone in place. Methods of punishment were:

1. Keelhauling. This was when an offender would be tied onto a rope and dragged under the haul of the ship. Sometimes the person would drown or the barnicles on the side of the ship would cut into the skin and cause serious infections to the wound.
2. Mast-heading. This punishment was where an offender would be sent to the top of the mast until the captain or officer told them to come back down again. This was a minor punishment for the younger seamen and they could have been up there for days with no food in stormy weather, but not long enough to die.
3. Flogging. This was the worst punishment you could endure. This was where a seaman was whipped using the cat-o'nine-tails; a whip especially designed to inflict pain on the person. This whip had nine lengths of cord with each cord containing up to three knots and when someone was whipped with it, the knots would immediately cut their skin inflicting excruciating pain on the victim frequently causing them to pass out. They could be whipped up from 5 to 100 times depending on the punishment and this often took place in front of the whole crew
4. Hanging. If a seaman was found guilty of leading a mutiny or murder, he would be hanged from the yard arm.

Say if a sailor had an incurable, festering injury on their leg, that leg would be amputated. The method in doing this was to get that sailor as drunk as possible (or hitting them around the head so they passed out) because anesthetics didn't exist and proceeding to saw that leg off. no matter how drunk this person was, they would always feel the unbearable pain and scream and struggle but they were held down. The amputated limb would be disposed of by being thrown overboard or burnt and the sailor would be left in his bed to recover. His wound would be sewn and dipped in salt to disinfect and dry the blood, this was also very painful. Survival chances were slim because of the amount of blood lost.

The food aboard ships were mainly salt beef or pork, cheese, fish, ale and sea biscuits. The quality of the food deteriorated because of storage problems, lack of ventilation, and poor drainage. It was also eaten by rats and other vermin on board which caused foods to become infected quicker. Biscuits were often filled with maggots and weevils, a type of beetle. Many ships' suppliers were dishonest and sent stores that were already rotten before they were taken on board.Some foods were cooked by crew members who were unfit to work or on the rare occasion of having a woman aboard, she would cook as well as fulfill other duties (both sexual and normal ship duties).

As well as the cook, special jobs were carried out by the parson, surgeon, master gunner, boatswain (in charge of the sails), carpenter and quartermaster. Other members of the crew would carry out all the duties, including keeping watch, handling sails, and cleaning decks. An interesting fact is that the names for jobs of men responsible for working a ship (boatswain, coxswain – even seamen) are of Anglo-Saxon origin whilst those of officers (Captain, Lieutenant, Admiral) are of Norman-French origin. This is an indication of a class distinction between roles on board.

My character would have most probably been French (which is a coincidence because I just so happen to be French) and I wouldn't have had to endure punishments as most sailors would, in fact I would inflict them.

This is a photogrid of me in my pirate costume. I'm wearing baggy jeans, a long leather jacket which was the only one to be different from the others aboard the ship. the mask is covering my spirit makeup but also adds to the punky aesthetics of the punk theme.