April 29, 2018
There is an age old tradition of “signing on the ship”. In days gone by a mariner would sign his name into the ships log (or make his ‘mark’ next to his name if he ‘weren’t no scholar’) to indicate that was crew in the ship. Until not that long ago, my working life time, we still did such things.
When I would take over as the skipper of the big sloop Clearwater in New York I had to go down to the customs house and sign into a book that I was the new skipper. Big thick old book with entries dating back decades. Such formalities are generally passé these days I suppose, but not, as you can readily imagine, in the Barque Picton Castle.
So, this morning, after our first abandon ship exercise, we gathered around the main hatch of the Picton Castle under the awning right by the looming mainmast and fife rail and all signed on this ship for this voyage. We all do this. On this warm sunny morning with a surprisingly good cup of coffee at hand, with tugs and barges, tankers and container ships steaming up and down in the swift currents of this Mississippi River at this pretty sharp bend at New Orleans we all put pen to the ships articles. Starting with me, next the mates, then Donald the Chef and onward until all hands have made their ‘mark’. Even Dawson, the ship’s boy. Now we are a crew. And we also get hats and t-shirts. That’s new. And back to work…