Log Entries:  Aug 1 - Aug 7, 1844

Thu, Aug 1, 1844 (Lat 53:30 Lon 162.22 E)

…Boiling until 7 a.m.; stowed down 75 barrels of oil...  Tuscarora in sight cutting in.

Fri, Aug 2, 1844 (Lat 53:24 Lon 162:00 E)

…Saw one right whale; lowered and fastened – killed him and got him alongside.  Cut him in; finished at 9 p.m.  At 10 p.m. commenced boiling.

Whaling could be a twenty-four hour job. A whale had to be processed as quickly as possible to make room for another. As delighted the crew was over having caught a whale, their exhaustion could only be imagined.

Sat, Aug 3, 1844 (Sun Obscure)

All this day calms and thick, foggy weather.  People employed in boiling and stowing down oil.

Sun, Aug 4, 1844 (Lat 53:02 Lon 162:29 E)

… Saw 7 or 8 right whales; lowered and chased without success. At 3 p.m. [the weather] came in thick and remained so the rest of the day.  Boiling all the day; finished at 10 in the evening.



Mon, Aug 5, 1844 (Lat 53:03 Lon 162.57 E)

…Stowed down 150 barrels of oil.  Latter part stiff gales.  Saw 3 right whales – too rugged to lower.

Tue, Aug 6, 1844 (Lat 53:08 Lon 163:20 E)

… Strong gales from S and considerable sea… Saw 6 right whales.

Wed, Aug 7, 1844 (Sun Obscure)

All this day thick with light rains… Saw 3 or 4 humpbacks.  13 months out today.

Thirteen months into the voyage, and no end in sight… In the early days of Sag Harbor whaling (until 1835 or so), most voyages took place in the Atlantic (typically off the coast of Brazil) and a ship would return in about 10 months.  This voyage of the Thames represents the harsh reality of the later period of Sag Harbor whaling: With the Atlantic fished out, ships had to go further and further afield, with voyages of two or even three years not uncommon.  Given this “new reality”, any whaling voyage that planned to be out for less than a year became known as “a plum pudding cruise” denoting its (relative) ease and brevity.

It also gave rise to jokes such as these:  The daughter of an old whaling captain marries a handsome young whaling captain the day before he is to leave on a voyage.  The next morning, the old man finds his daughter in tears, clutching her new husband, inconsolable.  “What are you crying for?” asks the old man.  “He’s only going to be gone be twelve months!”