Hen Frigates

Iʼve just finished reading the book, Hen Frigates: Wives of Merchant Captains Under Sail by Joan Druett, a maritime historian. Right before departing on the 1000 days voyage, I started reading some of the sailing stories Reid had on the boat. At first the nautical terms were confusing and it was a stretch for me to imagine what those sailors were going through. Now, when I read accounts of ocean passages, I know exactly what those authors are describing. In Hen Frigates, Druett concentrates on the lives of Victorian women at sea. The women write in their diaries about how they pass the time, the kind of food they ate, how they adapted to living on an angle and more. They were often the sole woman on the ship since only the captain was allowed to bring his wife along. These women were not expected to do much except entertain the passengers if there were any and help with food preparation though they were not allowed to go into the galley. However, interestingly enough, many were taught to take sights to determine the shipʼs position so that in the odd case where the captain and first officer could not do it, the wives were the ones who stepped into the role.

Druett also writes about numerous instances where captainsʼ wives delivered their babies at sea! And most of those babies survived. Even if it is comforting to know that there is precedence for births at sea, I am still glad I got off the schooner to have my son, call me a contemporary wimp if you will. These women chose to accompany their husbands and it seems that they were content to travel voyage after voyage around the world and Cape Horn , throughout the year, landing only for a few days at a time. I think I can relate them more than I can to the present day sailor or even the present day cruising couple, perhaps because Iʼve never sailed from land mass to land mass, the ocean being all that I am acquainted with. In general, cruising couples donʼt undertake voyages longer than twenty days. They spend a good deal of time on their boat in port, whereas before the age of steam, sailors spent a longer time going from place to place. Iʼm sure I will eventually have a taste of cruising and then I will gain another perspective on sailing.

Soanya