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Men at Sea

 
The fate of a ship and her crew was finally down to the workmanship of the sailors. As the ships had no lighting, the sailors had to know the ship as the back of their hand in the pitch-black night.

A normal workday lasted for 12 hours added with eventual overwork due to bad weather. In the 19th century and in the first decades of the 20th century it was usual that a sailor would stay two or even three years away from his native land at a time.

The sailors spent their days working and sleeping. Temperate trade winds offered a welcome change in the normally cruel conditions. Warm and even winds were like rest compared with the cold storms. The crew could recover from its strain and could gather strength for new ordeals.

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