Captain Jack Isbester

Hard down! Hard down!


Скачать книгу

you Susie, Dear Wife, that I really don’t take much. I think you are afraid of me in that way but you need not Dear. Old Mactavish tells me that ever since his wife died he does not appear to care how things goes and I think myself that he does not care much for his family.22

      Turning to the way the schooner was sailed, he reports:

      To reassure Susie he writes:

      As he was going to bed another thought struck him and he took up his pen again:

      By this time John Isbester was some six weeks away from Lerwick. It is clear that bed making was not a frequent activity.

      He remarks that the timber loading in Danzig had taken nine days and that he had never previously loaded in less than ten days – though mostly, it must be remembered, on larger ships. This is a gentle pace of work that contrasts strongly with fast turn rounds experienced by most shipping nowadays, when nine days in port would be viewed as luxury. The timber cargo was destined for Hartlepool, where John Isbester paid off on arrival, to be back in Shetland with his bride a few days later.

       7