Life at Sea:

		The Captain				The Crew
		Work at Sea				Sea Shanties
		Food, Leisure, and Communication at Sea				Voyages and Ports
		Families at Sea: the Captain's Wife				Families at Sea: Children
		Conclusion

Introduction

Crew Working on Deck in a Storm

Thousands of Mainers went to sea in the nineteenth century. Some were fishermen, responsible for handling their craft as well as bringing home a good catch. Others sailed between Maine ports and eastern cities carrying lumber, lime or granite. Still others ventured further, taking lumber, and salt fish to the West Indies and bringing back molasses and rum. Mariners from Maine shipped in the Atlantic Ocean trades, sailing on packets or other ships to England, France, the Baltic, and the Mediterranean. By the mid-1800s, Maine sailing vessels were making long voyages into and across the Pacific. 

Shipping was a business, just as it is now, and merchant vessels carried both goods and passengers. Life on board ship lacked most of the amenities found ashore or on vessels today. Seafaring could be beautiful, but there were often cold storms or periods of intense  heat with no wind. A voyage from New York to China in 1880 took at least a year and more likely two. Before electronic links, communication with home depended on ships exchanging letters in ports around the world.

Joanna and Lincoln Colcord aboard

Maine captains sometimes took their families along on voyages. Although this life had many hardships, it offered a chance to learn about other cultures and to have many unique experiences. Joanna and Lincoln Colcord were two children from Searsport who were born at sea and spent much of their childhood aboard their father’s vessels. Joanna later called her brother and herself “children of the world.”