Welcome on board the William Baylies, on voyage from the 31st of March 1894 to the 9th of November 1895
The transcription of this logbook is complete. Thank you transcription crew! 
There are plenty of other logbooks to work on. Check the Shipyards or request help from moderator AvastMH. Thank you
Here you will find an example transcription of details
This is also a place to ask questions and request help with oddities in the log
You can bring the ship to life by sharing interesting finds from the log pages and other information about the ship
General help with marking and transcribing whaling logs
Weather and ice records from the whaling ships of the USA which contains the following
'must read' topics...
Tip: use ctrl+Pgup or ctrl+PgDn to quickly swap between the different worksheets as you move through start, primary, weather, and remarks worksheets to record your findings
Treasure trove of information in the Library
Over the years this forum has accumulated a broad spectrum of detailed information which is kept in the
Library
Please do take time to visit the Library because it will afford you a great deal of help. However, do feel welcome to ask questions at any time.
Help with images
- If you want to query some text please supply the page reference (the reference changes as you view the middle of a page), and an image of the text if you wish. Help for manipulating/posting images can be found in Posting Links and Images (A Guide). If you have any problems with imaging this is the board to post that question.
- Accessing pale images. The example page used below, opened through the 'Irfan' program, 'color correction' and adjust the brightness, saturation, and gamma correction. You may have your own program for adjusting brightness and contrast. Here are the before and after images using Irfan. Click to see them at full size.
To find the shipyard pages for other whalers
Link:
Find your ship, & the full list of ships logbooks for OWW
Select 'view single page':
When the log book image opens you will see two pages. It is easier to read the details accessing one page at a time. Use the icons at the bottom of the screen:
You can walk through W
m Baylies's log pages in chronological order. All you have to do is increment the number at the end of the link: page/2, page/3, page/4 etc.
Here is a log page that has been transcribed to help you to be familiar with the writing. Right click the image to view log page in a new browser tab.
March 31st to April 2nd 1894
Here is a transcription of the above log page.
| Simple transcription | Phrases of text bracketed |
| Journal of a Voyage on Whaler Wm Baylies | Journal of a Voyage on Whaler Wm Baylies |
Saturday March 31st 1894
This day comes in with fine weather
and a W.N.W. wind. At 8..30 AM.
Weighed anchor and steamed out of
the port of San Francisco with a crew
of 38 all told. at 11.30 AM passed the
Whistling Bouy. at 2.15 PM shut off
steam and made all sail. Later picked
boat crews and watches. Several sail in
sight. Ship heading SW by W on S tack
sounded pumps and found no water secured
things on deck and thus ends the first day
of the voyage. |
Saturday March 31st 1894
[This day comes in with] [fine weather
and a W.N.W. wind.] [At 8..30 AM.
Weighed anchor and steamed] [out of
the port of San Francisco with a crew
of 38 all told.] [at 11.30 AM passed the
Whistling Bouy.] [at 2.15 PM shut off
steam and made all sail.] [Later picked
boat crews and watches.] [Several sail in
sight.] [Ship heading SW by W on S tack]
[sounded pumps and found no water] [secured
things on deck] [and thus ends the first day
of the voyage.] |
Sunday April 1st 1894
This day comes in with light airs from
the N.W. Ship under all sail heading SW
most of the time. Watch employed in
clearing the decks. and general ship
duty |
Sunday April 1st 1894
[This day comes in with] [light airs from
the N.W.] [Ship under all sail heading SW
most of the time.] [Watch employed in
clearing the decks. and general ship
duty] |
Monday April 2d
Comes in with strong breezes from the North
at 9 Am had to luff to and stop a
leak in the upper works of the cabin.
crew employed in getting boats ready
One man Dick Fry off duty.
Ship heading W. on S tack under
all sail later took in the light sails
and so ends the day. |
Monday April 2d
[Comes in with] [strong breezes from the North]
[at 9 Am had to luff to] [and stop a
leak in the upper works of the cabin.]
[crew employed in getting boats ready]
[One man Dick Fry off duty.]
[Ship heading W. on S tack] [under
all sail] [later took in the light sails]
[and so ends the day.] |
Start worksheet (top section)
If you discover any metadata in the logbook please enter it on this page. Metadata means 'data about data', barometer readings or temperature readings. See under 'Weather' at rows 32 and 33. For example, if you see that the temperature is in Celsius or Centigrade, that fact should be transcribed as metadata. This ship log works in Civil time, see notation on Start page of workbook: Saturday March 31st 1894:
https://archive.org/details/williambayl ... 2/mode/1up
[...]Started to steam at 8.20 AM steamed all day [...] at 5.30 PM so ends the day
Click on the worksheet images below to see them at full size.
Primary worksheet
Weather worksheet
Remarks worksheet
Here's a link back to the list of William Baylies logbook sections for transcribing
Log Pages for Transcribing - apply here!
Warning: AUTOFILL function between worksheets.
Do not drag and drop the date or time on any of the worksheets because you may disrupt the autofill function.
If you are unsure that the autofill is in proper order you can check by pressing two keys on your keyboard.
You are certainly welcome to ask for help with this action.
The remainder of this topic is for you. Ask questions and share interesting discoveries with us to make these logs live.