Old Weather Forum

The basic principle of OldWeather Whaling....
The reason for this project is that it is very hard to automatically sort the navigation and ice (and other specific items) from blocks of text. Having such pulled out and associated by line with date/time/position and page url offers the most effective means of turning text into actionable data. It also means that the data can be sorted in all kinds of ways.


If you have a doubt about an entry you can always come back to this principle, and/or ask for help on your whaler's Shipyard page.

Additional information can typically include the following which are entered on the remarks worksheet.

• natural phenomena (volcanoes, kelp, sun spots, auroras)
• crew names
• the names of other ships seen or visited
• reports of ice from other ships
• whaling details
• other animals seen

Where to start then?

• Introduction to Whaling Logbooks and Journals, by Rachel Adler of the New Bedford Whaling Museum. Do read this first, it's very helpful.
• Transcribing: capturing the log details, and information resources which is a 'must read' before you start transcribing
• Transcribing: managing your recording workbook

Have fun while you work and please do enjoy the help that is always available here from the moderators, in fact from everyone. And do also feel welcome to join in some of the lighter hearted side of OldWeather in the forum found in the Dockside Cafe under Shore Leave.

You will also bump into the OldWeather Arctic project which also extracts weather and ice details from the ships of the US Navy and Coast Guard. Your help with OldWeather Arctic would also be most welcome!

Welcome on board the Cape Horn Pigeon (Bark) of San Francisco. Mastered by Thomas Scullan on voyage from 7 Dec. 1891- 5 Nov. 1892

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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...

• START HERE. General outline, the project and how to help
• Transcribing: capturing the log details, and information resources
• Transcribing: managing your recording workbook

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 Guide to posting links and images. 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.
  

Names of the crew
Names of the crew and notes of other ships mentioned or visited can also be recorded. Crews and Ships Met.

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 Cape Horn Pigeon's log pages in chronological order. All you have to do is increment the number at the end of the link: page/4/mode/1up, page/5/mode/1up, page/6/mode/1up etc.

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Here is a log page that has been transcribed to help you to be familiar with the writing.
June 12th to the 16th, 1892
You can check for more help with reading the text in the topic Handwriting Help and Spelling




Here is a transcription of the above log page.

Simple transcription	Phrases of text bracketed
Sunday June 12 Light breeze from southward with thick Fogg + rain ship on Eastern tack under Short sail seen seval fin Backs + Sulphur Bottoms. No observations	Sunday [June 12] [Light breeze from southward] with [thick Fogg] + [rain] ship on Eastern tack under Short sail seen seval fin Backs + Sulphur Bottoms. No observations
Monday June 13 Fresh Gale from Eastward ship on Southern Tack seen too White Waters Lat 41 56 N No Long	Monday [June 13] [Fresh Gale from Eastward] ship on Southern Tack seen too White Waters [Lat 41 56 N No Long]
Tuesday June 14 Fresh Gale from Eastward ship on southward Tack under short sail at 12 Oclock wore ship No observations	Tuesday [June 14] [Fresh Gale from Eastward] ship on southward Tack under short sail at 12 Oclock wore ship No observations
Wednesday June 15 Fresh Gale from Eastward ship on off Aslok Island C Morgan in sight + a Muchaman brigg + SChooner. Later on Wind moderate down to light breeze From ESE ship on southern tack all Sail set Morgan out off sight seen Plenty FinBacks No observations	Wednesday [June 15] [Fresh Gale from Eastward] ship on off [Aslok Island] [C Morgan in sight] + a Muchaman brigg + SChooner. [Later on] [Wind moderate down to light breeze From ESE] ship on southern tack all Sail set [Morgan out off sight] seen Plenty FinBacks No observations
Thursday June 16 Dead Calm all day Land C W. Morgan Three masted schooner + a Brigg in sight Seen seval fin Backs Employed in Braking Out Provisons Lat 42.16 N Long 132.14 E	Thursday [June 16] [Dead Calm] [all day] Land [C W. Morgan] Three masted schooner + a Brigg [in sight] Seen seval fin Backs Employed in Braking Out Provisons [Lat 42.16 N Long 132.14 E]

Notes:

• The comments concerning the sails and tacks would be entered in the Three Sailing Terms column on the Primary sheet of the transcription workbook if the ship had reported ice during that day's log entry. There is no report of ice therefore these sailing terms may be noted in the Remarks sheet if you wish to do so
• The ship works on Civil time (starts and ends at midnight): December 25th 1891: '[...] all sail set at 8 a.m raised [...] at 7 pm went through [...]
• The word 'Muchaman' in the Wednesday entry is a the word 'Merchantman'
• The latitude and longitude observations have no time specified by them. They therefore require a line with no time specified. The Time column may be left blank, or you may enter 'NTS' (No Time Specified)
• Any of the other text may be reported in the Remarks worksheet if you wish

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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.

Click on the worksheet images below to see them at full size.

Start worksheet


Primary worksheet


Weather worksheet


Remarks worksheet


Here's a link back to the list of Cape Horn Pigeon logbook sections for transcribing Log Pages for Transcribing - apply here!

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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.

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The remainder of this topic is for you. Ask questions and share interesting discoveries with us to make these logs live.