Welcome on board the Coral (Bark) of San Francisco. Mastered by Rodolphus Delano Wicks on voyage from 6 Nov. 1886 - 20 Aug. 1887 and 11 Feb. 1888 to 25 Oct. 1888
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 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 Coral'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.
Here is a log page that has been transcribed to help you to be familiar with the writing.
April 10th to the 14th, 1887
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 |
| April 1887 Japan Sea | [April 1887] Japan Sea |
Sun 10th
Comes in with calm & clear
middle light breeze from ESEast latter
fresh thick drizzle & signs of rain
See two wright whales wild
Lat 39=10
Long 135=00
[Margin] See two whales
| Sun [10th]
[Comes in] with [calm] & [clear]
[middle] [light breeze from ESEast] [latter]
[fresh] [thick] [drizzle & signs of rain]
See two wright whales wild
[Lat 39=10]
[Long 135=00]
[Margin] See two whales
|
Mon 11th
Comes in strong breeze from
E.S.East & rainy & squally continues
all day ship under storm sails
| Mon [11th]
[Comes in] [strong breeze from
E.S.East & rainy & squally] [continues
all day] ship under storm sails |
Tues 12
Comes in with strong breeze
from from S.East with much rain
with thunder & lightning from Westward
middle part wind west clear & moderate
at two PM wind came sudden from
W.S.West blows heavy untill five
PM begins to moderate Bar 29=03
|
Tuesday [12]
[Comes in] with [strong breeze
from from S.East with much rain
with thunder & lightning from Westward]
[middle part] [wind west] [clear] & [moderate]
[at two PM] [wind came sudden from
W.S.West blows heavy] untill [five
PM] [begins to moderate] [Bar 29=03] |
Wen 13
Comes in with moderate
breeze from W.S.West & clear fine
weather Middle part wind comes in
sudden squall from SWest blows hard
untill six PM moderate large sea
Continues all night Barometer continues
|
Wen [13]
[Comes in] with [moderate
breeze from W.S.West] & [clear] [fine
weather] [Middle part] [wind comes in
sudden squall from SWest blows hard]
untill [six PM] [moderate] large sea
Continues all night [Barometer continues] |
Thu 14
Comes in with moderate
breeze from S.West & bright sunshine
Middle same latter thick & rainy
& wind vering to South Barometer falling
& looks hard continues moderate
breeze all night Bar 29=04
|
Thu [14]
[Comes in] with [moderate
breeze from S.West] & [bright sunshine]
[Middle] [same] [latter] [thick] & [rainy]
[& wind vering to South Barometer falling
& looks hard] [continues] [moderate
breeze] [all night] [Bar 29=04] |
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:
Journey 1886-1887: Tuesday 12 April 1887
Comes in [...] middle part [...] two PM [...] five PM [...]
Journey 1888: Sunday 15 April 1888
Come in with [...] middle part [...] at 12 luff to [...] at one PM [...] at three PM [...] and at five [...]
- 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)
- The barometer readings also 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
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 Coral 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.