Old Weather Forum

[size=14pt]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.[/size]


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.
This main principle will also appear on every 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?

• 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 'Navarch' on voyage from the 6th July 1892 to the 30th November 1893

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 sheets 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.
  

Names of the crew
Names of the crew and notes of other ships mentioned or visited can also be recorded. Navarch 1892-1893, crew 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. You can walk through Navarch'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.

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Here is a log page that has been transcribed to help you to be familiar with the writing.
Sept 4th to Sept 6th 1892




Journal of Steamer

Sunday Sept 4th
Commenced with moderate
wind from S.W. Ship by the
wind on Starboard tack. under
all sail. Saw two sail
Middle part same. Last
part. took in sail and started
steam.
Lat. N Long W.

Monday Sept 5th

Commenced this day with
Strong S.W. winds
Ship on the winds on Starboard
tack under Staysails and Steam
heading S. by E. Middle part
and Last the same.
Lat. N Long W.

Tuesday Sept 6th Commenced
with fresh breeze from S.d and Wd
Made all sail on Port tack
and Stopped. our Steam.
Middle and latter parts
the same. Saw one Sail and
some Finbacks.
Lat. N Long W.

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Here is a transcription of the above log page. Click on the worksheet images below to see them at full size

Start worksheet (top section)
If you discover any metadata in the logbook please enter it on this page. Metadata means 'data about data'. 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.

Start worksheet


Primary worksheet


Weather worksheet


Remarks worksheet


Notes

• This log works on both Civil and Sea time and also has sections that may be difficult for some transcribers. Please read the Notes on the START Sheet of the workbook or message AvastMH for assistance.

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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.

Possibly a definition of 'undignified' for whaling ships? Neptune and the Acatan (Akutan) Pass play a little trick on the Navarch

12th April 1893
"Got out the Passage and the Current took us through Stern first"

I thought that that was funny too - but Neptune wasn't finished with Capt Whiteside just yet.

On the 26th and 27th October 1893 he notes where we 'Found ourselves right in the Straits this morning; a Piping and Currant taking us in to the Arctic' and 'beat and banged round the Behring Strait all night with Baffling head wind'

So they turned to steam and finally on the 6th November they make 72 Pass where Capt Whiteside notes 'Made a good offring' (I like the way the Librarian has underlined the text). I wonder what the offring was


But the memory of arriving in the Behring stern first hadn't yet melted away. That was at the Akutan Pass in the Fox Islands. So on the next day he notes '100 miles clear of the Fox Islands'

I wonder if he ever went back to the Fox Islands?

From The Sailor's Word-Book

OFFING. Implies to sea-ward; beyond anchoring ground.—To keep a good offing, is to keep well off the land, while under sail.

Randi wrote: ↑Sat Jul 31, 2021 7:01 pm From The Sailor's Word-Book

OFFING. Implies to sea-ward; beyond anchoring ground.—To keep a good offing, is to keep well off the land, while under sail.

Oh!! Thanks for finding that Randi
I was wrong! I'm sorry that he wasn't busy doing something fun like throwing the tryworks into the drink (someone did do that on one of our ships). There's still something a bit comic about the comment. It seems like he's waiting for something crazy to happen because the whole voyage has had plenty of that sort of thing going on

There are times when a small comment in the log grabs my mind and it all gets to feel so close.

There was a small entry at the end of the voyage as he started the voyage home on the 27th November 1897...
'At 10 AM went ashore for good'




He didn't quite hold to that decision. By 1897 he was back on the Navarch for the last time. Along with so many other whalers that year the Navarch was dealt a final blow by the Arctic ice 'The steam whaler Navarch - tragedy in the Arctic. Perilous journey of Captain Whiteside and his wife in a canvas boat.' The Examiner, San Francisco, Saturday Morning, September 11, 1897

You can read the story in the Navarch's logbook which we have transcribed. Here's her shipyard link: viewforum.php?f=31

Posted in the topic Extreme comments from logs. Weather, ice, seas
October 1893[/url], frequently with snow storms,
on the 8th, 10th, 12th early (when they lost their starboard whaling boat), 13th, 14th, 15th, and 16th. The 16th was the worst with the loss of the Bow boat, other boats were stove in, during a heavy gale with a thick blizzard of snow. On the 17th she reports the ship being badly iced up.
And on the 18th he makes one comment boldly to start his report 'We are still here'

Interestingly he takes an Obs from the Pole Star at that date too - 70N