Log Pages for Transcribing - Apply here!

[AvastMH]

Welcome to the log book of the Mary and Susan from 29th November 1886 to the 3rd November 1887 from San Francisco. Mastered by Jared Jernegan, with Elnathan B. Fisher, and Leander C. Owen as replacement Masters. Whaling ground: North pacific.

If you would like to work on a section of the log please

• leave a note in the next available reply section of this board below
• remember to say which section you would like to work on
• a link to the workbook, for your transcriptions, will be provided to you in this board
• let us know if you would rather work in Excel, LibreCalc, or Google Sheets

Each section of the log must be transcribed by three different transcribers

Where to start once I have my log section and workbook?
Please ensure that you read these information pages before transcribing
1) Transcribing: capturing the log details, and information resources
2) Transcribing: managing your recording workbook

Dates are in the format YYYYMMDD. Links to log book pages are shown in blue..

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Journey section and transcribers	Date from	Date to	General Position	Comments
A * There are missing pages, and a damaged image, see grid below: Captain (Stream A): arboggs 1st Mate (Stream B): shiplover Boatsteerer (Stream C): sdrummer	18861129	18870421	Down to the South Pacific. They cross the line at latitude 00.00 on the 1st January 1887	A fair bit of time around the King George Islands and the Hawaiian Islands.
B * There are missing pages, see grid below: Captain (Stream A): arboggs 1st Mate (Stream B): shiplover Boatsteerer (Stream C): sdrummer	18870422	18870818	Arriving in the Bering sea to snow and ice. Heading up to Cape Smyth near Point Barrow	Getting caught up in ice, blasting out. Lots of whaling.
C * There is one missing page, and one part image, see grid below: Captain (Stream A): arboggs 1st Mate (Stream B): shiplover Boatsteerer (Stream C): sdrummer	18870819	18871103	Arriving up at Herald Island	Trouble with a crew member, a knife, and some reduced lengths of rigging ending in a stay in irons.

Missing dates due to pages removed from the original logbook. Dates are inclusive.

* Section A. Page link	Date from	Date to
http://pplspc.org/nicholson/rj5_nichols ... -0443.html	18861215	18861223
http://pplspc.org/nicholson/rj5_nichols ... -0447.html	18870208	18870217
http://pplspc.org/nicholson/rj5_nichols ... -0449.html	18870310	18870316

Section A One page has a disrupted image: December 21st 1886 to and including January 6th 1887. An adjusted image is shown in the (Link) Shipyard Page. Example transcription, general questions & answers

* Section B. Page link	Date from	Date to
http://pplspc.org/nicholson/rj5_nichols ... -0453.html	18870506	18870514
http://pplspc.org/nicholson/rj5_nichols ... -0455.html	18870531	18870606
http://pplspc.org/nicholson/rj5_nichols ... -0457.html	18870625	18870703
http://pplspc.org/nicholson/rj5_nichols ... -0459.html	18870726	18870803

* Section C. Page link	Date from	Date to
http://pplspc.org/nicholson/rj5_nichols ... -0461.html	18870824	18870902
http://pplspc.org/nicholson/rj5_nichols ... -0464.html	18870930	18871002
http://pplspc.org/nicholson/rj5_nichols ... -0464.html	18871005	18871006

These details are all noted on the Start worksheet of the transcription workbooks.

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Thank you for your help

[arboggs]

Well, these scans of xeroxed pages look like an absolute nightmare to work with but somebody's gotta get started! I'll sign on as Captain here to get the ball rolling

[arboggs]

Oh wait! I found updated scans in the Internet Archive! This should be the link for the correct logbook: https://archive.org/details/logbookofma ... 1/mode/2up

It is labeled "1886-1888" and the front page looks like the same front page from the original scans. Can I get a second person to look and confirm this for me?

[AvastMH]

Found the journal of the voyage (in part):
https://archive.org/details/journalofma ... 1/mode/2up

[AvastMH]

Oh wait! I found updated scans in the Internet Archive! This should be the link for the correct logbook: https://archive.org/details/logbookofma ... 1/mode/2up

It is labeled "1886-1888" and the front page looks like the same front page from the original scans. Can I get a second person to look and confirm this for me?

Hi April - fantastic find! It is indeed the same log book but via the National Archives. The missing pages are, sadly, still missing. I'll change the references here tomorrow. The National Archive format is much easier to work with.

Thank you!!

[pommystuart]

Just to pass a bit of time, I had a look at that log book.
Seems like not much weather, just the wind.
I wonder if the amount of work that goes into reading the logs is worth it for so little return?

Just a thought.

[AvastMH]

This log doesn't seem to have a lot in it. Many of them do carry good information. Some don't show where they are, but do quote other ships nearby who do keep lat/long/place records. It's a bit like a detective novel - you need to spot the clues and add everything up

However, they do prowl the edges of the ice to catch the bowheads as they pop out from under. The report 'working along the ice edge' is a very familiar one. And the later steam ships get right into the ice in a way that the sailing ships could not. Sometimes they are surrounded by ice, but manage to lower boats which tells it's own story about the state of the ice in that area.
The US Cutters do turn up, but usually just near ports and not way out in the Bering/Chukchi seas.

I've had the odd bash at plotting a ship that appears to be in the middle of nowhere, but I've managed to get it to its next place.

[AvastMH]

Links for National Archive version
18861129: https://archive.org/details/logbookofma ... 1/mode/1up

18870421: https://archive.org/details/logbookofma ... 0/mode/1up

18870818: https://archive.org/details/logbookofma ... 7/mode/1up

18871103: https://archive.org/details/logbookofma ... 2/mode/1up

[arboggs]

I'm working on this log right now (taking longer than normal because I got sick). There isn't a massive amount of weather in the 1886-1887 section, but there is a fairly faithful record of weather, ice, and location. The Internet Archive copy of this logbook also includes the March-August 1888 voyage which has a lot of ice and includes when the ship gets a nasty leak from some bad weather and has to be scrapped.

[AvastMH]

Cheers April! That's interesting - about the other voyage section
Let me find out about that other section.
If you'd rather work from the Archives version please do. I can always do a quick page ref conversion afterwards. Shiplover's working in the Archive version.
It's unusual having both versions available

[sdrummer]

This is my first time doing this. I have downloaded LibreCalc. I am not sure what I want to work on so if you could just assign me something that would be fine.

[AvastMH]

Hello sdrummer! And a hearty welcome to the whalers

Mary and Susan certainly needs help. Thank you! Her writing takes a bit of getting used to (I always read a month or so of logs to get my eye in, so to speak), but this is not a race so there's plenty of time to get used to it. AND if it gets too much you can always jump ship!
Thanks for loading LibreCalc. I will set you up with a folder on the project's GoogleDrive (you don't need a google account to use it) and will put the transcription workbook in there for you.
I'll send you a personal message (PM) with those details and some extra starter tips.
Please fell absolutely welcome to ask questions about the log at any time - no matter what. Doesn't matter if it seems complicated or simple, just ask rather than get bogged down

At least you get to start down in the warm waters of the South Pacific - but there will plenty of ice to follow as the year goes on