Martin hadn't the remotest idea of how to provision a ship. He had crates of cabbages, lemons, apples, carrots, and other perishables piled high on deck, most of which had to be tossed over the side before many days had passed. He had enough spices on hand to supply several large restaurants for years.
Once a storm was welcome-it saved their lives. During a frightful gale, one of the Japanese boys failed to close the tanks containing the drinking water. In the morning, not a drop remained in any of the storage tanks, and there was left about ten gallons in a small auxiliary tank. Immediately, Jack put each member of the party on an allowance of one quart a day.
For the first meal on the trip, he decided to prepare a nice roast with dressing, vegetables-including fried onions, of all things-and pudding. He got out a half peck of onions, and by the time he had them peeled in that wee galley, he decided nothing more was needed for that meal. The onions burned his nose and throat and watered his eyes so badly he could neither talk nor see. That night the crew had to like onions.
Martin could hardly walk. The land tilted just like the ship, and for days he would find himself spreading his feet apart to keep from falling.
He swam, he fished, he took pictures, he played. He did everything but cook. He put it more graphically than I can when he wrote, "For my part I had plenty of leisure. After an heroic silence of days, the crew finally broke out in protest against my cooking. They simply could stand no more of it. When on the sea, it had been eat it or starve; but now that they were ashore, there was a greater latitude of choices. We all boarded with different folks in the vicinity, and the poor harassed crew forgot its troubles in the delight of eating once more the things that humans eat, cooked as humans would cook them."
In many, many years no vessel had ever attempted to cross the Pacific by this treacherous and isolated route. Some had tried it but had been blown far off their course. Others had never been heard from again. But the Snark and her crew accomplished the impossible, and in sixty-one days out of Hilo, Hawaii, they put safely into Taiohae Bay, in the Marquesas.
Of course, all were desperately seasick. Tochigi lay in his bunk most of the time as if paralyzed; Martin made for his at every opportunity.
Martin was advanced to engineer and was beside himself with pride. He had learned all the idiosyncrasies of the seventy-horse-power engine and was undoubtedly worthy of the promotion, but I suspect that Jack did it to get a new cook. Martin wrote to Jess Utz, his cooking teacher, "I guess, Jess, my cooking wasn't so much of a success-they've hired someone else."
With these as a crew, the refurbished Snark sailed out of Honolulu, stopping at Hilo and the leper island of Molokai, and on October 7, 1907, cast off the shore lines to begin the two-thousand-mile sail across
Once a storm was welcome-it saved their lives. During a frightful gale, one of the Japanese boys failed to close the tanks containing the drinking water. In the morning, not a drop remained in any of the storage tanks, and there was left about ten gallons in a small auxiliary tank. Immediately, Jack put each member of the party on an allowance of one quart a day.
For the first meal on the trip, he decided to prepare a nice roast with dressing, vegetables-including fried onions, of all things-and pudding. He got out a half peck of onions, and by the time he had them peeled in that wee galley, he decided nothing more was needed for that meal. The onions burned his nose and throat and watered his eyes so badly he could neither talk nor see. That night the crew had to like onions.
Martin could hardly walk. The land tilted just like the ship, and for days he would find himself spreading his feet apart to keep from falling.
He swam, he fished, he took pictures, he played. He did everything but cook. He put it more graphically than I can when he wrote, "For my part I had plenty of leisure. After an heroic silence of days, the crew finally broke out in protest against my cooking. They simply could stand no more of it. When on the sea, it had been eat it or starve; but now that they were ashore, there was a greater latitude of choices. We all boarded with different folks in the vicinity, and the poor harassed crew forgot its troubles in the delight of eating once more the things that humans eat, cooked as humans would cook them."
In many, many years no vessel had ever attempted to cross the Pacific by this treacherous and isolated route. Some had tried it but had been blown far off their course. Others had never been heard from again. But the Snark and her crew accomplished the impossible, and in sixty-one days out of Hilo, Hawaii, they put safely into Taiohae Bay, in the Marquesas.
Of course, all were desperately seasick. Tochigi lay in his bunk most of the time as if paralyzed; Martin made for his at every opportunity.
Martin was advanced to engineer and was beside himself with pride. He had learned all the idiosyncrasies of the seventy-horse-power engine and was undoubtedly worthy of the promotion, but I suspect that Jack did it to get a new cook. Martin wrote to Jess Utz, his cooking teacher, "I guess, Jess, my cooking wasn't so much of a success-they've hired someone else."
With these as a crew, the refurbished Snark sailed out of Honolulu, stopping at Hilo and the leper island of Molokai, and on October 7, 1907, cast off the shore lines to begin the two-thousand-mile sail across
About the Author:
Jasek Prague: Make no mistake he has a passion for popcorn. The Best Popcorn makers. Take a look at Presto Popcorn Maker.
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