Exy and Irving Johnson, who sailed their ships around the world. Photo: Jim Dion.
Do Something for the Ship By Captain Irving Johnson
World-Wide Liner Services
On December 6, Dow Corning of Midland, Michigan, presented a replica of the stern carving of the 1856 packet Charles Cooper to the National Society. The replica was made from a Dow Corning silicone mold, taken off the ship in the Falkland Islands, where the Cooper ended up after her battle with Cape Horn. Captain Johnson, Senior Advisor to the Society 's Ship Trust Committee, was on hand to speak of Cape Horn sailing, and of the care and service men gave such ships. A Cape Horn sea gives you one hissing warning, and in one split second you're either dead or alive, depending how you jump. There's a railing around the forecastle, the water goes through and the sailors don ' t-at least they're not supposed to. You get kind of beaten up when you hit the railing, but you take your injuries back to the skipper to patch up and carry on. I never saw a sailor who didn't. They all did. They go into these crazy places and do something for the ship . The Charles Cooper's stern carving comes from a ship that was sailed like that. 1 want to call attention to the fact that this carving is a work of art. The man who does it is picked by nature: he can do it, I can' t. And this costs money. Those ships are only out there to make money. If there wasn ' t any money to be made, cargo to be shifted, they would.n't be there. Now this carving is something extra. It didn't have to be done. But a sailor can admire his ship more if you've got it there. And if he admires her more, he's going to take better care of her. And he's going to look at that ship as he goes ashore and say: "Oh , brother, she brought us through, look at that stuff on the stern, the carvings and all." This is worth money to the ship owners . When I built the ketch Yankee I was very short of money, like most fellows who build ships. I put dollars into heavy teak trailboards, trailboards carved because I wanted to be proud of my ship. But what did this do? It made money. By the thousands people along the shore looked at our ship as we crossed the continent of Europe 28 times from the Mediterranean to the Baltic, and their eyes went to her bows, to those trailboards. That got them interested, and on that interest Yankee sailed . I iust wanted to be proud of my ship. .t SEA HISTORY, WINTER 1980
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