NATIONAL MARITIME HISTORICAL SOCIETY OFFl CERS & TRUSTEES: Chairman, C raig A. C. Reyno lds; Vice Chairmen, Ri chardo Lopes, Edwa rd G. Z elin sky; President, Peter Stanford; Vice President, No rma Stanfo rd ; Treasurer, \'V'i lliam H. W hite; Secretary, Mars hall Stre ibert; Trustees, Walter R. Brown, Fred C. H awkins, J akob lsbrand tsen , Steven W . J ones, G uy E. C. Ma itland , Ka ren E. Markoe, Warren Marr, ll, H a rry Marshall , Bri an A. McAl lister, D avid A. O ' Nei l, C harl es A. Robenson , H oward Slo tni ck, B radfo rd Smith , John Ta lbot, Lo ui s A. Trapp, Jr. , Dav id B. V ietor, Harry E. Vin all , III , Jean Wort, AJexa nder Zago reos; Chairman Emeritus, Ala n G . C hoate FOUNDER: Ka rl Ko rtum (19 17- 1996) OVERSEE RS: RADM D avid C. Brown , Wa lter C ro nkite, John Lehm an, J. W illiam Midd end orf, JI , G raham H. Phillips, J o hn Srobart, Wi lliam G .
W in cerer AD V ISORS: Co-Chairmen, Fran k 0. Bray nard, M elbou rn e Smith ; D. K. Ab bass, Ray mo nd Aker, George F. Bass, Francis E. Bowker, O swald L. Brett, No rm an ]. Brouwe r, RAD MJ oseph F. Ca llo, Wi lliam M. Doerflinger, Francis J . Du ffy, J o hn Ewald , J oseph L. Farr, Timothy G . Foo te, W illia m G ilkerso n , T h omas G illm er, Wa lte r J . H andelman , C harles E. H erdendo rf, Steven A. H ym an , H ajo Knurrel, G un na r Lund eberg, Conrad M ilste r, W illi am G . Mu ll er, D avid E. Perkins, Nancy Hughes Richardso n, T im o th y J. Run yan, Ralph L Snow, Shan no n J . Wall , Thom as Wells SEA HI STORY &NMHSSTAFF: Editor, Justine AJ1lstrom;Executive Editor, No rma Stanfo rd ; Contributing Editor, Kevin Haydon ; Editor-at-large, Peter Stanford ; Editorial Assistant, Shelley Reid; Director ofEducation, D avid B. AJ !en; Director of Marketing and Membership Development, Blaire Belli vea u; Chief ofStaff, Burchenal G ree n; M embership Secretary/Merchandising, Erika Kurtenbac h; Membership Assistant, Irene E ise nfeld ; Advertising Secretary, Ca rm en M cCall um ; Accounting, J oseph Caccio la; Secretary to the President, Karen Ritell TO GET IN T OUCH W ITH US:
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eco nomi c life of th e C hesapeake Bay maritim e co mmunity, not a thesis on naval architecture. In Mr. Smith 's specifi c criticisms of the book, he misqu otes and takes out of context certain sentences . I just do not write on page 88 that "m o re balanced deckJine" gives "greate r bu oya ncy. " Co ncernin g Patapsco's cargo, Mr. Smith reveals that the o ld saw abo ut a pound of feath ers and a pound of lead is lost to him-as I cl ea rl y refer to the weigh r/ meas ure characteristics of logs vs. co ffee and fl our, a practical comm erc ial factor wh en stowing and freighting cargo . T he definiti ons for length, breadth and depth of hold used throughout the book are those applied to sin gle-deck schooners as defin ed by an Act of Co ngress of 1790. In a ge nera l way the shipwrights of rhe Bay worked our sets of proportions for their schoon ers' meas urem ents that, when combin ed a nd ave raged , produced an unrechni cal bur broadly reliable set of ratios. Wh en my reviewer protests rhar I use "arbitrary internal dep ths," I ass ume that he refers to pages 245-46, where I point out that the inco rrect data contained in the builder's carpen rer certificate of the replica schoo ner Pride ofBaltimore may have contributed to the confusion concern ing her stabili ty when compared to the inherem instability of an 18 12 model and rhat was unn o ticed even after her sad loss. GEOFFREY FOOTNER
Ballvine, Maryland M ELBOURNE SMJTH responds: A schooner with a "more balanced deckline and sheer that rises in the ends far greater buoyancy" only adds weight in the ends, not buoyancy; raising the deckline in the ends might add reserve buoyancy. And M r. Footner's remark about Patapsco 's loading- that "the logs were her only deadweight cargo "-suggests that the other goods were not. All cargo, whether feathers or lead, is dead weight, no matter what the volume or where it is stowed. As to "incorrect data contained in the builder 's carpenter certificate" far Pride of Baltimore, he is befuddling again. Vessels built in this century must fallow the Code of Federal Regulations. H er depth-in-hold was correctly measured and recorded, as required by law. Stability is a relationship between a righting-arm and a heeling arm in which an
arbitrary internal depth plays very little part. I know of no confusion concerning Pride's stability. I doubt if a clipper schooner of her displacement ever carried 42 tons ofpermanent ballast as low in the bilge. Ample stability was demonstrated to the satisfaction ofthe Marine Safety Board.
Clearwater and ExperimentTogether! Sea H istory 87's im eres ring and in fo rmative article about rh e exploits of rhe Hudson River sloop Experiment was another successful wo rk to keep landlubbers like me in tun e w ith boatin g hiscory. I do hope that the replica sloop Clearwater, which has been sai ling th e Hudso n Ri ver for yea rs with an environm em al miss ion , and the new sloop Experiment w ill nor be in com petition , bur w ill wo rk in co ncert with o ne another. Please keep us up to date o n the progress of this most ausp icious endeavor. D ONALD H. DEBLO JS Caze novi a, N ew York Not to worry! Pete Seeger, who founded and sailed the sloop C lea rwater to such great purposes, guiding New Yorkers and the country in the struggle to recogniz e and respect the H udson River and all this nation's waterways, is a supporter ofour project to build the Experim ent. We look forward to seeing the two sloops working together to educate people, young and old, in the environmental and historical legacy ofthe Hudso n.-ED. ERRATA On page 7 of Sea H istory 87 ("NMHS Sea Ex peri ence Program s: C hall enges and Advemures o n rhe Water"), rhe gi rl in the center photo was incorrectly identified as Desiree October. T he perso n shown is acmally Nebhia Mohammed .
Nebhia Mohammed eyes the compasss aboard the friga te Rose. (Photo: Don Betts)
SEA HISTORY 88 , SPRING 1999