Ghosts of Cape Horn

if you would know the age of the earth look upon the face of the sea in a storm imponderable and ever-changing the sea has for centuries defied man's attempts to challenge her power [Music] 150 years ago the lines were starkly drawn elemental force versus human muscle and canvas this was the age of the great square rigged ships driven by the wind the golden age of sail the two coasts of america were yet to be linked by rail and the panama canal but a dream passage to the pacific could be made only one way through the icy seas around the tip of south america by way of cape horn [Music] from cabin boy to ship's master the horn left its mark you could read it in their eyes they were a special breed of deep water sailors they more than any others understood the misery and terror the ocean could inflict hands frozen to icy rigging shipmates swept away by mountainous waves no other passage tested the crew more severely the battle for survival was their daily reality they knew the sea might kill them and they accepted that for they were the ship's company they were sailors and they would have no other life and if that devotion meant following their ship to its end then so it would be and so it often was [Music] off cape hatteras the silly isles and the english channel cape fear the potato patch the cape of good hope hell gate the roaring forties [Music] cape disappointment these were hell holes dreaded by sailors around the world places where tide wind current or rocks conspired to bring the full fury of the raging sea to bear upon ships and men [Music] but there is one place sailors feared more than any other in harbors and seaports around the world they spoke in hushed tones of the storms the misery and death at a cold gray rock at the bottom of the world [Music] cape horn sailors called it cape stiff with hundred knot winds and 60-foot seas it was the ultimate test of a mariner's skill and a ship's strength sailors talk of the blind horns hate call it superstition if you will to a captain it was common sense the prudent course was charted far toward the south where the ship might bear a better chance for survival but for many thousands who strayed too close to the rock the last thing they ever saw was the haunted face of cape horn the coast of maine has changed only a little since the days when the great tall ships slid down the ways of sears port bath and kennebunkport to seek fortune round the horn those ships are gone now but the skills that built them survived and that as well the skills are a legacy telling of men in another age what those men believed was good and how they believed things should be the practice of these skills joins the generations in preserving a piece of our great grandfather's world ships that served in one of man's greatest adventures ships like the whaler charles w morgan and the little bark joseph conrad both veterans of the cape horn trade now docked in mystic connecticut ships like the valk luther in san francisco the star of india in san diego and in greenwich england the last of the clipper ships the cuddy sark to see them and walk their decks is to step back in time to leave the land behind and ride the dreamless sea in a tall ship leaning on the wind [Music] some who wish [Music] [Music] [Music] oh [Music] them [Music] oh [Music] took [Music] to get [Music] from maine to georgia the east coast seaports of the early 1800s were lined with whalers coastal schooners fishing sloops and deep water packet ships all fueling the commerce of a young growing nation americans shared an innocent exuberance in those years a sense that they could go anywhere and do anything the common man's dream of opportunity and adventure and the aristocrats dream of empire found a common vehicle in these ships the ships that settle california the ships that challenged cape horn the voyage began in the forests of maine with the felling of tall slender pine for the ship's mast and spars patterns built to the lines of a finely carved model were traced onto the timber thus the shape of the builder's model became the shape of the ship her form was literally in the eye of the craftsman there were no blueprints here only skill and caring the belly of the ship's great skeleton took shape arched ribs of sweetly curved oak and angled knees of crooked hack attack living creatures of the forest transformed into a living thing of the sea no two pieces of wood were quite the same and none but the keel from which they grew was quite straight there was nothing accidental here every curve every subtle variation was based upon generations of experience and upon the hard-won learning of what worked at sea [Music] uh watch that rock [Music] easy early each morning a steam box would be fired up to cook the planks of long leaf yellow pine that formed the vessel's outer skin the steam softened the tough fibers so the wood could be bent to the shape of the hull each generation refined the process a bit and made a few changes such was the evolution of the shipwright's arc the high technology of their day and the embodiment of 4 000 years experience under sale [Music] hang for money [Music] [Applause] boys [Music] the same as any other [Applause] [Music] away together [Music] oh [Applause] [Music] boys with each ship the last plank or shutter plank had a special meaning like the keystone in a roman arch it bound up all the forces in the structure and completed the hull and the ship had to be well found if she were to survive the long voyage westward the 18 000 mile voyage around cape horn [Music] in the magic year of 1849 san francisco became a magnet for thousands of americans east coast newspapers proclaimed it the american dream come true fame and fortune for a few days work if you were lucky the california gold rush was on accounts of the discovery could scarcely command belief but believe they did a hundred thousand of them seeking instant wealth the country was swept with gold fever some came in covered wagons 3 000 miles across the american wilderness but most of the 49ers came by sea around the horn in what was described as the greatest human migration since the crusades shipyards could barely keep up with the demand for fast passage to the gold fields a new breed of ship was born for one brief glorious decade they were the finest fastest and most money-making ships that ever furrowed the seas the legendary california clippers they were the aristocrats of sail tall proud and fast as the wind with long streamlined hulls and towering masts they were speed machines pure and simple their kind would never be seen again there was magic even in their names sovereign of the seas wings of the morning witch of the waves young america their swift passages cut the journey time to san francisco in half and the swiftest of all the flying cloud electrified the world by making san francisco in only 89 days [Music] in the year before the gold rush only eight ships had called at the sleepy little town of san francisco but in the golden year of 1849 an incredible 777 lay at anchor in the bay transforming her harbor into a forest of masts [Music] it was a shanty town born overnight the human onslaught brought with it rampant lawlessness the first six years of the san francisco gold rush saw 1200 murders committed with but two convictions vigilante mobs dispensed their own brand of justice and a culprit was always found the demands of the city for building materials were often met by cadavers of derelict ships their timber and iron scarce commodities for ships returning to the east a willing crew was an even scarcer commodity forty dollars ahead was at one time the going rate paid to crims for delivering men in any condition to the foxel their haunts were the waterfront boarding houses and dives along the street that came to be known as the infamous barbary coast a gentleman was advised to be armed for everywhere with the crimps ready and able to make a tidy bloody prophet selling his body sweetening the snare were 2 000 french ladies imported to provide a very traditional [Music] service one enterprising lady made a regular business of chloroforming sailors and then selling them by the boatload to crew hungry captains when her husband shanghai brown died chloroform kate took over his business when her habit of sniffing chloroform at last did her in she was at her own request given a grand funeral a faded picture of a clipper ship into her ample bosom and then or so the story goes she was dumped at sea from a garbage scowl [Music] the civil war most of the clever ships were sold off though a few fell victim to rebel gunboats in the years which followed the nation turned its attention inward away from the sea san francisco was changing too it had become a respectable city where families picnic by the shore and returned home by trolley downtown on market street commerce flourished in the city bustled with activity a new ethnic quarter sprang up as thousands of chinese were imported to the west coast for cheap labor many were signed on to cruz as semen the harbor of the 1870s was filled with a new breed of steel and iron ship four times that of a typical gold rush vessel but our expanding industrial society find no place for their kind the railroad was coming soon steel tracks would span the continent instead of 89 days the journey from east to west coast would take but a week it would be the death knell for the age of sale from the shipyards of britain france and germany came giant four and five masted full riggers with their new england half-sisters wooden ships known as downeasters they formed the last generation of ships powered by the wind a gesture of defiance to the clock of technology [Music] grain was now the main cargo and the ever encroaching steamers could not compete in the cape horn trade and here is where sails survived [Music] the men who sailed in the iron ships and the downeasters carried on a way of life changed little in centuries fishing lines were always out and harpoons were always ready to haul in tuna or bonita [Music] it meant extra work for the ship's cook but fresh meat for the crew a welcome change in their diet of salted meat and potatoes there might even be leftovers for the ship's animals is a treat for the mascot or to fatten up the only other source of fresh meat sundays by tradition or a day of comparative rest the only day the crew could wash and clean up time for a haircut in the open air for mending one's clothes or practicing a favorite hobby soon enough it will be back to the unending work of the ship several times each day a long knotted line was cast overboard to measure the ship's speed the line paid out for 14 seconds as the ship moved on then it was hauled in and the ship's speed was counted in knots each man had to master a number of skills necessary for the ship's maintenance injuries were inevitable every man on board was expected to work as long as he had strength to stand even a broken bone was not a certain excuse [Music] every moment of every day every man had a job to do the mates made sure of that and the mate kept busy too he had the captain to answer to [Music] such was the way of a sailing ship [Music] a big ship could have over 30 miles of rigging as many as 500 separate lines everyone on board had to know the name and exact position of each line even on the darkest night [Music] daily routine was hard but as the ship neared cape horn it became backbreaking the fair weather sales came down and were still below rolled tightly to preserve precious spaces every part of the rigging was overhauled the crew would be busy for days splicing tarring and re-serving the work was tedious but it had to be done [Music] skill and patience applied here might mean survival at cape horn go down [Music] so bending the heavy weather sails was a tremendous undertaking requiring all hands a single sail could weigh a ton and hoisting it 80 feet to the main yard called for many grueling turns of the capstone [Music] up aloft sailors and mates work together wrestling the new canvas [Music] 200 feet above the ocean or standing on the deck each man knew what the other would do each man depended on the other crew and ship became a single living thing ready to fight for survival against the fury of cape horn [Music] [Music] [Music] it's is for us [Music] new york city in the 1880s the eastern end of the cape horn trade and the major port of a young nation rapidly becoming a world power alive with ferry boats coastal schooners and downeasters it seemed to herald a new age the great bridge that would soon join manhattan to brooklyn was but a hint of the marvels that would follow [Music] but traditions kept on and old ways died hard [Music] on south street the street of ships sail still offered a way of life even as iron-hulled steamers threatened the stately but slower square riggers more than ever experienced crew was hard to raise the hard-bitten elements were wise to shanghaine and the brutality in a downeaster foxel unwary immigrants see stiffs in the waterfront low life were not they were the blood trade of new york's body mongers turned over to impatient yankee captains and hard case mates who enforced their will with the boot and the bully club despite the promise of fierce discipline at sea the dreamers came and were met by the ships that still offered a last chance for adventure the downey shipyards of maine still built traditional wooden vessels refusing to compromise with the steel riveter [Music] when new york capital has stopped investing in wooden ships the shipbuilding families of maine became ship owners as well they had to captains and their mates the builders sail makers riggers chandlers they were all proud to chip in [Music] these were second generation clippers with a century of yankee learning in their lines they were called down easters and when they were launched the whole town turned out plank owners those who had an interest in the new ship came on board to inspect their investment and celebrate its christening even the babies were brought on board for their first look at their future livelihood [Music] and perhaps a sailor's last look at his loved ones [Music] in march of 1890 a new downeaster was launched in phippsburg the fortunes of the town road wither the fortunes of one man in particular jesse t carver last of a distinguished family of sea captains at age 56 anxious to retire carver gambled his life savings on a quarter interest in the new ship in new york she was rigged with her first set of sails the maiden voyage of the saint mary loading and preparations finished the saint mary's crew came aboard young and old shellbacks and landsmen of different nationalities and capabilities they would eat well and work hard that was the down east way on a balmy may afternoon the saint mary was towed down the east river through the narrows to the open sea bound for cape horn it would be her first voyage and it would be her last for ten weeks the saint mary bore south on course in the strong winds of late spring the days grew warmer and she picked up speed romping through the tradewinds for captain carver this passage was crucial he'd staked his retirement on the saint mary's future earnings but there was another reason though not to blame the master already had lost two ships in his career and was determined to clear his reputation with one last effort this time nothing must go wrong on august 6th the saint mary was inside of the horn seas were unusually calm so carver had little reason to expect trouble but at cape horn the unexpected is the rule that night there were 11 ships in close company off cape horn [Music] the magellan sank with all hands but the saint mary managed to stay afloat her larvae rigging ripped away [Music] she could no longer steer effectively desperately carver forced her about and made for safety 350 miles downwind in the falkland islands [Music] for three days and nights the captain and his crew battled to drive the saint mary on to the falcons it was the jinx of the horn bad weather pounding a damaged ship on the fourth day while the exhausted captain slept the lookout sided breakers the crew tried to bring the big ship about into open water instead they headed for the hidden shoals of pinnacle rocks [Music] when the crew rode ashore the next morning carver refused to leave three times i've been in trouble he said and this is my last a day later the crew returned to the wreck and found the captain's body with white foam at his mouth his death remains a mystery the saint mary's crew landed on a remote beach in east falkland and found their way to a shepherd's cabin to a man they were safe the saint mary broke up in a storm a few weeks later the cape horn winds still howl at pinnacle rock captain carver is gone but the saint mary survives him today her bones are among the earth's last remains of a down easter and before these two are destroyed men from the 20th century have come to claim them marine archaeologist peter throckmorton is aware that with each new tide a piece of our maritime heritage is lost to the sea [Music] he and his crew have come to remove a 40-foot section of the saint mary's tween decks for return to maine where she was built nearly a century ago [Applause] not far from the saint mary wreck penguins play in icy waters indifferent to the treacherous weather that drove many ships to their ends look at it look at this today in port stanley the major town the ribs of a once grand ship serve as fence posts dusty addicts are crammed with nautical odds and ends [Music] there are whole ships to be found here as well like the charles cooper an 1850s new york packet ship throckmorton has removed the cooper's stern piece a magnificent example of the yankee wood carver's art using a silicone rubber molding compound he makes a detailed mold of the carving taking care that no details are missed let's lift it now and give me that stick real easy okay let's get it as high as we can okay come from there okay see if we can get going just very easy [Music] the molding material will record the finest intricacies in the carving down to the grain of the wood [Music] all right well uh i suppose we better let him go right over 19th century craftsmanship preserved for all time by 20th century technology these are the casualties of the war with cape horn a war fought long and hard but never really won [Music] a struggle which claimed many thousands of lives and many hundreds of ships [Music] no one really knows how few remain the war with cape horn lasted for more than 300 years it's over now but its legacies [Music] survived [Music] [Applause] [Music] a block and tackle from a falklands wreck is now used as a gallows for butchering sheep time and geography say otherwise but the islands resemble nothing so much as rural scotland a century ago with no roads television or newspapers the outside world has been kept at a comfortable distance and although the cape horn wind ships no longer limp into their harbor the cape horn weather still dominates their this is the lives islands broadcasting station broadcasting on frequencies of 536 and 2370 kilohertz the weather forecast for the next 24 hours tonight there will be variable cloud amounts with some clear periods and isolated showers tomorrow there will be variable cloud events with some sunny periods at first becoming mainly cloudy with risk of rain or drizzle and fog patches during the late morning and afternoon the wind will be fresh to strong northwest lighting up climbs for tomorrow [Music] [Music] the falkland islands have preserved another age an age that buried thousands of ships a haunting memory remains in their song in the vast cemetery of their harbors it breathes in the rotting timbers of an east india trade ship and in the bones of snow squall the last of the american clipper ships that astounded the world with their dignity and beauty the ships that met cape horn and could go no further kiss your loved ones goodbye leave them all on the land [Music] i can promise you more than any woman on shore ever can raise your sails turn your face [Music] is [Music] see feel the surge of the waves as they cry where [Music] [Applause] [Music] you belong [Music] just [Music] on the [Music] of edge season [Music] if there was a man on board with some romantic notion about life at sea and there were always several cape horn would knock such foolishness out of him up aloft to loose sail or shorten it hauling frozen canvas and icy lines utterly relying on the soundness of their gear a loose knot or broken foot rope could send thirty men to their deaths [Music] [Music] alright the ship's work was unending and fatigue became an enemy so the ingrained disciplines of order and routine took over and the men carried on mechanically it was their only defense against the chaos and terror about them [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] fifteen thousand times at least the struggle was repeated as man and ship challenged the horn most survived but many weren't so lucky no grit or skill or courage could save them that came too close to the rock itself and as an anxious world of landsman waited the ship would first be reported overdue then missing and finally lost with all hands tens of thousands of seamen vanished with their ships the ocean floor a common unmarked grave the bodies of sailors and sea captains were almost never recovered the price of a dream to leave the shore behind and to never look back [Music] so [Music] many a new england grave has no coffin only a tombstone a final acceptance that a son or a father would never return at the height of the war with cape horn some towns lost nearly an entire generation of young men to the sea the grizzly harvest was collected [Music] the town folk bore them away knowing that but for providence it could have been them [Music] the war with cape horn was long and hard the war is over now the captains and the crews are gone only scattered monuments remain to tell of their supreme effort the prayer for permission to sail within the interface of sea and sky denied the sea provides for order cape horn is still there [Music] some who wish they'd never been born they are [Music] to get [Music] demons dance everywhere southern girls tattered sails and none to tell the tales [Music] you were [Music] for one day and you're ready then you took them to the bottom of the [Music] sea [Music] all around okay foreign [Music] sailing [Music] took [Music] you

Channel: MaineiacNorth

Views: 22,719

Rating: 4.9376945 out of 5

Keywords: sail

Id: nFFM5CvxDXs

Length: 53min 44sec (3224 seconds)

Published: Fri Oct 16 2020