Zeelandia

5. Of Land and Laundry

While Captain climbed the steps to the quarterdeck, I rushed across the cabin to the door and out onto the weather deck to see for myself. The crowd I had expected did not exist. After three weeks at sea, I thought they would share my excitement – until I realised they would not yet know. The lookout would, and those to whom he reported.

Then a shout from up the mast, "Another island, Sir. Fine the starboard bow."

I rushed across to the starboard bulwarks and leant over to look toward the bow. Nothing! Nothing but rolling waves. And nobody excited. Except me.

Then a voice behind me said, "Ye'll not see it from down here, lad. Not for near a half-hour yet. Up the mast, they see a good five miles farther than we down here."

I nodded, turning toward the man to reply, "Yes, of course." I felt my face warm. "Because of the curvature of the Earth. I should have thought."

"Yer the new cabin boy, ain't you?"

"I am. And this is my first time at sea, so I am still learning."

He belted a loud laugh. "Been nine years at sea, and I'm still learning. Everyone's learning, the smart ones, anyway. Some never learn, and they're content to repeat the same chores."

I nodded. "But they also serve. Those chores are necessary, and who better than they to do them?"

"Indeed. I was told you're a wise lad. One like Captain was when he first went to sea."

His words warmed me. Both for myself and to hear Captain is also wise. But I knew that. He shows it with his every word. I pulled my thoughts to the present and asked, "What is the land they have sighted?"

"They'll be the islands of Cape Fair Day. We always stop here for water and fruit and vegetables. And for some goats."

"Goats?"

"A relief from the salt beef and salt mutton."

I nodded, thinking of the repetitive stews the past three weeks. "So, what is your duty aboard?"

He raised an arm, sweeping it in a slow circle toward the masts. "I control the sails."

I examined his circling hand. Clean, not at all calloused. Not like most I have seen. Some appear almost as leather, even as... My thoughts were interrupted by shouted orders from aft, then the man pointed toward the barrels. "Hie yerself over there, Boy. Out of the way. We'll be jeering yards and adjusting sheets as we change course."

As I rushed toward the barrels, he barked orders, loud and filled with unfamiliar words. Upon reaching a safe place, I turned to watch as he continued barking, and dozens of men, seeming to have sprung from nowhere, grasped lines and worked in unison.

The yards pivoted on their masts and I heard the brief fluttering of sails as port sheets were eased and starboard ones were hauled taught. Then as suddenly as it had begun, the activity ceased, and the men vanished as quickly as they had appeared. I watched some settle into nooks along the deck, and I assumed most had their place between bouts of strenuous exertion, such as this had been, and they sat ready for the next orders.

Three hours or so later, when we approached the coast of a large island, the sky had been filled with clouds. But by the time we had anchored in a small bay, they had moved on, and the sun beat hot upon us, relieved somewhat by a gentle breeze. A fine day to launder and dry.

I opened all the windows to their full in the great cabin, and the same with the two in Captain's night cabin. Then I left open the doors when I took the basket to the tubs in the waist of the ship. As I washed, a few men joined me at the tubs, stripped off their clothes and set to washing them. I dared not look, lest my curiosity be questioned.

Then a man climbed onto the bulwarks and jumped into the sea, fully clothed. He reappeared up the ladder a while later, sopping wet, and he soaped his clothes and rubbed them thoroughly before he stripped them off inside-out and dressed again to re-soap what was once inside. Then he again jumped into the water.

By this time, several others had joined him to perform similar rituals. Eventually, they reappeared on deck, buff as Adam as they wrung their clothes and spread them to dry in the sun. I could not help but watch, and I saw what Captain meant about big changes. A few, very big. Such a variety of bodies.

I diverted my eyes back to my task at hand, and as I stood to wring the last item, the man at the next tub asked, "Are you not going to wash your own?"

I had increasingly feared this question while the area filled with naked men. But for a few still soaping from a plunge into the sea, I was the only one clothed. I had pondered possible answers, and I was prepared. "I am still on duty, and I must tend to Captain's linens and clothing first."

He nodded, appearing satisfied, as did those within earshot. But wanting to explain now why I would not wash later, I pointed to Captain's door, "Besides, I have two sets. This one and another clean and dry, that I may always be presentable to work in there."

There were no further questions, and as I continued wringing the last piece, my eyes wandered to the men, and my mind drifted. By the time I had shaken out Captain's breeches, pulled the wringing wrinkles straight, and turned to hang them on the line, my thoughts had descended to pondering what they hide.