You can find more ships in this listing: Find your ship, & the full list of ships logbooks for OWW Your help will be very much appreciated. If you need help in choosing a journey please do leave message here or contact AvastMH.
Here you will find an example transcription of details
This is also a place to ask questions and request help with oddities in the log
You can bring the ship to life by sharing interesting finds from the log pages and other information about the ship
General help with marking and transcribing whaling logs
Weather and ice records from the whaling ships of the USA which contains the following 'must read' topics...
- START HERE. General outline, the project and how to help
- Transcribing: capturing the log details, and information resources
- Transcribing: managing your recording workbook
Treasure trove of information in the Library
Over the years this forum has accumulated a broad spectrum of detailed information which is kept in the Library
Please do take time to visit the Library because it will afford you a great deal of help. However, do feel welcome to ask questions at any time.
Help with images
- If you want to query some text please supply the page reference (the reference changes as you view the middle of a page), and an image of the text if you wish. Help for manipulating/posting images can be found in Guide to posting links and images. If you have any problems with imaging this is the board to post that question.
- Accessing pale images. The example page used below, opened through the 'Irfan' program, 'color correction' and adjust the brightness, saturation, and gamma correction. You may have your own program for adjusting brightness and contrast. Here are the before and after images using Irfan. Click to see them at full size.
Names of the crew
Names of the crew and notes of other ships mentioned or visited can also be recorded. Crews and Ships Met.
To find the shipyard pages for other whalers
Link: Find your ship, & the full list of ships logbooks for OWW
Select 'view single page':
When the log book image opens you will see two pages. It is easier to read the details accessing one page at a time. Use the icons at the bottom of the screen:
You can walk through Alexander's log pages in chronological order. All you have to do is increment the number at the end of the link: page/2, page/3, page/4 etc.
Here is a log page that has been transcribed to help you to be familiar with the writing. Click to view logbook.
March 16th to March 19th 1899
Here is a transcription of the above log page.
| Simple transcription | Phrases of text bracketed |
|---|---|
| March 16 99 San Francisco | March 16 99 San Francisco |
| Thursday 16 Took Anchor at 4 P.m. and went to Sea with all hands in good order Ship under Steam the Weather Light from the S. by Compass so ends the day | Thursday 16 [Took Anchor at 4 P.m. and went to Sea] [with all hands in good order] [Ship under Steam] [the Weather Light from the S. by Compass] [so ends the day] |
| Friday 17 Calm weather Ship under Steam Course W. by Compass Crew Employed in Ships duty so ends the day saw one ship Lat 38-01 N Long 125-08 W | Friday 17 [Calm weather] [Ship under Steam Course W. by Compass] [Crew Employed in Ships duty] [so ends the day] [saw one ship] Lat 38-01 N Long 125-08 W |
| Saturday 18 Begins with the Wind from the S.E. vering to the E. with Rain Ship runing it Blowing Half a Gale Ships Course .W. by Compass so ends the day | Saturday 18 [Begins with] [the Wind from the S.E. vering to the E. with Rain] [Ship runing it] [Blowing Half a Gale] [Ships Course .W. by Compass] [so ends the day] |
| Sunday 19 Begins with the wind from the N.N.W. by Compass Ship Course W. Saw one Ship Standing to the S.E. all well at presant so ends the day Lat 39-21 Long 130- W. | Sunday 19 [Begins with] [the wind from the N.N.W. by Compass. [Ship Course W.] [Saw one Ship Standing to the S.E.] [ all well at presant] [so ends the day] Lat 39-21 Long 130- W. |
Start worksheet (top section)
If you discover any metadata in the logbook please enter it on this page. Metadata means 'data about data', barometer readings or temperature readings. See under 'Weather' at rows 32 and 33. For example, if you see that the temperature is in Celsius or Centigrade, that fact should be transcribed as metadata. This ship log works in Civil time, see notation on Start page of workbook: Thursday 20th May 1897: https://archive.org/details/alexanderst ... 6/mode/1up
[...]Started to steam at 8.20 AM steamed all day [...] at 5.30 PM so ends the day
Click on the worksheet images below to see them at full size.
Primary worksheet
Weather worksheet
Remarks worksheet
Here's a link back to the list of Alexander 1899 logbook sections for transcribing Log Pages for Transcribing - apply here!.
Warning: AUTOFILL function between worksheets.
Do not drag and drop the date or time on any of the worksheets because you may disrupt the autofill function.
If you are unsure that the autofill is in proper order you can check by pressing two keys on your keyboard.
You are certainly welcome to ask for help with this action.
The remainder of this topic is for you. Ask questions and share interesting discoveries with us to make these logs live.
