Welcome on board the Alaska (Bark) of San Francisco. Mastered by Charles W. Fisher, W.T. Macomber, B.B. Worth, and George W. Porter, on voyage from 4 Dec. 1890-8 Nov. 1891
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...
Tip: use ctrl+Pgup or ctrl+PgDn to quickly swap between the different worksheets as you move through start, primary, weather, and remarks worksheets to record your findings
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 Alaska's log pages in chronological order. All you have to do is increment the number at the end of the link: page/
4/mode/1up, page/
5/mode/1up, page/
6/mode/1up etc.
Here is a log page that has been transcribed to help you to be familiar with the writing.
August 11th to and including August 13th, 1891
You can check for more help with reading the text in the topic
Handwriting Help and Spelling
Here is a transcription of the above log page.
| Simple transcription | Phrases of text bracketed |
Tuesday Aug 11th 1891
This day commenced with clear wea
ther and light winds from North
West, ship by wind under all sail
St Paul barring South East about
20 miles off, middle and later part
the same. At 6 A.M Man of War
Marrion boarded ous, At
5-30 P.M, spoke Barque Her
man, one whale this season
So ends this day.
| Tuesday [Aug 11th 1891]
This day [commenced] with [clear] wea
ther and [light winds from North
West], ship by wind under all sail
[St Paul] [barring South East] about
[20 miles off], [middle] and [later part]
the [same]. [At 6 A.M Man of War
Marrion boarded ous], [At
5-30 P.M, spoke Barque Her
man], one whale this season
So ends this day.
|
Wednesday, Aug 12th
This day commenced with clear
weather and light sinds from
West, ship under all sail, steer-
ing North East, At 1-30 P.M
raised Right Whale, going
East South East, Mr Pease went
on, and darted but did not get
fast, At 8-30 P.M Taking in
light sail steering by wind
So end this day
Lat 57 12, Long 167 38 | Wednesday, [Aug 12th]
This day [commenced] with [clear]
weather and [light winds from
West], ship under all sail, steer-
ing North East, At 1-30 P.M
raised Right Whale, going
East South East, Mr Pease went
on, and darted but did not get
fast, At 8-30 P.M Taking in
light sail steering by wind
So end this day
[Lat 57 12, Long 167 38]
|
Thursday Aug 13th
This day commenced with clear
weather, and light wind from West
steering by wind, ship under all
sail At 6 A.M raisd Right Wh-
ale, lowered with out success
Whales going quick to North -
North West. One steamer in sight
So ends this day.
Lat 57.26 Long 167.12
|
Thursday [Aug 13th]
This day [commenced] with [clear]
weather, and [light wind from West]
steering by wind, ship under all
sail At 6 A.M raisd Right Wh-
ale, lowered with out success
Whales going quick to North -
North West. One steamer in sight
So ends this day.
[Lat 57.26 Long 167.12] |
Notes:
- The comments 'ship under all sail' on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday, and 'Taking in light sail' on Wednesday would be entered in the Three Sailing Terms column on the Primary sheet of the transcription workbook if the ship had reported ice during that day's log entry. There is no report of ice therefore these sailing terms may be noted in the Remarks sheet if you wish to do so
- The ship works on Civil time (starts and ends at midnight):
June 18th Day commenced [...] at 9.30 AM [...] at 2 PM [...] at 7 PM [...] So ends this day
- The word 'barring' in the Tuesday entry is a the word 'bearing'
- The latitude and longitude observations have no time specified by them. They therefore require a line with no time specified. The Time column may be left blank, or you may enter 'NTS' (No Time Specified)
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.
Click on the worksheet images below to see them at full size.
Start worksheet
Primary worksheet
Weather worksheet
Remarks worksheet
Here's a link back to the list of Alaska 1890-1891 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.
