Sailors know how to tie many different kinds of knots. Each one is good for special kinds of work. For instance, a sheepshank is made in a line to shorten it. Jim calls a bad knot a gilligan hitch.
Painting is something else that sailors do all the time. On one trip Jim painted the mizzenmast. For this job he sat in a bosun’s chair. You’ll see a picture of it on page 31. When he works high above the deck he always has his paint brush tied to his wrist. Then, if it slips out of his hand, it can’t fall and hit anyone below.
All the sailors get their orders from the bosun, whom they call “Boats.” That’s because the real spelling of bosun is boatswain. The bosun gets his orders from the mate on watch who gets his orders from the captain. The captain is in charge of everything. Seamen call him the skipper or the master or the Old Man.
The “Chief” (chief engineer) and his three assistant engineers get orders from the skipper, too. The firemen in the engine room help the engineer carry out the orders. When they are on watch, they look through little peep holes into the oil burning furnaces to make sure the fires are burning just right. They keep an eye on the steam pressure gauges.
At the same time, men called oilers keep every part of the ship’s huge engines and other machinery well oiled. On some ships there is a big piston, like the driving rod on railroad engine wheels. One end of it moves in a circle. The oiler has to squirt oil in a little cup at the end of the piston. Every time the cup swings up where he can reach it, he aims his oil can. He is very careful to aim straight. If he misses the cup, oil splashes all over.
No matter how careful he is, some oil does get spilled and spattered around. It is the job of the oiler to wipe it up and to polish all the brass fixtures, which he calls the brightwork. On deck, ordinary seamen polish the brightwork.
One man is in charge of all the food on a ship. He is the steward, and the cooks work under him, and so do the messmen who are the waiters and dish washers.
The radio man sends and receives all radio messages. He is called sparks.