# What did the sailors on Columbus' ships do all day? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [September 14, 2015, 4:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-did-the-sailors-on-columbus-ships-do-all-day/731214 "2015-09-14T16:16:09Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 19\ **Page:** 5
**Author:** ![Ornery\_Bob](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/da6949/32.png) [@Ornery\_Bob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ornery_Bob)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2015, 1:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-did-the-sailors-on-columbus-ships-do-all-day/731214/81 "2015-09-17T13:36:34Z")
Constipation gets deadly when it becomes a bowel obstruction. Unfortunately, it doesn’t always work itself out. I was trying to find the account itself, but the best I could do was this: [Medical Arts on the Mayflower](http://www.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~mosmd/medart.htm) Remember that we’re talking about a diet of hard tack and salted meat. Not exactly fiber rich. ---
**Author:** ![MrDibble](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mrdibble/32/114_2.png) [@MrDibble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrDibble)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2015, 3:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-did-the-sailors-on-columbus-ships-do-all-day/731214/82 "2015-09-17T15:10:26Z")
> [@Kobal2](#): > > I mean, if you know goldsmithing you must know at least the basics of plain old smithing, right ? The one doesn’t really follow from the other. At all. Completely distinct skillsets. ---
**Author:** ![muldoonthief](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/muldoonthief/32/3188_2.png) [@muldoonthief](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/muldoonthief)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2015, 3:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-did-the-sailors-on-columbus-ships-do-all-day/731214/83 "2015-09-17T15:35:25Z")
> [@Procrustus](#): > > I would guess most of the crew were able to do more than one thing. The goldsmith was probably hoisting sails when goldsmithing wasn’t necessary. > [@Kobal2](#): > > Probably not, that’d be liable to fuck up his valuable hands and besides, tugging at ropes and scrubbing the deck is low-brow manual labour fit for the unwashed ; whereas goldsmithing was more of a bourgeois trade and social stratas were less permeable in those days. Right, most of the skilled members of the crew - the carpenter, the surgeon & asst. surgeon, the purser - while they weren’t officers, had warrants for their particular jobs, and were not required to do jobs outside their warrant, such as trimming the sails. They also weren’t subject to punishment by the Captain, so while a misbehaving able hand could be given a dozen at the grating at the Captain’s discretion, a misbehaving surgeon would have to be brought up before a court martial to be punished. ---
**Author:** ![Quercus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/7ab992/32.png) [@Quercus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quercus)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2015, 4:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-did-the-sailors-on-columbus-ships-do-all-day/731214/84 "2015-09-17T16:02:24Z")
> [@Ornery\_Bob](#): > > Constipation gets deadly when it becomes a bowel obstruction. Unfortunately, it doesn’t always work itself out. Well, I believe constipation can be deadly; I just didn’t think it would be deadly often enough to be a major contributor to mortality, compared to scurvy, yellow fever, malaria, infected wounds, even dysentery, etc. etc. ---
**Author:** ![Kobal2](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kobal2/32/20_2.png) [@Kobal2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kobal2)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2015, 7:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-did-the-sailors-on-columbus-ships-do-all-day/731214/85 "2015-09-17T19:45:48Z")
> [@MrDibble](#): > > The one doesn’t really follow from the other. At all. Completely distinct skillsets. Well, you know how to melt metal and shape or cast it and chip stuff from it and… I am not a manual/technical person :o ---
**Author:** ![arara123](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/41988e/32.png) [@arara123](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/arara123)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2015, 3:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-did-the-sailors-on-columbus-ships-do-all-day/731214/86 "2015-09-18T03:07:10Z")
Just wanted to mention for dopers who live close to the Ohio River, there’s a chance to tour replicas of Columbus’ ships: [http://thenina.com/schedule.html](http://thenina.com/schedule.html) and [Crew members aboard replica ships will tell tales of Columbus’ journey](http://journaltimes.com/news/local/crew-members-aboard-replica-ships-will-tell-tales-of-columbus/article_47d554b1-df87-5304-a92d-59acb23dc2e4.html) From a story in my local paper: “The Nina was built by hand and without the use of power tools, and is considered to be the most historically accurate Columbus replica ever built, according to a press release. The Pinta was built in Brazil and is a larger version of the archetypal caravel.” ---
**Author:** ![bonzer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/45deac/32.png) [@bonzer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bonzer)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2015, 6:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-did-the-sailors-on-columbus-ships-do-all-day/731214/87 "2015-09-18T18:45:59Z")
In the case of Columbus’s crew, I suspect that people like Cristobal Caro, the goldsmith, or [Luis de Torres](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Luis_de_Torres), the Jewish translator, probably did just sit around all day. There’s no evidence that they were trained sailors and their presence is readily explained otherwise. The actual crew surely regarded them as liabilities. Landlubbers forever under foot where you didn’t want them to be. ---
**Author:** ![robert\_columbia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e79b87/32.png) [@robert\_columbia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/robert_columbia)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2015, 8:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-did-the-sailors-on-columbus-ships-do-all-day/731214/88 "2015-09-18T20:26:19Z")
> [@Mr.Miskatonic](#): > > … > Physcian would also likely be a full time job with all the various ailments that happen on shipboard… Would the physician have had “office hours” so to speak, or would they essentially be “on call” 24/7 in case they were needed but could otherwise spend the rest of the time sleeping, reading books, etc.? ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2015, 8:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-did-the-sailors-on-columbus-ships-do-all-day/731214/89 "2015-09-18T20:30:45Z")
> [@robert\_columbia](#): > > Would the physician have had “office hours” so to speak, or would they essentially be “on call” 24/7 in case they were needed but could otherwise spend the rest of the time sleeping, reading books, etc.? There might well be “sick call,” but on a ship of course a physician would need to deal with any serious illness whenever it occurred. ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2015, 9:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-did-the-sailors-on-columbus-ships-do-all-day/731214/90 "2015-09-18T21:26:43Z")
“Let the sick assemble here, for to see the Doctor dear.” -Padeen in on of the Aubrey books. ---
**Author:** ![Washoe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/ecae2f/32.png) [@Washoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Washoe)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2015, 11:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-did-the-sailors-on-columbus-ships-do-all-day/731214/91 "2015-09-18T23:37:13Z")
So far nobody has mentioned recreational drug use. Did sailors at that time ever use alcohol or opium as a means of alleviating boredom and the inherent stresses of long sea voyages? ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2015, 12:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-did-the-sailors-on-columbus-ships-do-all-day/731214/92 "2015-09-19T00:00:43Z")
> [@Washoe](#): > > So far nobody has mentioned recreational drug use. Did sailors at that time ever use alcohol or opium as a means of alleviating boredom and the inherent stresses of long sea voyages? Columbus had wine on board but it was as the staple beverage instead of for recreation. It didn’t go bad like water might. (They had water too but that was to mix with the wine and for when the wine was gone.) I doubt the standard issue was enough for much revelry. Later on as was well known sailors often got a daily issue of rum, grog, or other spirits. ---
**Author:** ![Jim\_s\_Son](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e19adc/32.png) [@Jim\_s\_Son](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jim_s_Son)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2015, 1:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-did-the-sailors-on-columbus-ships-do-all-day/731214/93 "2015-09-19T01:43:53Z")
> [@UncleRojelio](#): > > Just think of what it would have been like for the crew of an English man-of-war on picket duty off the coast of Toulon during the Napoleonic era. These ships were crewed up to be able to man all the (100) guns, sail the ship, and still have enough men to make up boarding parties. 500 dudes with almost nothing to do, sailing back and forth, day after day, year after year. ``` Description of blockade duty in the American Civil War in James McPherson's "Battle Cry of Freedom"...."go to the roof on a hot summer day, talk to a half-dozen degenerates, descend to the basement, drink tepid water full of iron rust, climb to the roof again, and repeat the process until you are exhausted*, then go to bed with everything shut tight". ``` Only the chance of striking it rich kept blockade sailors alert and sane. The government and crew split 50-50 the proceeds of a captured ship. The captain got 7%, junior officers got less and the seamen split split 16%. In the fall of 1864 the little gunboat captured two runners unassisted within 9 days. Captain got $40,000, junior officers between $8,000 to $20,000 and seaman $3000. By contrast an Army private received $15-$18 a month. A blockade ship might participate in one or two captures a year. ---
**Author:** ![Jim\_s\_Son](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e19adc/32.png) [@Jim\_s\_Son](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jim_s_Son)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2015, 1:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-did-the-sailors-on-columbus-ships-do-all-day/731214/94 "2015-09-19T01:54:01Z")
> [@Jim\_s\_Son](#): > > Description of blockade duty in the American Civil War in James McPherson’s “Battle Cry of Freedom”…“go to the roof on a hot summer day, talk to a half-dozen degenerates, descend to the basement, drink tepid water full of iron rust, climb to the roof again, and repeat the process until you are exhausted\*, then go to bed with everything shut tight”. > > Only the chance of striking it rich kept blockade sailors alert and sane. The government and crew split 50-50 the proceeds of a captured ship. The captain got 7%, junior officers got less and the seamen split split 16%. In the fall of 1864 the little gunboat captured two runners unassisted within 9 days. Captain got $40,000, junior officers between $8,000 to $20,000 and seaman $3000. By contrast an Army private received $15-$18 a month. A blockade ship might participate in one or two captures a year. Oops, it was the gunboat Aeolus ---
**Author:** ![Kobal2](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kobal2/32/20_2.png) [@Kobal2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kobal2)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2015, 3:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-did-the-sailors-on-columbus-ships-do-all-day/731214/95 "2015-09-19T03:19:42Z")
> [@Washoe](#): > > So far nobody has mentioned recreational drug use. Did sailors at that time ever use alcohol or opium as a means of alleviating boredom and the inherent stresses of long sea voyages? Opium’s from China and in Columbus’ day there simply wasn’t any direct route from there to Europe and back - which means Asian goods were a rare luxury that had been marked up significantly by going through India, then Muslim lands, then Venice and/or Byzantium. Which is pretty much what Columbus was hired to address. So, no opium for Columbus’ deck monkeys. Alcohol’s more likely, there \*must \*have been some dude making pruno out of fish guts marinated in an old sock or something like that 🙂 (and here I’m using prison language deliberately : “No man will be a sailor who has countrievance enough to get himself into a jail, for being in a ship is being in a jail, with a chance of being drowned. A man in jail has more room, better food and commonly better company.” - Samuel Johnson). But I doubt they had an official partaaay supply or anything of the sort. As \*\*Colibri \*\*says ships of the era typically packed wine or spirits to keep the potable water from going stale or make stale water barely drinkable again but it’d be tightly rationed ; and in any event as Columbus’ first voyage took a whole lot longer than expected it must have run out halfway. ---
**Author:** ![Tamerlane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tamerlane/32/7602_2.png) [@Tamerlane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tamerlane)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2015, 4:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-did-the-sailors-on-columbus-ships-do-all-day/731214/96 "2015-09-19T04:33:51Z")
> [@Jim\_s\_Son](#): > > Only the chance of striking it rich kept blockade sailors alert and sane. The government and crew split 50-50 the proceeds of a captured ship. The captain got 7%, junior officers got less and the seamen split split 16%. In the fall of 1864 the little gunboat captured two runners unassisted within 9 days. Captain got $40,000, junior officers between $8,000 to $20,000 and seaman $3000. By contrast an Army private received $15-$18 a month. A blockade ship might participate in one or two captures a year. _Don’t you see the ships a-coming? Don’t you see them in full sail? Don’t you see the ships a-coming With their prizes at their tail?_ chorus _Sailors they get all the money, Soldiers they get none but brass. How I love my rolling sailor, Soldiers they can kiss my …_ [😉](https://mainlynorfolk.info/frankie.armstrong/songs/thesailorladdie.html) ---
**Author:** ![Sangahyando](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f14d63/32.png) [@Sangahyando](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sangahyando)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2015, 10:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-did-the-sailors-on-columbus-ships-do-all-day/731214/97 "2015-09-19T10:11:58Z")
> [@Kobal2](#): > > Alcohol’s more likely, there \*must \*have been some dude making pruno out of fish guts marinated in an old sock or something like that 🙂 (and here I’m using prison language deliberately : “No man will be a sailor who has countrievance enough to get himself into a jail, for being in a ship is being in a jail, with a chance of being drowned. A man in jail has more room, better food and commonly better company.” - **Samuel Johnson** ). Mind you, that guy was a highly self-opinionated old bugger. I’d be ready to bet that many individuals in the lower echelons of the Navy, found it a lot more tolerable than he could have imagined. ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2015, 12:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-did-the-sailors-on-columbus-ships-do-all-day/731214/98 "2015-09-19T12:57:16Z")
> [@Tamerlane](#): > > _Sailors they get all the money, > Soldiers they get none but brass. > How I love my rolling sailor, > Soldiers they can kiss my …_ > > [😉](https://mainlynorfolk.info/frankie.armstrong/songs/thesailorladdie.html) Do you read the same books as Patrick O’Brian? 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![MrDibble](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mrdibble/32/114_2.png) [@MrDibble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrDibble)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2015, 3:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-did-the-sailors-on-columbus-ships-do-all-day/731214/99 "2015-09-19T15:32:33Z")
> [@Kobal2](#): > > Opium’s from China No, it’s not. In the time period under consideration, it was cultivated [a lot closer to Europe](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Opium#Recreational_use_in_Europe.2C_the_Middle_East_and_the_US_.2815th_to_19th_centuries.29) than China (and was only introduced into China by Arabs anyway) . [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-did-the-sailors-on-columbus-ships-do-all-day/731214.md?page=4)