Letter, 1965

Earle, James (VFM 1063)

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Funding for digitization provided by Mystic Seaport

Dr. Mr McCarthy;

Sorry but I put your letter away so carefully that I couldn’t find it. My memory of baths is not too good. When the Morgan sailed out of Frisco there was a bath tub in the captains cabin just forward of the toilet, where the drawers and waste basin is now. I can remember my father sitting up in it with his head against the ceiling so it wasn’t very long nor very deep. There were two tanks in the space back of the galley, one connected to a coil in the stove for hot water. These were filled with a hose and hand pump from the roof. I can remember one occasion when they were being filled with fresh water much to my mothers delight. I can remember the cook making soap and a discussion of its merits vs the salt water soap from the slop chest. I can also remember a new member of the crew that shipped on at Durban washing himself in a bucket of water

as I looked down the foreward stairs. Anything forward of the tryworks was off limits for me generally. I can remember laundry out to dry when the wind was not too violent, sometimes under ?? overhead structure when it rained. Other than these few occasions baths left no impression. I cannot remember having a bath myself but I’m sure that something was done about it.

James Earle