Mayflower Part II

 The Mayflower departed for Southampton in July 1620 on board were twenty five crew, thirty six planters hired by Thomas Weston of London, 19 indentured servants (slaves) which weren't accounted for in the passenger list and six men which were part of the crew that were hired to stay for one year in the new colony.

    Upon arriving in Southampton the crew of the Mayflower began acquiring provisions for the upcoming voyage. The Speedwell was to meet with the Mayflower but hadn't arrived in port as of yet.

    When the Speedwell arrived in Southampton with her 37 (separatists) from the Church of England the Mayflower already had stores and provisions arranged and they began the process of preparing for their long journey.

   Emergency repairs on Speedwell’s hull were underway immediately.

 Captain John Smith of the Jamestown Colony in Virginia published a recommended list of clothing, provisions and equipment.

Clothing:

     Monmouth cap (watch knit hat)

     3 following bands (flat laced bands for the collar)

     3 shirts, 1 waste coat

     1 canvas suit, 1 cloth suit, 1 freezing suit

     3 pairs of Irish stockings

     4 pairs of shoes

     1 pair garters (ribbons to tie stockings just below knees)

     1 pair canvass sheets

     26 feet of canvas to make beds

     18 feet of canvas to make sea bed

     1 rug

     12 sewing needles

Food: ( 1man for 1 year)

     Beer (instead of water)

     2 barrels of wheat (1 barrel=36gal)

     ½ barrel of peas

     ½ barrel of oats

     2 gal vinegar

     1 gal aqua ville (strong liquor by distilling wine )

     1 gal olive oil

     bacon

     cheese

     sugar spice fruit

Hunting and weapons:

     lite body armor

     musket 5'6” long

     1 sword&belt

     1 bandolier

     20lb of gunpowder

     60lb of shot

Work Tools:

     5 broad & 5 narrow hoe's

     2 broad axes & 2 pick axes & 5 felling axes

     4 hand saws & 2whip saws & sharpening files

     2 hammers, 3 shovels, 2 spades

     Drills 2 Augers & 6 chisels & 1 piercer.

     2 hatchets & 1 frow (used for splitting wood for fence posts)

     1 grindstone

     assorted nails

 

Cooking:

     Iron pot

     Kettle

     large frying pan

     grid iron

     2 skillets

     1 spit ( to rotate cooking food over fire)

     platters, plates, spoons (made out of wood)

These were the equipment for each man going to the settlements.

The Mayflower and Speedwell departed in each others company August 5^th 1620, although work was performed on Speedwell she continued to leak and it increased to the point that the crew wasn't able to bail fast enough. The Speedwell signaled the Mayflower and both ships made for the closest port which was Dartmouth England.

   Once again repairs were begun on Speedwell, this took a couple of weeks and it was August 22^nd by the  time  the ships were able to make for a seaway.

    Once again Speedwell was taking on water and the crew wasn't able to keep up with the bailing and they made for Plymouth.  The decision was made to abandon Speedwell and crowd everyone 103 people and two dogs some chickens a few lambs and pigs and once again make for the New World.
    The thought has been conveyed that Speedwell's Master may very well been sabotaging the vessel out of fear of starving in the New World.

    They departed Plymouth England on a journey that lasted sixty six days. A baby was born, a crewman died, another was swept overboard, only to be hauled back in by a safety line.

    The dogs were for hunting one of them was a mastiff and the other was a English Spaniel Hound Dog. The other animals were for breeding.

   When they arrived they would build huts but also they would build a fort for protection against unfriendly inhabitants. This fort was complete with watch towers and cannon ports for defending the settlement.

   Captain Jones hired his cousin John Alden who was a cooper. A cooper made and repaired water tight casks and barrels. John was hired for a year. Absolutely everything was kept in water proof barrels, food, clothing and tools.

    Instead of returning to England John Alden stayed behind and married. His descendants became ship builders, building the clipper ships that fished the giant cod off of the Grand Banks      

   Later they built yachts both sail and power. They are located in Portsmouth New Hampshire. Their yachts are considered the best of the best.  Most cocktail table books that show various classic yachts contain more than one in their photo spread.

   I own a John Alden “ Caravel”. There were only 13 caravels built.  I own the 3^rd hull built in 1965, it was in the first group of boats built using fiberglass.

   It was laid up by hand by skilled Swedish boat builders in Sweden, the interior work was done in Plymouth England, custom crafted by hand out of red mahogany, the rigging work was performed in Ft. Lauderdale Florida.

   Her name is September Song, she is 41.6 feet long by 11 feet at the beam, 6 feet of swept forward full keel. There isn't a bit of rot or delamination on this vessel fifty years later.

   As this book is being published she will be starting a fifty year refit, Few of today’s yacht are in sound enough condition to  last fifty years much less start a complete keel up refit.

  

The settlers experienced a fifty percent death over their first winter in the new colony, many of today’s rich and famous can trace their family roots to the Mayflower.

  President: John Adams, Quincy Adams, Zachary Taylor, General Ulysses S. Grant,  Franklin D. Roosevelt, both of the President George Bush's, Vice Presidents Charles Curtis and Dan Quayle.

   Astronaut Alan B. Shepard, 1^st American in space and  fifth man to walk on the moon.  Orson Wells, Noah Webster, of Webster Dictionaries.

   ACTORS: Alec and Stephen Baldwin, Humphrey Bogart, Christopher Lloyd, Marilyn Monroe, Dick Van Dyke, Christopher Reeve, Bing Crosby and Richard Gere.

  Industrialist George Eastman  and Hugh Hefner.   Governor Sarah Palin, Civil War General George McCellan, Debra Sampson disguised herself as a man to fight in the Revolutionary War.

  POETS: Ralph Walden Emerson, Henry Wadeworth Longfellow, William Cullen Bryant and Cokie Roberts of ABC news.