Sailorman Drives to Town: Schooner Days DCLXXII (672)

by C. H. J. Snider

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"I WAS mate in the Flora Carveth with Steve Taylor,'" said J. W. Bedner, of Belleville, who gave up sailing and made good at railroading, years ago. He is one of Redners of Rednersviile, where they used to build vessels and ship grain out of Prince Edward County seventy years ago. His comment was prompted by further reference to Bowmanville, and our old friend the Oliver Mowat, of which our younger friend, Percy Robertson, supplies yet one more good picture, in Whitby.

"Dolph Carson then had the Oliver Mowat and Joe Braund had the Wm. Jamieson. The three vessels were owned by Galbraith and McClellan at that time and there as a little friendly rivalry regarding passages.

"When I fitted out the Carveth I was struck by the absence of stores, no paint, no tar, no tallow, 2 or 3 fathoms of ratlin stuff, a bail of marlin and a hank of spun yarn, that was all. When I spoke to the skipper about it he said the owners were trying to sell her and would not spend a dollar on her. He said all we have to do is keep her going and make our wages and a few dollars for the owners.

"The sails were old and the halyards led through the blocks like a rope yarn over a nail. I am telling you this to show you the position we were in when other vessels went out, and Steve hesitated.

"One trip we went into Oswego on the head end of a hard breeze down the lake which lasted for a couple of days and kicked up quite a lump of sea.

"On the second afternoon we loaded and towed over to the breakwater. 'Make her well fast,' said Steve, 'for the weather looks dirty.'

"We cleaned her up and had supper and Steve and I sat on top of the house talking, when Dan Rooney entered the picture. He was lying a short distance up the breakwater and I think he had the Sophia J. Luff at the time. He said 'It looks as if we were in for the night,' and Steve agreed and the two went up on top of the breakwater to have a look at the weather and when they climbed down each man made for his own vessel.

"The first thing I heard was 'Single up your lines, strike the fly for the tug and get the gaskets off the sails. I'm not going to be the last one out of here.'

"There were eight or nine of us loaded and ready to go, just wanted someone to say when, and we went out like Brown's cows, as fast as the tugs could handle us.

"The wind had gone down a lot and it came on misty and rained and that knocked the sea down and we jogged away at it with the foghorns playing a tune.

"Steve said 'I'm going to get away from these fellows so keep her by the wind and let her go across to the nor'ard.' The others went west on the other tack.

"Well, we did, and when we picked up the north shore we were about half way between Long Point and the 'Red Onion,' South Bay Point light, and the wind was breaking us off. It soon cleared up and came out of the northward and gave us a run up the shore.

THREADING THE NEEDLE

"Steve took her in between Nicholson's Island and the mainland, the only time I was ever through there. Then we steered direct for old Port Darlington or Bowmanville.

"When we were getting close to Bowmanville, where we were bound, Steve began to worry about the Mowat. She loaded at Fairhaven the same time we loaded at Oswego and he thought she would be in ahead of us, having a head start of fifteen miles, but we were made fast and had the coal coming out of the Carveth in Bowmanville when Steve spotted the topmastheads of the Mowat coming across the lake.

"The wind was about northeast by now and she was stepping right along. Steve said 'We had better go down and take her lines and tell the boys to come along.

"By the time we got down to the light she was headed in and coming fast and carrying everything.

"'It is a wonder he doesn't shorten her down,'I said. 'He wants to show the owner how a sailorman drives into town.'

THE MASTER HAND

"Dolph had the wheel and brought her in about ten feet away from the dock and the lines started cbming ashore. The mate and one man at the forward timber heads, two men amidship with the tow lines, one man at the after timber heads and Dolph himself hove a line ashore from the quarter. He kept a couple of lines fleeting up and a strain on the others till those would again fleet.

"He kept her coming till she was up astern of the Carveth, then told the mate to take in his sails. Every I one had been drawing, until he got her stopped. Some trick. Some sailorman!

"We had had a good run from Oswego and I suppose the rest did too, but I don't think anyone would have left Oswego that night if Dan Rooney had not led the way."

Poor Dolph Carson was run down and drowned in Lake Erie later.

Capt. Dan Rooney is crisp and hale in Cobourg yet. Merry Christmas to him and Capt. Johnny Williams, Capt. W. D. Graham, Capt. Jim Peacock and all the other master mariners of schooner days who form our Evergreen Club.

ONE MORE OF THE MOWAT - This interesting picture of the OLIVER MOWAT was taken fifty years ago in the harbor of Port Whitby by Percy Robertson, a well-known member of the Royal Canadian Yacht Club.