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Careening Yer Vessel Buccaneer-Style

by Michael MacLeod

Careening was a chore dreaded by mariners (and especially buccaneers), but it was absolutely essential to the well-being of any wooden ship. It was the laying of a ship on it's side for repairs and cleaning. The typical buccaneer had no great affection for his ship, but his success and survival was very dependant on a fast vessel.

Careening (from the Latin word carina, meaning a "ship's keel") was necessary due to two main reasons (other than usual wear and tear); the teredo or shipworm, and bottom-fouling. The ships were vulnerable to the teredo, a voracious worm-like mollusk, which bored into exposed wood below the waterline. Even the stoutest oak could be turned into a spongy mass in a matter of weeks. Because they attacked the outside of the hull this dangerous weakening could go undetected, until a section of the hull failed disastrously.

Another problem to be contended with was the accumulation of barnacles, sea grass, algae, seaweed, muck, etc. on the ships bottom. These bottom fouling marine growths could greatly reduce a vessels speed; and speed could mean the difference between life and death to a pirate. This was important both in capturing prizes (No Prey, No Pay!), and in escaping from enemy man-o'-war.

When it came time to careen the vessel (which was needed three to four times per year in the warm tropics), they would first find some secluded anchorage where they would be safe from enemy attack, as they were quite helpless while their vessel was laying on it's side. Pirates preferred small, fast, shallow draft vessels such as sloops, pinnaces (lugger-rigged sloops), and small schooners. Their small size made it much easier to hide them when careening- time came, as they could go into shallow coves and other areas, where larger vessels didn't dare venture. Additionally, the small ships were easier to turn on their sides, being lighter in weight.

They would then lighten ship, removing all the cannon, ballast, cargo, etc. The crew would set up an encampment on the shore and a small fortification would be built to house the cannon in case of attack. The vessel would then be run in close to shore during high tide. As the tide went out the ship would run aground and settle on one side. This only worked in areas that had strong tides and a sandy or muddy bottom (letting your vessel run aground on rocks was not a good idea!). Otherwise the vessel was anchored close to shore. The gun ports and other openings would be battened down to keep the ship from flooding. Ropes were attached to the ships masts and run either to trees on the shoreline or attached to the deck of a nearby anchored vessel. The ship was then pulled over on her side using careening pullies. To prevent a ship from overturning when careening, and to help bring her back upright after a careening, they used two strong tackles called relieving tackles. They would pass cables under the ship's bottom to the opposite side where they were anchored to the lower gun ports. A raft would then be constructed alongside for the caulkers to work from. Torches would be lit and used to soften the old pitch and help burn off the barnacles, seaweed, muck, etc. which had accumulated on the bottom. This was called breaming, and was made easier because the bottom coatings were highly flammable. The bottom planking would then be thoroughly scrapped.

Afterwards, the seams between the planks would be stopped up by hammering oakum (a mixture of ground-up hemp rope and tar) into them, then filling them with hot melted pitch, which kept the seawater from rotting the oakum. The hulls were often coated with a mixture of pitch, tallow, and sulphur. This was to help the hull slip easier through the water, as well as helping to poison and destroy the marine worms which attacked the hull. As an added protection, sometimes a sheathing of thin planks was sometimes nailed over the coated hull then tarred over. This was often done on English and French vessels. Finally, the hulls were painted, usually black with a yellow or white stripe across the gun ports and yellow or orange below the water line.

Another method of protecting the hull was covering the bottom with large-headed scupper nails, which quickly oxidized in sea water forming a kind of protective shell. Copper sheathing was introduced after 1760 but was used only on larger vessels because of it's high cost.

After one side of the vessel was finished the ship would be heeled over and the process repeated. When finished, they would loose the careening pullies to right the ship, any accumulated water pumped out, all ballast and cannon reloaded, and her rigging put ship- shape. She was then ready for sea again.

Sometimes, when there wasn't time or a good location to do a proper careening, they would use a method called "boot-topping". While anchored in still water, they would heave all the cannon, cargo, and everything else not nailed down, to one side of the vessel. This would cause the ship to lean over, exposing part of the hull below the waterline. They would then scrape the exposed areas of the hull, and re-tar them. The scraping was done using a special scrubbing-broom called a "hog". A ship's boat would be tied up next to the hull, then the hog would be thrust under the bottom using it's long handle. Two ropes attached to each end of the brush would be used, along with the handle, to guide it along scrubbing the side of the vessel. Everything was then shifted to the other side, the ship leaned the other way, and they again scraped and retarred. This was not very satisfactory, as they were only able to clean part of the hull below the waterline. Boot- topping was done only as a stopgap measure.

Wooden ships have always required a great deal of maintenance to keep them ship shape. Buccaneers who neglected their ship might find themselves visiting Davey Jones, much sooner than they expected.