Carry On, Mr. Bowditch

Nat has been attending school for a few years in Salem when he comes out of school and finds his brother Hab waiting for him. Hab wants to show Nat a new kind of ship, a Letter of Marque. The ship’s name is Freedom, and Hab will be shipping out on her as soon as she can leave the harbor. Father says that the new ships are being built because the war will soon be over. He promises that things will start to get better now, but they don’t. Prices continue to get higher and food scarcer until sometimes there’s nothing to eat but potatoes three times a day.

The war with England ends and peace is formally declared in 1783. Captain John Derby brings the news to America. Nat’s father explains that Captain Derby had to “crowd sail” to cross the Atlantic in only twenty-two days. He explains that crowding sail is risky and takes a lot of nerve.

Lizza asks if that’s how Father lost his ship, the Polly. He explains that wasn’t the case; his ship had been trying to claw off a lee shore and lost its “anchor to windward” (30), which means that the wind is pushing your ship towards shore.