Talk:Balclutha (1886)

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The photo currently showing on 1/25/06 is of Balclutha, New Zealand and not the ship Balclutha. I'd suggest pulling the photo from http://www.nps.gov/safr/local/balc.html

Cute. I already have a Balclutha pic on commons of the same name, now being masked by this one, maybe I'll just upload mine under a longer name. Stan 21:33, 25 January 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Irrelevant discussion on Gaelic naming of places in Scotland

I have removed the following statement from the article lede:

Clutha is the Gaelic word for the Clyde River near Glasgow, Scotland and Balclutha is the town on the Clyde which is Glasgow, where the ship was constructed.

as this sentence says nothing useful about the subject of this article (a ship). All it says could be true, and the ship could still have been named after the owner's wife's mother's cat. If somebody has a source that the ship was actually named after a town on the Clyde, then that should be stated explicitly and the source referenced. All else is speculation, and does not belong here. -- Chris j wood 15:41, 26 May 2007 (UTC)

Even the speculation is rather dubious. The are many towns on the River Clyde, including Dunbarton which was the home of the ships first owner. As it is usually the owner that names a ship, it is equally likely the reference is to Dumbarton rather than Glasgow. Alternatively it could be more mundanely named after Balclutha, New Zealand, as that country was one of the places the ship was built to trade with. It could have a play on all three facts. Unless there is a source somewhere, who knows. -- Waterstones 15:52, 26 May 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Crew Size

I would think the reason for the "Star of Alaska" having 200 crew instead of the 26 for the "Balclutha" would be of great interest. Does anyone know and willing to add that? Thanks.

• 26 crew members is normal for a vessel of this size. The figure of 200 includeds fishermen and cannery workers travelling to Alaska who would not be involved in the day to day crewing of the ship. Boatman (talk) 13:51, 29 January 2008 (UTC)

Also, the Balclutha is huge (I've been on it). To my naive mind 26 men wouldn't seem enough for such a ship. In really bad weather would they just strike the sails and hunker down for the duration? Thanks.67.161.166.20 (talk) 03:43, 29 January 2008 (UTC)

• A crew of 26 was the norm for a vessel of this size. At the end of the era of sail when there was increasing competition from steam ships, the crew size was reduced even further for economic reasons. In bad weather the number of sails was gradually reduced as the wind and seas increased. In a severe gale a small amount of sail was still set in order to keep momentum going and enable the ship to be steered. In a severe gale the decks were completely awash with water from breaking waves and a very dangerous place to be. Life lines/ropes were rigged to enable the crew members to hang on as they made there way to go aloft in the event of sail changes. The crew was divided into two watches (ie teams), one resting, eating etc and the other sailing and maintaining the ship. In very bad weather all the crew would be down below with sleeping and eating impossible and all available in the event of more sail changes etc Boatman (talk) 13:51, 29 January 2008 (UTC)