Hopefully, sailing today is safer than the situations those deckhands faced back then! Those guys were practically
disposable, and it sounds like the equipment was rarely in good (safe) shape. (The book I'm reading, by the way, is The Last Grain Race (1956) by Eric Newby.)
I've only done
one crossing -- North Atlantic, via schooner going the "wrong" way. By every single measure, it was a playful holiday compared to life on a commercial square-rigger. The only similarity: we used the same Swedish watch system described in the book. Which I hated. Would MUCH prefer 4 hours on, 8 off!
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I'm glad you found the forum useful while ashore. This community has made a fantastic resource.