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| Whale ship masthead rings that held the sailors to the mast. |
Its funny how as time marches on, many memories flooding our minds have become some of the most treasured experiences in our travels. Now, into our third year on the move, Belize, our first vacation home outside the US lingers in our minds for our close proximity to the ocean.
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| Whale blubber pot. |
Early this morning I stared out the glass door to the sea feeling that same warm sense of comfort familiar from so long ago with the ocean at our door beaconing thought provoking gazes at the sea at every opportunity.
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| Blubber hook. |
The sea has held a mysterious attraction for sailors and land lovers alike since the beginning of time. On Monday, as we wanders through the Whalers Village Museum the passion for the sea was evident in every artifact, painting and representation of sea life.
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| Tools used in whaling. |
Whaling was big business in centuries passed. In today’s world and particularly in Hawaii, the love and the preservation of the life of whales is a profound aspect for oceanic devotees and the scientific community.
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| Replica of small whaling boat. |
Although the museum depicted the long ago whaling business, it was evident that today’s profound sense and love of the whale and other marine life is in the forefront of the hearts and minds of the people of Hawaii.
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| Pilot whale blubber. |
While at the museum we watched an amazing movie learning about the humpback whale, much of which neither of us had any awareness. Many of these facts are depicted in the following site.
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| Scrimshaw, which is the use of bones and teeth of whales and other marine mammals, was commonly made into a variety of items the sailors later sold at port for additional income. Also, there were many boring hours at sea and making scrimshow kept them busy. |
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| Scrimshaw picture frame. |
Please click this link to find an audio file of the actual sounds of the humpback whale.
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| Equipment used in making various artifacts. |
The humpback whales come to the Hawaiian Islands and also to Maui in December on their long journey from Alaska. We’re are only weeks away from their arrival, although we’ve heard a few have been sighted. We’ve spent many hours gazing at the sea hoping to spot them.
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| Sleeping quarters of whaling boat from early 1900’s. |
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| In getting close to these bunks, we could see how small they actually were, as short as five feet long and two feet wide, certainly inadequate sleeping space in today’s world. |
The prevalence of the humpback whale is much greater in Maui than on the Big Island so we’re hoping to see them before we leave in five days. At the moment we’re awaiting a confirmation on what may prove to be a pointless expedition out to sea in hopes of spotting whales. We’ll certainly post updates here in the next few days. If “safari luck” prevails, we may have whale photos to share on Sunday.
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| Ship octant and charting tool. |
Today, we share our photos of some of the memorabilia from the much maligned days of whaling in an era when extinction wasn’t given a thought. Sadly, whaling continues in many parts of the world with little regard for the likelihood of extinction of the whale, perhaps in the lifetime of this generation.
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| Sailors would make this decorative canes from whale bones selling them in port to supplement their income. |
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| A fiddle kept on the ships for entertainment for the sailors |
We’ll be back tomorrow with more new photos and an update on our possible whale watching outing.
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| Rigger tools. |
Have a lovely pre-Thanksgiving day. In my old life, today was the day I’d make eight to ten pumpkin pies rolling the made-from-scratch dough for the crust of each pie.
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| Actual photo of seamen on a whaling boat. |
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| This interesting chart depicts the income earned for various positions aboard ship after a four year period at sea. |
Each of our families or friends that came for Thanksgiving dinner was given a pie to take home along with containers of leftovers. I don’t miss making the pies but, perhaps, the eating them was worthy of mention.
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Photo from one year ago today, November 26, 2013:
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| One year ago today, we completed boxing up 40% of our clothing and shoes to give away when we’d accepted the fact that further lightening our load was imperative to avoid continuing excess baggage fees. More photos of the clothing we gave away are shown in this link. Please click here. |
In Ma'alaea I somehow managed on 3 pairs of shorts and some tees…never wearing the other 75% of what I had packed for our 2 1/2 week stay. I think the travel experience gets you thinking about what you really "need". Letting go is a very brave, big step. You shed clothes, but kept your sense of style just the same.
Dear Itztru,
I can imagine how easily you managed with three pairs of shorts and some tee shirts in Maalaea beach. Mostly, we wear our bathing suits all day except when we go out. When we traveled in our old life, we often brought along more than we own now in our three suitcases, one duffel bag and one computer bag.
Yes, you are so right! One may shed their inventory of clothing and still maintain a sense of style, when in essence style is about who we are, not so much as about what we wear.
Thanks for writing and have a wonderful day!
Warmest regards,
Jess & Tom