“Good. I didn’t have to tell ya twice. Now grab a stool and feed the goat sumthin’ and pay attention. I’m only going to tell ya once.” The Bosun
There are five basic steps. You can count to five, right?
Step 1: Prepare. That means you do what me and your petty officers tell ya. How we tell ya. And WHEN we tell ya. The commodore and his officers will be bellowing orders. But my job is to keep you one or two steps AHEAD of those orders. By the time he says the last word of that order, it should already be just about done. The exception is the “fire” order. But, that’s gunnery and for another lesson.
Step 2: Loosening the Sails. The lads stationed aloft untie the gaskets securing the sails to the yards. For you thick-headed types, here’s what I mean about being ahead of the orders. You need to be up there with your hand on the gasket when the last word of that order comes out of the captain’s mouth.
Step 3: Hoisting & Unfurling. You lads on deck haul on the halyards and raise the sails. The lads aloft help spread them out. The TAH-g’nts , TIS-tles, and MEN-sils first. For you johnny raws, that means topgallants, topsails, and mainsails.
Step 4: Trimming & Adjusting. Once the sails are set, you lads will be pullin’ and runnin’ the braces and sheets as we tell ya.
Step 5: Tie off those lines. And we go right back to Step 1.
The Bosun turns to go back into the Goat Locker and stops, “If I turn back around and yer still sittin’ on that stool, you’ll be peeling potatoes the rest of yer career!”