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Shama, Ghana

First mate’s logbook

In the morning the wind was a gentle breeze from the land and we had good weather. At the beginning of the morning watch we sent the boat to the shore to fetch some firewood. We got a canoe with water on board at the start of the day. At the beginning of the forenoon we got a heavy trade wind from ENE to E with strong winds, some rain and a high sea. This caused the anchor to drag through the soil again so we dropped the second anchor but, even with two anchors out, we continued to drift away. 3 The length of the watches was measured using an hourglass filled with sand. Each watch consisted of 8 half-hour glasses, marked by bells. glasses later the wind decreased and the sea calmed down. We bought a female slave, No. 308. In the beginning of the afternoon the wind still came from E but it was a gentle breeze. We lifted the 2 anchors and dropped the stream anchor again. It was calm during the dog watches and 6 glasses into the watch the boat came back. The boat brought firewood but also the message that two canoes with water had capsized as a result of the trade wind. We lost 11 AumeA Dutch liquid measure of approximately 155 litersaumes of water as a consequence. Later at night it was quiet and the weather was good until the morning.