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Shama, Ghana

First mate’s logbook

A gentle breeze came from WSW in the morning. We had good weather. At dawn we had the fortress of ShamaGhana Fort St. Sebastian NW½N from us. We saw a A type of sailing vessel with three or more masts having the foremasts rigged square and the aftermast rigged fore-and-aft. barque that sailed passed us. In the forenoon the wind was a gentle breeze from the SW and we got 2 canoes with water on board and assembled a barrel. We applied resin to the masts and yards and the rampart of the main and fore rigging and we adjusted the inner jib. In the afternoon the wind was a stiff breeze from SW and our mooring bower went back to 6½ 1 fathom = 6 feet (170 cm) fathom of sticky ground. We had the fortress WNW from us. Later at night, at the end of the first watch, we got a heavy trade wind from S and also from NE to SE with hard winds, rain and thunder. This caused the mooring bower to be dragged through the mud, so we dropped the stream anchor and remained there until morning.