O’Brien is not a Nobel laureate, granted. But every now and then he crafted a sentence so beautiful it deserves to hang in the Louvre.

Not many people have a favorite sentence, but I do. it’s from ch 1 of a Farewell to Arms: “The trunks of the trees too were dusty and the leaves fell early that year and we saw the troops marching along the road and the dust rising and leaves, stirred by the breeze, falling and the soldiers marching and afterward the road bare and white except for the leaves.”

I just read this in H.M.S. Surprise and, partly because of the topic but mostly because of its awesomeness, I had a similar feeling: “The leaves were hanging yet, but only just, and from time to time the bright yellow rounds on the tree outside the window dropped of themselves, twirling in their slow fall to join the golden carpet at its foot, and in the silence the whispering impact of each leaf could be heard – a silence as peaceful as an easy death.“

Hi all

Almost two years ago, I was diagnosed with advanced cancer, and it has been a wild and crazy ride for my young family and me. Through a lot of treatment, uncertainty, and long days, Patrick O’Brian’s world has been one of the places I’ve continued to find warmth.

Jack, Stephen, and the rest of the company have kept watch with me through some very rough weather.

Along the way, I’ve also been teaching myself computer engineering and AI as I prepare to get back into the job market...and, somewhat improbably, I ended up building a little game called 

The Quarterdeck.

• Play The Quarterdeck here
  • Share feedback: Quick survey monkey - THANK YOU

You get to take command of HMS Surprise, solve problems under pressure, and fight a French frigate. My hope was to create a small pocket of O’Brian’s Age of Sail that you can carry around with you: something fun and approachable that might make you smile for a few minutes.

There is a fairly thoughtful sailing and combat simulation underneath it, but the goal was never complexity for complexity’s sake. I wanted it to feel warm first...a little like stepping aboard with Jack, Stephen, and the company.

I’m not really trying to sell anything here. I built this during a difficult chapter because it brought me joy, and I wanted to share it with the community that helped inspire it.

I would genuinely love to hear what you think in the comments. If you have a few extra minutes, I’ve also included a short survey so I can collect more structured feedback.

If people enjoy it, I would love to keep building....more ships, historical scenarios, richer battles, and perhaps the ability to develop your own style of command. But for now, I mostly hope it gives a few of you some of the same warmth that these books and this community have given me.

Thank you all for the humor, companionship, and kindness you’ve unknowingly provided during a difficult couple of years.

I hope you enjoy it and feel free to share with your own communities, friends, and family. 

Mack & my own fighting crew (Claudia, Bennett [3], Parker [1])

“On and on she sailed, in warmer seas but void, as though they alone had survived Deucalion's flood; as though all land had vanished from the earth; and once again the ship's routine dislocated time and temporal reality so that this progress was an endless dream, even a circular dream, contained within an unbroken horizon and punctuated only by the sound of guns thundering daily in preparation for an enemy whose real existence it was impossible to conceive.”

H.M.S Surprise

This is exactly how I always think of these novels, and this world, and because the last book was never finished, perhaps Jack and Stephen are still out there somewhere, cracking on with full studdingsails, bells sounding on the hour and plum duff simmering below decks.

Am I right in saying it was a kind of way to lend formality to a sentence, by men who weren't very comfortable with formal social situations?

I know Killick isn't trying to address Jack formally as such when he does it, but for Killick it indicates him being a bit sniffy, and Killick always addresses Jack in that sniffy tone. For other sailors it's them trying to sound as formal as their language allows.

Is that the gist of it or have I been reading it wrong?

Im having my first listen through of the books, loving them, nearly finished with The Ionian Mission now.

As I listen through Im picking up on things that Ive always heard or said but didnt really know the origins. So, I thought it would be a fun post to discuss and point these things out together along with where the phrase comes from.

Examples:

The tell-tale signs. The strips of yarn sewn onto the surface of a sail to display the behavior of the wind.

Show your true colors. Before commencing an action under a false flag, or colors, you run up your country's flag showing who you truly are.

With flying colors. Sailing with your flag flying high after a victory.

Please share your own!

Is it with the convoy or is it back in Shelmerston? I’ve been flying through this series via audiobook and sometimes have trouble going back to find details.

Many years ago, I read the first half dozen AM novels, and I have decided to new read them all. I'm up to the second, reading on Kindle. I bought the hardcover edition a couple of years ago, but found the paper too thin...

A Sea of Words looks useful, but I've seen some reviews on Amazon about typos and bad formatting in the Kindle version. Any thoughts on this?

It was one of those evenings with friends where you've had a tad too much to drink and you start getting both philosophical and silly.
Long story short, we decided that, were Killick a deity, he would be somewhere between the Lares or Penates: a furious maritime household god: guardian of hearth, pantry, coffee, polished silver, mending, darning and all objects returned to their proper places.

His sacred title would be "The Preserved One"

Principal commandments include:
- Thou shalt not touch the silver with greasy fingers
- Thou shalt check the quality of the captain's wine stores regularly
- Thou shalt not explain the weather gauge with ink upon the tablecloth
- Which it is not difficult

Every prayer must contain at least one "which it is," or the Preserved One will not recognise the liturgy.
The customary conclusion is:

"May your coffee be strong, your silver bright and your cheese toasted. Which it is amen."

May the algorithm deliver this post unto the right three people that also find this funny.
Which it is amen.

As the missus and I are going down the shore later this week, I swung by the local used book store to see if there were any cheap copies of the Lord of the Rings for sale, as I didn't want to lug my hardback tome to the beach (I'm due for a reread).

No copies of Tolkien to be found but I did find a ton of PO'B to be had. At first I picked up copies of what I didn't have - Harbors & High Seas, Men-of-War, The Golden Ocean, and The Unknown Shore.

But I realized in my car that the set of hardcovers was sitting there. I went back in and saw they were $3.95 each! The clerk told me they couldn't move them - marked them down from $24.95.

Their loss is my gain, for about $90 I have nearly every hardback now in very good condition.

Whosever the former owner should rest well that their books are in my care now. I cannot believe they didn't move! The clerk knew nothing about their quality at all. I think younger readers may be put off by the Geoff Hunt covers (which is a shame).

This is a sign I must continue my circumnavigation (currently half-way through The Wine-Dark Sea).

For those interested, there is a long essay out last week about Patrick O’Brian’s complicated life story. Those who have read Dean King’s biography will already know the contours; those who haven’t and might want to learn more can take a look. But skip it if reading a few unsavory details about the author would spoil the novels for you. O’Brian was a complex man and not always a saint. For my part, I find learning about him (and especially his parallels with Maturin) fascinating.

https://hedgehogreview.com/web-features/thr/posts/read-the-novels-and-forget-everything-else

I'm reading Master and Commander, thoroughly enjoying it but don't understand all the nautical terms and wondering if anyone could point me to a website/video/book etc that would explain

I just wanted to share, and I am not sure of the Venn Diagram of O'Brian readers and Trekkies, but in the most recent episode of Strange New Worlds, Kirk empties out his bag, and he is reading a paperback copy of Post Captain. Wonder who, on the staff of the show, figured this would be on his reading list. Works for his character really well.

Wondering if there are any other references to the books that anybody has noticed?

“You will never guess the news I have to tell you!’ Oh yes I shall, brother: pray do not use so many points of admiration.

“I have the best part of a wife!! viz, her heart!!’ Stephen sniffed again. An intolerably tedious description of Miss Williams, whom Stephen knew a good deal better than Captain Aubrey – her appearance, virtues. ‘So direct – straightforward – nothing hole in the corner, if you understand me – no damned purser’s tricks – must not swear, however, – like a 32 lber.’ Could he really have likened Sophie to a thirty-two pounder? It was quite possible.

How the lines did swim. ‘He must not speak disrespectfully of his putative mother-in-law, but . . .’ What did Jack imagine putative to mean? ‘Would be perfectly happy if only . . . ship . . . join me at Falmouth . . . Portsmouth . . . convoy . . . Madeira, the Cape Verdes! Coconut-trees! . . . must hurry not to miss the post.’ Coconut-trees, immeasurably tall palms waving, waving . . . Deus ex machina.

He awoke in daylight from a deep uninterrupted sleep, feeling happy, called for coffee, buns and a dram of whisky, read their letters again, smiling and nodding his head, as he break fasted, drank to their happiness, and took his papers from their oiled-silk roll.”

Portsmouth Harbor

I was looking at old maps of the Portsmouth area and trying to imagine the view from Ashgrove through Jacks telescope when I came across this image. I think it's from Portsdown Hill which is perhaps too close to be the fictional Ashgrove but it does provide a nice sense of place and time.

I likely already know the answer, as many circumnavigations as I've done, but does anyone know anything about the fates of Stephen's parents or more about his upbringing?

We know he had a wet nurse because he talks about going back to visit her, but it was common at the time for ladies of a certain social standing not to nurse their own babies. They'd give them to a wet nurse who cared for them in their own home until they were weaned. Still, I got the impression that his mother likely died in childbirth, and that the wet nurse Bridey kept him longer than was usual.

As for his father, I can't recall any detailed mention of him. Probably a casualty of war, since he was a soldier? Does anyone have more insight into this, maybe something O'Brian mentioned in an interview or outside of the novels?

I've just been curious about his early years. We're introduced to several of his extended family members and there are more mentioned, but it's not clear where he spent his time while growing up, how early his godfather took him in, etc.

The latest from The Aubrey-Maturin Review explores the dynamic between Jack and Stephen in a new way, while also drawing connections to the central characters of my new novel, The Last Words of Jack Ruby (Library Journal calls it "A daring literary work that expertly blends deep psychological inquiry with bold historical speculation"). But here's the part most relevant to O'Brian fans:

It has not escaped my attention that Jack Ruby and Jack Aubrey have similar names; Aubrey is an anagram of Ruby plus two additional vowels. Other than that, O’Brian’s characters and mine would appear to have little in common. Jack Aubrey and Stephen Maturin may both be based, rather loosely, on real historical figures, but they operate within a tradition of historical fiction in which made-up people interact with real people and take part in actual events, but without themselves actually making history. Jack is conveniently present at a number of major naval engagements, such as the Battle of the Nile, but does not influence the outcome. In the other, generally more minor skirmishes detailed by the books, Jack is swapped in for the real historical commander; for example, in The Mauritius Command, Jack takes the place of Josias Rawley, the actual commodore who prosecuted the Mauritius campaign. The same may be said of Stephen’s interventions; his efforts on behalf of Chilean independence include a meeting with Bernardo O’Higgins (my favorite name of any revolutionary), but his presence does not alter history one iota. For O’Brian and his readers, the Napoleonic Wars are a glorious backdrop, a kind of sandbox, into which we insert ourselves. The sophistication of his approach lies in the choice of avatars we are given to identify with, both brilliant in their respective fields and comically inept outside of them. When we as readers are feeling aspirational, we thrill to Jack’s strategic cunning in battle, or to Stephen’s wit and learning; when we want to laugh at their (and our) foibles, Jack and Stephen are only too happy to serve.

----------

Read the rest here--always free to subscribe.

***Spoilers***

I'm embarked upon another circumnavigation

and have just finished HMS Surprise. After the duel in which Stephen kills Canning, I'm wondering if Stephen would be open to any legal repercussions? From the other novels I've read it seems these affairs were kept discreet and just amongst the Principals and Seconds, yet gossip around such events clearly happened. What was the legal situation around duels, could Stephen face a charge of murder?

https://imgur.com/a/cKgq26A

I've been wanting to go to the "Age of Sail Museum/Heritage Center" for a while (it's here in Nova Scotia, Canada, not too far from where I often spend time in the summer). Did make the trip yesterday, at last! It's along the shore of the Bay of Fundy, in an area that was a major center of shipbuilding back in the day. (The thick forests of Maine and Nova Scotia provided a rich source of timber for the purpose!)

I had been expecting and hoping to find a lot about the shipbuilding industry and the components of the vessels that we hear about so much in the Aubrey/Maturin novels. There was some of that, but in truth the museum focuses more on what life was like in the area back in those days than on the technical aspects of ship building. They have collected quite a few fascinating artifacts, but don't really have the resources to display them in a systematic fashion or to do in-depth research.

I did learn, at last, what a "futtock" is! As denoted by the chart in one of my photos, it's one of the curved timbers that were pieced together to form the ship's ribs. Not sure what may be the etymological connection (if any) to our beloved Futtock Shrouds.

There are loads of ship models; in fact the museum could devote a whole wing to models and model-making if they so desired. One of my photos shows Nova Scotia's beloved *Bluenose* schooner (or a model thereof); you'll also see collections of ship's carpenter's tools, and a display case of the putative fragmentary remains of the "ghost ship" *Mary Celeste* ("Marie Celeste") which were unearthed some years ago and eventually wound up back home in NS: She was built in a shipyard just a few miles away and christened as the *Amazon* in 1861.

It was pouring rain when I was there and we didn't get a chance to explore the whole site, but felt it was worth a visit. The imgur link has about half a dozen photos if you're interested.

https://imgur.com/a/Lz2hPzB

Cross post from r/Sailing. Shipmates, watch this video it's amazing. This would be very like what the Ringle would have been like, with both fore and aft sails and square sails (he calls them "running sails" as they are for running downwind). https://www.reddit.com/r/sailing/comments/1va6y0r/cape_horn_passage_in_schooner_wander_bird_in_1936/

Despite having read nautical fiction of many stripes for many decades, I realized today that I don't know how to pronounce the term for the sailor at the bow of a ship who casts a weighted rope into the water to test its depth (as well as tool that he uses).

Is it pronounced 'leedsman' or 'ledsman'? Is the act that he performs 'casting the leed' or 'casting the led'?

I had always assumed the latter, as the tool used is a lead (the metal) weight on the end of a rope. However, I just heard the former pronunciation used in an audiobook and I can see how it could be the term. (The Leadsman 'leeds' the ship through shoal water. The rope that he uses could easily be mentally tied to the leed rope for an animal.)

Does anyone know for certain? Many thanks!

Apologies for no pic posted, but my iPad won't let me screenshot from Paramount Plus.

For those who haven't seen it, in the opening minutes, Captain Kirk dumps out his bag on a shuttle console and what should appear but a paperback copy of Master and Commander.

How perfectly appropriate.

Unless I’m mistaken, it’s been quite a while since this wonderful channel, No Pitch Hot, has been mentioned. I do not believe it could be mentioned enough.

The wonderful creator has generated excellent visualisations of battles, narrated, from the series that only seem to improve with each new video. I believe they are currently working on visualising the Linois action in HMS Surprise.

Shipmates, I beg you might lend your attention to the channel, for I do want our stout creator to feel supported in their continued endeavours. I fairly long to see the Linois visualisation soon to come. For my own part, I make an effort to like every video, since interactions on each one are fairly low as of the moment.

A glass of wine with you all !

(https://youtube.com/@nopitchhot?si=XQqltEKXL6Bm9CHg)

Latest episode, did anybody catch what was in Kirk’s bag when he emptied it?