… A ship chandler, and I think that’s a pretty cool thing to be!
Back in the day, a ship chandler was the guy (I’m talking the “day” when not many women went to sea but I sure do think that’s a great idea for an adventure story! Hmmm) who was responsible for getting the stores filled up with the supplies that would ultimately saves the lives of every single member of the crew… Or kill them! He was the guy that found the vitamin C when the ship was in an unknown port! That person had to find all kinds of shit before the locals very gently, or not, asked them to move on. The chandler was sometimes the only person that was aloud off the ship, especially if the ship was a boatload of disease infested, toothless starving dudes! Wow, then it was up to the chandler to convince the locals that he was healthy enough to go out and find the supplies they might need after they got that all important vitamin C.
… And that list of supplies, was Pynchonian in scale!
Hemp, rosin, rope, turpentine, tar, pitch (resin), linseed oil, whale oil, tallow, lard, varnish, twine, cordage, oakum, tools such as hatchets, axes, hammers, chisels, planes, shit all the tools to build the boat that went overboard on the journey to… Wherever! Lanterns, nails, marlinespikes, boat hooks, caulking irons, hand pumps, brooms, mops, galley supplies, leather goods, paper, tobacco, RUM or whatever, and of course, water!
If you take the the Hemp, tobacco, rum and water out of the above list what you get is a list of the shit I sell and a huge percentage of that is recycled.
And that’s cool I think!