Olavus Vullum Bjørnson Vestbø
A Sailor’s Reminiscences
from the Days of the Sailships
“This story of my experiences as a sailor, in my youth, in the proud sailships, will probably be somewhat different from all narratives of sailors that I have heard or read.”
Translated from Norwegian by B.C. Berge (Nephew)
Transcribed and edited by Ken Tannenbaum (Great-great-grandson)
Olavus set out from Norway as a boy, bound for the endless horizon. His voyages took him across the Atlantic in hurricanes, into the harbours of Jamaica, Boston, Copenhagen, and Rangoon, and aboard ships crewed by men of every nation and disposition. These are his accounts — 68 chapters of comedy and peril, written plainly, “as near as I can remember.”
The voyage, chapter by chapter
Choose a port
Prologue
Introduction
This story of my experiences as a sailor, in my youth, in the proud sailships, will probably be somewhat different from all narratives of sailors that I have heard or read. The…
Chapter I
The First Lessons
Chapter II
Coming Home
Chapter III
The Bay of Biscay in Uproar
Chapter IV
The Proud Captain
Chapter V
An English Man-of-War
Chapter VI
Captain – Able Seaman
Chapter VII
Punishment for Disobedience
Chapter VIII
No Holidays
Chapter IX
Dead Reckoning
Chapter X
Home-coming Celebration
Chapter XI
Youth and Amor
Chapter XII
To Archangel
Chapter XIII
My First Voyage to America
Chapter XIV
Boyish Carelessness
Chapter XV
Bill and his Negro Boss
Chapter XVI
Crossing the Atlantic in a Hurricane
Chapter XVII
Impressions of Bristol
Chapter XVIII
In Tropical Seas
Chapter XIX
Jamaica, Tropical Paradise
Chapter XX
Sailing in the Gulf Stream, with Scorpions
Chapter XXI
Worms in the sea-bisquits
Chapter XXII
Threatening Clouds
Chapter XXIII
Low Pressure
Chapter XXIV
A Fight for Existence
Chapter XXV
Ups and Downs of a Deserter
Chapter XXVI
Life in a Floating Coffin
Chapter XXVII
In Hamburg
Chapter XXVIII
A Pirate Crew
Chapter XXIX
Festive Days in the Slaveship
Chapter XXX
Two Dudes in Bordeaux
Chapter XXXI
Summertime in Norway
Chapter XXXII
The Navigation School
Chapter XXXIII
A Fishing Trip
Chapter XXXIV
A Fight with Tuberculosis
Chapter XXXV
Captain Sars of the 'Diana'
Chapter XXXVI
To India, in the 'Semiramis'
Chapter XXXVII
The Birthday of the Captain's Wife
Chapter XXXVIII
Off to the Tropics
Chapter XXXIX
Neptune - A Barber
Chapter XL
The Flying Dutchman
Chapter XLI
Rangoon, Burmah
Chapter XLII
Peaceful Hindoos
Chapter XLIII
The Pagoda
Chapter XLIV
Wise Elephants
Chapter XLV
Now Back to Europe
Chapter XLVI
A Seamonster
Chapter XLVII
Gay Copenhagen
Chapter XLVIII
A Memorable Voyage in the Baltic
Chapter XLIX
Sailing in Fear of Shipwreck
Chapter L
Longing for Sunny Seas and Tradewinds
Chapter LI
To Cuba for a Load of Sugar
Chapter LII
In Boston
Chapter LIII
The Wild Alarm Clock
Chapter LIV
The Atlantic Ocean in Fair Weather
Chapter LV
Careless Sailors
Chapter LVI
Harbors of the Baltic
Chapter LVII
With President Daae
Chapter LVIII
A Perilous Adventure
Chapter LIX
Sailing as 'Styrmann'
Chapter LX
Quaint Beauty of Shetland Isles
Chapter LXI
Brooklyn Gangstersof Shetland Isles
Chapter LXII
Mate’s Responsibilities
Chapter LXIII
The Dives in Brooklyn
Chapter LXIV
Second Mate Goes Mad
Chapter LXV
Captain on Vacation
Chapter LXVI
Lost on Manhattan Island
Chapter LXVII
A New York Crew
Chapter LXVIII
Homeward Bound
Also from Finnoybu · the novel
Salt and Silence
A queer historical romance reimagining the same voyages — a young Norwegian sailor at the close of the age of sail, torn between the woman he has promised himself to and the men who share his watches. Book I of the Finnoybu trilogy by E. A. Westbo.