Out at Sea

Two summers ago I went to Mystic, Connecticut. We visited the Mystic Seaport which is a port with museums, fun activities, and whaling boats! As I come to the nautical part of my book I am brought back to Mystic Seaport for some nautical knowledge. I came across Captain George Comer, who was a foster kid! and Captain, (first set sail at age 17), and anthropologist (extensively studied the Inuit!) All three fit my book. 

http://www.mysticseaport.org/index.cfm?fuseaction=home.viewpage&page_id=0E0A66FA-65B8-D398-73AF33D5C768027A

Captain George Comer: By the Numbers

Some of the amazing statistics Comer accumulated during his 14 Arctic voyages:

Typical voyage length: 27 months Total time away from home, 1875-1919: 23 years Number of surviving journals and notebooks: 30 Number of photographs taken: 300 Number of sound recordings made: 65 Number of Inuit artifacts collected for museums: 4,000 Number of plaster life masks made: 300 Close calls: 2 shipwrecks, 2 near-drownings and 1 attempted shooting

Details about the schooner Era's voyage to Hudson Bay, 1903-05:

Number of crew members: 20 In pounds, amount of bread brought along: 21,803 In pounds, amount of coffee brought along: 1,900 In pounds, amount of sugar brought along: 1,982 In Fahrenheit, coldest temperature registered during their stay in Hudson Bay: -53 degrees In feet, thickness of ice measured: 6' 3" Another helpful site is this one I came across early one morning. The Bounty Blog that follow Tall Ship Bounty on an adventure sailing this summer along the East coast from Florida, above Nova Scotia.   https://sites.google.com/site/tallshipbountysails/blog?offset=10 To help know the tides... http://tidesandcurrents.noaa.gov/station_info.shtml?stn=8518750%20The%20Battery,%20NY And, in case I want my characters to hitch a ride on some cargo http://www.panynj.gov/port/ocean-shipping-schedules.cfm A  live view of Nanasquan Inlet, NJ to get the feel of the ocean as I am writing http://www.surfchex.com/manasquan-web-cam.php