OIL PAINTING

No matter how detailed the sketch, when color is added the feeling of balance changes - and as complexity increases, new problems arise. The angle of Resolution itself has been subtly changed along with changes in her sails. In the foreground, the sailor passing down the t'gallant yard has been dressed in oilskins. Actually, the foul-weather gear of sailors were not oilskins at all, but jackets and pants made from old sail, well covered in tar-like paint. Aloft in temperate and tropical climates, well-calloused bare feet were far safer than wet leather shoes.

 

 

GRAPHITE DRAWING

The view from onboard the Discovery shows the Discovery's main t'gallant yard being passed down to deck. The Resolution struggles with split fore and main topsails, as wind and wave rise alarmingly under the flash of lightning.

 

 

 

  

The Storm that Killed a God
by
Raymond A. Massey

On February 4th, 1779, HMS Resolution and HMS Discovery departed from Kealakekua Bay and stood out to sea. The two ships were followed by large numbers of canoes as the Hawaiians gave their farewells.

For Captain James Cook the sadness of departure must have been mixed with a certain amount of satisfaction, for his policy of fair but firm treatment of the islanders had proved to be the best policy. If matters could have been left as they were, history might have followed a different path. But as the Resolution and Discovery sailed northward, along the Kona Coast, the weather conspired for a different outcome.

It was Cook's plan to sail northward, chart the coast, and then set a course for the eastern side of Maui. Lieutenant William Bligh was sent into Kawaihae Bay is the pinnace (ship's boat) in search of a good anchorage and an easy place to take on fresh water. While Bligh was returning to the ship, the weather began to turn foul with high gusts of wind. Bligh was able to save on old Hawaiian woman and two Hawaiian men whose canoe had capsized in the heavy seas and he brought them aboard the Resolution.

From this point on the various accounts of the next few days do not totally agree with one another. This is no doubt due to the fact that no one was keeping a daily account in their journals due to the violent movement of the Resolution and Discovery and the difficulty of keeping pen, inkwell, and journal in any reasonable proximity to one another as the huge gravitational forces came and went.

The account from the Discovery states that after visiting Hawaiian Royalty left the ships,"... a heavy gale came on, with thunder, lightning, and heavy rain. We wore ship, and continued working off the land all night, and soon lost sight of the Resolution, who, as well as ourselves, continued beating about the island for seven days in succession, in dread every moment of being wrecked upon the coast."

On board the Resolution, the various accounts tell of shortening sail down to courses and reefing topsails, then of the foretopsail splitting and a little later of the main topsail splitting. The Resolution sent down her t'gallant yards so as to reduce weight and windage aloft in the high winds and seas. Meanwhile the Discovery, being a smaller vessel and thus more vulnerable to the large seas and high winds, would have sent her t'gallant yards down sooner.

In the sketch I have shows the main t'gallant tops of the Discovery as a hand (sailor) signals for the men on deck to lower away the t'gallant yard. The procedure was to attach the t'gallant yard to the weather backs stay so that it could slide down the stay without gyrating wildly and causing damage.

Meanwhile, is the middle ground of the painting, the Resolution is fighting her own battle, as her crew struggles to secure the split fore topsail before it thrashes itself to pieces. While on the mainmast, the main topsail has just this second come apart. Sailors are climbing up the weather rigging to bring it under control. In the far distance a lightning flash freezes time in this struggle between man, his vessels and the sea.

As the storm worsened, the Discovery and Resolution separated on different tacks and lost sight of each other in the foul weather and coming night. Following this storm, there was a lull and then a second storm after which the Resolution and Discovery found each other. A seriously damaged foremost of the Resolution, forced the two ships back to Kealakekua Bay for repairs.

The damage to the Resolution's foremost, most certainly had it's beginnings with this first storm as the ripped fore t'sail flogged and shook the mast in a most vicious way. Either way, the Resolution was forced back to Kealakekua Bay and the terrible fate that awaited Captain Cook. The festival of Lono had passed. Cook and his ships were no longer welcome, as Cook was so longer considered a god.

-Raymond A. Massey