6 WESTERNMARINER.COM AUGUST 2019 CANADA’S COMMERCIAL MARINE MAGAZINEDear Friends,
a letter from home
My Slop Chest
S
o you have your own slop chest”, said Sir Ralph
the Rover looking at a small plastic tote we got
from the attic during one of my clean-up op-
erations. Slop? Nothing in the tote looked like
something you would feed to pigs so I needed
more information. Sir Ralph filled me in. In the olden days
ships carried, in a little store, items that a seaman might
wish to purchase. No Walmart or Costco on the high seas.
What it would sell and at what prices actually charged is
part of the shipping regulations of many countries. Here is
the US statute:
(a) A vessel to which section 11102 of this title applies
shall be provided with a slop chest containing sufficient
clothing for the intended voyage for each seaman.
This includes tobacco and blankets, all at a price 10 per
cent higher than wholesale. Sir Ralph was looking at my
stuff in the tote. It contained gumboots, rain gear, spare
woolen socks, thermal underwear, Stanfield underwear
top (you know the one), a first aid kit, and a copy of Joshua
Slocum’s “Voyage around the World”. If I were to go back
commercial fishing, not likely, I would take the tote aboard
and I would be ready to go. The plastic tote now replaces
the old time sea bag.
Fishermen’s clothing is special in the sense that it has
a function: keep one warm and dry while allowing one to
work. Rain gear has got more lightweight and better since
the time of the old Black Diamond gear used by coal min-
ers and fishermen. Gumboots have got more comfort-
able and exist in various styles and colours. Gone are the
black slip-ons (no laces) called “Romeos” as are the yellow
“wristers” designed to keep jellyfish stingers off - where
else - your wrists. Styles and clothing change as the work
changes so the slop chest must also. But I guess warm
woollen socks must be forever.
When salmon canneries were scattered up and down
the coast the various fishing companies used to have a
store (“the company store”) whereby fishermen could pur-
chase their basic needs on credit against their catch. Rain
gear and grub were stock items but some companies also
issued little booklets of tickets marked “fuel only”, or “grub
only”. These were usually used at fueling stations. Giving
fishermen cash on the assumption they will only spend it
upon fishing needs is a dream. They might just spend it on
alcohol otherwise. Oh dear!The coastal salmon canneries have more or less disap-
peared along with the company store. The fishing compa-
nies no longer like to give out credit to individual fishermen;
vessel-owners are a different story. However, it is by nature
a secretive business, so who really knows what is going on
in the world of finance. The fishing companies in effect no
longer have a slop chest but will finance your operations in
exchange for an exclusive marketing arrangement. To fish-
ermen this means a lower price than from cash buyers, but
as the saying goes: there is no free lunch.
Slop chests are supposed to supply tobacco and blan-
kets. Believe it or not, many fishing boats are “no smok-
ing”. But the former practice had been to buy cigarettes
on the grub bill, making your vice a tax deductible item.
Rows between the no-smokers and smokers saw this prac-
tice disappear. Sleeping bags have mainly replaced blan-
kets. Hotel clerks no longer have to worry, as they did in
the past, about fishermen taking the blankets with them
when they check out. Folklore has it that this custom was
widespread but I doubt it. It makes a nice story.
Well, my slop chest, such as it is, is no more. Everything
to the thrift store. Sir Ralph and I wondered what my mod-
ern slop chest would now contain. Into my tote I would
put a cellphone and its charger, various devices to man-
age it, a PFD (“personal flotation device”) otherwise called
a life jacket, a first aid kit now containing those patches
for seasickness, sunglasses (polarized) and then finally a
sleeping bag and clothes. Other personal stuff would go
into the tote also such as books, camera, and some favor-
ite candy for comfort on those long wheel watches.
Most of the stuff in my old tote went to the thrift shop.
But Sir Ralph did give me something to replace the tote.
Borrowing an idea from the kayakers Sir Ralph’s gift was
one of those waterproof little yellow bags kayakers love.
Ideal for keeping your cellphone, camera and other junk
warm and dry. So in a sense we have come full circle. Slop
chests only exist on big ships. The fisherman’s sea-bag
which had to hold everything was replaced, in some cases,
with totes and plastic garbage bags. Now that old sea-bag
has become yellow, waterproof, trendy and full of things
an old seaman would not recognize. And I am sure if you
called it a slop chest not one in a hundred would know
what the hell you are talking about.Mrs. Amor de Cosmos