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Chapter 15: “Sail Ho-o-o-o-o!”
Themes
Key
LitCharts assigns a color and icon to each theme in Carry On, Mr. Bowditch, which you can use to track the themes throughout the work.
Hard Work, Perseverance, and Success
Safety and Responsibility
Risk and Reward
The Growth and Development of America
Courage and Grief
Summary
Analysis
Ten days later, the Astrea and her exhausted crew finally clear the mouth of the Strait. Captain Prince consults Nat frequently, even though the second mate’s mathematical point of view—he’s always thinking about the size of things, or the most efficient way to calculate ballast—seems to get on his nerves. Still, Nat’s certainty about the ship’s location—by latitude and longitude—helps them navigate the Strait in record time.
Earlier, Nat proved his navigational skills by more accurately predicting the Henry’s position than Captain Prince could do with dead reckoning; now he proves once and for all that scientific methods of navigation are superior to the traditional but inexact methods. This not only shows the rewards of his own hard work, but it also shows how modern methods can improve the safety of all seafarers.
Themes
In Manila harbor, the Astrea berths next to another American ship under the command of one Captain Riddle. He commends Captain Prince for navigating the Strait within just 15 days, and Prince, glaring at Nat, replies it’s a “simple matter of mathematics.” Nat catches sight of a marvelous canoe traveling under more sail than he believes possible, and Captain Riddle explains how an outrigger uses multiple hulls to give it stability despite its low profile.
Nat still sometimes struggles to communicate his ideas kindly with other people who aren’t as mathematically inclined as he is. And by claiming his feat is just a matter of math, he argues that anyone with the proper training and knowledge can repeat it. Science will make everyone safer, and increasing educational access for ordinary people will improve not just seafaring but society generally.
Themes
The Astrea spends six weeks in Manila, during which time Nat writes down notes about all the things he wants to tell Elizabeth when he gets home. And over the weeks of the return voyage, as he stands his watches and teaches the men, a small part of his brain stays continually busy, calculating the distance and the time between himself and her. While the Astrea sails south and west across the Indian Ocean, she meets another American vessel bearing grim news from home—American and France are at war, or nearly so. He warns the crew to be ready for action at any moment, should they encounter a French ship.
Many years earlier, Elizabeth suggested that Nat studied so hard to keep his busy mind quiet; now thoughts of her occupy much of his mental landscape. His eagerness to see her again helps him to look forward to his return with hope, even though he and the rest of the crew must face many dangers on the way.
Themes
But when danger finally comes, it’s not from an enemy ship. One night, Tom Owens stumbles to the deck shouting that the ship has sprung a leak. Lem dashes immediately towards the pumps. He—and Nat—both wish they faced an enemy ship instead; at least that danger would be fleeting. The leak will either drive them to an early harbor or continue to demand their energy all the way back to Salem Harbor—which is still far away. The men work the pumps day and night for weeks, until the blessed morning when they finally catch sight of Nantucket, then Cape Ann. The closer they get to home, the grimmer Captain Prince becomes—one miscalculation and they could sink practically in sight of home.
The leak reminds the crew (and readers) that trouble and danger abound in life. And because this isn’t a time-limited danger but an ongoing emergency, it calls on all the men to work together to ensure that they all return to port safely. Everyone takes responsibility for the lives and wellbeing of everyone else on the ship, and they do so without complaint, despite the grueling nature of the work. Captain Prince’s approach to the harbor drives home why he becomes so grim at sea: in the end, he’s responsible for the safety of everyone on board.
Themes
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The Astrea passes landmarks with painful slowness until they reach Bowditch Ledge. Nat remembers that he used to be proud to have a place named after his family when he was very young. Only when he got older did he understand that it memorialized a disaster. Thoughts of home fill Nat’s head. He wonders if Dr. Bentley stands on his lookout, if he’s sighted the ship, if Elizabeth has seen it from her captain’s walk. His heart starts to pound. The Astrea draws closer to the harbor and Nat wonders if Elizabeth will be waiting on the wharf for him, then tells himself of course she won’t be.
Bowditch Ledge clearly earned its name when a Bowditch ancestor of Nat’s ran aground or otherwise sank his boat there; the sea can be a treacherous place. But as the Astrea get closer, Nat struggles to stay focused on the sailing at hand, instead imagining the people he loves looking out and waiting for his return. The image of Elizabeth standing on the captain’s walk and watching offers a metaphor for courage: the last time she waited, her ship returned without her father. But she looks toward the future rather than trying to run from the past.
Themes
As Nat disembarks from the Astrea he immediately catches sight of Elizabeth waving excitedly at him through the crowd. A tall, handsome man stands beside her. The man introduces himself to Nat as David Farrel, a Salem native recently returned from his studies at Harvard. He tells Nat that Elizabeth talks about him all the time, but like a big brother. As he shakes Farrel’s hand, Nat mentally chastises himself for his romantic hopes. Elizabeth is only 17. He’s 24. It’s a simple matter of mathematics, he tells himself. It’s not meant to be.
The possibility that Elizabeth has other romantic interests tempers Nat’s happiness over seeing her again. He feels now, perhaps more than at any point in the book, the burden of his past. He’s much older than Elizabeth, and, unlike David Farrel, he never had the opportunity to go to Harvard. Readers understand by now that Nat’s self-administered education rivals anything the great university could have offered him. But because he stands at a turning point in history, Nat can’t yet trust fully in his belief that any man can make a success of himself; he still fears that the old hierarchies hold sway.
Themes
