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What is Oakum Strands?



The image above is a Stephen Hopkins painting, “Caulking a Ship’s Hull.” Oakum is a preparation of tarred fiber used traditionally for caulking the joints of timbers, hull, and deck planking on wooden sailing ships. It is forced between the seams using special caulking irons and hammers and sealed into place with hot pitch or a similar substance. The commingling of many separate and individual strands of oakum gives the strength to seal the seams securely.

At age 20, the author became a college dropout, living and working in Singapore. His dream of working on a sailing ship soon became a reality, as an opportunity to do just that happened, unexpectedly, one sunny afternoon in Singapore harbor. For the next year, Brooks learned via the school of life what he would never have learned had he stayed at university or in the USA. Due to his early childhood in Africa, he could integrate himself into the various cultural environments he encountered with curiosity and open readiness. His experience working on the schooner Four Winds further instilled in him an intense desire to see and interact with ships, the sea, and all the excitement and adventure that came with such a pursuit. Used as symbolism for the title of this book, ‘Oakum Strands’ demonstrates how the many experiences one accumulates in life build one’s uniqueness, character, and strength. The image is courtesy of the Ladd family at www.laddfamily.com.


11 pg 24. Oakum caulking material and tools. Image courtesy of ‘Maine Windjammer Cruises.’ Captain Rick Miller described this during our first encounter in Singapore when he emphasized the importance and value of good-quality oakum.


Image 51. pg 122. The strength of ‘Oakum Strands’. Caulking wooden ships is essential, and oakum is the best material. The quality of oakum depends on individual oakum strands that, when mingled together, give the necessary strength and reliability, which is the exact symbolism for this book title. This image is courtesy of sagerestoration.com traditional-oakum- caulking/products.


Chapter 11: Farewell Good Ship Page 121 - Stout Fibers

First-time sailors also learn that survival at sea depends on the quality of a vessel’s maintenance, the food and other supplies brought onboard, crew training, the captain’s capability to lead, and all crucial life- or-death decisions made along the way. These qualities must unite to form a successful whole—just as a superior line, lanyard, or rope is only as good as its stout individual fibers. This intermingling of so many strong fibers—especially those found in the oakum used to seal the deck seams and hull of a wooden boat—gives a seaworthy vessel its strength, character, and ability to stay afloat.

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