Posted by Robert Hill on July 27, 1998 at 18:11:40:
In Reply to: Re: The captin of Scarab posted by Jon on July 27, 1998 at 16:47:36:
I agree with everything that's been said in this thread. If the others
had asked the D's who was the captain, they would have said Dick, not
least because he'd been reading Knight's book at every opportunity
while Dot imagined herself in everyone's shoes or worried about
the housekeeping. I also have a vague idea that he may have got more
sailing parctice than Dot in Coot Club. But in practice they
would work by cooperation, not by giving or taking orders,
especially when they both had a lot to learn.
One of Rachel's original questions was "Why don't they go round
calling each other captain and mate all the time like the others?".
I would turn this round and say "why do the others do it?"
The Swallows have a father in the navy. They have been brought up
all their lives to be fascinated by ships, to keep everything
shipshape and naval fashion, to do everything in a
seamanlike way and to use the proper nautical terminology. They are
also a large family and so have more need for family rules and a
pecking order, to avoid squabbles and confusion.
Nancy would certainly want to make it clear that she was in charge
of the Amazon, and Peggy would be content to let her. The Amazons
would know that discipline is important in a pirate ship. And as
part of their keenness to show that girls can be as competent as any
boy, they would want to address each other like sailors, not like
land-lubbers.
These factors do not apply to the D's. Their behaviour in a boat
is more like that of normal people.
But I would add that we see little of them sailing within earshot
of the others. If we did, we might find them talking differently.