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Sailing
On September 28, 1787, The Lady Washington dropped anchor in Boston harbor (Scofield 57). She was provisioned at Hancock's
Wharf at the northern end. There she was joined by Columbia Rediviva and both ships were towed to the
heart of Boston harbor. They received their final supplies such as meat and fresh vegetables as well
as any lingering cargo. When ready to depart, they were towed to the deserted British fortress isle,
"the castle" (Scofield 58).
The Americans knew next to nothing about the preferences of the Northwest coast when it came to trade
goods. Barrell and his group studied what they could of Cook's voyages which gave very little indication (Scofield 46).
18 Rat traps
19 Egg Slicers
180 Necklaces
168 Earrings
92 lb. Beads
449 Mirrors
78 Snuff bottles
273 Jews Harps
600 Sail Needles
"skillits, potts and kettles, Brass tobacco Boxes, pint Basons, hatchetts" (Scofield 46) and many other
sundry items like a, "New England general store" (Scofield 46).
On October 1, 1787 Lady Washington and her flagship left Boston Harbor for the unknowns of
the northwest (Scofield 64). In the early weeks at sea, discord began brewing on the Columbia. The
officers of both vessels were hand picked by Barrell and his associates, and often did not get along (Scofield 66).
They stopped at the Cape Verde islands where they met a few other ships (Scofield 66). Kendrick took
some livestock on board Columbia, including "two bulls..a cow...three hogs, three sheep
and 140 goats" (Scofield 67). Most likely Lady Washington took on a few as well but that is unclear.
One of the goats became an especial favorite to the Lady's captain and was dubbed "Nancy" (Scofield 67).
Gray and the Lady Washington became increasingly frustrated at the flagship's pedantic pace. Kendrick
continually stopped for water and supplies and his officers were on the point of mutany (Scofield 70). The Lady
and her crew tried to stay out of it but soon officers from Columbia began deserting her to get away
from Kendrick. About ten days away from Cape Verde (Scofield 70), Kendrick's first mate Simeon Woodruff complained
about the Captain in front of the entire crew and Kendrick, drunk at the time most likely, roared back and
said Woodruff should, "no longer consider himself Columbia's first mate" (Scofield 70). The next thing Lady
Washington's crew knew, Woodruff came over in the middle of the night with an enraged Kendrick blustering
about. Papers arrived on the Lady for Woodruff to sign, presumably regarding pay.
Woodruff would not touch them and Gray continued to stay clear of the situation. The excitement on
Lady Washington must have been at a fevered pitch as insults and demands went back and forth between Kendrick
and Woodruff for a good part of the night. Kendrick even wanted his former first mate to spend the night on
the deck, despite the bad weather (Scofield 71). After the uproar, the next morning Woodruff left entirely, presumably
making his way back to Connecticut.
After wasting nearly fourty-one days fiddling at St. Jago, even the unflappable Gray began muttering about
Kendrick's slow pace. He sent a letter back to Barrell about the crawling progress. Kendrick continued to
get them into trouble, even nearly beginning a war with the governor of the island when he would not return
one of the deserters. Kendrick nearly dueled with a group of Portuguese soldiers, and were it not for his
companion Ingraham, the Lady and Columbia might not have made it out of the port. As it was, they left in
such a hurry that the Columbia lost an anchor during the race to leave (Scofield 72).
The situation on the Lady was stable, other than everyone becoming more and more fed up with Kendrick's pace.
He had his own problems, one of his crewmembers went insane, another committed suicide and "drowned" (Scofield 73).
The crew was picking up on this and Kendrick gave them more and more "Licure" (Scofield 74) to keep them happy but
instead just made them more disorderly.
The Lady was dragged into the conflict once again, when another officer sought haven from the disorder of
Columbia. Robert Haswell had seen a sailer refuse to obey a direct order so he dragged him on deck by
the collar. The sailor swore at Haswell to such an extent that the officer slugged him. Things got ugly,
and when the first mate appeared on the scene he blamed Haswell. Kendrick showed up and punched Haswell,
threatening "to blow Haswell's brains out" (Scofield 75). The two of them didn't speak for weeks and Haswell retreated
to Lady Washington.
By the time they reached the Horn, Gray and the others on the Lady were all too happy for a chance to get away from
Columbia. They had not even reached the Northwest coast and already the crew's moral was almost nonexistant.
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 Painting by Gordon Miller
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