The Captains Quarters

The Captains Quarters  –  24 x 36

We have climbed the gangplank and boarded the Charles W. Morgan.

Towards the bow of the vessel, just to the right of the great steering mechanism at the helm, there is a narrow winding passage of stairs leading down below the main deck and into the Captain’s quarters. On the right is a room that slants into the bow of the ship, with an elegant sweep of a settee with room enough for a Windsor chair and a small writing desk. Step down and through a doorway to the left and you enter this chamber.

The private sleeping quarters for the captain…a separate cheerie little chamber having been built for at least one of the captain’s wives up on the main deck where she could be relieved of her claustrophobia and seasickness.

The Mystic Seaport Museum has a sign hanging on the other side of that louvered door on the left …

See at the very end there, where it describes the “gimbaled bed”.

That was a fun thing to paint. It looks funny without legs, and I kept wanting to make it level but that’s how it rolls.

What drew me to spend a few weeks inside this chamber was the light. For a dark and close space, this room was filled with many sources of light bouncing within. I found it a happy place to be but I have seen Master and Commander, many many times, and I’m not sure I would have been cut out to sleep anywhere in that ship…
during a storm…
on the high seas.