Mac McCoy

Review Mac McCoy

This book is a review of a book titled "How I Came to be a Sailor" that was written by our 2nd great grandfather, Knut Ketels. It was published in 1912 but has since been lost as a book. Thankfully, a rough copy of the book had been kept by his descendants and is included herein. Knut's book chronicled his adventures on the high seas from 1842 to 1846, leaving Hamburg, Germany and sailing to Valparaiso, Chile from which the ship engaged in trading various types of cargo and goods with the Pacific Islands and various South American west coast ports. At the age of 16 Knut started as a deck boy on a brig named Vigilant and returned home as 2nd mate on a larger ship named Templeton. He wrote about his experiences such as his time in a Chilean prison, visiting the Pacific Islands, watching French Marines battling Tahitians in 1844, falling overboard rounding Cape Horn in the winter and being shipwrecked on the coast of Ireland when homeward bound. Obviously, the authors are delighted that he survived.