Yep, need help with some backstories. Basically I need to know what you'd have to start out doing if you wanted to become a sailor, merchant or navy, in the 17th-18th Centuries. Thanks!
Swab the deck? Help load/offload cargo? Lug shot for the cannons, sponge out the barrels between shots to keep them cool?
Also, I have no specialized knowledge in this area, but menial labor is menial labor. May be worth checking out Discovery's Deadliest Catch to get a sense for the non-crab fishing tasks they put the greenhorns through.
Well, the dates are kind of vague but I'll try to give you guys a reasonable estimate.give us a little more detail.
Which country's navy?
Which country's merchant shipping?
What date please as there is a big difference between 17thC ships and the 18thC as well as between the national navies of the time?
As far as what a new seaman might do? Mostly pull on what ropes their told to. An Able seaman would be a man that has an intricate knowledge of sailing, though not a commissioned officer.
A Landsman would be someone newly pressed into service and has, as I said, only the ability to pull on what rope their told too.