The usual ship's carpenter was a Northerner - a Scot, a Finn, a Swede, a Norwegian, or a Nova Scotiaman. All of these were superb woodworker and equal to the to the variety of tasks found on shipboard.
For instance, windjammers always carried spare spars, but in an unfinished state, so that in an emergency either a top mast, topd'l yard, or jib boom could be shaped from the same baulk of timber. This was the carpenter's job: to step up with his chalk line and broadaxe and trim a seventy foot spar by hand, usually under the rigourous (sic) conditions following a partial dismasting.
At a less trying time, the captain might choose to rearrange his quarters and a good ship' s carpenter could easily duplicate the delicate panelling and joiner work installed originally in the builder's shipyard.
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