Q is for Quality Gant, First Mate on the Scarlett Mermaid

Quality Gant is the First Mate on Queen Dorinda Gold's vessel, the Scarlett Mermaid

Author: What’s it like being the first mate of the Queen’s vessel?

Quality Gant: It be quite the responsibility, I tell it true. My Queen is captain but she is also Queen. When we get back to Corsair Island, our home port, it’s up to me to see that the Mermaid is equipped and ready to sail on the next voyage. Queen Dorinda has matters of state to attend.

Author: I have interviewed a few of your crew. What can you tell me about life on the Queen’s vessel?

Quality Gant: There be quite a few youngsters on this crew, and a few old salts. My second mate is a fine sailor but he’s little more than a boy. That said, I couldn’t ask for a better crew. They all pull their own weight and there ain’t one that I wouldn’t trust to have my back in a fight.

Author: I asked Pandy about relationships aboard. She said you all leave your feelings, good or bad, on shore. Is that true for everyone?

Quality Gant: (chuckles) Pandy is a good sailor. She means what she says. She seems to avoid entanglements that might be worrisome. Not all the crew abide by that same rule as Pandy. There have been romances and a few serious tussles. It’s my job to insure that whatever distractions may come, every sea dog on this crew follows the code.

Author: What is the code?

Quality Gant: The code of conduct which we live and die by. Every swab does his job, no squenching. There be no thievery. Disputes are settled by me. There be more but that about covers it.

Author: Can you explain; what’s a swab and what is squenching?

Quality Gant: Swab, sailor, crewmember. Squenching is pushing duties off to someone else. We don’t abide a lazy sailor.

Author: What kind of punishments are there?

Quality Gant: Depends on the offense. Small offenses get extra duty or a cut in pay. Repeat offenses or something more serious might call for lashes or even the hempen jig.

Author: What’s the hempen jig?

Quality Gant: The noose…getting your neck stretched…hanging. There be little call for such on the Mermaid though. These sailors are some of the best. We all carry an extra sense of responsibility to our Queen. In seasons past, I’ve shipped out with less reputable crews. Some pirate captains take on extra crew at the start of a voyage because they know that some will be sent to Davy Jones locker before the journey’s end. If a captain has a mind to pillage, he hires unsavory types with a knack for killin’. They ain’t always the best sailors.

Author: Thank you Mr. Gant for your time.