Many people think that life on board a pirate ship was all fun and games. On the contrary, life at sea was no better, and sometimes worse, than life on land. Shipboard life, even for a pirate, could be very boring since it could be weeks before any prey was spotted. Pirates and sailors sang shanties and songs to ease boredom and make work easier. Food, (what there was of it), was usually nothing more than maggot-infested salt beef or pork and moldy bread. Water went stagnant soon after a ship went out to sea. For that reason, most sailors drank rum, beer, or wine. Due to the lack of fresh fruit and vegetables, scurvy, (a vitamin C deficiency), was common.
Scurvy was not the only disease that ran rampant through eighteenth century sailing ships. Ships of the time were made of wood, and could never be kept dry. Sailors slept in the fo�c�sle (forecastle), which was always crowded and vermin infested. Doctors of the time knew very little about how disease was spread, and medicines of the time were ineffective. Once an illness like typhoid or yellow fever broke out, they were pretty much powerless to stop it. What�s worse is that most ships were not lucky enough to have a doctor on board, and were left to fend for themselves. Often the ship�s cook or carpenter would act as surgeon. For many injuries, the only treatment was amputation. It was common practice in those days to tie off arteries and leave them hanging out, which led to many infections.
Disease was by far not the only danger on board a ship. Fire was a particular hazard, because wooden ships would burn quickly and easily, and there was no escape in the middle of the ocean. Falls from rigging or falling equipment caused many injuries. It seems as though being wounded in battle would be the least of a pirate�s worries.
