[Alexander Forbes—home movies] Reel 4, Accession 2533

Date1933

AbstractCan notes: "Ramah 1933 #2" Ramah was a 97 ft. schooner owned by Alexander Forbes. He sailed it to Labrador in 1931, and took an all-male amateur crew, including his brother Edward and other relatives from Cape Cod to Naples, Italy, in the summer of 1933. He left the ship there for the winter, and returned in the summer of 1934 with a crew of seventeen, including his own family, Samuel Eliot Morison, and a group of college boys to make a six weeks' cruise of the Mediterranean. POVs from the Ramah of the rocky and mountainous Italian coastline. Dolphins breech out of the water as they swim nearby. Pans of the harbor with buildings built right into the docks, dories lined up along the edge of the buildings, steps leading from the street/sidewalk to the water, a café, and an underexposed shot of a dog carrying a bag in its mouth. Shots out the front window of a car as it travels on a narrow dirt road, and views of small fish in water near the edge of the shore. Views shot from the bowsprit of Ramah underway under sail, looking back at the bow and furled sails. Views from the rail as Ramah makes her way through rough seas on a windy day. General views of Ramah underway: views of two crewmen climbing the rigging, a view of one crewman taking a sextant reading, and other crewmen on the sails or in the rigging; two creating a hammock in the rigging. Several stand on the boom, a couple hang upside down from the sheets on the boom, and all are generally goofing around. The crewman at the wheel urges Ramah to be speedier. Views from the upper rigging looking down on the deck while underway. Views of traditional Mediterranean-type fishing sailboat passing Ramah underway. Views of men carrying jugs of wine or oil. Views of a bullring being prepared for an event. Spectators sit in stands, men throw sawdust on the ground, and many toreros marching into the ring, and views of the traditional bullfighting with the bull. Scenes from Ramah at sea of the mountainous and rocky coastline. Views of another large schooner underway on a calm day. On Board Ramah, the crew gathers to take pictures and film of the ship. On board Ramah, a crewman looks through binoculars out to sea. A crewman dressed as Neptune (?) emerges from the furled sail on the bowsprit. His costume includes a towel for a beard, and a funnel for a hat. Views of a large four-masted schooner at anchor, and a smaller schooner underway.