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Cover of The Long Watch, Gay Timeline members-only collection No. 2
Coming soonMembers-only · No. 2

The Long Watch

25 true stories of the gay whalemen of the 1800s: the bunkmates, dancers and journal-keepers of four-year voyages, and the island men they met from Hawaii to Tahiti. Never on YouTube.

25 stories · about 25 hours · read by Julian · MP3s to keep

$49for all 25 stories · about $1.96 each · paid once
Get the collection · $49 See the 25 stories
“These stories are priceless.”
gene978, a listener

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Why this collection

It started with a listener favourite

One of the most-watched stories on the channel is Inside the All-Male Whaling Ships of Nantucket. You asked for more, so here is a whole collection about the men who loved each other on the whaling fleet: the forecastle and the harpooners’ cabin, the dances on deck, the journals and tattoos, the bond-friends of Hawaii and Tahiti, and the Black, Cape Verdean, Wampanoag and Azorean whalemen who sailed together. Every one of these stories is members-only. You won’t hear them on YouTube or anywhere else.

The 25 stories

Story 2

The Bunkmates

Four years at sea is a long time to share a bunk. Some whalemen chose each other, voyage after voyage.

Story 3

Fiddles on Deck

On calm evenings, whalemen danced with one another to a fiddle, thousands of miles from anyone else.

Story 12

The Aikāne

In Hawaii, chiefs had recognised male companions, and the first sailors to arrive wrote about what they saw.

Story 18

Two Men in One Bed

The 1851 whaling novel in which a sailor wakes up in a harpooner’s arms, and the waterfront that inspired it.

  1. 01Inside the Forecastle Where Gay Whalemen Shared Bunks and Sea Chests, 1830s–1860s
  2. 02The Whalemen Who Chose Each Other as Bunkmates for Four-Year Voyages, 1830s–1860s
  3. 03The Whaling Decks Where Gay Men Danced With Each Other to the Fiddle, 1830s–1860s
  4. 04The Whalemen Who Played the Women in Dances and Shows at Sea, 1830s–1860s
  5. 05The Sailors’ Journals That Recorded What Whalemen Felt for Each Other, 1830s–1860s
  6. 06The Mid-Ocean Visits Where Lonely Whalemen Found Each Other, 1820s–1870s
  7. 07Inside the Harpooners’ Cabin, Where Boatsteerers Lived Side by Side, 1830s–1860s
  8. 08How Did Unmarried Men Find Freedom on the Whaling Fleet, 1830s–1850s
  9. 09The Night Watches Where Gay Whalemen Kept Each Other Company, 1830s–1860s
  10. 10The Whale-Tooth Carvings Gay Whalemen Made Through the Long Watches, 1820s–1870s
  11. 11The Tattoos Whalemen Inked With Hearts, Anchors and Shipmates’ Initials, 1830s–1860s
  12. 12The Hawaiian Companions Who Met the Sailors - The Aikāne, 1779–1840s
  13. 13The Tahitian Bond-Friendships Whalemen Were Welcomed Into - The Taio, 1820s–1850s
  14. 14The Tahitian Third Gender the Whalers Met - The Māhū, 1820s–1860s
  15. 15The Maui Harbor Where Gay Whalemen and Island Men Met - Lahaina, 1820s–1860s
  16. 16The Whalemen Who Jumped Ship to Live With Island Friends - South Seas, 1830–1860
  17. 17The Gay Writer Who Sent Love Letters From the South Seas - Hawaii and Tahiti, 1864–1873
  18. 18The Whaling Novel That Put Two Men in One Bed - New Bedford and Nantucket, 1851
  19. 19The Waterfront Where Gay Whalemen Came Home - New Bedford, 1830–1860
  20. 20Gay Black Whalemen Who Found Freedom and Love at Sea - New Bedford, 1820s–1860s
  21. 21Gay Cape Verdean Whalemen on New England’s Ships, 1820s–1920s
  22. 22Gay Wampanoag Whalemen of Martha’s Vineyard, 1700s–1860s
  23. 23Gay Azorean Whalemen in the Yankee Whaling Fleet, 1830s–1870s
  24. 24The Arctic Island Where Gay Whalers Wintered in the Ice - Herschel Island, 1890–1907
  25. 25The Sailors’ Home Where Old Bachelor Whalemen Grew Old Together - Snug Harbor, 1833–1900

Inside every story

Questions

What do I get for $49?

All 25 stories, about an hour each: one ad-free MP3 per story with its cover art, and a one-page PDF of the real men, historians and books behind it. The files are yours to keep.

How do I listen?

After you pay, a download link arrives by email. Save the MP3s to your phone or computer and play them in any music or podcast app, even with no connection.

Are these stories on YouTube?

No. Every story in this collection is members-only and is never posted on YouTube or any other platform.

Are these stories true?

Yes. Each one is built from real historical records, and the sources are listed in the PDF that comes with it. Where a character is a composite of several real men, the story says so.

Is this a subscription?

No. You pay once and nothing renews.

Gay Timeline · Members’ collection No. 2

Give them your full attention.

They spent their lives being interrupted, hidden and erased. Hear their stories from beginning to end.

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The Long Watch
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