While certainly of utmost importance, there was no pooping on the poop deck. That was done on the Head, usually mounted near the bow, close to the forecastle.
The toilet was at the front, a hole in the deck, leading down onto the figurehead. They literally relieved themselves on top of a statue. That is the origin of the term!!!
Generally the hole(s) where you relieved yourself were off to the side a bit as the bowsprit was directly over the figurehead, but you are correct that you were effectively sitting directly above it. The head was up there because breaking waves would wash the skidmarks off the hull.
I’d wager that they wanted the entire deck
stabbedswabbed, but with extra attention paid to the poop deck. That’s where the important stuff happened.I don’t think they wanted the deck stabbed at all
Ducking autocorrect
Like the poop?
While certainly of utmost importance, there was no pooping on the poop deck. That was done on the Head, usually mounted near the bow, close to the forecastle.
Pooping on the head. I see what they did there.
They literally did poop on the head. https://c8.alamy.com/comp/P914K5/figure-head-from-sailing-ship-in-the-tall-ships-regata-velas-latinoamerica-2018-P914K5.jpg
The toilet was at the front, a hole in the deck, leading down onto the figurehead. They literally relieved themselves on top of a statue. That is the origin of the term!!!
Generally the hole(s) where you relieved yourself were off to the side a bit as the bowsprit was directly over the figurehead, but you are correct that you were effectively sitting directly above it. The head was up there because breaking waves would wash the skidmarks off the hull.