Page 30 - Captain William Strike of Porthleven

This was not the first time that ‘Ready Rhino’ had traded down to the Iberian Peninsula
in 1867. Earlier in the year before ‘Ready Rhino’ had sailed from Cardiff on December
28 1866, arriving at Marin, a port just north of Vigo on January 29. Eventually ‘Ready
Rhino’ arrived at Seville on February 12 and sailed again on February 27, for Huelva.
The remainder of the year of 1867 was spent in coastwise trade. In September William
Strike and his crew sailed from Newcastle for the home port of Porthleven, no doubt with
coal. From Porthleven ‘Ready Rhino’ sailed for Cardiff and returned immediately, again
no doubt with a cargo of coal. In October there were passages between Dublin,
Ardrossan and Belfast.

The Rio Grande and the Americas

Logbooks for the ‘Ready Rhino’ frequently refer to voyages to ‘the Rio Grande’ as a
generic reference to various ports on the eastern seaboard of South America, extending
(usually) from Buenos Aires in the south up to ports such as Santos, in Brazil. The
majority of trade in 1868 was very much in this direction with no fewer than four voyages
to South America. The first such voyage, in January, was via Cadiz in Spain. In addition
there was another voyage south, to Gibraltar. Back in home waters ‘Ready Rhino’ was
seen at Liverpool – where at least one of the voyages to the Rio Grande will have
commenced – as well as Falmouth, Cardiff and Holyhead. Much the same emphasis
occurs in the following year, 1869, when two freights to the Rio Grande were obtained.
In between and towards the end of the year ‘Ready Rhino’ was seen in port at Messina,
in southern Italy.

As the new decade broke in 1870, ‘Ready Rhino’ appears to be well established in its
three-way trade: coastwise around the United Kingdom, the Mediterranean and South
America. In January there was a freight from London down to Gibraltar while in March
there were coastwise passages taking in Porthleven and London: one log shows ‘Ready
Rhino’ sheltering in The Downs, off Deal, on March 4. From June to the end of the year
the ship is almost exclusively engaged in the South American trade, with two voyages
down to the Rio Grande.

The beginning of the following year, 1871, saw ‘Ready Rhino’ away and trading along
the east coast of the Americas for the first three months of the year. This was followed
by what is likely to have been the longest foreign-going voyage of the ‘Ready Rhino’,
when she sailed from London at the end of August, returning – to Exeter – on October 3,
1872. This period of over a year proved to be extremely eventful, according to the
Official Log Book delivered to the Shipping Master at Exeter. Many of the incidents are
described later but, for the moment it appears that, on departure from London, ‘Ready
Rhino’ headed south to Lisbon before heading across the Atlantic to Santos, in Brazil.
Santos had attained early influence in the coffee exporting trade and William Strike was
heavily involved. The New York Times of February 17, 1872 reports the schooner’s
arrival, as follows:

‘Schr. Ready Rhino (of Penzance) Strike, Santos 56 ds, with coffee to Simon de
Visser…Crossed the equator Jan 14 in lon 39 26W.’

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