The Santa Saturnina had a crew of 22 men, but at just under 40 feet long, it’s hard to imagine how they would have slept in such cramped conditions. In addition to the crew, the boat had to hold ammunition, supplies in the hold and enough food for all the men. To top it off, it’s likely that a goat was also present on board to provide milk.

Although records of the Santa Saturnina’s manifest have survived, it’s not certain what the 22 sailors ate on a daily basis as it simply states “Rations at the standard rate for 20 persons”. This leaves us with two questions. What does ‘rations’ mean and what about the other 2 men?

Maritime Historian Robin Inglis of the Vancouver Maritime Museum speculates that the crew would have survived on a diet of fish, eggs, hens, salted pork, beer, wine, beans, berries, elk, goat, fresh water and lots of biscuits. This diet was supplemented by what they could catch at sea and on brief land excursions. As for the other 2 men, the 20 rations were probably stretched to feed all 22.

In terms of ammunition and weapons, the ship had two small bronze cannons, three swivel guns, 100 three pound bags of roundshot, 200 two pound bags of roundshot, 130 bags of grapeshot, nine muskets with bayonets, twelve pistols and four swords.