Wow- what a gorgeous photo,Piers. He owned a ship called The Experiment of New York, and I have a sepia poster of it, but the article said that this family had the original- it looks like a water color to me. He was supposed to have died at sea in NY with his brother in 1808, but I went to a workshop and proved that he did not die but that is brother did. I have no idea how it happened, but my theory is that he took this ship up to Nantucket to pick up his brother and bring him back to NYC to work in the shipping business. He already had one brother living there who was a mariner. Exactly what happened in NY, I am unsure of, but it must have devastated him as he named his first son after this brother who died. I found the proof in his father's 1812 will and he was still alive but his brother wasn't. I know all about him, and exactly where and when he died and was buried. It has been a really amazing experience, so this article interested me more. What kind of equipment would he have had- for example, what were compasses like at that time? And what other instruments might he have carried with him? Sue