(This is a picture of Roger Purkis, the man who painted all these characters!)

When the crew first came on board the ship they were split into two shifts, called watches. These were called the port and starboard watches after the two sides of the ship.

Each man had a partner on an opposite watch that he shared his sleeping space (and probably his lice and fleas) with.

The time of the watches was measured with a sandglass and the bell was rung once for every half hour that passed.

Since the watches lasted for four hours there were eight bells in a watch.