Free Frigate Commander by Tom Wareham Page A

‘I find the brig works exceedingly well, and the People seem orderly and willing’. His assessment was confirmed shortly after when they were caught by a hard gale whilst criss-crossing the Channel:
Having set the trysail, main staysail, and reefed fore sail, we stood over to the English coast; and the wind being at NE b E with a very high sea, the brig went as close as she could lay, under that low sail six knots and a half, and seven knots, sending the sea from her bows over the taffrail, she went right through the sea, in a manner I never saw any vessel do before.
    His contentedness was soon tested by a storm that raged for days, driving them further and further to the west. From the Channel Islands they attempted to make Torbay or Portland where Moore wanted to give his crew time to rest. He was well aware that they were badly in need of sleep and warm food, and was grateful that they had faced the storm cheerfully in spite of being continually very cold and drenched by the sea;

When it was hard enough to walk the deck, they were repeatedly furling, loosing or reefing the sails, and supported themselves as well as men could do.
    Finally, the ship dropped anchor in Weymouth Bay and the crew were given time to recuperate. Moore took a break too, wandering along the seafront of the town. Observing a crowd gathered near the shore, he hastened towards them, thinking that he might have the chance to observe a boxing match, a sport he enjoyed. However, he was disgusted to find a crowd of local men amusing themselves by ‘throwing at Cocks’ (i.e. throwing cudgels at a tethered cockerel). He found more of interest in exploring the quarries on the Island of Portland before putting to sea again. However, in spite of chasing more smugglers, including one that threw its cargo overboard in order to escape, they caught none. At the end of February, Moore took the Orestes back to Spithead for a much needed refit. There he learned that he had been placed under the orders of Captain Samuel Hood of the frigate Juno . While waiting for Hood to return from leave, Moore dined with some of the other captains present in the port. One night, a discussion on
the slave trade was started, and they, one and all, attacked Wilberforce as a visionary enthusiast who was bringing most serious calamities on his country by his perseverance in an absurd and impracticable scheme. The old, beastly, confined assertion was made of the slaves being better off than the labourers in England, which if true could only be meant with respect to victuals and lodging, and in these articles a horse I fancy does not yield to either. These men are high in their profession, and certainly by no means destitute of worth or talents.
    Nevertheless, Moore left them, despairing at their narrow-mindedness. Despite his earlier misgivings, Moore found he was
... happy to meet the Captains on these occasions as they are all very respectable characters and some of them of high reputation in the service.
    Though it is clear that he was still not over-impressed by some of the officers he had met
... I have had occasion to observe since I took the Command of the Orestes , that people seem to value themselves, in the Navy, and are more looked up to for qualities, or the appearance of them, which have nothing to do with their profession. For instance, a pretension to fashion, a smattering of knowledge of the Poets sufficient for pedantic quotation. With these pitiful attainments, they have the impertinence to assume an air of superiority over the plain, assiduous and intelligent sea officer, whose attention has been turned to what is substantial and useful. I have also remarked that these skipping fellows when ashore, and amongst a different set of mortals, assume the Sailor, and in general pass themselves for that which they seemed to despise in the place where such manners are consistent. The reason of this juggle, I think, is that these lads wish for fame at the least possible