# Old Wilson — Two Years Before the Mast character guide

> Old Wilson in Two Years Before the Mast by Richard Henry Dana Jr..

**Role:** supporting

**Also known as:** Wilson, Captain Wilson

**First appearance:** 0007-v

## Snapshot

A veteran captain many years on the California coast, whose weather-wise instincts and quick seamanship the narrator watches with admiration from a neighboring anchorage.

## Who they are

Old Wilson commands the Ayacucho, a sharp-bowed vessel whose crew's sudden activity warns the narrator's ship of a coming southeaster. His long experience on the coast has taught him to read the signs, and his decision to slip anchor and stand out to sea becomes a lesson in seamanship for the watching narrator. He embodies the seasoned, competent sailor the young Dana hopes to become.

## In the story

### [Southeaster and Passage Up the Coast](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/two_years_before_the_mast_se/chapters/x)

Captain of the Ayacucho, whose early sail-trimming prompts Captain Thompson to act; noted for his skill in picking up cables.

### [XVI](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/two_years_before_the_mast_se/chapters/xvi)

Mentioned as Captain Wilson of the Ayacucho, whose Sandwich Island boy helps procure horses for the narrator.

### [XX](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/two_years_before_the_mast_se/chapters/xx)

An old Scotchman in charge of the Catalina's house, keeps to himself, and is described as pragmatical and solemn.

### [XXXI](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/two_years_before_the_mast_se/chapters/xxxi)

Crawls out from under the galley after the wave, having been nearly smothered.

## Links

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- All characters: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/two_years_before_the_mast_se/characters