At the head (the very front) of Constitution are eight “seats of ease.” Here the seamen “ease” themselves into the ocean. The facilities are simple – little more than planks with holes. Those using them don’t linger long in the bracing wind. The splashing wave cut by Constitution’s bow keeps the hull clean below the head, but not the seats, or the cables beneath them. Washing these areas is an unpopular job. Officers give the task to disobedient seamen whose crimes are too slight to punish with a lashing.
