I received the following reply from Hank Cramer earlier tonight:

"Thanks for the interest in the song. I just sent a response to the Mudcat thread. David LoVine wrote the song. He and I were shipmates and shanty men in the early 90s. The Sternberg family owned a mill or shop that supplied the tar for caulking the Lady Washington. In the old days, they used tallow from sheep. The other mystery line is "orders came to fuel Detroit'sl" our nickname for our diesel engine. (We hate to acknowledge that our 18th century replica vessel has one). Another euphemism is "hoist the iron spinnaker." Thanks for your interest in the song! Fair winds - Hank"

I've checked the recent, threads but it appears as if sadly Hank's comment got lost in the interwebs. I've let him know to see if he has anything else to add, but that answers most of our questions.