En Route to Galway, Ireland: Rock N’ Roll Slip And Slide

Monday September 21st

I was awoken by “It’s 4:20, smoke ‘em if you got ‘em”; so chuckling I got out of bed. I got dressed and as I put on my boots, the new crewmember in my cabin asked why I was putting on my boots, was it wet? I replied “No, I’m just from California and a wuss for the cold” and man was it cold when I got on deck. Ed the passenger from the crossing, and my A-watch mate, was leaving the ship for a bit and tossing our lines.

We pulled our docking lines and I was asked to go on the helm. I wasn’t looking forward to that responsibility as I was not here when we came into the harbor and thusly had no idea what the channel leading to the sea looked like. Thanks to the almighty gps and our charts we threaded out way through the channel in the dark.

A freighter called Zues was coming through the channel at the same time as us, so our captain radioed them to say that we would slow down so he could pass us. He replied irritably that he could not slow down, he had to maintain a minimum speed. We looked all glanced at each other and the captain radioed “No, WE will SLOW down and YOU can maintain your speed”. The voice angrily came back that they had already slowed down as much as they could. We all laughed. The first mate got on the radio with the thought that a new voice might be better understood. A repeat followed. The mate eventually just said loudly into the radio “PORT TO PORT” (meaning the vessels pass port to port as they normally should) and we got a “roger”. So I steered the ship to hug the very edge of the channel and our hearing impaired friend came slowly by us.

We made it out to sea in the dark, which saddened me as there were many old forts and towers we motored past in the night. We found ourselves with a lovely head wind and seas, so we motored against the building wind and swell until the end of our watch. I went happily to my warm bunk and slept like a log.

I woke on my own shortly before noon and went to the galley for lunch. Had our capstan meeting with a man overboard drill, but it was too rough to send the small boat out so we just let it down to touch the water while everyone went through the motions.

Jessie, Slav (World class small boat sailor from Bulgaria and my new cabin mate) and I put up nets above the rails that we have for weather so foul that we need nets above the rails. The plan  is to make permanent toggles for them so they are easier to put up in case of said foul weather. So we’re now sailing around Ireland with neon multicolored nets around the ship. I joked that now at least in bad weather if you went overboard you would go down tangled up in nets.

I spent the rest of work party putting whippings on new earring lashings. Our watch was pretty droll as we motored against the wind and sea with a peak speed of under 3 knots, often being check down to one by the swell.  I asked Caleb about the storm I had heard rumors of and he said it was going to get ugly in the night. As we have a while to go before we can round the southern tip of Ireland and get over enough the breeze becomes fair I was not happy to hear this. I asked if we were anchoring out for the night and said no. A little later in the watch I was told we were setting  some staysails because we were turning off the breeze to anchor in the lee of shore for the night. I was very glad to hear this.

Our watch was relieved and I went below in a very good mood. I went to sleep after Caleb told me I had the last anchor watch and therefore got to sleep the longest straight time, in recognition that I usually got the worst anchor watch times. I always tried not to notice myself, but it is nice to know someone besides me was aware of it. Oh I slept so well that night!

Tuesday September 22nd

I was awoken for my anchor watch shortly before 7am. I woke B watch as they would be getting the ship under way. I did a boat check, as it was the end of my watch I pumped the bilges, and did an anchor plot. When all this was over I only had about 10 minutes left of my watch so I had some of Cookie’s wonderful crepes for breakfast. After filling my belly I went back to bed knowing I wouldn’t need to be up again until lunch time.

I slept until after 11 and then just lounged in my bunk half asleep half grinning at such a wonderful morning. I can’t remember the last time I slept until I could sleep no more and then just lounged in bed, not even on my vacation did I get such a luxury. What an excellent morning!

For work party I went aloft to tie the earring lashings I whipped yesterday. The ship was pitching and rolling on all 4 axises and I knew it was only a matter of time before I got seasick in these conditions. So aloft I went and worked as quickly as I could and by the last few lashings I was so nauseous it took every amount of concentration to not shower the deck. I finished my last lashing and laid below, got on deck, walked over to the stern, and fed the fish as they say. I laid down on deck next to the capstan for the remainder of work party.

Between work party and my watch we passed in between a pair of islands. The one on our starboard side was covered in birds and had a huge sea arch; the waves pounded it sending up huge spray. The one on our left is a famous one I don’t know the name of. Apparently way back a few monks came out to this rocky tower for solace and to hide from the frequent Viking raids.

The rocky tower is extremely steep and yet these men built huts and walls on the top of it and carved steps into a ravine I would have thought you needed climbing gear to ascend. The dangers these men faced getting on the island and to their homes on it, let alone living on this desolate island, are absolutely incredible.

Half way into our watch the wind became fair and we set the main topsail and fore course, struck and gasketed the staysails, and killed the engines. The seas had been building all day and there were several big swell  that covered the horizon when we were in its trough. The leftovers of some storm I am glad we did not encounter.

We sailed on and our watch was relieved. I went below, wrote in my journal and then settled down to try to sleep in this heavy swell. In between rolls when the ship did not creak so loud I heard water drip, quite a large stream. I thought “that is definitely not good” and jumped out of my bunk. I was met in the hall outside my cabin with a thick dark liquid pouring from in between the planks above me spilling on the sole (deck inside the ship). Nelly was up at the same sounds and said something about a diesel leak. I took a deep breath in fear and then realized there was no way that was diesel, the smell was familiar and it was some kind of oil.

Gabe came down and said that a barrel of linseed oil we had in the tween deck had broken loose and the tween deck was awash. By this time the dark rain had started in my cabin as well and I sacrificed my towel to the cause. As the oil spread across the deck of this heavily rolling ship things got interesting.

While I was stopping up the spread in my cabin I looked up to see Gabe standing still and sliding all the way across aft crew with each heavy roll. I laughed so hard I nearly cried as he slid in and out of view past my door with an “ahhhh”. I managed to get myself up to the tween deck to help out and almost everyone was up in their underwear (I fell in this category) and pajamas sliding around the deck trying to get heavy items resecured and begin getting the oil off the deck.

For an hour we mopped, scrubbed, and cleaned. Each time the ship took an especially heavy roll we would all slide, which, though it began with lots of laughter, quickly became rather dangerous. I was in the middle of the ship when we took a big roll and with no way of stopping I slide all the way across, still standing, to the starboard side. I rammed into the wall with my arm and shoulder, the fleshy part of my right forearm taking most of the impact unfortunately on a metal fire extinguisher bracket.

I sat down for a while until I could regain my senses and then helped out with what I would. We got things cleaned up as best we could, dried the deck, and put up a lifeline to help cross the deck with any residual oil. All the rags we used were conviently hung in the life netting to prevent spontaneous combustion. I iced my arm and went to sleep in the great cabin.

The ship was rolling so heavily I could not sleep so I eventually gave up and went to my bunk where I found the fumes not as bad as I anticipated. I slept for a couple hours until watch. In the end I suffered no more than a few bruises and my right arm came back into use over the next day. Certainly, no one would ever call this job dull.

Wednesday September 23rd

I was awoken at 3:20 for watch and came on deck to a chilly night. We were about 55 nautical miles from Galway, with the lights of the coast on our starboard side. Watch went by fairly quickly and uneventfully. I chose my position so that I would not have to do a one handed helm.

While I was on bow watch I glanced over the side and noticed a long streak of light in the water, like some sort of serpent. I heard the telltale puff of a dolphin spouting and realized it was a dolphin swimming along in our bow wave leaving a bright phosphorescent streak in the water; the outline of its body a greenish white glow. I told the other members of the watch and they came to gaze upon 8 dolphin streaking and darting around the ship.

Such an incredible scene as this is difficult to describe and it is a shame it cannot be recorded. They were like slow motion shooting stars with all the grace dolphins posses.  This scene is easily one of the most beautiful things I have ever scene.

This instance again illustrates the extreme ups and downs of this experience. During a busy nearly sleepless night, getting bruised and battered while feeling seasick the word miserable hardly does the mood justice. Yet, not 6 hours later I wouldn’t trade my place for anything as I sail North along the coast of Ireland in the night with glowing dolphins streaking around the ship like gleeful ghosts.

I slept well during my time off and woke for lunch fairly refreshed. My arm was getting better by the hour, but when I found out work was going to have to be created for my work party I opted to rest it. When we came on watch we were in Galway Bay heading for our anchorage. All hands was called as we were going to sail to anchor and then get our sails ready for the weekend.

As we came in the anchorage was changed a few times until we found just the right spot. As we anchored one little sloop came in quite close and as they tried to hot-dog-it throwing up their spinnaker they wrapped it tightly around the forestay. We all laughed and the captain said “Don’t you hate it when you try to show off and fail miserably?”

We got a call on the radio that a freighter was coming out of the harbor and the pilot from that ship could take us in tonight. We were all very happy at the prospect of Guinness within 4 hours. So we went into high gear getting the ship ready to go. When I came on deck a little later an entire regatta, with colored spinnakers flying, was weaving its way down and around us.

We slung our hook (took up our anchor), picked up our pilot, and came in nice and easy to Galway harbor. We have a class coming tomorrow in the morning so we got the ship ready for tours and got the ok to hit the town. Trying to get all the crew together for a beer is like herding cats; so Adam and I wandered until we found a nice old pub, had a pint, and went back to the ship for a good nights sleep, calm and still at the dock.

Cobh (Cove), Cork County, Ireland: Back Home in a Foreign Land

Saturday September 19th,

As I was sitting on the train from Cork at what I thought was our next to last stop, out of the corner of my eye I saw a spider web of rope and wood. I quickly turned my head over and saw my lovely ship. I grabbed my bag and jumped off the train. As I walked to the ship I recognized all my shipmates on deck and smiled at the dirty looks I got as I cut in front of the huge line to board the ship.

I was heartily welcomed back and asked many questions many times over about my trip abroad. I had a big hearty dinner followed by big hearty seconds. As I had been on vacation so long I helped out with the dishes and covered the watch for a few hours during the evening. I got myself unpacked and met the new members of our crew and was saddened by the faces that were no longer around.

I went to sleep with the comforting, rumbling hum of the generator very happy to be home.

Sunday September 20th

I was awoken for tours today at 9am. I was given the option of not working as I had just gotten back, but in the spirit of guilt for getting so much time off when others got none I volunteered to work. This decision also aided in not spending any more money. We had breakfast and got dressed in our red shirts as these are the colors of the local “football” team which is  having a grudge match with the neighboring county.

The day went by fairly quickly and we drew a good crowd of over a couple thousand. Mostly families came aboard and we had to spend a lot of time telling the children to not cross the barriers we had put up as well as their parents. There were many friendly people, as I have found all across Ireland, especially one old sailor with a blurred and faded swallow and anchor tattoo on his forearm who told me the history of every landmark within sight.

Another Gentleman also told me that the man who had surveyed and mapped Cobh harbor for the British Admiralty was none other than William Bligh. I felt more than a little strange on this ship in a place he undoubtedly spent quite a bit of time. I don’t think he would have thought the existence of our ship very amusing.

While on a break from doing tours I was doing a little work on the rig when I saw I man cross over our lines to the foredeck. I got up and told him the lines were there to keep him from doing exactly what he did. The man replied in a Russian accent with labored English that he wished to take a picture at the front. We have no rails at the bow, thusly why the bow is off limits to visitors. I replied that he still had to go back, which was not the answer he was looking for. Grumbling he went back to where he ought to be and I went back to work.

A full minute later the man walked up to me while I was working and said “give me your point I want to take a picture”. Working with my marlin spike at the time I assumed that was what he meant so I unclipped it and offered it to him. A glare and a reiteration of “your point, your point!” was his response. I gathered he meant my knife, which I do my best to keep razor sharp and therefore denied his request with images of his accidentally bloodying a stray child.

Well that was it for him, he asked me irritably several more times, which I all denied. He inquired whether I was American, to which I thought “oh god here it comes” and replied “yes”. With evident joy at what pain his words would cause me he said “Everyone in Ireland is nice, but you are mean, MEAN!”. I chuckled under my breath and turned back to my work. This job never ceases to amuse.

After tours were over we got everything sea stowed and ready to go, for we plan on leaving at 5am tomorrow. We had dinner, which I knowingly ate way too much of and I went off to a nearby hotel to use their internet. I had to buy a beer to be allowed its use (woe to me!) and wrote emails and luckily caught my folks on skype. I can never help but be amazed at the world we live in as I sat in a hotel in Ireland drinking a Guiness and video chatting with my parents in California. So cool.

I chatted with a pair of old gentlemen outside the ship on my way back and I am now officially excited for Galway. I have spoken with a dozen people about Galway and even the guy who grew up there said it is a beautiful place; several claimed it was the best city in Ireland.

I went to bed early as it will be my watch that wakes up to get the ship under way. I hear rumors of a storm coming in tomorrow night, I hope they are wrong.

Explanations

As I was absent from the ship, so too will my narrative be absent.  Though I do enjoy writing this journal, this vacation was a break from all the monotonies  of my shipboard life, daily writing included. In brief I traveled through Paris, Tolouse, Marseille, Aix en Provence, Barcelona, and Dublin. I stayed with old friends and made new friends. I returned to my ship revived in spirit and body, ready to set to sea yet again.

I would like to give a sincere thanks to Menja for putting my up in Tolouse and being my tour guide. To Emily for letting me tag along. To Katie for letting me come visit and giving me an unforgettable stay. Most of all to my parents for their help in making this trip happen, but also for supporting me in my ambitions and decisions in general.

I should also take a moment to divulge a part of my life that has been laying low between the lines of this journal, though quite obvious at times. My second day on board the ship, in Jacksonville, I met a young sailor at a party who quickly drew my attention. We enjoyed each other’s company in Jacksonville, roved together in Bermuda, and narrow missed each other in New York. She came on board my ship in Halifax, was fortuitously assigned to my watch, and we spent 12 hours a day together during the Atlantic crossing. Yet, it was not until Belfast that we professed feelings for once another.

Despite our current careers, I knew Amelia was not a girl I could pass up. We spent time in Belfast together as well as Delfzijl. I met her in Paris and we traveled to Tolouse together wither her friend Emily, separating in Marseille where she headed back to the states to work on another ship.

When I was asked by my friends why I now planned on moving to Annapolis when my time has ended aboard the ship; was it not “a big decision?” I replied that it was a very easy decision. I want to continue dating Amelia and so the next step is to go to Aannapolis. So, there you have it, my semi-personal life at the moment.

En Route to Edenbrogh, Scotland: Gimmie Shelter

Thursday August 27th

Woke at 3:20am to a lurching ship and a forecast of “a little spray”. Understatement. With a building head sea and wind we had some spray reach the coarse yard and the forward half of the ship wet.Passenger Mary was assigned my shadow for the watch and we began on the helm. There were as many lights as I have ever seen on the sea or perhaps more. Container ships, navigation lights, oil rigs, and even a few of our fellow tall ships.

Even on the helm we got misted from the spray shooting up the bow. Slowly, during the watch all of us (including myself),  but two, began to feel seasick in the short period, tall head seas. I haven’t really felt seasick since the Bermuda to New York transit. Which was the last time we had seas like this. Welcome to the North Sea I suppose.

Near the end of our watch we set all of our fore and aft sail (staysails, jib, and spanker), which was a rugged adventure. Bow spray kept showering us and while on the foredeck the ship lurched and dropped a few times so violently I found my feet off the ground while trying to haul on a flogging line. We eventually got it all done with a couple of almost-throwing-up-over-the-rail breaks.

After watch I went below, put on a seasickness patch (which should hopefully last until we reach the shelter of the coast) and went to sleep until lunch. I woke up feeling pretty good but deteriorated during work party which I spent on the main topgallant replacing gaskets. With about an hour left of work party and my task done I got permission to take a little nap before watch.  I felt good for good when I woke up.

During watch things calmed down and warmed up with the sun shining nicely. It was a lovely watch, I stripped down to my t-shirt and basked in the weather. We set the main topsail and forecourse only to strike the maintop at the end of our watch, again staying on deck late; which was fine in this weather. The nasty weather is expected to hit sometime during our next watch in the AM. England just came in sight when we were on the yard furling, so hopefully that should give us some shelter from the forthcoming gale. Sleep time!

Friday August 28th

Three months on board! Three months may not seem like a lot, but to me it has felt like a lifetime. On one hand the days pass very quickly here, but it seems like I have been sailing for years.

Came on deck for watch to a very cold wind. I may even dare to say the coldest weather we’ve had yet as I was still chilled in my gear I wore across the Atlantic. The gale has certainly started and must be coming from the icy north. At the beginning of watch it was only about 20 knots.

Before our watch even took the deck we went aloft to furl the fore course in the driving spray and wind. Going aloft in weather like this doesn’t seem to bother me like it used to. We got it done fairly quickly and without incident. We reconvened at the capstan and took the deck. I took bow watch, but as I spent half the time turning away from torrential bow spray I convinced Caleb to let us do bow watch from mid-ships. I asked him ”As much as I like testing my foulies for leaks, could I move bow watch back?”.

I went below for boatcheck after that and on my idle position I got a little nap on the wooden benches on the ‘tween deck. When I awoke for my trick at the helm I came on deck to find the sun just beginning to peak over the horizon and tall white cliffs a few miles ahead.

I got on the helm and kept sailing right for the cliffs. As we got closer we let out a length of our anchor to find the bottom and when we did we dropped the rest, really quite close to the cliffs. Apparently we are on the English coast somewhere South of Scarborough. Our watch finished the anchoring and we went below to find crepes for breakfast (yay Cookie). After that I went straight to sleep.

So we made it to our shelter before the gale really hit and we will probably stay here anchored in the lee of the cliff until the worst of it is over. I am infinitely grateful we are not trying to slug it out at sea. The ship can’t go anywhere with 20 knots on the nose, let alone the 40 that is predicted.

After lunch I went to our normal capstan meeting and only Bill the engineer and I were there. We asked around and found out today is a Sunday. I immediately went to my bunk and back to sleep. About an hour later I was awoken to a call of all hands…to the bilges. There had been a diesel leak and we all had to go into the bilges to get it out. I was decidedly unhappy about this turn of events.

I stood my anchor watch later that evening, helped do dinner dishes, and after all that was done I traded movies and music with Adam. Since we were on anchor watch the next morning and wouldn’t be called until lunch at noon I stayed up late listening to music and watching movies.

Saturday August 29th

I stood my anchor watch from 5:45 to 6:45 and went back to sleep. Jesse (my bunkmate) turned on the light at 8am and I grunted to him to turn it off that I was trying to sleep. He replied “it’s work party today, time to get up. They tried to wake you a bunch of times”. I bolted upright and gave a series of expletives. “If anyone had said there was work party I wouldn’t have stayed up late. Communication people!” So grouchily I got up and went to work party.

I got assigned to the paint anchor chain and flake party. I offered to flake the chain since that seems to be everyone’s least favorite job and I was having a grouchy day anyway. So I crawled into the forepeak, over the starboard anchor chains (cursing the last person who had coiled it poorly making the already tight hatch even harder to get through, cleaned out the chain locker once all the chain was out, and flaked it as it came in.

Just before lunch I went to talk to the captain about taking some time off. Getting time off is not an easy thing on this ship. Firstly, there is our uncommonly uncertain schedule. Secondly, and most importantly, everyone always wants time off to go explore the places we visit.  I had talked to the captain about taking time off from Delfzijl to our next stop, but the schedule was so uncertain I Couldn’t. So, again I broached the subject and, as easily as though I were asking for more paint, he said “sure”. The rest of the day I was walking on sunshine. I could have flaked all of our chain caked in mud twice over and been ready for more. I get time off!

Sunday August 30th

I was awoken at 5:20 and told our watch is getting the ship under way. I came on deck and the breeze had backed to the west/southwest. We planned to sail off of our anchor.  We over-sheeted the spanker to windward with use of some block and tackle. Then we took up the anchor and when it left the bottom we set out jib and foretopmast staysail backwinded to kick our head downwind. We set the maintopsail, wore ship, and started heading North.

We set the foretopsail as well as the fore and main courses. B watch was going to take the deck in about 10 minutes and I half jokingly, between panting breaths from hauling both topsail halyards, said “I heard B watch was dying to set some sail, maybe we should leave some for them”, which was agreed by the rest of A watch.

The sun is out, warming up a bitterly cold day, and we are under sail heading the right direction. It’s a good day. When our watch was relieved I went below to my bunk and passed out until lunch.

We were eating lunch when we heard a helicopter coming by, getting very close, getting extremely close, and hovering next to the ship. We all left our plates and rushed on deck. An RAF (Royal Air Force) Rescue helicopter was hovering just behind us. We all waved to the crew and they hailed us on the radio. They were doing drills and asked if they could land a man on our ship!

Of course we said yes. To test things out they came in so close the wind coming off the rotors nearly blew me over, water spray everywhere. Young Mitch on the rig was seriously afraid for his life with the pictures to justify it.  They backed off, got their man clipped in and lowered him over the water. Slowly they came close with the recue guy flying over the water like a B movie super hero.

Closer and closer they came and the man on the wire was below the cap rail where we couldn’t see him. Up he shot over the rail and landed on our quarter deck. He unclipped and I could see a big grin on his face.  There was an outburst of applause and cheering from everyone on deck. The captain came forward and shook his hand and they chatted for a second. Cassie the purser brought up Bounty t-shirts and pins for him and the helicopter crew. He stuffed them in all the cargo pockets he had on his jump suit.

Some of the crew asked him questions and several of us jumped in for pictures. Just as quickly as he came the line came back over the quarter deck. He clipped in and off he went into the air, expertly keeping himself from spinning around, and waived to us. The helicopter backed off and winched him up. Once he got in, out came the camera and the helicopter did a couple laps taking photos which they promised to email us. I couldn’t help but laugh to myself as I went back below to finish my lunch. The captain said that was the first time anyone had ever landed on the ship via helicopter.

For work party I was assigned to make backropes (lines on the yard we clip our harnesses into) for the main topgallant. I picked some lines, measured it out, and quickly learned I picked the worst line to splice on the ship. I spent a very frustrating hour and a half splicing, only to finish one eye splice. Tomorrow I will slaughter that line.

Our watch came on duty and between chores and dinner it went by quickly. We expect quite a blow tonight (thankfully from the right direction), so Caleb told us the royals and topgallangts needed to be furled. We opted to just get it done with instead of waiting for the next watch. Gabe got convinced to join us even though he was off duty, earning him many points in my book.

Of course the second we said the words furl it began to rain. So, aloft we went in the rain and furled the four sails while our passengers Mark and Mary took the helm and bow watch. We got it done quickly and nicely, not to mention doing a few repairs while we were up there. Of course, a minute after getting on deck the rain quit and we had a good laugh. B watch took the deck and we went below to dry off followed promptly by sleep.

We expect to anchor out tomorrow near Edenbrough, most likely at the end of our watch. We will dock on Tuesday, then most likely I will leave on Wednesday for a European vacation!

Monday August 31st,

We kept on sailing throughout the day up along the coast. The breeze was fair and we were sailing along. During the watch I called my folks as we were so close to the coast I got cell phone reception. I was amused sailing along at 5am off the coast of Scotland and talking to my mother and father back in California, what a world we live in!

Shortly after that the breeze shifted directions radically and more than doubled in strength. The ship heeled over and screamed along. With that stronger breeze and some contacts on shore coming through we decided we could make it into port today. So, on we went through the nearby waters seeing all sorts of interesting sights on land until we sighted the city itself.

We went through a neat lock system to get into the downtown ocean terminal and came in as pretty as you please. We got all snugged up to the shore and I went about making calls and getting my flight changed to tomorrow. Of course since I was getting time off I was given watch that night, which was fine with me, for I was getting time off! I got my plans all lined up, stood my watch and the next day I was on a plane bound for France. I laughed aloud when I thought about how it took me about 15 minutes to cross the channel by plane.

Delfzijl, Netherlands (Holland) & Amsterdam: The Dutch Can’t Que

Saturday August 22nd

We woke up pretty early and got the signal flags up and the ship ready for tours since we plan on opening the ship just about as soon as we get there. We furled the sails that needed furled and the pilot came on board.

We set topsails and topgallants and fell in a very spaced out line as we motor/sailed our way through the channel to Delfzijl. As we got closer more and more boats of all kinds came buzzing around. The closer we got to the city the more people we saw on shore until we passed some grassy knolls covered with people.

Windmills and people riding their bikes on the canal walls made a very Holland scene along with a plethora of traditional flat bottomed gaff rigged Dutch sailing sloops. We fired a cannon at the end of our national anthem which they played as we entered the harbor.

The event was packed, we learned later they expected over a million people to visit the festival and I believe it. We came in and docked with a hue crowd not two feet from our docking bits. Which is a really bad idea since we throw our lines across on lead balls and if a dock line broke under strain it could kill someone. I was shocked the event coordinators would do something as dangerous as that, but the more I hung around the festival the less surprised I was.

Of our four heaving lines (it is extremely hard to throw these with any accuracy, the general method is just throw it as hard as you can to make sure it gets on shore), two went nicely across, one went into the crowd but thankfully didn’t hit anyone, and the fourth was plucked right out of the air by a Dutch shoreman there to take our lines. The crowd and ship gave him a big applause, seriously, he should be an outfielder.

We got our gangways down and began setting up for tours. I knew it was going to be interesting as a giant mob formed outside the ship with no interest in forming a line. Several of them stood on the 6 inches of space in front of the closed sign on our gangway. I had to physically push past them to get off the ship. As I was assembling the informational signs a Dutch woman was adamant that I was doing it incorrectly and for several minutes followed me around trying to convince me to do it a different way.

The mob in front of our ship became so thick it blocked all traffic around us and people (including the security guards who probably should have been doing something about it) began hopping up on a raised are behind tents and going around. The event people set up no line in barrier form and gave us no security to organize people. We got flooded and tried to make them form a line which we eventually did after moving around barriers we stole from another area and literally herding the Dutch. One man came up to us an said “I have an observation for you, we Dutch cannot form lines”. We agreed.

A festival coordinator, who would continue to be a thorn in our side, came after we got people to form a line and said we had to switch our exit and entrance ramps. We told him the ship doesn’t work that way, there is only one way to do it. He didn’t listen and angrily told us “It must be this way, it is only logical. Do you not understand?!”. So we had to close down the below decks part of the ship and do topside only tours. (I do like the Dutch, it just started poorly).

I stood on deck but only answered a couple questions, though many people asked me things in Dutch, but gave up when I asked them if they speak English; I didn’t think I looked very Dutch. Amelia and her parents came to the festival and they waded through the mob to come on board, quite a feat.

At 6pm I got off of work and Amelia and I wandered the festival and the city of Delfzijl. The festival is huge, the parade of sail lasted all afternoon, ships just kept coming in and coming in. There was a regular forest of masts in the harbor, an incredible sight. No one I talked to had ever seen so many tallships in one place. People were just wall to wall, and there were half a dozen stages set up throughout the festival.

Delfjizl is a small walled city with brick streets. It seems to be a pretty touristy town with many shops, but it was obviously way more packed than normal. We had Chinese food for dinner and enjoyed a wonderful fireworks show from the ship. At the end a huge freighter ship all lit up and with spotlights turning  had two tugboats push it to do 360’s in the harbor. The ship was an incredible and ridiculous sight.

Sunday August 23rd

Amelia and I had tried to get on the bus list for the trip to Amsterdam, but our liason had only left it on the boat for an hour. So, we decided to just show up to the buses at 8am in the hope that many sailors had had too good of a night previously. We woke up early and headed out with a bunch of the crew who didn’t sign up either and went to the area we were told the buses would be coming.

We found several other ship’s sailors wandering around the area, as lost as us and no buses. We decided we had to be in the right area and waited until finally a bus did show up; which was immediately filled with Russians in their white shore uniforms before me made the short distance there. A couple of our crew got the last 3 seats on board and the rest of us debated whether there would be more buses.

Luck was on our side as more buses showed up and these buses even had lists of people who were supposed to be on the buses. We found the Bounty bus and when we explained we were not on the list they replied “oh that’s fine there is plenty of room”. We got on board and pretty soon our other bounty sailors who had gotten on the Russian bus showed up. Shortly thereafter the bus was rolling into the Dutch countryside and were on our way.

We saw some beautiful country, lakes, canals and of course traditional windmills. Nearly three hours later we rolled into Amsterdam next to the central train station. I was astounded by the juxtaposition of all the very good looking modern architecture and the obviously historic buildings. Our tour guides were going to do a short tour before they set us loose, but we decided to get moving to get the most of our 6 hours in Amsterdam.

They gave us sack lunches which were better for giving us a laugh than filling our stomachs. We got an apple, which was a very good apple, as well as three sandwiches consisting  each consecutively of butter, a single slice of meat, and a single slice of cheese. To wash it all down a  little container of lime yogurt in liquid form. I could never quite figure out if I liked the stuff, but it was decidedly not satisfying on a hot sunny day.

The Bounty crew left en masse, but Amelia and I quickly decided by the third shop the group stopped at that we should break off on our own. So off we wandered in the general direction of the history museum, purposefully leaving the map to rot in my backpack. We passed all sorts of grand old buildings and tiny alley ways. At one point I stopped off in a KFC to use the restroom and was met by a man with a table set up next to them who informed me it would be 50 cents to use these KFC bathrooms. I took a long pause before I gave the man his money. Can’t say I ever expected that.

I was very struck by the lack of cars in the city, how the vast majority of people rode bikes or walked. It made for a serenely quiet atmosphere. We lucked out to be there on an absolutely beautiful sunny, warm, Sunday afternoon. Everybody seemed to be out on the town on their bikes or walking or enjoying a drink at the cafe.

What I think I most enjoyed, however, was the immense numbers of people out in their boats on the canal for an afternoon cruise. All types of boats from expensive ski boats to tiny little home made beaters with sputtering outboards and everything in between. Amelia and I sat beside a canal for a while in the shade of an old tree and just watched the Sunday traffic.

We eventually made it to the history museum which was fantastic even if overpriced and required us to put my bag in a locker which I had to pay for as well. The museum is designed chronologically, but we somehow ended up touring it backwards, which I actually really enjoyed doing. I feel it gave us an interesting perspective. The history of Amsterdam is obviously fascinating and gave us better eyes with which to see the city we wandered the rest of the day.

After the museum we wandered a bit with the vague aim of  finding a place to eat an afternoon meal. We eventually settled on a little Tapas restaurant which gave us quite a gourmet meal. We took the long way back to the bus stop area enjoying the canals and building. We found ourselves back sufficiently early that we decided to strike out again for the Red Light District.

We got sidetracked from our quest by the oldest church in Amsterdam, a beautiful old gothic building. Here met a lovely trifecta of oldest church, “coffee” shop and brothel at a single intersection. We wandered through a corner of the Red Light District, which was pretty much as sad and ridiculous as I expected. I was more amused by the throngs of tourists alongside us than anything. My favorite was a pair of old Asian ladies coming out of a tiny dirty alleyway, red light peaking out behind them, with big smiles on their faces.

We spent the last 25 minutes before the bus came basking in the warm sun and watching a particularly busy canal intersection. We got back to the bus, as did everyone else thankfully, and off we went back to Delfzijl. On the way back we passed many people fishing in the canals or having a weekend on their boats as well as a dozen hot air balloons drifting lazily above the picturesque farmland.

We got back late and just hung around the ship the rest of the night, listening to nearby concerts.

Monday August 24th

Woke up before 9am so we could climb the rig and get some photos of the festival before our events started. Yet again we lucked out to a bright sunny day and I really enjoyed the forest of masts and rigging around us.

Amelia and I went off and explored the festival, had a beer at 11am, and just enjoyed looking at ships all day. There were ships of all kinds and from all over the place. I think my favorite ship of the festival was the tiniest barque I have ever seen. It was only 40ft long and had yard about 8 feet wide on the foremast. It’s deadeyes were  smaller than my fist and it had tiny wooden blocks rigged to everything. It was wonderfully ridiculous.

Amelia’s folks came and picked her up in the afternoon; she left to go traveling with a friend for a few weeks and then is going on to sail Pride of Baltimore II. Everyone was sad to see her go.

That evening I went off with Caleb and a backpack full of beer to go socializing at different ships. We walked around the festival and had some great conversations with a few Dutch ships. We also caught Pirates of the Caribbean II playing on a big screen and came along just in time for the scene when the Bounty gets destroyed by the Kraken.  When we came back to the ship we found Dutch Jack Sparrow (who had been around all weekend) was still on the ship and hanging out with the crew. I went to sleep early since I had work the next day.

Tuesday August 25th

Woke up for work, got ready, came on deck, and stood around for 3 hours. Hurry up and wait we call it. The last three days in mornings a company I cannot pronounce has sponsored a kids events on board for ill and handicapped children. Today we had all terminally ill kids on board doing activities like sword fighting, face painting, and we showed them how to fire the cannon.

We were just there to deal with the cannon and make sure everything goes well. All the crew hired by the company were dressed in pirate garb and our Dutch Jack Sparrow was of course a huge hit. Amber did most of the cannon firing but I did one as well for the heck of it, it was pretty fun.

It rained on and off all day and the event went flawlessly. After it was done we cleaned up and got the ship ready for tours. After dinner everything was ready to go and I was relieved form duty at 6pm. I went into town and hit the grocery store. Then I went to the crew center, which was packed, and used the internet for a couple hours.

When I cam back to the ship I just relaxed in my bunk and went to sleep early. I need to spend more time just relaxing and resting, but that may just not be possible. I will be sad to leave Delfjizl. I had a great time here and wish we could have stayed a little longer, but they will be getting the port back into business as soon as our lines leave shore.

 

Wednesday August 26th

Woke up at 9:00am to find out our departure was pushed back until 4pm. So, instead we were all put to work party. I pulled down the dress signal flags, removed/serviced/returned a block to the rig, and a few other jobs. The whole while a crowd had been gathering and every time you went up in the rig hundreds of people had their eyes on you and took pictures.

We worked until about 3:00pm and then got the ship ready to leave. We worked the ship off the dock despite a wind pressing us against it. As we left we fired two cannons on each side and got a big cheer from the crowd. We threw up all of our fore and aft sails while we headed down the channel and out to sea.

My A watch got Mike added to it and Andrew is staying on for this leg as well as a couple of passengers. We are on the 4-8 for this transit and so we took the deck after working all day. I was on the helm as the pilot boat came and picked up their pilot and we motor/sailed out toward the sea. At the end of the watch we struck all the sails and had to go secure the headsails on the bow sprit. I was feeling very tired and grouchy that we waited until the last 5 minutes of our watch to start a big job like striking all those sails. So, we got off over a half an hour late and I went straight to my bunk to catch sleep until my next watch.

It seems this will be a watch without darkness as we will be near sunset in the evening and twilight to sunrise in the morning. I think it will be an interesting experience. The captain said this morning that there will be a gale blowing against us and he expects a very rough transit. The plan seems to be to get to the UK coast as quickly as we can and get some shelter from the land. I hope it works out that way. We have 8 days to make what could be a 3 day transit, this could be nice or painful, we will find out.