Yesterday, we sailed past the white cliffs of Dover. The English Channel is incredibly busy. Compounded w/ the limited visibility from mist & rain, the crew has been on high alert.
I’m assuming we exited the channel & entered the North Sea sometime on my watch this morning (my watch is now 12-4, this changed as of Cobh, Ire.), but I haven’t really gotten a good taste, since we’ve been ashore so often.
@4, I helped Nadja in the galley making Kraft Dinner for the on & off watches. Nicki & I stayed in our fouley’s and ate as the morning sky brightened. Best that stuff has ever tasted. Now, I’m to bed until 11:00 stuffed & I won’t need to rise for breakfast.
July 12th?
Oil rig lit up so well that it looks like a christmas tree, only in the shape of a hand extending the middle finger.
Concidering a pilgrimage to Legoland!
July 13th?
Really enjoying new 12-4 watch. No more domestics! … and my body loves the schedule. I find I need very little sleep (5-6 hrs/day) & I love staying up w/ a couple of my watch mates in the early morning for tea and to experience the northern sunrise (04:15 or so)
Becoming incredibly bitter over food situation. Living in close quarters w/ certain meat-eaters is virtually intolerable. This is the single biggest issue that would prevent me from concidering extending my trip. Outside of this problem, I am having the time of my life! Too bad there is less than a month left.
Colour-blindness has kept me off forward lookout, since early in the Atlantic. I’ve been a little bummed out by that. This past watch I got booted from helm, approaching the Kiel Canal. There were too many maneuvers involving buoys w/ green lights. Kinda depressed me at the time. Nothing I’m not used too.
Looking forward to my brother coming aboard. I’ve been telling everyone.
Future Plans
Visit Luke in Australia
Visit Matt in Alberta
Portage trip when I return to Canada. (I’m planning a route in a map that I brought)
Implement 4 corner sponge system in house cleaning
Apartment hunt w/ Lizette (else I may be homeless)
Enroll in navigation & seamanship training
look into 20 foot wooden hauled sail boat to fix up
July 14th?
Yesterday, afternoon we arrived in Kiel. The trip down the canal was surreal. Lindsey mentioned that she had somehow expected it to be a little more developed along the way through. I was feeling the same way. It was like sailing directly through a park. There were people in lawn chairs, riding bicycles, camping… and then a giant freighter or cruise ship would pass through.
I made the realization that although I’ve been to many countries where another language is spoken, the countries have never been so urban. Germany is so cool. I love speaking to the people and I had an amazing time out, last night. Nadja taught me the magical phrase, “Wur findel ich…” (where can I find the…), and doors opened for me. Wur findel ich …internet …biere haus …club. Anyway, I met a bunch of girls all over town and I’m expecting them to visit me on the ship this afternoon. (don’t worry, Lizette).
After promising myself yesterday that I’d return to the ship on the 11 o’clock skiff, I’ve woke on the carpet of a hotel room in Falmouth. It turns out my exceptional services as Luke’s ‘Wingman’ were required beyond the last departure back to the ship. My options for accomodation at that juncture in the night were few. That’s why, I spent the night tossing and turning on Matt’s hotelroom floor. This, of course was later determined by management to be valued at 60 Quid! I was shocked, unimpressed and virtually prepared to skip out on the bill. I steamed around for a bit, working up nerve for confrontation. Luckily for the Concierge, the situation was resolved before I could lay into him.
Falmouth was earlier described to me as very ‘Yachty’ and I’d say that’s an accurate description. The shops and restaurants remind me a lot of those found in the Muskoka’s back home. Food is delicious and expensive. Stores are interesting and also expensive. So, I’ve enjoyed the window shopping. Probably good that I’ll be back aboard the ship, tomorrow. My wallet doesn’t agree with the British pound.
The highlight of my yesterday was the visit to the Pendennis Castle. Suzy, Nadja, Tim, Spencer & I hiked up only to find out it cost money. We promptly circumvented the mote and found the back entrance. I’m pretty certain that security was more lax, than when the castle was initially built in 1540. We spent the afternoon at the back of the grounds, drinking wine, lying in the sun, and getting into some serious ‘therapy sessions’ with one another. I can’t believe that people can have such diverse backgrounds and still end up sharing this crazy adventure.
–Later–
After hiring a van, we stocked up on food and beer at the grocery store and made our way around most of the western point. We visited beachs, castles, towns and a Roman amphitheatre carved into the side of a cliff. Our resident Aussie, had no troubles, as he was accustomed to driving on the queer side of the road. Everytime I looked up and saw Geoff (in the passenger seat) taking pictures or searching around his feet for food, I wanted to scream for him to keep his eyes on the road.
I’m in a little cafe, on the harbour front in Cobh. Another Irish Breakfast has some how found it’s way to my table. I cheerfully, but mistakenly, proclaimed that I was “here for breakfast”, when I saw the vegetarian quiche in the display case at the front. She sat me down and promptly brought me my sausage, bacon and blood pudding. I’m not sure what the Irish have against hashbrowns, but eating them for breakfast is virtually unheard of. Perhaps they had a bad experience with potatoes once. Anyhow, I’m forced to start another day with an egg, and a small plum tomato.
After a brief day mostly motoring, we arrived in Cobh, on the 23rd. It was amazingly picturesque sailing in. The town is famous for being the last port visited by the Titanic before it shuck hands with an iceberg in the middle of the Atlantic. This is the place that Leonardo DiCaprio hailed from, before he set off for the land of opportunity. Anyway, It’s not hard to imagine what Cobh looked like back then.
I’m certain that Matt & I were the first to sample the town’s lager. Empty stomached and waiting for the others from the ship to catch up, we ordered three rounds. Things quickly escalated to drinking games. After that, Chinese food & a couple of bottles of wine… then another pub… after that, I have been told that I was very fun to be around and that I owe Luke for huge favours he paid me, later in the night.
It was not easy getting up for work the following day. Luckily, we only worked for the morning then gave harbour tours in the afternoon. The tours are a terrific opportunity to make up spectacular stories of the ship and our voyages. Did you know that the Picton Castle was converted to a submarine back in the Second World War?
Yesterday, a bunch of us took the train into Cork. We spent the day getting lost, while drinking beer from camping mugs. Later, we hung out for a couple of hours in a local tattoo parlour making big mistakes. I managed to escape without any permanent damage being done. We found cheap lodging at a hostel and didn’t return there, until we filled our quota for mischief late into the night. I’m pretty sure that everything we did was perfectly legal, but I’ll save those stories for a later time and a less public forum… I can tell you that we made a lot of friends in town and that I was glad to have another day off from work, today.
Everything so far is very simple. 4 hours work, followed by 8 hours rest. I’m on the 8 - 12 watch. Night watch is beautiful.
Day #3 (May 26th)
fair wind, cool & sunny
Arm deep digging grease out of shives on the t’gallant. Drinking beer, listening to David Francey on laptop. Spotted floating beer cooler on lookout. Game of Bang. El Gringo killed the sheriff. Outlaws won.
Just returned from stowing the main t’gallant in some pretty serious wind. It was the single most thrilling experience of my entire life!
Day #4 (May 27th)
Strong Wind!
Shortly after finishing mousing on the main royal (see video), I laid aloft on the windward side of the fore lower tops’l. The wind was really strong there. Things were beginning to feel pretty hairy & I couldn’t find a secure position. I was getting nervous. On way back inboard on the yard, but became stuck. My shoelace had come untied and had fixed itself to footrope. No luck tugging it free, I had to lower myself below the yard to untangle it. I was terrified! No more aloft for the rest of the watch! Hopefully, this incident won’t affect my nerve.
Pothead whales swam along side, this morning. Initial high gone, after scare aloft.
Missing home. Nauseus. Stayed in bunk all afternoon. Ate pretzals for dinner.
Day #5 (May 28th)
Good day. Strong Winds.
Went aloft. Luke & I presented the first “Wednesday Movie Matinee” in the Salon. Showed a film about the Kelly Gang. Good response from all.
Found stunned seabird on deck, during night watch. It must have flown into the rigging. Another dead bird in the carpenter’s workspace.
Nausea affecting my desire to eat. Skipped dinner again.
Day #6 (May 29th)
Cold & Overcast
Atlantic ocean is way too big.
Day #7 (May 30th)
Beautiful & Sunny. Little Wind.
Preparations for Trans-Atlantic Seamanship Derby. I’m going to kick ass.
Compass Boxing
Knots
Lines
Ship Parts
1 week at sea. Sun & warmth entirely welcome. Dolphins swam along side on watch in the evening. Very beautiful. They looked like comets, because of the stream of bubbles they leave behind as they swim.
Day #8 (May 31st)
Sunny & Warm
Working on meal preparations for tomorrow’s galley duty. It’s Donald’s day off! Ugh.
Day #9 (June 1st)
Long day. Up at 05:30 to start my day in the galley. Because it was Donald’s day off, 3 of us were responsible for cooking & cleaning up after the 35 crew aboard.
If that wasn’t enough, we held the Trans-Atlantic Seamanship Derby & a Marlinspike.
Missed the Marlinspike, because we were in the skullery doing dishes. I was fuming inside. I’m over it now.
Day #10 (June 2nd)
I ran all the starboard gear and bent on the fore royal, this morning. Really satisfying work. It’s nice to get a lot of work done w/o having to ask questions every 5 minutes. Things are really starting to make sense.
First shower, since te start of the voyage. I feel a weight is off my shoulders, after creeping around covered in grease, all this time.
I’ve been informed that we’re a third of the way in our crossing! There is something about being on the ocean, that makes me really anxious. I don’t like being so far from land. I think it will get much better for me, once we reach Europe.
Day #11 (June 3rd)
90 nautical miles in the last 24 hours. Best sailing yet.
So tired of the food. Everything is cooked in margarine. I would kill for vegetables that were simply steamed.
Great workshop on splicing today.
Nadja lent me an excellent book the other day, called “The Glass Castle”. Really enjoying reading during alone time.
Day #12 (June 4th)
Fell asleep on hatch… burnt belly. Yelled @ this morning, for letting go of the fore t’gallant halyard before it was made fast. Must remember not to do this again.
Day #13 (June 5th)
Sunny & Warm
Susie & I were the 1st to stow the main royal, today. We did it on our own. Regarding the lumpiness, Ben said it looked like we were “hiding a dead baby”. He was right. It wasn’t pretty, be we did it!
Tomorrow is clean sock & underwear day. It’s going to be amazing. Quick calculations, a few days in to the journey, brought realization that there weren’t nearly enough for the crossing. Since, I’ve been very frugal with both.
Day #14 (June 6th)
Warmest Day Yet.
At lookout, I sometimes stand on the foc’stle head, lips pursed, w/ my arms corssed & my chest puffed out, as though I own the ship & the water in front of it.
Nicki game me a solid haircut, this afternoon, as dolphins swam alongside. Cost: 1 gin & tonic, when we reach Ireland.
Orcas showed up later in the day. I’m living the life aquatic.
Day #15 (June 7th)
Sunny, Force 5-6 winds & seas.
Captain likes to yell and curse. I don’t much appreciate it.
Luke & I, unwilling to wait any longer for swim call, donned our suits and caught some waves coming across the midship decks. Great swells.
Whispers of a surprise visit to the Azores. Crossing my fingers. I’d love to stop in for some dry land.
Day #16 (June 8th)
Sunny w/ Wind. Good sized swells.
So, we floated by the Azore Islands, this mornings. Guess the rumors weren’t true. No break from the sea.
After much confusion, I went to bed last night, comforted knowing that I didn’t have to cook on galley, today… Well, I had to cook again! Some clerical error has left Jackie and I cooking every Sunday for the entirity of the atlantic crossing! Seems I will not have a day of rest for sometime… as this is the day that the crew enjoys off.
Sperm whale in the distance.
Day #17 (June 9th)
Sea turtle spotted from lookout. It was amazing!
Beautiful night @ helm. Really enjoying steering by starlight. What started as a stressful chore, has become something to look forward to. Northeast by east, 1 quarter east… pretty much a direct course for Corcaigh!
Day #18 (June 10th)
Rough Weather. Ships work on hold.
Reading “The Boat Who Wouldn’t Float”
Dirty conversations on 20:00 - 24:00 watch.
Day #19 (June 11th)
Waking up to the prospect of cleaning the ships heads is very difficult. I do it everyday. I’m doing it right now… This is me procrastinating.
Day #20 (June 12th)
Thinking of a girl back home.
Wondering what she’s doing.
Singing “Happy Birthday” in my mind.
Feeling a little homesick.
Seas calming. Lots of ships work getting done.
Really excited about Ireland. Making lost of plans to get the most of my time there. I’m thinking of booking a hotel room for a night away. I’d love some privacy and a hot bath.
Call mom/dad, Lizette, & Slater
Launday
Check bank account
Write postcards
Find Lyrics to Yoho Valley
Send birthday gift to Lizette
Develop pictures for bunk
Internet (email, look into Skype
hotel (hot tub, bath, etc.)
Ask dad to email me some of his recordings
Ask him to record “Sunny Don’t Go Away”
Day #21 (June 13th)
Reading of Cork in 7 year old Lonely Planet. Will the laundramat, etc. still be there, when I arrive?
Also, reading “Magical Thinking”, by Augusten Burroughs, as recommended by Tim. Quirky man, short stories of his life.
Already think of menu for this coming Sunday. I’ve given up hopes of having this issues resolved. Mona’s Biscuits were very popular, last week. There have been requests for a repeat
Nadija taught me how to make ratlines, this afternoon. Now, I’m the only apprentice crew that knows how. Nadija said that I can go up and work on them, anytime there are broken ones. I know what I’ll be doing tomorrow afternoon!
Day #22 (June 14th)
Motoring since yesterday’s afternoon. We’re avoiding possibly serious weather. Also means we’re making excellent time.
Really having a great time developing relationships w/ a few people aboard
Day #23 (June 15th)
Remembering how Tim spent 15 minutes searching & asking 4 different people where we keep the “elbow grease”, when Kolin suggested he use a little. Smart kid.
We’ve shut engines off and are sitting motionless. Headwinds were hard on fuel supplies. We’re floating backwards.
Trip itinerary has been altered. Aland Ilands are now out, but 4 or so new destinations will be added.
Galley went very well, today. Considering opportunities aboard other ship’s, as ship’s cook?
Expecting 3 or so more days, until we reach Ireland… Baltimore is now our first port of call & we will anchor there.
Day #24 (June 16th)
Climbed to stowe the main royal in bare feet. Ouch! Tried aloft going w/ no shoes before, but it killed my feet. I wasn’t planning on doing it again. We encountered a squal & it was urgent. Feet are toughening nicely.
First thing this morning, while covering for Luke on forward lookout. I had a visit from 10 or so pilot whales. This encounter was particularly exciting because of the babies among them. They coasted along directly below. Any closer and I would have touched them. The babies were glued to their mother’s sides. The group of them just chilled on our bow for about 15 minutes. Just as they departed, another visitor arrived… A blue whale! The ocean is filled with these things!
Day #25 (June 17th)
Good possibility of reaching Ireland this evening! It could very well happen on my watch (8-12). We’re really rolling today, which probably means shallower waters.
Just went on deck. You could smell the land! 10 minutes later… there it was! We’ve arrived.
We’ve dropped anchor, stowed sail and uncorked the rum.
25 days away @ sea.
No news. No television. No radio. No telephone. I have no idea what is happening in the world outside the Picton Castle. I miss my friends & family. I miss weekends off, clean clothes, hot bathes, sushi & indian food. I’ve gained toughened hands, a longer beard & have lost some weight. I can splice rope, stow sail, tie a shit load of knots & I’ve apparently acquired a hell of a sailor’s vocabulary… That’ll have to go, when I return to the real world. I can think of no greater accomplishment in my life, than crossing the Atlantic Ocean on a square rigger. I am swollen w/ pride over having made the journey from Lunenburg to Ireland. This is only the beginning. Tomorrow, I’ve shore leave and a chance to contact home… Then my European adventure begins.
With the declining days before we sail, a lot of focus has shifted to bending sail. This meant lot’s of time aloft. The day we started, I was so lucky to be put on the sail-bending crew. Just moments before we were to go aloft, I was pulled to help Finn in the engine room. Instead, I spent the day on my hands and knees scrubbing my knuckles off with a chemical dubbed “The Right Stuff”. Days later, my fingers are pitted and bloody. You might imagine how excited I was to swab the sludge off the engine room deck plates, as my friends were climbing the shrouds.
One day later, I made my way up to the main lower tops’l yard with my sore hands and stowed my first sail, since almost ten years ago, I think. Since then, I’ve become a climbing fiend. I am so proud of how confident I am up there and I think I’m proving that I can be useful. I’ve done a lot of solo climbing, to fix blocks for the spanker and to attach the upper tops’l sheets. Yesterday, I stowed the main t’gallant. It was exhilarating to be that high. Can’t wait to get up on the royal.
We’re to be off on the 20th now… but I have a feeling that we might not leave the pier until the day after. We have to pass one last Transport Canada safety test on Tuesday morning. Wish me luck, the crossing could take up to 3 weeks and by then I’ll have earned my anchor (I’ve learned it’s nautical tradition to get an anchor tattoo, when you’ve made an Atlantic crossing). Hope to get lots of emails, when I reach land. I’ve been really digging the updates from all of you. Miss you all.
“The trip was to be an odyssey in the fullest sense of the word, an epic journey that would change everything… At long last he was unencumbered, emancipated from the stifling world… of abstraction and security and material excess, a world which he felt grievously cut off from the raw throb of existence.” - Jon Krakauer (re: Christopher MacCandless)
Scraped paint off an old dory. Gave it a fresh coat of paint.
Went aloft. I was confident in my climbing, but forgot to look down.
Went to the Knot Pub for Quiz night. 2 hours to answer some difficult questions. Our team came in 4th.
Toured the Fisheries Museum. Great exhibit. Slept through the second half of ‘Around Cape Horn’. Awesome movie, but I was so tired from the weeks work.
Tacking drills. My knowledge of the ships lines has greatened. Can’t wait to exercise it on the open seas.
Partied in the Dory Shop. Killer piano and fiddler duo. We danced around our unfinished expedition boat ’til early in the morning.
Have I only been here for 11 days? It’s surprising how dramatically your life can change and how quickly you find comfort in that new norm. Perhaps it’s because there is more consistency and repetition in my day’s here, than there was at home. I’m enjoying the long days of hard work. The ship feels like home. The Picton Castle has seen an incredible transformation. 30 people have come together and painted a 175′ ship in 10 days. I was a apart of that and am beginning to feel a real attachment with the ship as a result. I’ll post pictures soon.
Eric used to work many days straight, by himself, in a closet. He lives now, in a closet, with forty others. People can talk alot. Quickly, Eric’s learned to jump on jobs that give him alone time. No one wants to clean the head; He volunteers enthusiastically. Today, he had the pleasure of hanging himself off the port side of the fo’csle to paint a big racing strip on the side of the ship. He got to spend the whole afternoon in the quiet of his own thoughts, while the fog rolled in.
First post since I boarded on the 1st. I’m suffering from internet withdrawal and this is why I’m sitting in the cold, on a bench, in front of the closed library at 7 o’clock in the morning. They have wireless! I have no idea what’s going on in the world outside Lunenburg. I’d love to know what you’re all up too.
We’ve been working really hard to get the Castle ready for May 17th. Thus far the schedule has had us up and ready to breakfast for 7:30 and working for 8. I’ve been doing a lot of priming and painting. I’ve been told this is the standard job for us trainees and there is a lot of it to do.
Yesterday, we “exploded” the hold. This may sound exciting to you, as it did to me when it was explained as such. The job essentially entailed the emptying the hold of it’s copious contents onto the dock… looking at the contents… then putting it all back. There are a lot of these types of jobs that seemingly don’t make a lot of sense, but after doing them for a while, they start to… and then you start to see the fun in it.
Picture here is from a couple of days ago, when we hoisted the new Main T’Gallant Yard and put it in place. It was a pretty exciting undertaking to be part of.
