Anchors Away!
Got back a week or so ago from my first sailing trip onboard Gazela. We arrived Sunday June 3rd in a steady rain to find that about 1/3 of the crew at backed out at the last minute leaving the crew about 1/3 short and a good amount of those of us left were on our first trip. We went anyway, leaving in a light drizzle around 3AM.
On Gazela, watches are generally about 5-6 people and each person is rotated about once per hour between lookout positions, helm, runner (relaying info from lookouts to officers), boat check (checks to make sure we are not on fire or sinking!) and a utility person who is basically around to help with everything from sail handling to the cooks dishes. Look outs have the job of reporting other vessels in the area, other boaters in trouble, or anything we may be about to run into. Everyone gets a turn on the helm, but the captain makes all of the decisions. I got the chance to steer by the compass - thats when the captain gives you a heading like 030 and you have to use the compass to try to stay on it - definately gets easier with practice. I also got a short lesson on steering full-and-by, which is steering by going as close to your desired course as possible, without luffing (letting the wind out of)the sails. I also got to dock us, once we got to Yorktown, VA.
Here is me at the helm.
It was a good trip down the Chesapeake. We anchored every night so we didn't have to run the ship 24 hours a day with only 2 watches. We got to see some beautiful sunsets and one night even dolphins swimming along side of us. that same night, a large, cool-looking bird decided to perch on our mizzenmast and hang out for awhile.
The last day before out anchorage with the other tallships awaiting Norfolk's harborfest just outside of Norfolk, VA, our engine died. We had been traveling mostly entirely by sail for the last two days, but the wind had died, so we were moving very slowly for quite some time. We kept trying to make it to our anchorage until about 1:30 AM (since we could see it!) but we finally had to give up and drop anchor. We got enough power out of the engine in the morning to get to our spot and spent the day working on the ship while engine mechanics were sent out in pilot boats to get our engine in order for the parade of sail the next day.
More details later!
On Gazela, watches are generally about 5-6 people and each person is rotated about once per hour between lookout positions, helm, runner (relaying info from lookouts to officers), boat check (checks to make sure we are not on fire or sinking!) and a utility person who is basically around to help with everything from sail handling to the cooks dishes. Look outs have the job of reporting other vessels in the area, other boaters in trouble, or anything we may be about to run into. Everyone gets a turn on the helm, but the captain makes all of the decisions. I got the chance to steer by the compass - thats when the captain gives you a heading like 030 and you have to use the compass to try to stay on it - definately gets easier with practice. I also got a short lesson on steering full-and-by, which is steering by going as close to your desired course as possible, without luffing (letting the wind out of)the sails. I also got to dock us, once we got to Yorktown, VA.
Here is me at the helm.
It was a good trip down the Chesapeake. We anchored every night so we didn't have to run the ship 24 hours a day with only 2 watches. We got to see some beautiful sunsets and one night even dolphins swimming along side of us. that same night, a large, cool-looking bird decided to perch on our mizzenmast and hang out for awhile.
The last day before out anchorage with the other tallships awaiting Norfolk's harborfest just outside of Norfolk, VA, our engine died. We had been traveling mostly entirely by sail for the last two days, but the wind had died, so we were moving very slowly for quite some time. We kept trying to make it to our anchorage until about 1:30 AM (since we could see it!) but we finally had to give up and drop anchor. We got enough power out of the engine in the morning to get to our spot and spent the day working on the ship while engine mechanics were sent out in pilot boats to get our engine in order for the parade of sail the next day.
More details later!