(no subject)
Dear gang;
Happy new year. Sorry for not calling, but the Chieftain has been a busy ship the last few days. We took 40 passengers out last night into Long Beach harbor, anchored in front of the original Queen Mary, and watched the new year's fireworks at midnight, after a three hour battle sail in the afternoon and morning maintenance. Being bosun (basically, I'm responsible for all the ship's maintenance outside of the engine room) and gunner, I was a busy busy boy.
The last two weeks have been a blur of maintenance. Hawaiian Chieftain is run by an organization finishing a two year climb out of bankruptcy, and as a result, we don't have any time on our schedule for a dedicated, labor intensive shipyard period. GHHSA works the Chieftain and the Lady Washington to death with education sails for schoolkids, battle sails on the weekends and dockside tours, so we're continually playing catch-up. However, due to a scheduling foul up, we were blessed with a two-week period almost no committments. As a result, the ship's officers decided to launch into an impromptu shipyard period while we were in San Pedro. We worked our asses off with inadequate materials and a lack of skilled professional crew, but even so, the boat is looking fabulous. Seeing as the Chieftain was little more than a rusted hulk a year ago, that's pretty impressive. But HC's story is another tale for another time.
We're in Long Beach now, having transited about ten miles of harbor to get to our new location. All major maintenance is on hold for now, so I can finally catch my breath. GHHSA paid for both crews to go to Disneyland for Christmas, we've gotten to go sailing on three different tall ships (Irving Johnson, Lady Washington, and the privateer Lynx), and we had the day off today, so I've been able to have some shore-based fun as well (pictures to follow). Today, my chief mate offered to take me into Downtown L.A. and Hollywood. You all know what a movie geek I am, so I jumped at the chance. We spent the day getting a local's eye view of Tinseltown (she grew up here). We saw all the sights, and a whole bunch of stuff that isn't on the map (the coffee shop from Pulp Fiction, the hotel that inspired the Tower of Terror ride at Disney, the sidewalk where River Phoenix died, the Scientology celebrity compound, the Batcave from the 60's version of Batman, Compton). I still hate cities and sprawl, but today was just one of those days where random tangents of my life came together in a serendipitous, glorious way. Amazing.
We're here til the 9th, and then we transit to San Diego. I'm very much looking forward to the next few weeks- getting underway without the public crawling over the deck, seeing a new place, learning more bosunry, plus all the stuff we crazy tall ship sailors have to look forward to in Diego (bilge cart races in the belly of Star of India, Old Town SD, the possibility of going skydiving, a new tattoo or two, and a visit to the HMS Rose (the ship that played the HMS Surprise in Master and Commander). I love this life and all of it's aches, pains, joys and wonders. I love this ship and my shipmates, in spite of (or, perhaps, because of) their flaws.
Welcome to 2007. I resolve to keep on seeking out new places, new challenges, and new experiences. I resolve to believe in myself and learn to let go of my anxieties over the past- while keeping the friends gained and the lessons learned from it.
I miss all of you guys and hope you're doing awesomely.
Love,
-J.P.
Happy new year. Sorry for not calling, but the Chieftain has been a busy ship the last few days. We took 40 passengers out last night into Long Beach harbor, anchored in front of the original Queen Mary, and watched the new year's fireworks at midnight, after a three hour battle sail in the afternoon and morning maintenance. Being bosun (basically, I'm responsible for all the ship's maintenance outside of the engine room) and gunner, I was a busy busy boy.
The last two weeks have been a blur of maintenance. Hawaiian Chieftain is run by an organization finishing a two year climb out of bankruptcy, and as a result, we don't have any time on our schedule for a dedicated, labor intensive shipyard period. GHHSA works the Chieftain and the Lady Washington to death with education sails for schoolkids, battle sails on the weekends and dockside tours, so we're continually playing catch-up. However, due to a scheduling foul up, we were blessed with a two-week period almost no committments. As a result, the ship's officers decided to launch into an impromptu shipyard period while we were in San Pedro. We worked our asses off with inadequate materials and a lack of skilled professional crew, but even so, the boat is looking fabulous. Seeing as the Chieftain was little more than a rusted hulk a year ago, that's pretty impressive. But HC's story is another tale for another time.
We're in Long Beach now, having transited about ten miles of harbor to get to our new location. All major maintenance is on hold for now, so I can finally catch my breath. GHHSA paid for both crews to go to Disneyland for Christmas, we've gotten to go sailing on three different tall ships (Irving Johnson, Lady Washington, and the privateer Lynx), and we had the day off today, so I've been able to have some shore-based fun as well (pictures to follow). Today, my chief mate offered to take me into Downtown L.A. and Hollywood. You all know what a movie geek I am, so I jumped at the chance. We spent the day getting a local's eye view of Tinseltown (she grew up here). We saw all the sights, and a whole bunch of stuff that isn't on the map (the coffee shop from Pulp Fiction, the hotel that inspired the Tower of Terror ride at Disney, the sidewalk where River Phoenix died, the Scientology celebrity compound, the Batcave from the 60's version of Batman, Compton). I still hate cities and sprawl, but today was just one of those days where random tangents of my life came together in a serendipitous, glorious way. Amazing.
We're here til the 9th, and then we transit to San Diego. I'm very much looking forward to the next few weeks- getting underway without the public crawling over the deck, seeing a new place, learning more bosunry, plus all the stuff we crazy tall ship sailors have to look forward to in Diego (bilge cart races in the belly of Star of India, Old Town SD, the possibility of going skydiving, a new tattoo or two, and a visit to the HMS Rose (the ship that played the HMS Surprise in Master and Commander). I love this life and all of it's aches, pains, joys and wonders. I love this ship and my shipmates, in spite of (or, perhaps, because of) their flaws.
Welcome to 2007. I resolve to keep on seeking out new places, new challenges, and new experiences. I resolve to believe in myself and learn to let go of my anxieties over the past- while keeping the friends gained and the lessons learned from it.
I miss all of you guys and hope you're doing awesomely.
Love,
-J.P.