Join the ASTA team in Cleveland, November 5,6,7!

Huntington Cleveland Harborfest 2006

We are counting down to the annual ASTA conference and there is  less than a month to go! Join the team in Cleveland, Ohio for the 37th Annual Conference on Sail Training and Tall Ships. 

The conference will kick-off on Wednesday, November 4, with an evening Welcome Reception sponsored by Positively Cleveland and the host ports of the 2010 Great Lakes United TALL SHIPS CHALLENGE® Race Series.  

These are challenging times and many of us can use some fresh ideas to help our organizations thrive in this economy.  The conference will offer a powerful agenda aimed at presenting some new ideas, as well as some new ways of looking at old ideas, designed to help your organizations, programs, and vessels function more effectively.

Nautical Tattoos: Mike from Alliance

Mike from Alliance's tattoo of Hiwa.

While spending time in Vancouver around 1995, Mike aboard Alliance choose this nautical tattoo for his right arm.  According to Mike, it is a tattoo of the dolphin Hiwa, a messenger from the gods in Northwest Indian tales as well as stylized around their totems.

Nautical Tattoos: Sam from Roseway

Sam’s cormorant tattoo was only 10 days old when we caught up with her on the Roseway back in May.  She picked the cormorant because she spent the last two years as a sailing instructor with Thompson Island Outward Bound where they would see the birds all the time.  

Nautical Tattoos: Elizabeth from Pride of Baltimore II

Elizabeth aboard Pride of Baltimore II got her tattoo of a Pig and Rooster in May.  Intertwined as mermaids and positioned in the middle of her back, she explains that the image signifies good luck and protection against drowning and shipwrecks.  Since neither of these animals can swim, they would want to get the sailor back to shore as quickly as possible.  It was done by artist Charlie Foos at Read Street Tattoo in Baltimore, MD.

Elizabeth’s Pig and Rooster for protection.

 

Nautical Tattoos: Gina from the Spirit of Massachusetts

The cliche of the sailor – weathered skin, salt encrusted hair, and gravely voiced with a faded tattoo. The cliche may hold true (sometimes) but there is a deeper meaning behind that ink.  It could be a souvenir of a journey or a deeply held belief, but the tattoo represents something that warrants permanence and display. This summer, Nelly and Amelia interviewed sailors at the tall ships events to find out the meaning behind their body art and came upon some fascinating glimpses into the sailor mind.

From Halifax to Belfast by Sea

The Crew in Belfast_Chris Speller

 

 

 

 

 

 

     

       It has been over a week since I waved goodbye to the HMS Bounty in Belfast. As she sailed off the dock and joined the Parade of Sail, I couldn’t help but wish I was on deck too, watching the city recede behind us as we sail off to the next port of call. Instead I wandered aimlessly through the streets of Belfast, missing my new friends and feeling out of touch with the people rushing about the city. I found I was eager to get back to work. At least then, ensconced in the planning for the Great Lakes United 2010 TALL SHIPS CHALLENGE® Race Series, I would be able to talk to people who understood what it was like to be at sea for 22 days and how scary it is the first time you climb up to the royal yard while underway.

            My tall ship experience began on July 20^th, the day of the Parade of Sail out of Halifax, Nova Scotia. It was a stunningly gorgeous, windy day and a welcome change from the rainy, foggy weather that had settled over the city for the past few days. Not that the weather did anything to deter the crowds from coming down to the waterfront – if you live in Halifax, you learn to live with the fog.

            It was thrilling to finally be a part of a Parade of Sail and to know that I wouldn’t be getting off the ship and hopping on a plane home that night. There was nervous anticipation all over the deck. I looked around, not knowing the first thing about what I should or shouldn’t be doing, and thought to myself, “Can I live with these people that I just met this morning for the next three weeks? Is the weather going to be rough? And, most importantly, will I get seasick?”

The final results for Race Five and the overall race series

Dutch Naval Vessel URANIA wins the Friendship Trophy

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The following are the prizes for the fifth and final race that took the fleet across the Atlantic from Halifax to Belfast. The prizes awarded were as follows:

Class A:
1st: Cisne Branco (Brazil)
2nd: Europa (Netherlands)
3rd: Capitan Miranda (Uruguay)

BOUNTY bound for Belfast

     After three years, four TALL SHIPS CHALLENGE® Race Series, and 18 events, I finally have the opportunity to be a participant on board a tall ship. Not just any tall ship, but perhaps the most famous of all, the HMS Bounty. A berth is waiting for me and I board tonight.  Next stop- Belfast, Northern Ireland for the last event in the TALL SHIPS ATLANTIC CHALLENGE® Race Series.

     Since May, vessels have been racing their way around the Atlantic Ocean. Starting in Vigo, Spain the vessels have been to Tenerife, Las Canarias; Hamilton, Bermuda; Charleston, South Carolina; Boston, Massachusetts; Halifax, Nova Scotia, and finally Belfast. I have been following the ships since Vigo and working with them personally since Charleston. It has been an awesome experience and one that is not nearly over. Twenty one days from now, I will be in Belfast, proudly wearing a crew shirt and most likely a bit more swarthy after sailing 2324nm across the Northern Atlantic Ocean. Nelly and Amelia will also be on board as crew and the three of us are all eager for the transit.

Waaaay back in June….

Nelly on MIRCEA

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

          

Written by Nelly Turley

  Way back in June, when I arrived in Hamilton, Bermuda on the Bounty, Captain Walbridge briefed us on some port etiquette, from bringing friends on board to letting other ship’s crew members climb Bounty’s rigging.  I didn’t really know anyone else that would want to come climb the rig so I didn’t think too much about it until I visited the Cisne Branco.  The Cisne Branco (or White Swan) is the Brazilian navy ship and was docked in front of the Kruzenshtern at the Bermuda tall ships event, where I had just had tea and cookies (baked on board) while they filled out a vessel survey. I decided to tour  Cisne Branco and chatted with the radio operator, Mario. As I was walking away he said “If you have any questions please, don’t hesitate to ask.”   There was only one question that came to mind, “Can I climb your rig?”   And so my quest to climb to go aloft on as many ships as I could began with that one simple question.

             Being up in the rig, or over the side, still hasn’t lost its luster for me.  I know some seasoned sailors might shrug it off but I still consider it my favorite place on board (just ahead of my bunk and wherever the food is). 

A night to remember at ASTA’s Annual Fundraiser

Amelia N. Smith – July 14th

 

Sunday was our big day, the ASTA Annual Fundraiser on tall ship Concordia to raise money for sail training and education.  I started off the evening directing guests to the reception by greeting them at the beginning of the pier.  They were easy to spot—the well-heeled guests and spotless crew and cadets.