It is the second day of the Tall Ships Rhode Island festival and a fairly fast-paced one at that. Newport is definitely a town for mariners. The sailing ships are nearly outnumbered by the sea food restaurants. The festival has attracted a lot of attention here. It is obvious to me that people in this area have a close affinity to their maritime heritage. It can be seen in the clothes they wear, the expressions they use in their language, in the food they eat and the way they choose to decorate their town and items within it. It is certainly different then people in my home city of Chicago. The people of Chicago, in comparison have very little connection to maritime traditions. The tall ships here don’t seem to be an oddity to be observed at the docks. Instead, they fit right into the architecture of the city itself, as if the city was built anticipating that their arrival would complete the picture. It’s that integral attitude of a semblence of familiarity that makes the tall ship visit to this city slightly different then the past cities.
Think it is easy to dock a 250′ three masted ship? Watch this video and you will gain an appreciation for all the logistics involved. You can’t quite see it in this photo, but the Virginia is at the bow end of the Cisne Branco. Ever so carefully, the bowsprit of the Cisne Branco had to be perfectly aligned so as not to pierce the Virginia’s lines and sails. On the stern end of the Virginia is the Gorch Fock, it was a cozy berth but it worked! When the music comes on, that means the ship is in….
Fun, fun, fun ! Harborfest,in conjunction with Sail Virginia and organized by Norfolk Festevents (www.festevents.org), was a smashing success. Karen Scherberger and her incredible team once again put together an event that showcased the best that Norfolk has to offer. Beginning with the largest and coolest Parade of Sail (read the interns blogs and check out the photos for a behind the scenes look at what was happening on board the Picton Castle during the sail) and culminating with the most impressive fireworks display I have ever seen, it’s understandable that I was quite reluctant to leave. Everyone involved in Sail Virginia and Harborfest was professional, friendly and enthusiastic. Read the rest of this entry »
It is Monday, June 11. The Picton Castle sets sail early tommorow. Not long ago I finished helping to unfurl the sails – we need them dry before departure. Norfolk has been a lively and exciting festival for tall ships. It is, as Captain Moreland says, “A mariner’s town”. You can see it in the city, profusely decorated with images of tall ships in their street windows and taverns and their decorated mermaid sculptures (similiar to the cow thing they did in Chicago). The highlights of the event were the fireworks and the Parade of Sail. The fireworks show, held on June 9th was one of the most spectacular I have seen. Three locations, one of them a barge moored near the Picton Castle, rocketed a fireworks show impressive enough that you could literally feel the sound blasts in your chest.
The weekend in Norfolk was great! Saturday was my favorite day, next to the Parade of Sail on Friday. The Picton Castle lost some of her crew members on Saturday as Norfolk was the end of their voyage. However the good-byes, sad as they were, were downplayed with the excitement of meeting the new crew mates that joined fthe ship for the next leg of the voyage. The waterfront festival was a happening place on Saturday. The marching band that came through every few hours, the live bands, the pirate sword match show, and of course, the tall ships were the backbone of the festival. I visited every Tall Ship here and was able to check out some of the restricted areas, too. The Spirit of Bermuda and the Bluenose II were immaculate on the inside. Both were air conditioned and everything had a luxurious feel to it on the inside. Nonetheless, I wouldn’t trade the Picton Castle and her crew for any of it. Saturday’s festival culminated with a very memorable firework presentation. Not kidding, there were actually three locations where the fireworks were being shot off from and the sky was filled with explosions of color. The firework display actually lasted for a solid 25 min. and the grand finale was the best firewords grand finale I have seen, it was so loud that it vibrated my sternum. A ship length or two away, two barges stood proud and blasted off these enormous fireworks…it was awesome. After the fireworks I proceeded to investigate the Captain Miranda. There I met her crew and enjoyed the company of many other ships crews. What a fun day!
MORE HEAT!!!! After deck wash and domestics onboard the Picton Castle, I headed over to the ASTA booth for some time in the shade…finally. Later, Matt and I set up the booth we met a lady Pirate that is in a performance troupe that showcase sword fighting…she actually uses a whip as her weapon of choice and she told us all about her whip that is made out of kangaroo hide. She even has a cat o’nines. After a fun filled day at the ASTA booth I checked out the Nauticus Museum, which was awesome because I could touch things there. I love hands on activities. Later I went back to the ship to set up for a reception for the Dominion Enterprises sponsors. It was an easy reception, we only had to teach the guests how to use the head and keep the guests from going aloft. At 10pm there was an amazing fireworks display, the cost was probably six figures. The fireworks barges were less than a ship’s length away and I felt like a kid again because the fire works were so overwhelming!
Today I have a day off but I will be taking part in the crew parade at noon, which I can promise will be interesting.
Here she comes… the Picton Castle, navigating through the Chesapeake Bay and into the Norfolk, VA harbor. The morning started with a Pilot boat pulling up along side us to drop off about 20 new shipmates. Well, not permanent shipmates, just the lucky chosen few that would join us for the Parade of Sail into Norfolk. We had a brief speech from the Captain and we were under way.
The Parade of Sail was amazing. The Picton Castle was accompanied by the Taragini, Gorge Fock, Prince William, Bluenose II, Pride of Baltimore II, Urania, and Virginia (just to name a few) all with sails set pridefully, in the parade into Norfolk. As much of a spectacular sight as the Tall Ships were, the U.S. Navy also accompanied us with aircraft carriers and submarines!!! Out of nowhere, a long, black, tubular shape stelathily emerged out of the water along side us. It was the USS Norfolk submarine!!! As Navy Police boats cleared the way for the sub, Navy personnel stood at attention on the sub’s deck. All of a sudden, my attention was drawn to the fighter jets that screamed by above. Man was it exciting! There was so much going on, cannons sounding from the different tall ships, submarines, police boat sirens, fighter jets, helicopters, photos by the press, the public passing by on private boats and yachts, oh my gosh! The last exciting sight as we came into harbor was the naval aircraft carrier which gave the parade of ships a twenty-one gun salute. Impressive! The Picton Castle crew was busy bracing the yards square in our own salute.
As we finally made our way into the dock slip, the crowd gave us a warm, hospitable welcome. Captain Dan Moreland did a fine job docking the Picton Castle, he made it seem hassel free. In fact, the tug boats which had to help some of the other tall ships, never touched the Picton Castle. Norfolk is going to be a huge event. There is so much going on here and so much to do. I am very excited to be a part of this and after the grand entrance, I feel like a celebrity being a part of the Picton Castle Crew.
It was the strangest thing today. I used the head…and it flushed. Hot water came out of the faucet and it’s good to be on land again. Yesterday we had the Parade of Sail into Norfolk, Virginia and boy was it a hot day. I came pretty darn close to death! The heat was brutal! After a short time at the ASTA tent, I went back to the ship Picton Castle and got stuff to take a REAL shower. It doesn’t take much to make me happy. All I need now is a laundromat.
The festival is wonderful. There are so many ships involved at this event and there are tons of vendors. Since this event is open late, there are people walking around from 10am to 11pm…thank goodness I don’t work those longs hours. Last night, myself and some of the other trainees mingled and wandered the event and had a impromptu dance party, which was fun. I am looking forward to this evening because we will be having a reception on board the Picton Castle and I am on watch. I am a little apprehensive, I don’t know who is coming to the reception or what the reception is for.
I have a bunch of photos,videos, and blogs however, I don’t have the wires to transer the blogs so I will get around to posting my journals from the time I was onboard from Charleston to Norfolk. Oh technology, the headaches you give me!
