I arrived in Erie the morning of Friday, March 26th , the official start of the Niagara‘s season. Chief Mate Billy Sabatini picked me up from the train station and had me at the Erie Maritime Museum, the ship’s headquarters, in time for breakfast and a quick costume change into my old familiar tarry carharts and work-sweaters.
I am working at getting comfortable again aloft. Upon leaving the Picton Castle I knew every foothold and handle in the rig, and could scurry up and stow royals and t’gallants on the darkest nights. Here, I am clumsy and unsure again. Like I’m moving through an unfamiliar living room with all the lights out, I make my way around the rig with small, cautious steps, feeling out the fuddocks and the cross trees, gingerly sitting atop the mast cap and getting situated for my task. A few more climbs coupled with a rig full of spars, shrouds, and stays, and everything should be fine. Read the rest of this entry »
There are many reasons to be a member of the American Sail Training Association, free copies of our directory Sail Tall Ships!, discounts to our regional meetings and annual conference, and the smug knowledge that your membership helps to support our mission, along with many of the education and scholarship programs which help bring the adventure, excitement and life changing experience of the tall ships and sail training to an ever widening audience, both young and old.
And today, another benefit from one of our member vessels, Picton Castle. Join the Picton Castle for a voyage this summer along the Atlantic Coast for three, six or nine weeks and, if you are an ASTA Member receive 20% off the regular price. This is an awesome opportunity on an awesome ship. Keep reading for the nitty gritty on this amazing adventure…
Leaving the Picton Castle Monday morning was a sad affair. While it was time to move on, both I and my shipmates wished that we could stay together longer. Things have to move on though, I have work to finish in Newport and the ship has a schedule to make in ports farther north. Even as I was packing my things to leave, work on the ship continued just as it did before. The ship is the only constant thing concerning life on the Picton Castle. Everyone else comes and goes as their time allows. As I was leaving, Rebecca was giving an orientation to the new trainees on the quarterdeck to prepare them for the Halifax Parade of Sail. I remember when I was in Charleston some months ago, being acclimated to the ship while the bags of departing crew members piled on the hatch. That memory came full circle as I left the ship with my bags.
I noticed today that my tenure with the Tall Ships festivals and the Picton Castle was coming to a close. That was made apparent this morning when I had to move my gear out of my bunk that I’ve lived in for nearly two months on the ship. Tommorow the ship leaves Halifax with many of my shipmates and friends. I will not be on board this time though. Time to move on and finish out my internship in Newport by collecting and organizing my experiences for ASTA.
The festival in Halifax has had a very good showing. Crowds of people have been on the docks to see the tall ships. Today the weather has turned foul again with fog and mist in abundance. If the line for donuts and coffee at Tim Horton’s is any indication, then it is certain that today will again be a busy day for the tall ships despite the kind of weather that makes someone want to stay at home and sleep.
Speaking of weather, I have to give kudos to our captain for keeping us and our ship out of unnecessary danger. I learned yesterday that the gale that we were waiting out in New Bedford and Martha’s Vineyard caught several of the other tall ships by surprise. Their captains had not predicted that the low pressure systems would converge and cause as much trouble as they did. A crew member on one of the ships got injured enough to require hospitalization and removal from the ship for some time. There are inherent dangers involved with sailing on the sea and it is a good thing that our captain is experienced enough to know how to be conservative and minimize those dangers.
Yesterday afternoon I helped out with the deck tours on the Picton Castle. Just making sure people don’t get hurt and answer questions. It’s amusing how excited the young kids are. I imagine I would be just as wide-eyed were I in their shoes. I never really got to go on a tall ship as a kid because all the tall ships I knew in the midwest were on my tv set. The ship’s cat does not like deck tours – she tries to sleep on the hatch but people are always poking and prodding her.
I’m looking forward to tommorow’s parade of sail. Those are always exciting. Hopefully the weather will work in our favor for that.
Today I did my first deck tours all season. I must give serious props to my fellow crew mates….deck tours are murder for crews on Tall Ships. There is the stereotypical questions suchs as ”You go ALL the way up there?!” “Can we go down below?” and since my station was near the galley “What are you cooking in the KITCHEN (grrr on the use of non-nautical terms!) It was a long day and I only did four hours of deck tours, I really feel for those that did 8.
I am pretty sad that I will be leaving my Picton Castle family although I won’t miss the hour long night watches. This morning I was awoken by the sound of the gangway squeeking and squaking against a piece of plywood. Give me a call and I will imitate the sound for you. I also was granted the privilege of lighting the galley stove, which I failed at; nobody told me that I was supposed to light the diesel pan. I thought I was inept. Thank goodness Rebecca was already up to help. But of course 5 minutes after she went back to bed I thought I caught the galley on fire. I later learned that you need to turn on the fan higher and you won’t get any diesel smoke on the galley. I freaked out and turned the fan down. Luckily Donald woke at 5:30am to start breakfast so hell didn’t break loose. We had eggs and hot water so I didn’t fail too much.
I only have 2 nights and 1 day left with Picton Castle……WHAAAAAAAA! (That’s the sound of my crying)
The festival in Halifax is in full swing and I am updating this blog to bring things up to speed now that I am back on shore and have internet. We just arrived in Halifax in a haze last night. What follows is the updated journal:
After much persuasion, my bosses, Erin and Jonathan, let Matt and I sail with Picton Castle to Halifax because they are that awesome. They also probably wouldn’t have been able to look at our sad faces every day at the office. So we are finally here in Halifax and let me tell you the transit was ummmm pretty amazing. We left Newport early on Sunday and toured Narragansett Bay during the parade of sail which was a lot of fun. We had some guests and former world voyagers. We picked up some new trainees like the Docdoor…Shawn the medical officer. He leaves the tweezers out for us so we can removed our manilla splinters so we don’t have to bother him, which is a good thing. We also have Too Tall, a 17 year boy from England. We also have a new asst. engineer Goia, she is pretty awesome and the girls Catharine and Julie are fantastic and willing to help with anything. Two days ago was Julie’s sweet 16, Donald made a cake for breakfast in celebration. We are also in the presence of a rockstar named Isaiah, he’s in a band. The band is Everybody Else Wins and will be playing the Warped Tour in Ohio…you can check them out on Myspace. Read the rest of this entry »
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.
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 »
