Crewing on a tall ship

[Capn Ellis]

I posted the pics from my trip aboard schooner Virginia on my webshots page. We sailed from Norfolk to Yorktown then to Annapolis the Wednesday before the sailboat show.
I was one of six "guests." As a guest, I was assigned to a watch and performed all the duties required of a deckhand, including taking a turn at the helm, handling sheets and halyards and making log entries. Sailing up the Chesapeake under blue skies and starry nights was pretty cool.
If you ever get the chance to do something similar, I urge you to do so. (Especially before you're too old to go up the ratlines.)
My shots are here http://good-times.webshots.com/album/568178695FfiagN
Virginia's website is here http://www.schoonervirginia.org/

 

[Warren Milberg]

Capn Ellis has it right: If you ever have the opportunity, go sail on a tall ship. Some years ago, my wife bought me the gift of sailing for 5 days aboard the tall ship "Pride of Balitimore II." You are really integrated into a crew shift on the boat and do just about everything, although I think their insurance company prevents them from letting "guest crew" like me from going aloft. But working the boat, to include time at the helm, is an experience of a life time. See: http://www.pride2.org/index.php

 

[afrey]

Tall ship sailing

I'm off sailing so I can't post when and as I usually do as Allan Frey.

For those in the Phila, PA area, you can volunteer to work on the tall ship Gazilla and do some sailing on her. I was a member of her crew for 8 years when I lived in the Phila area.

She is a wooden hull barkentine from the 1880's and can set 16 sails from three masts. She sails quite well through the ocean; and the square sails on the foremast are like a hundred foot high spinnaker when you steer her. Climbing in the rigging is straight forward, usually. Standing on a swaying foot rope 60 feet above the deck, furling a heavy square sail on a yard, at midnight in foul weather gear in a storm can get interesting. Since she is a museum ship, no safety features have been added. But climbing is optional, not required.

There are lots of stories, but the above gives you some idea of what it is like to work on her.

Allan

 

[sailingdog]

Anyone know of similar opportunities up in Boston or Newport???

 

[Warren Milberg]

Sailingdog: I suggest checking the schedules of such ships as the "Pride of Baltimore," as these boats routinely sail in and out of Boston. You just missed a trip they made from Boston to NY. Check their schedule for 2009 when they post it in January and see if they will be in your area. It really is a fun, and learning, experience.

http://www.pride2.org/come_aboard/on_passages.php

 

[JohnF261]

on a tall ship is an excellent experience. I have crewed on Delaware's tall "Kalmar Nyckel" for three years. When a storm is brewing and the captain calls for hands aloft the adrenaline really gets pumping. Climbing is optional though and you have to pass a strength test. To join the crew you have to take a 12 week training course and have 40 hours of volunteer time. It takes a lot of volunteers to downrig the ship and scrape and paint! She goes to P'town every year and sailing thru hell's gate in a square rig sailing ship is pretty cool.

And we have cannons!

www.kalmarnyckel.org

 

[Crocodilo]

I've sailed from Lisbon to Rio de Janeiro and Salvador on a tall ship (Sagres), returning via Azores to Portugal. It was one of the best sailing journeys of my life.

 

[cptskip]

i re rigged one, the fair jeanne. that was very interesting,even rebuilt the center board cylinder.20 ft travel in one direction.grate crew!!! that was 20 yrs ago. been to long. but fantastic memories.

 

[Capn Ellis]

You (and others) make a good case ...

I've sailed from Lisbon to Rio de Janeiro and Salvador on a tall ship (Sagres), returning via Azores to Portugal. It was one of the best sailing journeys of my life.

Not many of us, especially us whose youth and days of adventure are in the past, can take a voyage like that. BUT, we can hitch a ride on Pride or Virginia for a week and have a taste of sailing a wooden ship of a bygone era.
Virginia is an educational vessel, too. She will take you to Bermuda and the crew teaches celestial navigation en route.

 

[Eric Lorgus]

Philadelphia's Tall Ship, Gazela

Gazela (c.1883) is the last wooden square-rigger of its era that is still actively sailing. From 1901-1969 she was part of the Portuguese White Fleet that fished cod off the Grand Banks from one-man dories. After a remarkably long commercial career, Gazela came to Philadelphia in 1971 to become Philadelphia's goodwill ambassador and tall ship.

Gazela is not a museum ship, but rather an unmodified historic vessel, which due to her vintage means no watertight bulkheads and no USCG certification to carry fare-paying passengers. She is sailed by a volunteer crew and is open to anyone who puts in the required volunteer time (or makes a $1000 donation in lieu of) and completes Level One skill training. Volunteers need not live in Philadelphia, as many commute from as far away as New York and Baltimore, and spend the night aboard while putting in a weekend of volunteer time and training. Level One training can be completed in four weekends, and classes start each month.

Two weeks ago Gazela returned from the Great Chesapeake Bay Schooner Race (attached pic) and next summer will be participating in the ASTA circuit of port visits (Charleston/Boston/Halifax). Many of Gazela's captains and mates had their first traditional sailing experience aboard Gazela and went on to earn their masters or mates licenses and/or crew on other tall ships. She is a wooden barkentine, 177’ sparred length, 299 gross tons, and can set 16 sails on her three masts.

Gazela is owned by the Philadelphia Ship Preservation Guild, a 501c3 non-profit that also sails the 1902 historic tugboat Jupiter. For more information, visit www.gazela.org.

Eric Lorgus, President
Philadelphia Ship Preservation Guild
president@gazela.org

 

[ITMaster]

You Bet

It's was one of the thrills of a lifetime for me. I was lucky enough to spend 7 days aboard a 250 foot, 4 masted fisherman rigged schooner down in the Caribbean a couple years ago. My favorite time was at the helm during the mid watch; the time alone with the awesome expanse of the night skies with naught a cloud and the endless array of the stars, whew, I need some more of that

 

[scolil]

Would be awesome

Should the opportunity arise I would certainly be interested. The poll doesn't have anything between high on the list and not interested.

 

[Patrick S/V Shangra-La]

Tall SHip Bounty

I got to crew as the medic and AB seaman as a volunteer on the Bounty It was truly a great experience. Sure wish I could do it again.



http://www.tallshipbounty.org/galle...p/v/Signature+Photos/Ship+and+Bridge.jpg.htmlhttp://www.tallshipbounty.org/galle...p/v/Signature+Photos/Ship+and+Bridge.jpg.html

 

[elle]

More Schooner Pix

For those of you who cannot get enough of the breathtaking beauty of these ships, more pictures of the 127-mile Great Chesapeake Bay Schooner Race are available at www.spinsheet.com.

 

[tcbro]

Re: Tall SHip Bounty

My Grandfather was the shipwright on the Bounty when she was on display in Tampa Bay back in the late 60's early 70's. He hauled her, and replaced several hull planks. He also hand fashioned a new mainmast and a new foremast for her. I have newspaper articles and pictures of him using an adze (a sideways axe) to make a 3' square x 60' long timber into a round, tapered mast. He left the family farm in Norway in 1909 when he was 15 as crew aboard the Sofie, a 4 masted Barque, 306' on deck. For the next 15 years he crewed on sailing ships and then steam ships in the Atlantic, the Caribbean and the Gulf of Mexico and finally a large private yacht in the great lakes. Then he started a boatyard on Long Island, NY and built and serviced pleasure boats, mostly cabin cruisers in the 35'-45' range. I visited the Bounty display when he was 75 and found him hanging by a harness under the bowsprit, painting it. He made it to 102.