Sailing on a Tall Ship for the first time

Tall ship under sail in the Caribbean

Tall ship under sail in the Caribbean

More on sailing on a tall ship

First impressions of what life is like on a tall ship, for those who have limited or no experience at all of being on a sailing ship – or many other ships at all, apart from the Mersey Ferry.

Going up the masts

Was always going to be a daunting experience but at the same time the expectation was more of a problem than the reality. Modern day sailors who climb in Tall Ships at least are doing it by choice, but at the same time there still remains a risk, even though now you use harnesses and support wires which mean, unless you are very unlucky, all that you will lose if you fall is your dignity and not your life.

It’s just like climbing a very big ladder and as long as you maintain the basic principle of having three points in contact you should be OK. However, matters do take on a slightly different light when you climb when at sea with the rolling of the ship being an added factor. But this is generally more psychological than real as long as you are fixed you shouldn’t be any more at risk than if the ship was in dock.

What does become a problem is when you don’t know exactly what you’re doing. If you have a task in hand, do it and then head down again. This idea of playing around up top is a luxury that is only allowed to a relative few. Even those professionals who now work on some of these huge luxury cruise sailing ships who have to go aloft often would get down as soon as possible, I’m sure.

Getting used to the motion

So far there has been little problem in getting to grips with the motion on board. That’s not least because we have been sailing in the Caribbean in summer for the last couple of weeks or so. That’s not to say it never gets rough here.

There is quite a lot of time when there may not be a great deal to do so you tend to spend a lot of time just looking out at sea. Even when on watch the vast majority of the time is as it says, on watch, on the look out for other shipping. And looking at the sea itself.

Doing so you understand how the terms ‘ploughing’ through the water and ‘boiling’ to describe the foam that you leave behind in your wake.

There was one period of about twelve hours when we were under sail and going against the wind where the ship was bucking with the bow trying to turn the vessel into a submarine. This had the ship over at an angle of 20 or so degrees to port (that’s towards the left if you are looking towards the sharp end at the front).

But when the vessel is moving like that it’s a physical effort to take even a few steps. And it’s important to remember that – if you don’t you are soon reminded – that the surfaces on a ship are always very hard and it hurts when skin and bone comes into contact with metal. Also you realise how heavy the bulk head doors are when their weight is against you.

But it also has the effect of making you tensing the knees to deal with this, so it should be a benefit for the next project of crossing a small northern European country after crossing a major ocean.

How a ship works

There’s no way in the time I’m on this ship, even though it will probably be close on two months, that I will have little more than a general understanding of how a tall ship works.

Nonetheless, it’s an impressive piece of equipment and you can see how it has evolved over the centuries. Basic techniques have been refined and new technology has made a difference which early sailors would have killed for. However, most of the tasks involve ropes and muscle power and getting to know the best way to use whatever energy you have is part of the game. Knowing when to pull the correct rope, or more importantly when to let it go, is what getting the sails up and down quickly and smoothly is what it’s all about.

And being on the helm is fun. It’s a bit like driving someone else’s extra-large artic lorry. You can’t see exactly where you’re going and take instructions from the navigator. But trying to get a feel for things, how the wind affects your ability to steer and how to keep the wind in the sails and not to let them flap uselessly is where the real skill comes in to it, and that’s quite a way for me at the moment.

Seasickness

This, fortunately, hasn’t been an issue for me so far. There have been a few casualties, sea-sickness being one of those things that affects different people in different ways. However, the test is yet to come so there might be more to say on that the next time I get to add a post to the blog.

Conclusion – for now!

I did have a ‘why am I doing this’ moment the second time I had to get ready for the 12.00 to 04.00 watch. The first time was difficult but wasn’t so bad the second time. Haven’t really had one of those moments since although now looking forward to moving off from St Lucia. Only came to the Caribbean to meet the ship and so didn’t really do any research into the islands in any meaningful manner. That means I didn’t have the information to fill the time here and spent too much time drinking the awful lager beer or the rot gut super strength rum. From tomorrow (Saturday) on the ship will be dry for the next 10 days or so until we make land on Bermuda.

Attitude might be different then.

More on sailing on a tall ship

St Lucia and Country and Western Music

Country and Western MusicThere are big things that define a country but perhaps it’s the little, quirky aspects of a nation that tell you more about the people. In St Lucia one of those quirks is the love of Country and Western music.

Perhaps it’s just me but I would have thought that a musical style with its roots in the ‘red neck’ heartland of what was once Confederate America would have no resonance with a nation whose roots go back to Africa and slavery.

But you don’t have to get too far off the beaten tourist track to find that this is an island wide addiction.

Walk along the streets of any town and you will hear Tammy Wynette belting out D.I.V.O.R.C.E or even some more contemporary C+W music that makes reference to the World Wide Web, no idea by who.

It’s the same on the buses (more minibuses holding about 15 people) which ply the routes between the island’s towns and villages and CDs of C+W music are available on the street side stalls.

I can’t remember where it was but when I first came across this the music had been chosen in my honour, in my self-centred arrogance being the only one in the bar. When I asked about the choice I was told that there was a big following throughout the island and there had been for some time.

Why it’s so popular I haven’t been able to find out, and now there’s no time to discover the reason. Perhaps the desire to be miserable from time to tie is universal?

Grenada – the US invasion 30 years on, independence and elections

US troops bringing freedom to Grenada

US troops bringing freedom to Grenada

This year will see the thirtieth anniversary of the invasion of the small Caribbean island of Grenada by the might of the United States armed forces – with the connivance of the Thatcherite government in London.

Just over a year after the Malvinas War, which conveniently distracted attention away from the dire economic and social situation into which the UK had fallen, there was again a desire to draw the international spotlight away from developments in the Indian Ocean that had dangerous parallels to the events in the south Atlantic during 1982.

The nasty little war off the coast of Argentina had shown how deeply ingrained jingoism (reminiscent of the late 19th century) together with a vicious streak of racism, was in British society, however much the propaganda of the times tried to make out that there was a matter of principle at stake.

This was clearly demonstrated when the inhabitants of Diego Garcia, one of the Chagos Islands, a collection of some of the most remote islands on the planet, demanded a similar response from the British government as the ‘Falklanders’ had received. The Diego Garcians had been thrown off their land to make way for an US naval and air base and they wanted to go home.

But they were in a hiding to nothing. If most of the British population didn’t know where the Malvinas were before April 1982 (many thinking that Argentina had invaded the Scottish Isles!) most of them wouldn’t even had been able to say Diego Garcia let alone point to the globe and say where it was located. Another problem the Diego Garcians faced was that they were not white.

Even so the British and the Americans considered the parallels far too close and so concocted a ‘crisis’ in the Caribbean, about as far geographically away from the Chagos as it was possible to find.

Internal conflicts within the New Jewel Movement, initially led by Maurice Bishop, was declared so serious that the US had to invade the tiny island country ‘to safeguard the lives’ of a handful of US nationals at a college near the capital of St George.

Twelve thousand US troops were sent as part of a battle force to the island famous for its nutmegs. Grenada was, and still is, a member of the Commonwealth but Thatcher considered herself so indebted to the ‘B’ movie actor/president Reagan after the Malvinas invasion that this breach of international protocol was allowed.

To my shame I had forgotten all about this (yet another) betrayal by perfidious Albion but was forcefully reminded of the issue when I started talking to people in the rum shacks I visited during my short stay on Grenada.

February 19th is election day in Grenada and it doesn’t take a lot to start off a heated conversation about the merits of the 2 principal political contenders. And it wasn’t too long after participating in, or just listening to, these debates over cups of the 84% proof rum that I realised that the events of 30 years ago still colour the Grenadian political environment.

Those supporting the present party in power, the National Democratic Congress (NDC), are on the left and still have respect for Maurice Bishop, who was killed during the inner party struggle, and still angry about the US invasion. (The actual details of why the situation developed to such a state that the American imperialists were able to get away with their invasion are too complex to go into here and, to tell the truth, I still don’t fully understand why things got so far out of hand.)

In Grenada the population still has some (I consider, misguided) trust in the so-called democratic process and in the run up to the election issues and the prospective merits of the parties get discussed. Compare that with the UK during the last General Election when any visitor could have been excused if they didn’t know it was taking place.

The issues facing Grenadians are similar to those in most countries. The crash of 2008 is still having its effect (it is noticeable how quiet the tourist areas are in all the islands I have visited, considering that this is the height of the season) and as in other parts of the world the answer, of some, is the wholesale privatisation of the nations resources. This is the policy of the main opposition party, the New National Party (NND).

More than two weeks before the election there have been groups of people sporting the colours of their party (yellow for the NDC and green for the NNP). This month also sees the anniversary of independence from British colonial rule. The overwhelming theme of the slogans celebrating independence is the idea of one nation, all in it together (a sentiment that is expressed in the UK but without this really becoming a reality). Is this being stated as there might be a fear that the result of the elections could cause disturbances?

Talking to the locals they say that the outcome is by no means clear. The outgoing government has not lived up to its promises and there might be a change for the sake of it. How this will affect the lives of the people on this idyllic Caribbean island could be interesting to monitor in the coming weeks and months.

NDC supporters sporting the colours of their party

NDC supporters sporting the colours of their party