Teacher Aboard

Date:	Friday, January 16, 1998
Position:	Latitude:11:50N; Longitude: 98:54W; Location: 300 miles off the southern tip of Mexico; Distance Covered: 1,296 miles
Conditions:	Air Temp: 28C/86F; Wind Speed: 11 knots/ 4 Beautfort; Wind Direction: NE; Barometric Pressure: 1012 mb; Water Temp: 28C/83F
Entered By:	Teacher Aboard Leslie Bridgett

Hi Guys,

We have been out at sea for just over a week. As the days begin to run together, the crew will ask from time to time, "What day of the week is it?" As in ancient times, the passage of time is more meaningful in terms of events than in Mondays or Tuesdays. "The day we caught the sailfish" becomes an interesting reference point for time. With all that being said, we just crossed into another time zone and set our clocks back one hour to put us on Mountain Standard Time. In some ways, time blends into simple night and day, while in the bigger picture of traveling the globe, we are working our way toward the international dateline - where tommorrow meets yesterday.

MEALS AT SEA

Thanks to Andy, mealtimes have been a highlight of our day. Andy has cooked for larger ships carrying passengers who expect elegantly prepared dishes. In many ways, our crew is easier to feed. By the time they sit down to eat, most anything will make them happy! Be forewarned, however, that should you decide that the meal is not to your liking, you will not be offered anything else.
Many of the meals are just like at home. Breakfast might be pancakes, French toast, scrambled eggs, or cereal. Of course fresh milk will not travel for a month at sea without spoiling.

Instead we use 2% milk which is specially processed, packaged and sealed in a carton which does not need refrigeration until it is opened. Lunch is usually homemade soup, a variety of different salads, fresh fruit, pizza, or grilled sandwiches. I must admit, this was the first time I had pizza topped with sailfish or fresh pineapple. Each mealtime there is a voice from the galley that reminds us that the fresh fruit and vegetables days are almost over. This seemed to present no problem to Samantha who thoughtfully pointed out that this crew would enjoy anything as long it was served with peanut butter - and we have lots of peanut butter! Dinner is where Andy applies his creative talents. Beef stroganoff, lasagna, poached sailfish, steak, baked chicken would name the dishes, but fails to describe the delicate flavors he mixes together to make them so inviting! A favorite stop for the crew is the snack locker that holds such treasures as cookies, candy, crackers, and peanuts. This is a popular grazing area during watches!

Do you keep food under your couch or under the floor? We do. There's no wasted space on a ship. Canned food like soups, fruit, vegetables, tomato sauce, and applesauce, as well as cereal, rice, onions, potatoes, eggs, noodles, and flour are stored under the three long seats around the galley table, in the pantry, and in the nine bilge (the lowest part of the hull) lockers under the removal floor boards. The fresh fruits and vegetables have been stowed (stored) under Chassseur, our wooden lifeboat, on deck.

Notice we have no bread stored aboard. Andy makes fresh bread every other day. Four hundred pounds of flour and 100 pounds of sugar have been brought aboard so far. Andy uses about 25 pounds of flour a week. Imagine having to make bread for all your sandwiches, French toast, or as part of dinner for thirteen hungry crew members for a month. Lucky for us that baking is Andy's specialty.

The crew eats in two shifts based on their watch schedule. You grab a plate and serve yourself from the pots on the stove and from the buffet server along the cabin wall. We all sit at the galley table which is about twelve feet long and three feet wide. It's edges are lined with boards which are an inch and half high called "fiddles." There is also a set of fiddles down the middle of the table. The fiddles keep "stuff" from sliding around when the ship is heeled (leaned) over.

There are rules, too! Shirts must be worn, no hats, no reading or projects during meals and, out of courtesy, the captain sits at the head of the table. Dinner conversation might be about movies, books, places we've been, music, music icons, celestial navigation, and, of course, food! After meals, we scrape and wipe our plates pushing the napkins and food scraps into a bucket which is dumped over the side once a day. Very little food actually goes to waste since our cook finds creative ways to reuse it. Oatmeal is used in bread or stale bread becomes French toast. Andy also has a bucket for glass and cans. He puts holes in the bottoms of the cans to make them sink. The cans and glass go over the side. There is a Garbage Log in which we record what is dumped overboard and our location. Plastic is placed in special bag and is kept aboard. It will be taken off the ship when we reach Hawaii. Unlike other trash which is biodegradable (decays), plastic will last literally forever and is deadly to some marine life. For instance, if sea turtles swallow a plastic bag, it lodges in their digestive track causing a slow death.

We use hard plastic plates and metal cutlery which needs to washed every night. The crew member with "duty" for the day washes dishes in hot water and rinses them in a basin of clean water containing a little bleach. Everyone has his or her own mug. The mugs hang on hooks in the galley and are used for all your beverages. You clean your own mug when you so desire. Some mugs are, shall we say, "seasoned".

So now you are ready to eat at sea. There are some interesting activities you could try related to what we are doing on Pride II. You could keep a log of the food your family eats for a week as well as the amount and type of trash produced. What would happen in a week if a portion of paper and food were placed in a container of salt water, and pieces of plastic were placed in another similar container? Try it and find out. You could also do some research on the history of ocean dumping. The oceans are an incredible resource which have often been abused.

THE FISHING LURE CONTEST

Fishing has been quite a source of entertainment. A few days ago we landed one nine foot sailfish and hooked another one which was almost the same size, but it got away. (Yes, I do have the second big fish story recorded on videotape.) Yesterday a shark took hold and snatched our lure. Today, when we brought the line in the hook was bent. Hmmm. There's some kinda creatures lurking out there! Sinker has decided that "they" will not get the best of us.

He has organized a lure-making contest with all entries due on Sunday. Anything goes! I can assure you that this will be a Kodak moment! I admire Sinker's ingenuity (cleverness) for this contest. He stated it well when he said, " Necessity is the mother of invention."

I also found a flying fish on deck this morning. Check out the photo! Nothing like having the bait come to us. This would have made a great lure entry, but the rules are clear on this one: nothing animal!

JASON QUILTER

As first mate, Jason Quilter is second in command of Pride of Baltimore II. Since the Captain has other duties and no regular watch, Jason is often consulted on decisions which do not need the approval of the Captain. All this sounds very logical until you realize that at 22, Jason is the second youngest member of the crew. To watch the manner in which he commands the ship would suggest that he is older. It would seem reasonable to assume that it would have taken years at sea to gain the wealth of knowledge and confidence he has for sailing tall ships across oceans. His explanation boils down to having the motivation and determination to become involved with tall ships.

Although he sailed small boats as a kid, it wasn't until a foggy weekend while attending a Maritime Academy in New England that he had his first experience on a tall ship. Most of the other students had gone home for two days when the intercom announced a need for students to serve as volunteer crew for a short coastal delivery of HMS Bounty. He remembers taking his turn at the helm of this magnificent ship and realizing then and there that this was his destiny. From that moment on there was a constant conflict between school and the sea. His mom, recognizing his tremendous interest in ships, recommended he explore the possibilities in ASTA, the American Sail Training Association. Through these contacts, he was able to find a position on the Niagara as a deckhand. This only fed his passion for the seafaring way of life.

In 1996 while crewing on Niagara and other ships, he learned from former Pride II crew members about her upcoming Tour of Europe. He immediately applied. After a long painful wait, he was signed on as a deckhand. You can imagine his excitement when he was told that he had landed a crew position on Pride of Baltimore II which has a long history of touring the world. He was aboard for seven months touring a total of 12 countries from Baltimore to Portugal. At 21 he would cross an ocean and visit more countries than most people will see in a lifetime. At this early age, his motivation and determination to sail tall ships was already becoming a reality. Pride II quickly became one of his favorite ships and he eagerly applied as crew for her Great Lakes Tour this past summer. His previous performance aboard earned him a slot as bosun. He was later promoted to second mate for eight months of that tour. Now, as we head west to Asia, Jason is first mate which makes him second in command as we cross the vastness of the largest ocean on Earth. He laughs when folks remind him that he can deliver a 100 ton tall ship across an ocean, but back home he's not old enough to rent a car.

When at home, he reads for hours a day in preparation for taking the exam for the next level of his captain's license. (You can find out more about licenses on Pride II's crew page.) As Jason describes it, the best part of sailing is that there is always more to learn. You are only limited by how much you are willing to study. Presently it is a struggle for him to find time to go back to school. He enjoys meteorology, but setting aside enough time for a degree in this field would draw him away from the very thing which he enjoys most in life. It has been said that the only real work in life is to find your passion and to do it with all your heart. While some of us never find our passion, it seems that Jason has had the good fortune of starting down this path early in life.

Jason sets a good example for all of us. His motivation and determination are reminders that dedication toward a goal can make it a reality. What is it you really enjoy? Make a list. What can you do today to take you one step closer to one of those goals? It could be as simple as finding a book on the subject. Jason's life shows us what can happen when you take control of your life. There is only one test question for this activity, and the answer is short. In forty years you should ask yourself, did I enjoy the way I lived my life? If you answer "yes," you passed.

In my next log we will meet Amy, our second mate. She's quite a character. No doubt you're enjoy getting to know her. We will also look at the smallest creatures in the sea - the plankton!

Enjoying the fair winds and the following sea,
Leslie Bridgett

YOUR THOUGHTS

At sea, we lose track of time and use "events" to mark the passage of days. On land, our calendar is also based on events. On what celestial (in the sky) events did ancient people base the passing of days, months, and years?
Why are canned food and large bags of four, sugar etc. stored low and under seats and floor boards?
Why is plastic trash NEVER thrown over the side?
How is eating "at sea" different from eating at home?
Make a list of trash items remaining after a meal. Check the ones that are biodegradable (will decompose or decay in nature). Place a collection of these in water for a few weeks and keep a record of their biodegradability (rate of decay). Do NOT touch the water after the investigation has started.
Pride II uses a dash of bleach in the dish rinse water. Why is this done? Conduct this experiment with your teacher's supervision: place two dirty plastic dishes in two tubs - one with two tablespoons of bleach and one without bleach. Record the changes over time. DO NOT touch the water after the investigation has started. Use eye protection when handling bleach.
The crew of Pride II records the type and location of the trash that is dumped over the side. Biodegradable materials, such as table scraps and paper, may be dumped overboard if they are cut up into small pieces. NO trash may be dumped within three miles of land. Why do think the law requires these records be kept?
"Necessity is the Mother of Invention." Think of something you need or a situation that would be easier "If I just had....? In your mind invent the item you would like to have and tell why it would help.
Draw a fishing lure that you would have entered in our contest. Tell why you included certain features.
Jason Quilter knew he wanted to sail on tall ships and has worked with great determination toward this goal. Name a job you would like to try. What could you do today to take one step closer to that job?

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