Teacher Aboard

Date:	Friday, February 27, 1998
Position:	Honolulu, Hawaii
Entered By:	Teacher Aboard Leslie Bridgett

Aloha!

I can scarcely believe that tomorrow Pride II sets sail for Shanghai. With so many things to explore, the time has simply evaporated. For those of you who have waited for my version of Gulliver's Travels in Hawaii - thank you for your patience. I will reward you with stories of Hawaii enroute to Asia. When at sea, there is plenty of time to spin a yarn or tell a tale. The beauty of night watch is there is ample time to replay selected moments of life in your mind. As your devoted stowaway, I will dutifully report some of my favorite tales of the last month on our shared hot line - the Internet.

FINAL PREPARATIONS

For all the benefits that a port provides, it is ironic (a surprise) that after a bit of time sailors are eager to leave. Ports demand a different way of life. The crew has invested long days preparing the ship for another session in Mother Nature's ocean arena. Like a boxer preparing for a fight, you never want to underestimate your opponent. From topmast to bilges, Pride II has been cleaned, inspected, and repaired. Even the pitch (black filler between the planks) on her foredeck has been replaced to ensure a dry ship when green water (ocean waves) crash over the bow. Andy has been busy stocking the ship with a month's worth of food. Since this is our last day in port, he is off buying perishables such as fresh fruit and vegetables.

Captain Miles has spent his weeks making final arrangements for Asia and checking out weather resources for the next leg across the Pacific. The staff at the National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and meteorology (weather) professors at the University of Hawaii were especially helpful in assisting Captain Miles in interpreting recent weather trends and in identifying reporting sites in the western Pacific.

Today half the crew is camped out at the Laundromat! There were twenty bags of ships towels, sheets, and clothes to be washed - but no one minds. With the next Laundromat thousands of miles away, it's a far cry from doing laundry at sea with a bucket of sea water and ocean air to dry your clothes. Everyone is scratching last minute thoughts on postcards to send back home to folks who will have no word from the crew for the month at sea.

We will once again be removed from all the modern technologies that feed us news and keep us in touch with loved ones. As grim as it may sound to land dwellers, the crew is eager to go. Enough is enough! The uneventful days of ship maintenance wears harshly on the spirit of adventurous sailors. Enthusiasm for shore leave diminishes as money grows thin. Even the ship is showing signs of impatience as she hobby-horses (bobs up and down) pulling on her dock lines. It is obvious she has little interest in being here any longer.

As we make our final preparations, you might give some thought about how you would have managed your life on shore. If you had five days of leave in Hawaii, what would you have done? Now that you are experienced seamen, what would you take along for the next month at sea? Remember, once the lines have been cast off, there will be no second runs to the store. Plan carefully. A large part of the success of any program is planning. Unfortunately, ships have an unpleasant way of making poor planning painfully obvious.

THE PUBLIC LIMELIGHT

Although she will show the effects of being at sea over time, for the moment Pride II is looking really smart. Her bright work (wood) has been varnished and her newly polished brass sparkles in the sun. However, before she eagerly slips her dock lines to head for sea, she has ambassador roles to fulfill. During an Open House last Sunday, nearly 2,000 visitors stepped aboard to walk her decks as they tried to imagine what you and I have come to know as "a way of life." They stand behind the helm and look up into the rig as the crew tries to paint a picture of life aboard. The crew and I now share the same frustration. How do you capture the spirit of sailing a tall ship at sea for someone standing on a dock? We try our best.

Another group of Pride II's enthusiastic visitors were kids. On Wednesday we hosted 100 students and faculty from Waialua Elementary School and Shafter Elementary School here in Honolulu. It was great fun to watch kids laughing as they chanted "two, six, heave!" in their struggle to raise a sail. They also had a blast racing the clock to put on foul (rain) weather gear which made them look like a couple of old salts (sailors) right out of the movies. It was a great day for kids to try on history for size.

We have also been given a mission by the city of Honolulu. In the early years of trade between China and Hawaii, empty ships leaving China carried granite blocks as ballast to keep the vessels upright as they sailed across the Pacific. The blocks of granite were offloaded to make room for the cargo of sandalwood lumber that was transported back to Asia. Since we have no actual cargo, we are taking a granite block to serve as ballast - and as a symbol of the early contact between China and Hawaii - on our journey to Asia. If this speckled granite stone could speak to us, it would be interesting to know: the story of its origin, its first journey to Hawaii, where it has spent its time since its arrival here around 1800, and what it is like to be going home almost 200 years later. Grab a pencil. For those of you with an imagination, there's a story there somewhere!

Although walking the decks of an 1812-era topsail schooner is a thrill in itself, you may ask, "What is the special magic of this ship that draws such a crowd?" In my opinion it isn't her graceful lines, or how smartly polished she looks. And although she is a replica of an historic and famous Baltimore Clipper, it isn't just history that draws the crowd. It is much more than that. It is her spirit. It is the fact that this tall ship of 1812-design crosses oceans just like her sister ships of long ago. Deep inside, we all have huge admiration for the pioneer spirit - for those who dare to go to the moon, or venture into wilderness, or sail over the horizon. It has been said that "you cannot discover 'new oceans' (new ideas and places) until you are willing to lose sight of the shore (old ways)." The magic of Pride II is she dares to go. She represents the pioneer spirit in each of us.

DAN NELSON - Deckhand

Dan has long been a favorite of mine. Perhaps that is because he has so many qualities I admire. At first Dan's quiet nature may hide these aspects of his personality, but in time they surface to disclose (show) an intellectual free spirit who has very clear ideas of what interests him in life. The first indication of Dan's intellectual view of the world is revealed in his humor.

Case in point - I paused to take a photograph of Dan for an "off watch" story for my log. He was casually reading a book. "No, wait," he says putting down his book and grabbing another one. He puts a stern look on his face and holds the book's title toward the camera. It's name is Men At Sea. He does this sort of thing all the time. If you read some earlier logs regarding the trade winds, landfall in Hawaii, or the profile of Andy Jackson, you will find pieces of Dan's humor woven into all of them.

If his words speak to his intellectual side, his actions speak to his adventurous spirit. During his college years, he told his parents in Pennsylvania that he had found a summer job in a state park. It just happened to be in the state of Washington. "Mind if I borrow the car?" And he did. He drove across the continent both ways and loved every minute of it. He has also stretched his sense of adventure by taking up surfing while he is here in Hawaii. After a few tips picked up during a lesson and a keen eye on the techniques used by the folks riding the waves, he was soon catching a few waves himself.

Travel is also a source of adventure for him. His explorations have taken him to Nova Scotia, Cape Cod, the Caribbean islands, the English countryside and London, and France where he lived for a month. Presently he is looking forward to visiting countries which are less similar to the United States, such as the ports of call on our Asia With Pride itinerary. High on his ultimate wish list is Tibet - a place filled with majestic mountains, nomadic cultures, and ancient religions.

Sailing is somewhat new to Dan. However, make no mistake - what Dan may lack in time at sea, he makes up for in his ability as a quick study (fast learner). He started his tall ship experiences sailing the Great Lakes on the brig Niagara and recently served on the Spirit of Massachusetts , a Gloucester fishing schooner. It is a way of life he has come to love. In a short time he has mastered the skills needed to be a valuable deckhand and is a real asset (help) to Pride of Baltimore II.

If anything Dan is fun simply because of his diversities (range of differences). On one hand he talks about great philosophers and the wisdom in their thinking. On the other side are things like his mug - a cup featuring Animal (of Muppet fame), a vision of fun loving nonsense. Perhaps it was Dan's exposure to free thinking at St. John's College in Annapolis that gives him a different outlook on life. St. John's is a liberal arts college noted for its curriculum of independent study. To take responsibility for your own education is a challenge in itself. It certainly forces you to fine tune your thinking skills.

To know Dan is to like Dan. But getting to know him will be your challenge. The enigma (mysterious part) in him will only give you bits and pieces in casual conversations or a humorous line or two. Like a puzzle with difficult pieces, I find him to be an interesting study. You can find out more about how he thinks by checking out his contributions to Crew's Views.

Time is evaporating again and there is so much to do before the ship leaves. I will have to share with you the mysteries of Polynesian voyaging in the vast Pacific in a later log. Once the ship is underway, there will nothing but time for us to talk. Till then.

Aloha,
Leslie Bridgett

YOUR THOUGHTS

List the preparations for Pride II's crossing of the second half of the Pacific Ocean.
If you were leaving for a month at sea, what would you do with your last days on shore? What would you buy to take with you?
Why did vessels in the early days of trade carry granite stones?
Imagine you ARE this granite stone. Tell the story of your origin (beginnings) in China in the 1800s, your life in Hawaii, and how you feel about "going home" almost 200 years later.
How does Pride II represent the American pioneer spirit today?
Dan Nelson attended St. John's College in Annapolis, MD, where students spend a great deal of time in independent study. If you could chose three topics to investigate or study, what would they be?

Start Back Ahead