Teacher Aboard

LIFE ABOARD

Sailing is a little like camping. It separates people into two very distinct (different) groups: those who love it, and those who hate it. It is not a matter of right and wrong. It's whether the experience is satisfying enough to you to be willing to sacrifice some of the comforts of home.

Like an RV or a camper, Pride of Baltimore II is small by the standards of what we are used to on land. Thirteen people live out their daily routines within the ship's one hundred feet of deck. If you want to "get away," the only way is up. Andy, our cook who spends much of his time below, sometimes climbs the rig just to sit and look around. Seven of the crew share the foc'sle (room in the very front of the ship). Aside from a curtain that they can pull across their bunk for privacy, crew members have no space to call their own. On a ship you learn a new meaning of space.

The main cabin is like our family room and it only offers a large table. If two people are sitting alone having a quiet conversation or reading at the table or on deck, others keep a polite distance and do not interrupt. While underway (moving), long restful sleep is rare. Between the motion of the ship, noise, sleeping during the day, and four hour watches, it is difficult to ever feel fully rested. Everyone makes a real effort to talk quietly and keep the noise below deck to a minimum.

Meals are also challenging. We eat in two watches (groups). We serve ourselves at the stove and drysink (cabinet with flat top), then grab a seat at the table. At sea, you often have to prop your cup against a fiddle rail on the table to prevent it from tipping. If the ocean is in a "bad mood, " you may have to hold more than your cup. After meals, you scrape the uneaten food into a slop bucket which will be dumped over the side. Showers can be taken every other day. Pride II can make 100 gallons of fresh water from sea water each day. Ten gallons of that is hot water. With this water, seven people need to shower and the dishes from three meals must be cleaned.

Doing laundry amounts to washing a few select items in a bucket of sea water with a rinse in a bucket of fresh water. Washed clothes are hung on a rope to dry on deck. Needless to say, some clothes get a lot of wear before they take a "dip in the bucket." The crew is expected to take "navy" showers. That means you get wet, turn off the water, soap up, then rinse off. You dry your hair on deck with the world's largest hair dryer - wind. We conserve the ship's electrical power by limiting the use of the tape/CD player and turning off lights when they are not needed.

The ship is too far from shore to receive television broadcasts, but the crew can watch videos once a week if we have enough fuel. Why do we need fuel to watch TV? What happens if you leave your car's headlights on when the engine is not running? Dead battery - right! Same on board. We have to run our engines to power the television/VCR and recharge the batteries.

With no electricity to power our fun, we turn to reading books, writing in journals, playing musical instruments, or working on projects like fish painting. You may also want to read Day in the Life of a Deckhand for a slightly different description of life aboard. This is not a life everyone would enjoy, so why are we so interested in sailing this ship? Read on.

WHY SAIL A TALL SHIP?

In our hurry to determine how uncomfortable it may be to sail a tall ship, we have overlooked one important reason that we are on this journey - sailing! Think about something that you do well - like riding your bike, playing ball, roller blading, drawing, or playing an instrument. What does it feel like when you are right in the middle of it and it is really going well? At that moment, you are so interested in the activity that little else matters. The captain and crew of Pride II love to sail these traditional (old style) tall ships. For them, it is a personal challenge to sail her across the Pacific Ocean. It's also important to each of them to do it well. For Andy, our cook, it will mean making three meals a day even under the roughest conditions the ocean may offer. For the crew, it means excellence in sail handling and steering the ship. For the captain, it means "reading" the weather correctly, choosing the sails wisely, and selecting the best course to follow. Even living on the ship in harmony (getting along) and making the sacrifices of the comforts of home without complaining is part of the personal challenge. To know they played a significant part in the success of sailing an 1812-era tall ship across the world's largest ocean is all that matters to them. The sacrifices of discomfort seem small in comparison to size of the accomplishment.

Any athlete will tell you "no pain, no gain." It has also been said that "nothing in life really worth doing is easy." In other words, when you accept a difficult task and are successful, you have earned the right to be proud. However, what makes it worthwhile is that it teaches you to believe in your own abilities and gives you the confidence to try new challenges.

POPULATING AN ISLAND WITH WILDLIFE

Standing on the shores of Oahu (the Hawaiian island with the most people), I remember appreciating all the unusual flowers, trees, and birds I saw there. It also struck me that it required a month of traveling over 2,000 miles of ocean to reach this shore.

If the Hawaiian Islands originated (began) as volcanic eruptions on the ocean floor, how did all this wildlife get here before the first people arrived?

It is thought that bats, birds, seeds, and some insects were carried by the strong winds of storms, the northeasterly trade winds, or the jet stream in the upper atmosphere from the west (Asia). Snails and other insects may have arrived on rafts of wood. The seeds of some plants may have made the journey stuck to the legs of birds or within their intestines after being swallowed. Ocean currents also played a role in delivering marine (ocean) life to the islands. The seaweed and small tropical fish may have first arrived as seeds or eggs which could float easily for long periods of time at sea.

In terms of mammals like humans, only a seal and a bat successfully made the trip. Over time some of these native animal and plants evolved (changed) over million of years to become unique to Hawaii, such as the happy-face spider. Due to the lack of predators such as snakes, frogs, and lizards, many plants and animals gradually lost their defenses of thorns or poison. Even some of the birds and insects became flightless. Approximately 90% of native Hawaiian plants and animals are unique to the islands.

When the first Hawaiians arrived on the islands from other places in the Pacific Ocean, they added the dog, pig, and the Pacific rat. (The rat was a stowaway like me!) The small pointed-eared dogs were used as pets, for food, and in religious ceremonies. The Polynesian-style, 50 pound pig was held in great respect and was used as an offering to the gods. Larger wild pigs are now common in many Hawaiian rain forests and mountain pastures where they are hunted. When Captain Cook arrived in Hawaii 1,000 years after these first settlers, animals such as goats, sheep, cattle, horses, cats, and more rats arrived. As some of these animals escaped or were turned loose, they changed the wildlife in Hawaii forever.

For instance, the mongoose was introduced from India to the islands to eat the rats. Unfortunately, rats sleep during the day when the mongoose is hunting. Instead the mongoose ate the eggs of ground nesting birds which led to the decline in the populations of these birds. Today, it is illegal (against the law) to bring snakes into Hawaii. Since snakes eat eggs, you can imagine what could happen if your pet snake got loose. When travelers arrive in Hawaii, custom officials check to make certain that they do not introduce new animals, such as insects and snakes, that could further threaten the remaining Hawaiian wildlife.

COUNTING DOWN

Are you planning ahead for our arrival in China? In my free time, I have surrounded myself with travel books on Asia. Before stretching our legs in Shanghai, there will be time for one more log. Next time we will revisit the ocean and learn how El Niño has affected Pride II's journey across the Pacific.

Zai jian (Goodbye in Chinese)
Leslie Bridgett

YOUR THOUGHTS

1. List the ways camping is similar (the same) to living on a tall ship.
2. If camping means "roughing it," why do people like to camp?
3. If you had no electricity and could not leave your house, describe five ways you could spend your time.
4. In most places, coal is burned to make steam which turns generators for making electricity. How does leaving the lights on at home affect the Earth?
5. Tell about something you do well and describe what you enjoy most about it.
6. Why do you think birds fly? Why did some birds in Hawaii become flightless?
7. How would the release of a snake in Hawaii be similar to the introduction of the mongoose?
8. When the first astronauts came back from the Moon, they were quarantined (separated) from other humans for a few weeks to see if they had any unknown alien diseases. Think about what could have happened to the people on Earth if these astronauts accidentally introduced a disease from space for which we had no cure. Pretend you are a doctor and an alien disease is spreading on the Earth. Write a letter to a distant friend who is a doctor asking for her help. Describe the situation and your frustration with no cure.

Start

Back

Ahead