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Pride II was sailing well enough in the light breeze that she could tack when we needed after only four boat lengths of travel. Once the first tack succeeded, the crew got the rest of sail on and Pride II made her way out of the Severn River and into Chesapeake Bay.

We then ran smack into a midday/mid Bay dead calm. This calm led to a maneuver that I found quit educational.

Turning the Ship with Little Wind and no Rudder

During the calm, Pride II sat in an ebbing current that was sending her south toward a shoal called Thomas Point. The current was not very fast, less than a knot. I bided the time and distance as Pride II drifted toward shallow water while the crew got about ship's maintenance. The Bay water was a virtual millpond, not a zephyr upon it. Eventually, there were signs of the promised southeast wind as evidenced by the ruffled water out in the distance slowly advancing toward us from the southeast as we drifted down the Bay. My concentration was focused on assessing if the wind would come in soon enough for the ship to gain maneuvering speed to tack before getting too close to the shoal. Otherwise I would be forced to start engines -- which I wanted to avoid. It seemed we would be able to tack as the wind finally reached us. However, the wind did not have much strength. While Pride II started to move though the water and we could actually steer, she was not moving fast enough even to register on the speed meter (a minimum of 0.3 knots). The question was, could Pride II actually tack in such conditions. The distance to the shoal continued to decrease as I waited for more speed. I finally decided we had to try to tack or give it up and start the engines.

Pride II did respond at first but stopped turning only half way towards the wind. With all the sails trimmed for going windward, as they were in this case, Pride II will heave-to with the rudder hard over to windward and the sails all drawing but not providing enough boat speed to answer to the rudder. In the days of square-riggers, this situation of "no control" was put to good use. This was accomplished by setting and striking sail, or bracing them and backing them such that they pivoted the ship in relation to the wind, even though there was no boat speed and the rudder was of nearly no affect. Thus with a square-rigger, it was possible to get the ship to turn while sitting virtually still in the water.

I tried a similar maneuver as we drifted toward Thomas Point shoals. The first thing I did to see if we could get her to turn despite not having the speed to respond to her rudder was have the crew ease out all of the jibs as well as the foresail. All of these sails are forward of Pride II's center pivot. With the mainsail sheeted in tight and pulled a little bit to windward, she responded much as a weathervane would, but she still stopped before actually passing through the eye of the wind. As the distance to shoal water continued to decrease, I ordered the foretopsail braced back towards, but not quite, square. With this done and the topsail now pointed straight into the wind rather than trimmed to catch the wind, Pride II again started turning as she responded to her backed mainsail. Very quickly the square-topsail was fully aback and her bow swung through the wind putting her jibs aback. The crew scrambled quickly to pass over the sails for the new tack. With the sails eased out a little, Pride II started to stem the current and eventually eased away from the nearby shoal. Thus we tacked with virtually no boat speed.

The learning experience for me was how to maneuver the ship via the sails and not the rudder. Most experienced sailors know this is option available to them. But with so many vessels equipped with engines, it is usually more expedient to choose the easy way out of a frustrating situation, such as the vessel going too slowly to respond to her rudder. I, on the other hand, often experiment with how to maneuver Pride II. But she is so easily driven by light winds there are very few situations, such as the one just described, to practice. Also we seldom have the leisure to entertain such maneuvers.

The rest of the sail to St. Michael's was practice for the crew as more tacking was done in order to weather Bloody Point Light on the way into Eastern Bay. Eventually, Pride II entered the Miles River where the southeast wind was too close ahead to tack in the narrow river. So we motored while the crew got sails stowed.

The Joy of Sailing

Sailing out of bustling Baltimore harbor and almost all the way into St. Michaels without using engines is always a great treat. Taking two days to make the journey without resorting to engines is to hearken back to the days before engines were common in sailing vessels. As the crew got a chance to wind down during supper in St. Michael's, there was voice given to the pleasure of the last two days of sailing after the previous ten days in Baltimore. Those ten days were packed with hustle to get the ship ready for long distance voyaging (to Europe in the fall). Those preparations were interrupted with short, two-hour harbor sails, plus a full-blown Maritime Festival celebrating the arrival in 2001of the Volvo 'Round the World Racing boats and crews. As I reflected on of our busy stay in Baltimore, I could understand the crew's pleasure in the simple act of sailing.

Even though sailing Pride II is an activity that requires a great deal of physical labor, for many it is better than any other job that confines one to an office. And while sailing Pride II in her homeport of Baltimore is fun, sailing her away to other harbors is better - even though it means being out of reach of one's friends, family, and convenience stores. Being able to practice the art of sailing as it must have been practiced back in the days of no engines and no electricity adds to the feeling of discovery about ourselves and of the science of sailing. Sure, sailing in Baltimore harbor offers lessons. But at the end of the day, modern life beckons. Self-reflection is often displaced by distractions ashore. However, when one is away from the big city and even the dock, distraction is reduced so that reflection is almost automatic. Ambient noise is so low new sounds are registered. The concept of peace becomes almost tangible. These feelings appear to be what many of us find most enjoyable in life. It is a blessing that so many aboard Pride II are interested in experiencing what the ever-changing marine life offers.

Cheers,
Captain Miles