The Pride of Baltimore II's Log
JULY 1996
A MESSAGE FROM CAPTAIN JAN MILES
ABOARD PRIDE OF BALTIMORE II
DATE: Wednesday, July 31, 1996
TIME: 19:30 GMT (2130 Ship +2)
POSITION: Latitude 54 45,01 N Longitude 013 17,35 E
SP: 5.6 knots. C: 080 M. WX: SSW Force 3. SS: No Swell. T: 62F.
BP: 1014.0 S. SKY: Overcast. 24HR POS: 56 30N, 17E. 24HR WX:
SW'rly Force 4-5 (I hope).
We are sailing again and we have the mainsail up with the repaired gaff.
Everything looks as it should--in fact, it is hard to tell we have
spent the last week (8 days 4 hours actually) going through the
experience of breaking the gaff, travelling nearly 500 miles to a place
to repair it, repair it (in 5 days) and now be using it again as if
nothing had happened. It does look good! It feels good to have the
main to use again, too! But now the wind is dying! We may have to
start pushing again under power so as to keep our promise to be in
Stockholm by Saturday afternoon.
We finished the spar repair last night at 1800 including giving it some
paint and varnish. Then the crew took the opportunity to unwind with
some new local friends. Some went to the beach for a swim, some went
for a walk and some continued their journals and letters. Later in the
evening there were some beer and wine shared together on the deck under
the mid-ship awning along with some soft music. With a 0500 wake up in
the morning, everyone was asleep at a reasonable hour.
0500 today was just before dawn. By 0540 the deck was ready to receive
the repaired gaff. All hands went off to the shop to carry it back, now
somewhat heavier for being whole again with jaws attached. By 0610 we
were maneuvering off the dock, after a warm goodbye to our Danish
friends who got up early to see us off.
The day was spent motoring in mixed light winds from the SW and S. The
crew broke into watches at breakfast time and took turns doing the last
bits of rigging to the gaff whenever they were on watch. By 2000 this
evening it was ready to be used and we had enough wind (and more rain
than we would have liked) to warrant setting the main. Now the wind has
softened (along with the rain) and I must worry about starting the
engine or wait for more wind. Meanwhile, the second mate (Wes) is aloft
checking things out, particularly the head-rope lacing for being too
tight (it was) and adjusting it if necessary (he is). The sea is nearly
smooth, which makes climbing out along the gaff quite comfortable and
easy (along with his harness clipped in for safety).
While everyone feels the accomplishment of successfully dealing with the
crisis with the main gaff, there seems to be a change in what normally
goes for crew chatter on this first day sailing after being in port. I
put the cause of the difference to the knowledge of the eminent changes
coming to the whole ship while in Stockholm. The first mate Peter
Bolster, the cook Julie Bolster, the engineer Drew Kaufmann, and
deckhand Christina Dyer all leave the ship in Stockholm. That is one
third of the ship's crew compliment. A big change for everyone. Those
that are leaving have their minds on what is going to happen to
them/what they are planning to do. Those that are staying are wondering
about the loss of the normal ship routine and the new people that are
coming. The rain may also be playing games with my powers of
observation. While hoisting the mainsail in the rain the crew were
chanting about "escaping summer". I learned that it is their joking
thought that if anyone wanted to have a summer and not get any sunburn,
come to Europe. Except for our time in France, it has been cold and wet
here. So maybe my thoughts about what the crew are thinking is pure
projection. Maybe it is merely the rain and the fact everyone is a
little tired from the energy expended in port.
A MESSAGE FROM CAPTAIN JAN MILES
ABOARD PRIDE OF BALTIMORE II
DATE: Tuesday, July 30, 1996
TIME: 7:14 GMT
POSITION: Marstal, Denmark, on the island of Aero
We are still in Marstal, Denmark. It has been rather longer a stay than
I anticipated. However, the main gaff is now re-built and looks really
strong. A very valiant effort was made by the first and second mates
Peter Bolster and Wes Heerssen. Neither of them are professed
carpenters. They both know I am not a carpenter. Between the three of
us we have managed to struggle through the stress of continually
re-explaining our ideas so as to check that they were logical and in the
correct sequence while at the same time never having enough credibility
in the eyes of the others to be able to assert we knew exactly what was
the proper next step or technique--except for my being the captain and
asserting from that position a time or two. In the middle of this, and
surrounding our combined effort, was an assortment of very knowledgeable
people that could and did loan us tools that ran on local electricity, a
shop to work in, provided the new wood we needed--prepared properly--and
iron fastenings (drifts and clench rings) to refasten everything
together. When two of the power tools failed, others replaced them.
Finally, near the end of our fitting the old jaws to the new end of the
old spar, there was an ex-patriot Dane from Soloman's Island, Maryland
by the name of Henrik Rasmussen, (a friend of a Marstal friend) who was
more practiced at woodwork than Peter and Wes. He stepped in and made
things look good and helped the blacksmith but in the drifts. What a
relief to have the help at the very end. Now the crew have just
finished painting the re-built spar. It looks better than new. In
fact, it is better than new, due to the way the new wood was glued
together and then glued to the old spar. The paint will dry overnight
and we will get up at 0500 to go carry it through the streets of Marstal
and put it on deck. We will get underway at 0600 and proceed 500 miles
to Stockholm. Along the way we will re-rig and re-built gaff and,
weather permitting, set the mainsail and sail as fast as we can.
Assuming I have missed nothing threatening, weather wise, or
misinterpreted the weather patterns, we should have fair winds at least
the next two days to Stockholm. We need to average 6 knots to arrive on
schedule, in the afternoon of this coming Saturday. Since Pride II can
sail faster than 6 knots when the weather is right, I hope we will do
somewhat better than 6 knots and get close enough to Stockholm to have a
chance of re-grouping before arrival. No matter what happens, the
re-built gaff is something to be very pleased at. The mates Pete and
Wes have done a very faithful job with a constant pressure of time and
stress at their lack of a lot of experience. The end result is very
commendable. Time will tell how commendable. But my money is on at
least as commendable as the original, which lasted 8 years.
In other affairs we have had mixed success. I made a bad guess on the
weather and okayed the start of some varnishing when the sky looked
grey, but not threatening. In the absence of a really detailed weather
report, the decision was a bad one. We got rained on, lightly, before
the job application was finished, much less completely dry. We stopped
right away and today were able to varnish what was not finished without
any rain. Now we have a cap rail that is water stained for about half,
and nice and glossy for the other half. What a setback! It is hard
enough to get the job done without having it be ruined so that it has to
be done again. I wonder if we will get a chance to fix it before we
arrive in Stockholm. Considering our oh-so-fortunate luck at being near
Marstal when the main gaff broke, I doubt we will have the right mix of
weather to re-do the water stained varnish. Especially as Europe is
complaining about having one of the colder summers for a long time!
Cold and wet!
A MESSAGE FROM CAPTAIN JAN MILES
ABOARD PRIDE OF BALTIMORE II
DATE: Wednesday, July 24, 1996
TIME: 19:51 GMT
POSITION: Latitude 53 25,58 N Longitude 004 53,01 E
SP: 9+ knots. C: 070 M. WX: WNW Force 5. SS: 8-10 Foot Swells. T:
59F. BP: 1009.2 F. SKY: 8/8 Stratus w/rain. 24HR POS: Mouth of the
Elbe River. 24HR WX: W'rly Force 3-5.
SAILING WITH STORM TRY-SAIL, FORESAIL, STAYSAIL,
JIB AND FORETOP.
We have been sailing fast since 0400 this morning. The promised W-NW
started to come in then and we turned off the port engine that we had
been using since 2300 last night. As dawn came the wind increased, as
did our speed, and we took in the jib-top and brought it inboard and
then took in the foretop. At 0655 (ship time) I got a weather report
from the BBC that gave me cause to be encouraged that it was time to
head on across the North Sea. We cracked off and reset the fore-top,
reefed. Since then we have been charging along in increasing winds and
sea till just an hour ago when conditions started to moderate. As the
wind increased to a solid Force 7 we took in the reefed fore-top and
furled it and took in and furled the jib. We also have the ship's
trysail set and it is doing yeomans work in the higher winds. During
the strongest conditions with this combination of storm try-sail,
foresail, and staysail, the ship has been very manageable indeed.
Things did not become uncomfortable until the sea got bigger than 10
feet.
In this part of the world there are numerous oil/mineral platforms
scattered around. Much like our own Gulf of Mexico, any vessels
transiting the area must navigate between these rigs. During rain, when
the visibility is down to less than 2 miles, this can be anxious work,
in spite of having radar. Especially when you are charging through the
seas at near 10 knots!
Speaking of speed, we have covered 160 miles (through the water) in 17
hours. That is an average of 9.4 knots. While the wind has moderated,
it is not yet predicted to die out for at least 12 hours. With 160
miles to go to the Kiel Canal, it is not impossible we could get there
in 24 hours.
Life aboard the ship in these conditions is, again, much like the
transit across the Atlantic. A lot of motion and quite a bit of wet as
some of the seas slap the hull and put spray up into the air, that then
blows down on the ship getting numerous members of the on watch wet.
Today there has been an extra irritation for Julie, the cook. When the
wind and sea got their strongest, there were times the ship would fall
down into a trough between two crests and help create a reverse air flow
down the galley stove smokestack. Exhaust fumes down below are no fun
at any time. Add a lot of ocean motion and you have the makings of a
sea- sickness brew like nearly no other. Supper tonight was not
elaborate, but it was filling. Rice. Yellow rice with lamb chunks and
peas. Black bean stew. Salad and bread. Good enough for the tired and
wet? You bet!
Since the wind has moderated, we have reset the jib and the fore-top
(this time unreefed). This has picked up our speed and helped to steady
Pride II out a bit in the leftover large swell. With any luck, the wind
will stay up enough to keep us steady, but down enough to let the sea
die down a bit.
A MESSAGE FROM CAPTAIN JAN MILES
ABOARD PRIDE OF BALTIMORE II
DATE: Thursday, July 18, 1996
TIME: 20:56 GMT
POSITION: Douarnenez
We have just ended our last racing day. It was another good one where
Pride II just wowed the audience with her and her crew's ability. But
now it is rest time. The crew have now had a full week of intense daily
responsibilities interspersed with exhaustive and intense sailing. They
do not have any receptions or daysails to worry about for the next two
days, so they will now be able to get ashore and enjoy the rendezvous of
so many fine vessels and crews--a large part of the tradition of this
gathering.
Since I last wrote of our first race in Brest and the "white nemesis",
Pride II and her crew have had another day of nearly 14 hours of
receptions plus two days of hard, all day sailing with many strangers
(and some friends) aboard. The receptions, just like the first two days
in Brest (Saturday and Sunday) were with guests of the office of the
Mayor of Brest. Thankfully there were caterers aboard that were
bi-lingual and very professional the whole of each day to be part of the
coordination of events. There were so many "official" guests and
courtesies to be respected. The last of which was the Mayor's own
reception celebrating the last event of the Brest portion of this
classic vessel event. A party for 60 turned into 100 from 2300 hours on
Tuesday till 0100 hours on Wednesday (I am not counting the time it took
to clean up after this party) to watch the last fireworks show. Then it
was back on deck at 0800 Wednesday to ready the ship for the sail to
Douarnenez, a racing sail starting at 1000 and ending at 1800 when we
tied up to the dock. All this followed by today with a race starting at
1100 and not ending until we tied up at 1800. The crew are ready for a
somewhat less hectic couple of days.
Our race to Douarnenez was interesting for three reasons. The first was
the amazing sight of 2,00 craft sized from 300 feet to mere bathtubs all
sailing out of Brest and working their way to Douarnenez at the same
time. The second was the sailing down the coast with the other vessels
racing, some as new in type as the 1970's and some as old in type as the
1700's. The third was the incredible lack of consistency in the
organization of the race course.
It is hard to describe what it looks like or feels like sailing in a
small body of water with 2,000 other vessels (not counting the
spectators that were also sailing). We were at one time in actual
contact with the sail of one boat via our studding sail boom because he
did not realize how close he was getting. At another point we watched a
sail vessel of some 30 feet, under power, drive right into the stern of
another sail boat under sail!
Once out of the congested starting area of this armada, Pride II was
able to sail well and fast past all of the boats racing to Douarnenez.
This was a very good feeling to all aboard, especially the French
passengers aboard. But it did not stay that way long as many of the
boats behind us did not work hard at finding the obligatory turn mark at
a headland of the bay Douarnenez is on. We did and were very
disappointed they did not. It meant we were no longer ahead. But then
we saw many of these vessels realize their mistake and correct it. But
those vessels that did not correct just kept on going. This made
catching them again important if only to show them cheating was not
going to work. One particular vessel we could not, but the other, a
surprisingly fast and weatherly 60 footer called a goulet with three
masts, rigged in a lugger fashion (with lugger topsails, too) and dating
in a period as far back as the early 1800's, was finally caught just a
half mile from the finish. A very satisfying end to an intensive and
somewhat frustrating day. Especially satisfying as the operator of that
vessel came over and complimented us sincerely on Pride II's speed and
weatherlyness.
The most frustrating aspect of the day was the lack of race
organization. We tried to start the day as written in the handbook, but
the start seemed not to be marked at one end and there was no apparent
attempt to keep any start line discipline, so virtually everyone got
into everyone else's way. But the icing on the cake was when we several
leading vessels found no finish line and made one for ourselves. My
consternation was how this would affect our catching this French
traditional fishing vessel of three masts. When I realized that the
vessels ahead of us had no idea where the finish was and were milling
around each other some two miles ahead, causing me to order course
changes and sail re-trimming in an effort to get the jump on our French
competitor, I flew into a fluent and non-stop invective that had anyone
near me shifting to another part of the boat. After a few very bad
moments I calmed a little and saw that the other vessels ahead were
going past the projected finish area and on past the town breakwater.
So, we poured on the concentration again and managed to sail past our
competitor just before the breakwater and shoot cannons to mark the
finish.
Today we had the last race for just schooners. The start was fine but
for the lack of wind. When the wind did fill in we proceeded to sail
through the fleet and get ahead by the end of leg two. The crew had a
lot of energy and got our studding sails working and even got the
ring-tail up for a bit! Then this business of the race committee and
its lack of organization hit us again! They shortened the course
because of light winds and needing to get the ships back to the dock at
a reasonable hour. Fine! Good idea. On the last leg the wind switched
and came in at a fresh 12-15 knots. We got up to 10 knots and roared to
the finish. Why did they put the committee boat on the wrong side of
the last mark? We had been leaving the marks to port. With no warning
at all we saw, at 10 knots mind you, the committee boat in a position
that meant we were to leave the mark to starboard! We saw this too late
and missed the finish! We had to turn around and finish the race by
gybing and then tacking, all in a fresh breeze that required we take
down some of the kits (light air sails) we had been using the whole day.
I was, sadly, not amused! But we finished first and I believe we won,
but won't know until later.
There is a French Privateer, the La Recouverance, we have been getting
friendly with here. She is VERY reminiscent of the old Pride of
Baltimore. Almost exactly the same size. While she is an interesting
example of French privateering in the early 1800's, I don't think she is
as fast nor as weatherly as the old Pride. So, with Pride of Baltimore
II being larger than the old Pride, we are so much faster than La
Recouverance it is almost insulting. After today's race we went back
out to sail with her after we had gotten all our kites down and stowed.
So we were sailing with just the main, fore, staysail, jib, and square
fore topsail. We carefully got behind her (to avoid giving her bad wind
since she was still racing) and gave chase from behind (she was sailing
with lots of kits--top-gallant, queen staysail, outer-jib, main mast
club gaff-topsail). We eventually closed to within a boat length and
then sheared off to her lee side and passed her at a safe distance to
shoot a two cannon salute. She dipped her colors, as did we. A
friendly ending to a good sail--I think.
Now she is secured alongside us for the night. It is amazing to see
just how big we appear alongside her. I remember the old Pride well,
but I find it amazing how big Pride of Baltimore II appears. No wonder
we are so fast when compared to other traditional work boat types! I
guess we will have to find a race with vessels more our size.
Cheers
A MESSAGE FROM CAPTAIN JAN MILES
ABOARD PRIDE OF BALTIMORE II
DATE: Monday, July 15, 1996
TIME: 19:41 GMT
POSITION: Brest, FRANCE
Whew! What a day of sailing! At one point you could have almost jumped
across the bay from boat to boat...all of which were maneuvering, some
under sail, some under power...except for the fact that it would have
been impossible to guess where the boats would be from minute to minute.
Today was race day for Pride II. According to the BREST 96 race
circular it was intended to be, and I quote, "a schooner race...with the
aim being to bring together about ten schooners and have them race 'for
the show' between..." and they give the race course (please forgive the
French translators for their imperfect translation into English). All
was fine until a large, white, near modern, staysail schooner (no gaffs
or yards anywhere) came up from behind and passed us to weather. We had
the Deputy Mayor of Brest aboard who could not believe Pride II was
going to lose to this thing. He had been so pleased that we had left
the fleet so far behind. He got on the radio and instituted a dialog
with the race committee and other participants concerning this white
nemesis. The air was nearly blue with the notion we were not going to
win because of the "modern yacht:.
Pride II had been very impressive too! At the start, most of the fleet
of eleven gaff rigged and square topsail rigged schooners were clustered
up near the weather end of the line, a reaching start line. The line
was almost a mile long. Since Pride II is a good reaching sailor, I
opted to stay downwind of everyone, far enough to be out of their bad
air. When the start came it was a simple matter to trim sail and
accelerate. For the first 15 minutes it may have looked as if I had
thrown away a good start by being so far from the competition. But my
assessment of the competition (the white staysail schooner was not
anywhere to be seen at the start) was accurate. Pride II
out-accelerated them and lead them by nearly a quarter mile at the first
mark after only two miles. The second leg was hard on the wind and we
were the highest pointing of the big schooners and pointed as high as
the small as schooners. Hence we reached the turning mark nearly a mile
ahead of everyone...but now the white nemesis was apparent and closing
in. We all assumed it was a spectator showing off. But when he came up
on our weather side it was apparent that he was racing. Not much could
be done about this new competitor either. A very powerful, aluminum
hull (about 120 feet long) of a type associated with 1970's yacht design
intending to look traditional but being as modern as possible. She sure
sailed fast! So by us she went and the consternation began.
Me? I had my hands full, along with the crew, keeping Pride II sailing
well and not running into some idiot spectator. There were so many
spectator boats, both sailing and motoring, out and about the entire
bay, trying to get as close as possible to Pride II and take photos.
The press core was the most aggressive. They would take their motor
boats right up under the head rig of Pride II. Meanwhile, we crossed
the finish line about 2 miles ahead of the nearest traditional
competitor and maybe a quarter of a mile behind the staysail schooner.
Now that the race was over it was time to consider doing some fun
sailing while we worked our way back to the harbor. Well...it was not
possible to have fun, although we continued sailing. The spectator
fleet now broke up into small squadrons of followers around each of the
race participants as they crossed the finish line and stayed with them
as the schooners sailed their way back to Brest. What a mess of
traffic! Numerous times we had to alter course in spite of having the
right of way because the other boat was acting erratically. But we
managed not to have a collision (one was reported to have happened soon
after we got into the harbor) and sailed right up into the Penfeld River
again. Cannons blasting, of course.
Due to being late to the awards ceremony, we missed the award to the
schooner class. But when we arrived, the BREST 96 hosts insisted we
march up to the platform to be recognized and get some gifts before we
rushed back to Pride II to meet with the crew of the staysail schooner
who were on their way to visit us and give us the first prize they had
been given, but felt Pride II had actually won. Apparently, they made
their intentions known to the audience and had left just moments before
we arrived. We found the staysail schooner crew and owners aboard Pride
II with the silver chalice first prize. We gave them a tour of Pride II
and talked in mixed languages about how nice a day it was for sailing.
They were profuse with compliments about Pride II and sincere, I think,
about wanting to give us the award of first place. So it is now here,
and they have a Pride II poster (by Baltimore photographer Bill McAllen)
of Pride II in Hawaii storming along in a strong breeze, signed by the
Captain. I wonder if they think this is a fair trade and I really
wonder what will be said in the papers of this day, or the magazines of
this event.
A MESSAGE FROM CAPTAIN JAN MILES
ABOARD PRIDE OF BALTIMORE II
DATE: Tuesday, July 9, 1996
TIME: 0827 GMT
POSITION: Latitude 49 56,86 N Longitude 000 41,87 W
SP: 7.7 knots. C: 330 M. WX: Force 3-4 W'rly. SS: 3 Ft. T: 59
F. BP: 1026.2 F. SKY: 7/8 Altocumulus. 24HR POS: 50 N, 2W. 24HR
WX: SW- NW, Force 4.
Life is pretty good. We have been sailing all night since supper. I
expect that we will be sailing through the day and hopefully the night.
The weather, while it brings wind from where we want to go, has been
moderate and the sea slight. This has helped make for a pleasant and
smooth ride so far. The temperature has fallen from yesterday due to a
rise in humidity and near full cloud cover. Even so, it is high enough
to be comfortable in sweaters and wind-breakers rather than full
underwear as well.
It is hard to describe the peace of sailing rather than motoring. While
this ship's exhaust noise can be heard, it is not so loud that normal
conversation is inhibited. Yet there is no escaping the low and
continuous noise of the engines pervading the ship. Good for sleeping
say some. But there is no escaping it. When sailing there is noise,
but is as variable as it is when out in the country. As I sit here I
can hear the conversations of those up at the helm on watch. There is
some noise of life up forward in the saloon, too. (By the tinny sounds,
I suspect it is the breakfast dishwasher. A newcomer to the ship, Eric
Hartge, son of Totch Hartge of Hartge Insurance Associates -- specialty
in marine -- of Easton, Maryland, is 16 and a sailor of small dinghies
(Lasers) is learning about being a marine domestic in between learning
about heavy boat sailing). There are also noises coming from the engine
room where Drew the engineer is attending to various chores and
occasionally the water pump rumbles as it replaces the lost pressure in
the fresh water system as Eric uses water for the dishes. Surrounding
all this activity is the background, near white noise of the seas
parting as Pride II cuts her way through the sea and the rig and blocks
creak with the back and forth motion. Making an accounting of these
noises may make it sound as if there is no peace, but in fact none of
these noises are particularly loud and their intermittent or changing
nature leaves a lot of quiet to be enjoyed. So, while the wind is on
the bow and we are closing the distance to Brest slowly, life aboard,
while sailing in moderate weather, is rather peaceful and orderly.
The amount of work everyone does in these conditions is different, too.
Unlike the Atlantic crossing this spring, where there was not a moment
of inactivity, these conditions allow for more idle time, even on watch.
The rig is not chaffing as much, so inspections can be less persistent.
The reduced motion of the vessel in the moderate sea means less aerobic
exercise merely trying to stay in one place. Everyone still must take
turns steering for an hour, record events in the log, establish Pride
II's position on the chart, and then proceed on through the ship's
engine room and record information in those logs, then on through the
rest of the ship inspecting for problems, especially in each bilge.
Then it is up on deck again to inspect the rig. In between these hourly
events, one can sit back and enjoy the ride, watching for bird life, sea
life, the change in the sky, the occasional vessel. This is a lot
different a life at sea than when a storm is brewing.
The job aboard that is relentless throughout all conditions, sublime or
not, is that of feeding all souls aboard. However, even that job
becomes different when there is comfortable sailing rather than rough
conditions or motoring. Julie has not been getting thrown around the
galley as Pride II has not been heaving and rolling in a big sea. Under
these conditions she can indulge her creative side when making meals.
Last night was a chicken dish with yellow rice. The special nature of
this dish was the prunes and green olives in a semi-sweet sauce.
Delicious! This morning was cut fruit with berries, pancakes with
American syrup (brought over by hand via Pride, Inc. office staff when
the ship ran out and there was none to be found in Europe) and cereal
for those who wanted it.
As we sailed through the night, we have worked our way south and a
little west towards France. We tacked over to a port tack at breakfast
when we were some 22 miles WxN of Le Havre, and are now heading NW'rly
back out into the English Channel as we ever so slowly work our way
west. The weather reports of this morning are promising misty rain, but
not much increase in wind. It will be interesting to find out how much
distance toward our destination we will have come after 24 hours of
sailing against the wind. I wonder if we will exceed 100 miles.
A MESSAGE FROM CAPTAIN JAN MILES
ABOARD PRIDE OF BALTIMORE II
DATE: Monday, July 8, 1996
TIME: 1534 GMT
POSITION: Latitude 50 55,09 N Longitude 001 15,78 E >
Transfer interrupted!
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