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Our stay in Gosport, after finishing the race from Halifax, was put to good use by all hands. After getting the ship clean, the laundry done, and ourselves thoroughly scrubbed up, the crew took turns checking out the local scene and accomplishing maintenance chores on Pride II . We also kept track of the remaining racing fleet as they straggled in from crossing the Atlantic.

Gosport is a small town across the harbor from the more famous Portsmouth. Portsmouth gets it's fame for being the first harbor designated as a naval center for England back around the 1680's. Over the centuries, this naval port has become the emotional center of the Royal Navy. It is here that Lord Nelson's last command, H.M.S. Victory, is preserved for all to see, along with several other naval artifacts.

H.M.S. Victory is to England what the U.S.S.Constitution is to the United States. Victory was built in 1757 and is the longest continuously commissioned vessel in the Royal Navy. She participated in six major sea battles. The most famous of these, and possibly the most significant, was the battle off Cape Trafalgar, just south of Cadiz, Spain, on October 21, 1805. Nelson's fleet shattered the combined French and Spanish Armada in that battle, although Nelson himself was killed by a French sniper.

The Victory is massive and a mindboggling experience as one is able to walk through all her decks. On board are displayed scenes of life at all levels of the ship's hierarchy. Having just crossed the Atlantic Ocean in Pride II, it is easy to see how oppressive life aboard a sailing war machine was back then.

Another vessel on display is H.M.S. Warrior. She is one of the very early mechanical powered navel vessels. Her propulsion was by propeller rather than paddle wheels and her superiority under power was, at that time, remarkable. Together, these two vessels make up a large part of Portsmouth's skyline with their towering masts rising above the low lying buildings.

Due to Portsmouth's roll as an important naval center during World War II, it was a focus of German air bombing. Hence, much of the architecture is new rather than old. Still, there are scenes that we Americans find different and interesting as we walk about. There is an active fishing and tourist industry. Some of the bombed out buildings continue to fulfill active roles today.

Today, Portsmouth is also one of many very busy commercial ports along the southern coast of England that handles cross-Channel ferry traffic to France. Everyday, there are different types of ferries coming and going. There are also ferries that handle local traffic headed to the Isle of Wight across the Solent and across Portsmouth Harbor to Gosport. While the crew went about maintenance aboard Pride II, the waterborne commerce paraded by all day long and into the night.

Maintenance

Our maintenance chores spanned a variety of jobs: Cosmetic care to the anchor windlass to deal with the rusting caused by lots of salt water during the crossing. Spot care of varnish damaged or worn from the crossing. Chipping and painting the anchor tackle hawseholes in the bows of the ship. Taking apart the blown forestaysail for salvageable cloth material, rope, and metal hardware. Plus repairs to the service (wrapping) on the standing rigging caused by the crossing.

"Racing" While Tied to the Dock
Everyday for the past several days, I listened to Race Control on the radio to see if our standings in the race had changed since the day before as the remaining racers reached the finish line. We did experience one change when Pride II dropped from 4th in fleet to 5th when Kruzenshtern crossed the line sooner than we hoped. I was able to predict our standings before the Race Director's announcements each day by calculating from the daily position reports what the standings would be. It was a laborious job of work on the calculator, but it was better than waiting for two hours for the results from the Race Director (and the computer). Of course, I only calculated standings for the vessels that would affect our position. So far, Pride II has not been threatened with displacement from 1st in Class B.

Not all of the finishers came into Portsmouth Harbor after crossing the finish line. In fact, only a few did. Brilliant, the only other American vessel in the race, was one of them. Another was Pogoria, a Class A Barque from Poland (who is 17^th in Fleet right now). We shifted so that she could lay inside of Pride II at Haslar Marine in Gosport.

Sunday evening, the crew of Brilliant came over with their portion of a supper to be shared aboard Pride II. The after dinner entertainment night was watching videos on Pride II's TV. First we watched something contemporary (The Tick - a comedy from cable TV) and then something historical (Peking: Around the Horn - a film shot aboard one of the last of the huge cargo square-riggers sailing between Chile and Germany in 1932). I found it interesting to observe the reactions of the audience, made up of Atlantic Ocean sailors. For The Tick, it was laughter during the event. For Peking: Around the Horn, it was quiet during the show and awed discussion after.

Off to London!

Now, August 15, we are underway for our date in London where we will host several of Pride II's business partners including the Maryland Department of Economic and Business Development in support of their efforts to show off Maryland as a great place to do business. Considering Pride II's performance in the just completed International Tall Ship Race across the Atlantic, I would think it would be easy to show that Maryland is a great place with which to be associated!

Cheers,
Captain Miles