My adventure on the tall ship Statsraad Lehmkuhl started early Saturday morning when Kirk and Sidney dropped me off at 6 am. I boarded the ship, and received my hammock and went down to the forward accommodation o rest until everyone got up. Breakfast was served at 7:30 am and then we mustered on deck. For some reason there was confusion about what number I was assigned. I had my hammock at 36 but it was assigned to someone else. However, I liked the spot as there wasn’t anyone to my left and a space before the next person to my right. I ended up getting to keep that spot. Also, the forward accommodation is the dining area. So everyone in there has to remove their hammock before breakfast and can put it up again after dinner.
Once we mustered, we were assigned watches. The forward accommodation is assigned the blue watch 0800 to 1200 and 2000 to 2400. This seems like the best watch because it is almost normal hours. Also, both watches are in daylight. This accommodation has that watch because we can’t leave our hammocks up during the day. The aft accommodation is divided in half with one side having 1200 to 1600 and 0000 to 0400 watches and the other half having 0400 to 0800 and 1600 to 2000 watches. People in the aft accommodation can leave their hammocks up all the time. There are roughly twice as many people in the aft accommodation so again I was happy to be forward. Cleaning of the common areas is also assigned by watch group so we had the dining area.
At the first muster, we were told about emergency situations and provided details on eating times, watch times, and other assignments. We departed at 1300 in a parade of ships sailing out of Aalborg. There were people along the sides of the fjord for miles- all the way out to the sea. The parade was really quite amazing.
I also took an interesting picture of a coal-fired power plant with a wind turbine in front. Denmark has wind turbines everywhere with the highest percent of wind power in nearly any country.
So a little about the accommodation- there is no separation for men and women. There were a couple of families or couples and they would be side by side. The rest of us were all mixed up. I happened to be with two sisters and their friend. The disadvantage of my location was that it was by the aisle and door, so people frequently walked through and they weren’t always quiet. There is approximately 2 feet between hammock hooks. Everyone also has a small locker in which to place clothing. Six or seven hammocks can hang in each row, with room for 150 hammocks total. We had about 100 people so there were a few welcome empty spaces. Privacy and personal space did not exist. And, since almost everyone (men and women alike) slept in nothing but their underwear, I have now seen more men in their underwear than I care to.
Many trainees were already on board from either the night before or the race. The ship was second in the race in having the fastest sailing time but being penalized for an error during the race start. Fortunately the ones who had sailed in the race could help us new trainees.
During our first watch, the experienced trainees took duties while we learned the layout of the ship, the schedule and our duties for watch. The watches I had over the course of the voyage were fire watch, helm, and buoy watch. The fire watch walks around the ship checking on the other watches and making sure everything is in order (trash cans aren’t full, freezer isn’t defrosting, no one is hurt, etc). The helm, which I will describe more in a minute, maintains the ship’s heading. The buoy watch stands aft and makes sure no one falls overboard. There is also a lookout who stands forward and rings a bell if there are any other boats, etc. in the water in front of the ship as you can’t see from the helm which is aft. If there is an object starboard, that is one ring, an object port is two rings, and an object forward three rings. The helm acknowledges the object with the same number of rings back. Each person on a watch group was assigned one of these watches for an hour during each watch period. If you weren’t on an assigned watch, you were required to stay on deck to manage sails, ropes, maintenance, etc.
I enjoyed the helm the most. I had the helm twice, once under sail and once under engines. The response of the ship to the rudder and how the rudder responded to the wheel were quite different in the two cases. Under sail, we were only going about 4 knots while under engine, we were going 10 knots. You basically have to make small adjustments for the rudder to maintain a constant heading. It sounds quite easy but it required a lot of attention to the compass and orientation of the rudder. And the rudder doesn’t respond the same under sail as under engine. The wind has an effect as does the tilt of the ship.
In general, the food was very good. There was cereal, sliced meat and cheese, bread, and something hot for breakfast. Cold cuts, bread, fruit and something hot for lunch and a hot dinner. There were also two coffee breaks- one morning and one afternoon. It was a little strange to sleep above where you ate, or eat below where you would sleep.
The organization was a bit of a challenge. Everything felt very disorganized most of the time. Sometimes the crew would be very good about explaining something in English and sometimes not. Also, we never had an idea of what was coming next. You would suddenly just get grabbed to do something. It is a little hard to explain but I would definitely have gotten way more out of the experience on an all-English voyage. I missed a lot of explanations and information by not speaking Norwegian. It was also lonely. There were a few families and a lot of young people. But only six of us were non-Norwegians or non-Danish- Two Russians, one other American and two Dutch. If we had thought about it, Kirk and I could have done it together and that would also have been more fun.
Unfortunately, the wind was not conducive to sailing much. We spent about 60% of time under engines and only got to sail for about a day. Sailing is a lot of work. The sails have to be put up and then moved or frequently adjusted to maximize the wind. And all these adjustments require a lot of rope pulling. And each rope usually needs at least four people to pull it. Putting up the biggest sail required nearly the entire ship to pull ropes at once. It was a huge amount of work plus a lot of knowing when to pull, ease off but maintain pressure on the rope, and finally drop it when commanded. As Sidney puts it, a huge amount of “teamwork” is required.
I also got to climb the rigging and help stuff one of the sails. In order to climb the rigging, you have to be able to do a pull up. The reason is that when you climb, you have to hang at 45 degrees backwards to climb over the crow’s nest. This is quite a strain on your arms. And while at this angle, the shorter of us can’t use our legs and have to basically support our body with one arm while moving the other one. Between this and pulling rope, my arms and back are very sore. Additionally, I went out on the yard arm and helped pack the largest sail. While doing this, you are standing on a wire, holding onto the yard arm, lifting a very heavy sail and packing it (like stuffing a pillow in a case), all while 35 meters above the sea. Everyone else, who is heavier than me, is also on the wire when they push the sail in the wire moves a lot - quite an uncomfortable experience the first time. Both climbing the rigging and going out on the yard arm were very mentally and physically challenging experiences. They were down right frightening at first but I think I would welcome that challenge again.
Night life was challenging for me as well. Although we had a good watch time, I am a light sleeper, so I did not get much sleep for three days- maybe three hours a night. There are always bells ringing, people walking around, and people on deck working or moving sails. Plus sleeping in a hammock was new. These aren’t the hammocks you buy at the outdoor store for the patio. They are cloth and rope and you have to pull yourself up to the ceiling to get in. It is like sleeping in your own taco. Once I was in, I couldn’t see out except for the ceiling without sitting up. I got out the same way, pulling myself up to the ceiling and jumping out. I think I could sleep in a hammock again as it wasn’t uncomfortable, just the situation around me with so many people, etc.
I think I would sail again but with some conditions. One is to be with someone I know. As I said earlier, I really was lonely. Second is to be on a English-speaking vessel. I think I would get much more out of the experience. But I am not about to turn sailor, although by the time I return from offshore next week, I will have been on a ship, boat or ferry every day for 10 days. No wonder the land wobbles!
I go offshore Thursday through Monday. Kirk and I leave for Houston to house hunt Wednesday and return the following Wednesday. I go offshore again after that. Sidney starts school August 16 and we think we will leave Norway September 17. After our two days in Bergen, which Kirk will write about, we have two more “must do’s”. We want to go to Kristiansand to the zoo and to Flekkefjord and ride the bikes (called dresins) that run on the old train rails.
It seems strange that our one way flight to the US is only six weeks away. The time has flown by. We will do a future post on our thoughts about the experience so stay tuned. But we sure have had fun.
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