It’s the company on the ship that is so inspiring. This is everyone from the voyage crew to all the Permanent Crew. The skill levels, empathy and concern that you have a great experience as well as stay safe, are well fed and learn about the ship, your fellow voyagers and yourself, is such a key part of being on the ship.
I first sailed on Tenacious in 2001 from Edinburgh to London. This was Tenacious’s first visit to London, and it was such a thrill to be part of the boat party landing on the dock at HMS President just below Tower Bridge to take the lines and make her secure. The voyage had been a steep learning curve as a buddy and on a ship of this size. I had been sailing and generally out on the water since a very young age as my family loved the sea, or any large expanse of water. I had become an RYA skipper so familiar with sails on yachts but stepping onto a tall ship and seeing all the sails and even more ropes was very daunting. My Watch Leader was very knowledgeable and spent a lot of time taking us through all the ropes, breaking them into functional groups and explaining what each group did and how to handle them.
I was very fortunate to sail on Lord Nelson as well and over the last 22 years I have made 18 voyages to many exciting places including Iceland, Quebec, The Azores, Antigua and Bermuda including a Transatlantic voyage in 2012 and sailing the South Pacific from Tahiti to Fiji.
The time you really get to know your fellow watch members is when you are on watch and are working together to sail the ship under the watchful eyes of the Officer on Watch. During these sessions you learn about your team, what they do in life, how they manage with any disabilities and as a result how they work round things to get tasks done. It is inspiring to see a blind person helm the ship or climb the rigging or a person in a wheelchair move around the ship and carry out their tasks such as sail setting where we form teams to pull ropes or ease away to get the sails properly set.
During the day most of the crew are about and there is more opportunity to get to know each other. On many voyages I’ve heard interesting conversations, singing and laughter such a joy to be part of all of this. At night when you’re up and about it’s very quiet with only the sounds of the wind in the sails and rigging as well as the sea washing past the ship as the wind drives us forward. On clear nights there is the amazing sight of the heavens full of stars and in the South Pacific we could see the pole star and the southern Cross at the same time, an amazing experience.
Over the years I have made many friends and am still in touch with a good number. This includes a number in the UK as well as others in Europe, Bermuda and America. It is a privilege to have been involved with these tall ships over the years and there is a group of us working hard to save our beautiful ship Tenacious.