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Details of S. V. Tradewind from Wikipedia.

Tradewind (schooner)

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SV Tradewind in Sydney Harbour 1990
Career (Netherlands)
Name:	Sophie Theresia
Builder:	Van der Vuijk shipyard, Capelle aan de IJssel, Netherlands
Launched:	1911
Renamed:	1952, to Aaltje en Willem
Fate:	Sold to New Zealand owner in 1986
Notes:	Initially a herring lugger, later used as a coastal trader
Career (New Zealand)
Acquired:	By New Zealander Mark Hammond in 1986
Renamed:	Tradewind
Fate:	Sold to Finnish owner in 1993
Notes:	Used for charter voyages in the South Pacific
Career (Finland)
Acquired:	By Christian Johansson of Finland in 1993
Fate:	Sold to Dutch owner in 1998
Notes:	Used for charter voyages in the Baltic Sea and North Sea
Career (Netherlands)
Acquired:	By Dutchman Kees Rol in 1998
Renamed:	1998, to Sodade
Acquired:	By Dutchman private owner in 2004
Renamed:	2004, back to Tradewind
Status:	Active, charter vessel
Notes:	Currently being rebuilt under Bureau Veritas class.
General characteristics
Class and type:	herring lugger, later topsail schooner
Tonnage:	195 tons (displacement)
Length:	37 m (121 ft)
Beam:	6.85 m (22 ft)
Draft:	2.95 m (9.5 ft)
Propulsion:	Caterpillar 3408 diesel: 440 shp

The Tradewind is a Dutch topsail schooner. She was built in the Netherlands in 1911 as a herring lugger named Sophie Theresia.

In 1952, she was refitted for use as a coastal merchantman and an engine was added. She was renamed Aaltje en Willem. In the 1970s, when it was no longer economical to run her as a commercial vessel, she was converted to a house-boat, then later to a charter boat.

In 1986, the ship was sold and renamed the Tradewind. She was restored as a topsail schooner. In 1987-88, she sailed from England to Australia as part of the First Fleet Re-enactment for Australia's bicentennial celebrations.

The Tradewind remained in the South Pacific during the late 1980s and early 1990s, based in New Zealand. She was used for charter cruises to the Sub-Antarctic islands south of New Zealand, and around Fiji. During this period, she appeared in the romance adventure film Return to the Blue Lagoon.

Returning from one of the voyages to the Sub-Antarctic Islands the Tradewind ran into a storm south of New Zealand and was struck by a rogue wave.^[1] The radar, situated 14 metres above the waterline, was carried away and the charthouse was flooded. The ship was knocked down, with the mastheads in the water, but righted itself. Only one crew member, the helmsman, was on deck at the time the wave struck. He saved himself from being washed overboard by thrusting his arms through the spokes of the wheel, although he was injured.

In late 1991, the Tradewind left New Zealand to sail around Cape Horn to join the tall ship fleet sailing from Europe to America in commemoration of the 500th anniversary of Christopher Columbus's arrival in the Americas. During the voyage to join the tall ship fleet, she visited the Antarctic Peninsula and the Falkland Islands.

After the Columbus celebrations in 1992, the Tradewind returned to England where she was sold to a Finnish owner. She was used for charter cruises around the Baltic Sea and the North Sea.

In 1998, the Tradewind was sold to a Dutch owner and renamed Sodade. She was refitted and used for charter cruises in the Cape Verde Islands. By 2003, the condition of the ship had deteriorated and she was laid up in the island of Sal. In late 2003, she was taken over by another Dutch owner to save her from a horrible fate on the Cape Verde Islands. She was sail to and refitted in the Canary Islands. After this refit, she was renamed the Tradewind again. In early 2004, the ship made an atlantic crossing to the carrabian, azores, baltic and eventually back to the Netherlands

In 2006 under the care of "Stichting Loggerbehoud Nederland" a complete refit started again. She is currently being rebuilt under BV class for world wide service. This project should be finished around sept. 2008.

[edit] References

1. ^ Conversation with the then captain of the Tradewind, Mark Hammond, Dec 1991.

[edit] Sources

• Schoonerman Tradewind page
• Tradewind website
• Schauffelen, Otmar (2005). Chapman Great Sailing Ships of the World. Hearst Books, p 242. ISBN 1588163849. Retrieved on 2008-10-07. 

Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tradewind_(schooner)"

Categories: Sailboat names | Tall ships of the Netherlands | Tall ships of New Zealand | Tall ships of Finland | Schooners

New York 4th of July Parade of Sail 1992 (Opsail 92).

From being spat out at a great rate of knots from the East river into the Hudson we made our way towards the entrance down river and anchored off the channel near a small marina for the night. The following day would be a big event for all of us and we were all looking forward to it. The weather looked to be promising and it was all leading up to be a great day.

A very early start for the Tradewind crew, as we had to make our way in to shore and pick up passengers for the day. The visibility was not good, it was dark for it was that early in the morning but there was also a very heavy fog, an absolute pea souper, making navigation to the small marina that bit more difficult. The marina caretaker was not a happy morning person, yelling in a strong Brooklyn accent that we could not enter the marina, as it was private. We basically ignored him and told him that we were only coming in to pick up passengers for the day and would be soon out of his way. This did not appease him but we were soon clearing out of the cluttered, untidy marina with passengers and we were not going to let this small bit of aggression ruin our day.

Motoring back out into the Hudson it quickly became obvious that we were going to have a bit of a challenge finding the correct ‘A’ class ship to follow. Visibility was just beyond the length of our bow sprit and some where in front of us the big ‘A’ and ‘B’ class vessels were making there way up the Hudson from the Sandy Hook anchorage. I was glad that I did not have to do the navigation that day but some how Mark and Andrew found the right spot and we slotted into the parade of tall ships, setting all sail as we made our way through the fog. The line of command aboard was as clear as the days visibility, as Mark was aboard, and it was only later that I found out he was willing for Andrew to remain as Captain and I was to continue as Chief Mate. Anyway I found myself as Chief Mate on the Parade and consequently was wearing formal black and whites with shoulder boards for the day. Not the most practical rig for working a sailing ship and it was quite a chore keeping the grime off the white shirt but all hands were needed to set and control sails.

When we joined the parade we thought the whole event was going to be a flop, with no wind and near zero visibility a lot of people were going to be disappointed but someone was looking after us. As the morning progressed and we approached Governor Island, where all the official dignitaries were situated, the fog began lifting. The sailing ships preceded majestically out of a wall of fog into the clear, must have looked fantastic to onlookers. We broke out of the fog bank and finally could see the ‘Gloria’ ahead of us, looking resplendent with a huge national flag flying off of her mizzen peak and all the crew dressed up in shirts of their national colours lining the yards and shrouds. Each mast was covered in a single mass of either red, yellow or blue shirted sailors.

While we had sailed up the Hudson before and knew the landmarks, that day everything was different. Obviously having 200 sailing ships is a fantastic sight but there were all the spectators in small boats, ferries and lining the river shore. The backdrop of Manhattan skyline on our starboard bow and the Statue of Liberty with Ellis Island off our Port Bow made it all quite fantastic.

The ships were all motoring up the river, which is common for parades of sail, this was to make headway and maintain spacing between each vessel. No wind made it easier for everyone and while having sails hanging slack and the vessels upright is not as photogenic, there is considerably less confusion then if there was a breeze and all of us were bowling along under a cloud of sail. Motoring saves a lot of chaos in the confined and crowded waters.

As each vessel passed Manhattan and came up to the Hudson bridge, they began taking in their sails and turning back down river, we could see all the crews working out on the yards furling the sails and putting in perfect harbour stows. On Tradewind we took particular pride on our ability to stow the sails and have the vessel looking just right. Its one of those signs of seamanship that really only other tall ship sailors look for but believe me it is important. You get a great feeling of pride when you see your own vessel all tight and trim alongside other equally squared away vessels.

The organizers had us scattered about the various berths in both Brooklyn and Manhattan, we were sent to a dock in Brooklyn along with other tall ships of our class. The berth we tied up to had the Kaisei from Japan, the Concordia from Canada, the Eye of the Wind from UK, the Alexander von Humbolt from Germany and I cannot remember the other vessels there, unfortunately.

At the berths there was food and drink provided for all of us and we were made welcome. Strange thing was that by about 1800 it was all over, I guess the New Yorkers quickly moved on to the next thing. From that point on we were basically left up to our own devices, which was Ok.

It was a big day and we carried on partying and visiting other ships in the area.

East River Parade of Sail 3rd of July 1992

Our stay at New Rochelle was very relaxing, we were able to make repairs to Tradewind and clean her up for the upcoming parade of sail. While we were in the Marina (or should I say just on the fringe due to water depth) the stubby but pretty cutter Providence motored in and moored up alongside us. The two vessels were quite a contrast, our Tradewind a hardy well found southern ocean schooner from Atlantic fishing stock and the Providence a short beamy single masted replica of a revenue cutter that patrolled New England in the 1800’s. I guess the big difference for those of us who are intimate with sailing ships was to be found in the detail and upkeep. To be fair Tradewind had had the same crew of experienced mariners for the past seven months, where as the Providence was manned mostly by volunteers who as is the nature of volunteers vary in experience and knowledge. One thing is for sure all of us aboard Tradewind would have liked to have taken the Providence out for a spin.

It was not long before we were having to make our departure from the people of New Rochelle and head on our way back to New York. The organizers of Opsail 92 had planned for a parade of sail (make that ‘race’) for the smaller ‘C’ class vessels that were farmed out to the marinas in Long Island sound. The plan was for all of us to meet at the beginning of the East River and at a specified time, start sailing towards the Hudson.

There were definitely some classic and well renown vessels lining up to start this parade. Aside from our selves there was the ‘Anna Kristina’, ‘Pride of Baltimore’, ‘Sorren Larson’, the South African Ketch ‘Nancy’ as well as a host of other fine craft.

The start went well for us and we were soon powering along under all plain sail with the leaders soon well defined. By half way there was us at the front closely followed by the ‘Pride of Baltimore’ then the ‘Anna Kristina’ and I think next was the Sorren Larson. Not much in it as we wound our way around the bends in the river making for the East River proper. These small but nimble class ‘C’ sailing ships were ideal in the river as with the proportionally large sail areas and experienced crews they fair flew along.

It was a great sail with the wind favouring us all the way and of course the organisers being well aware of the tide effects had set it up for us to be running with it all the way. This strong tide was very important for us in the end. As we passed under the Brooklyn Bridge heading for the Channel marker which marked the beginning of the Hudson and the end of the Parade of sail, it was painfully obvious that we were going to have to tack to make the finish as our present course had us closing in on the Manhattan side of the river. The ‘Pride of Baltimore’ was in a better position and with her sharply raked mast, she was able to sail a lot closer to the wind then we could. As we were closing in on the South Street Maritime Museums wharf, we noticed the tide was running stronger here and we were being swept quickly out to the Hudson. All crew were at tacking stations as Mark held us on the port tack as long as he dared. The spectators lining the wharf were all beginning to take steps back away from the edge as our bowsprit came sweeping closer and closer. Finally to the relief of the spectators Mark called the tack and we came smartly around onto  Starboard a maneuver that is always a pleasure with a skilled crew such as ours. The tactic of holding out in the stronger current paid off and we passed neatly in front of the classy ‘Pride of Baltimore’ to finish the parade of sail in front, what a great days sail, just fantastic fun.

Sailing into New York City, the first time.

Sailing into New York harbour is quite the experience as you think back through the history. Passing Ambrose lighthouse, that amazing structure on stilts that stands as a beacon for ships approaching. I think about the Solo trans Atlantic yacht races that finish there and the Atlantic challenge which starts there. Great races which as a young man I always wanted to be a part of and now here I am as a Mate aboard a eighty year old sailing vessel sailing past this historic site. Sadly since I last sailed past the light has been removed after having been involved in a collision with the oil tanker ‘Aegeo’ in 1996.

From the light house it is still quite a sail to the river entrance proper and we are impressed by all the shipping coming in and out having been in the so called wilderness for such a long time. Sandy hook is just a nice big bay with lots of houses along its front not too impressive unless you have read your history and realised that this was the major anchorage for sailing ships in the past as vessels could wait here in relative safety as their berths became free or they could wait while the tide changed for the better. The Sandy Hook Light House is always an impressive sight though now surrounded by other buildings. It marks the treacherous sand spit that guards the entrance to the Hudson and has been in existence from before the War of Independence.

Sailing up the Hudson River is no big deal at the beginning but that changes as you pass Brooklyn and see the skyline of Manhattan on the Starboard bow and the Statue of Liberty on the port bow. It seems a long way from Wellington where we left New Zealand eight months ago. We berthed at a small inlet on the New Jersey side of the Hudson and were cleared in by the Coast Guard people, there were a number of other small sailing ships and we recognise them all from the last tall ship gathering in Porto Rico. The New York event organisers had allowed for vessels arriving early and rather than have them clog up the main harbour they farmed us out to various locations to wait. The small tall ships of 30 meters or so were sent to Marinas near New York and the large class ‘A ‘ships were all instructed to anchor at Sandy Hook. We were sent to Long Island Sound to a place called New Rochelle, which has a small marina that we could berth at for the next two days. Getting to Long Island Sound from the Hudson is an interesting trip as it entails sailing along the infamous East River. As we were new to this part of the world we were rather interested to take on this wild river passage that strong Atlantic tides make for an interesting trip. As none of us had ever made the passage before it was prudent for us to check the passage on the charts thoroughly and it is well that we did for about half way along the sixteen-mile passage is Roosevelt Island, which is along slim island that divides the river in two. This is all very well until you look closely at the bridges that link the island to the main part of the city. One bridge, the Queensboro Bridge, has excellent air draft (distance from high tide to the underside of the bridge) and the other would cut our masts off just above the lower topsail! So the plan was to take the left hand side as the river splits around the island. At the start of the passage we passed the famous South Street Maritime Museum and I must say I was keen to one day explore the museum. After passing the museum it is not very far at all and we were then passing under the landmark Brooklyn Bridge. One thing I always have trouble with is watching a mast passing under a bridge, some how it just gives me vertigo? From the Brooklyn Bridge we then pass the United Nations building, which is one I cannot say impresses me much for its architectural splendour. The general architecture of New York is Brick and I was once told that this is due to the organised crime connections within the concrete trade holding up construction with financial demands once construction in concrete had started. Neat trick except the architects decided to build all of their structures using brick!

We passed Roosevelt Island Ok taking the left hand fork in the river and then it was on to Hells Gate, which is a turbulent stretch of water where three rivers meet. Strong tidal surges and whirlpools are evident at the right time though we were lucky to pass through with relative ease. From there we passed the Airport and a line of Prison barges, which surprised us and pointed out the shortage of land in this part of the world.

Finally we passed under the last bridge, which crossed the East River before entering Long Island Sound. If navigating fast flowing rivers with whirlpools and low bridges was a little difficult then suddenly navigating through a maze of lobster pots was going to prove even more of a challenge. They were everywhere to the point it must be a lottery for the lobsters. I could only imagine that the seabed was a constant carpet of pots. Wonder how successful each pot owner was?

Never the less we motored on to the New Rochelle, a pretty harbour tucked in behind a reserve. Access was by a narrow channel and at first you don’t see the marina until you start rounding the reserve, which is on a point and then it opens up before you. One problem though, the marina was full of powerboats and we began to run aground well before we reached the marina proper. Plan B was immediately brought in and we tied up to a small jetty that jutted out from the reserve on our port side. This proved an ideal location and we were very happy there.

Once settled in and the vessel was all secure we sat back thinking we were in for a nice quiet night. Not on your life, one of our passengers and good friend of the vessel and crew Alice Matsumoto, a New Yorker, came bustling down to our vessel and immediately ordered all the crew with the exception of the owner Mark Hammond to get ready to go into the City. We were bundled off the vessel and up the road to the nearest train station. Alice had tickets for all of us and when we were aboard informed us that we were going to a musical on Broadway!

There is I confess some history to why Alice felt we were in need of some culture. Alice first joined Tradewind in Ushuaia, Argentina and took part in the three-week voyage down to Antarctica. She was horribly seasick on the crossing of Drakes Passage but loved the rest of the time that we were in amongst the ice and of course the penguins. One of the little things we used to do was have sundowners at 5, which is most civilised. During the sundowners we would play music on the ships stereo. One evening Alice asked for some classical. Now tall ship crew are not all renown for their collection of classical music and we were no exception, I think our most played album was the Pogues. It just so happened that before I had joined the Tradewind I had seen the musical Le Miserable in Adelaide and had brought the tape of the sound track with me. When I offered this to Alice she was in raptures and we talked about the wonders of the book and musical by Victor Hugo. I think the rest of the crew were somewhat sceptical of it all and I don’t blame them, you have to see the musical or better yet read the book to appreciate the sound track.

Any way back to New York, Alice had bought tickets to the musical Le Miserable for all the crew and was determined to escort us to the show. It was great and I really loved it. I have a feeling that all the crew did and there were a few dry eyes but not many at the end.

We made our own way back from Central Station to our vessel. It was a totally unexpected gift, which makes it so special and one I will never forget.

Weighing Anchor

It’s a beautiful morning here in Exmouth Gulf; hardly any swell just a gentle motion from the waves. Sun is bright and the sky is crystal clear, just a perfect morning in the North West.

We have had no correspondence from the rig and so continue to wait for orders. The company rep onboard says to wait here until we know when the rig will be on location. At 0900 we are instructed to fire up the engines and make our way out to the rig at best speed. As is usual with this company the communications are somewhat poor and we are now late! For some ones schedule at least.

With the engine controls handed up to the bridge from the engine room I give the order for the seaman to start picking up the anchor. We have four shackles (each shackle is 15 fathoms or about 27 m) out and this is expected to take a while. The windless on this vessel is probably the slowest of all the ones I have worked with over the years and that says something.

As I stood out on the bridge wing watching the chain come up, in its painfully slow way, out of the hawse pipe, I recalled a memory from South Georgia, the island in the South Atlantic not the state. I was aboard the Tradewind and we had made our way into a sheltered bay. It was sheltered but definitely scary as there were rocks all around and nothing was in any way friendly about the place. To make it even more ominous there was a shipwreck just abeam of our anchorage. The wreck was an old sailing ship, iron with only the lower masts remaining. I found out later that it had been used as a coal hulk by the whaling fleets chase boats. I am of course fascinated by the old sailing ships and wanted to go aboard to explore, none of the other crew were keen but still they kindly ferried me across and agreed to a time to come back and pick me up.

The only way aboard was to climb an old wire rope, which was hanging over the high side of the wreck; it was about a 10m climb up the rusted steel. Once on deck it was obvious how poor a condition the vessel was in and I was going to have to tread with real care around the stronger points of the deck. Over half of the lower decks were flooded so nothing to see there but plenty to see forward and aft on the main deck. The local seabirds were using the wreck as a nesting location and the smell was a bit much, birds flying everywhere and I was glad I wore my wet weather gear. As I made my way forward I came upon the anchor handling equipment. As with all vessels of this era there was a mechanical means of pulling the heavy anchor and chain aboard when weighing anchor. This mechanism took me a while to work out how the whole thing operated. In the end I realise it was manpower that operated two big levers, which men pumped up and down on each side forward and aft. There were places for about four men each side and what really amazed me was that for one pump up and down they would, according to my calculations, pull only one link of chain up. No doubt at all the weighing of anchor on this vessel was a timely process and I can only imagine the tension felt by the master as he waited for the anchor to be pulled home. He would anxiously wait, so that he could set sails and begin to manoeuvre the vessel to the safe open sea. Imagine if the holding ground was not very good and once the anchor lost its grip on the seabed the vessel began to drift astern to some danger, and you still had several shackles of chain to bring aboard. You would be driving your crew hard to bring up the anchor, one link at a time, so that you could set sail. Then think of it from the crew’s point of view, after the extremely hard and laborious work of getting the anchor in you then had to run around setting and handling all of the vessels sails! No picnic for anyone back then and makes me all the more happier that even though we are proud to be square rig sailors in this day and age we at least can call on hydraulic power to work the anchor windless.

Day 2 Duyfken voyage

As I go through the Duyfken log it brings back many memories, one that stands out most is how little we had in experience and knowledge amongst the people aboard. With essentially only a hand ful of people who had any blue water experience and a lot of people with little to know experience we took this replica of a sailing ship half way around the world. There are no sailing manuals for 16th century sailing ships!

06/05/01

Position at noon 32 42 S 152 29 E

Day 2

A long wet day sailing, but what fun!

It was wet sailing last night with wind and lightning but the Duyfken sailed well, with the wind predominantly from the SSE we made good speed in the right direction. With plenty of changes in wind direction and strength making lots of sail changes necessary, this was made more difficult than it should have been by us having spent so much time ashore.

The morning was a lovely sight of dark grey skies and more rain. At least with the rain the planking is taking up again and the filling of the bilges has begun to lessen. As is typical for sailing just as we were sitting down for breakfast the wind freshened quickly and we were forced to lower the main and fore topsails to the lower caps this reduces windage and yet they still fill and work, it is a kind of reef.

It became obvious that even with this early version of Jiffy reefing we still needed to reduce more sail and so I ordered the main topsail to be furled both Nik and Heidy jumped aloft and had the devils own job getting in the sail to the yard as it was blowing out horizontal and very stiff. They did it and did it well and as they returned to the deck the vessel began to run well. All morning it was a steady bracing of the yards from one side to the other, good practice but awkward with the ropes having become stiff and swollen from the rain. When the rain did ease up the mood aboard became lighter and as the hatches were opened we began to see strange sights emerging from below, Greg decided that the best way to dry his shorts was to wear them outside of his wet weather gear! This did not last long as he came to realise that this was a little too tight for comfort.

The smokers are having a hard time giving up with the sucking of pens, chewing gum, chocolate and general mutterings making it very humorous for the rest of us. I guess the worst will be seeing them dragging on a smoke the moment they jump ashore.

Julie is making a good effort in the galley, in my mind it is by far the most difficult job on board but she is doing well and the food has been very good. She did note that it is a lot calmer below and that up on deck she can barely keep her feet.

If we can keep the wind and a good speed we hope to meet the Bark Endeavour off Coffs Harbour tomorrow, should be a momentous occasion as both vessels were built in Fremantle by the same shipwright Bill Leonard. While we are off to Europe the Endeavour has been there and back. Not a bad effort.

Duyfken in the North Sea 2002

This great piece of film was taken by the wife of the General Manager of Fugro. She was a guest on a Dutch Frigate that met us off the coast of Holland for a Media shoot.
With this short piece of film my friend and the ships carpenter Michael Redding made a nice short video which I present to you here.

Six years since the start of the Duyfken Voyage!

Setting Sail at last.

05/05/01

Position 33 38.4s 151 25.9e

Day 1

Leaving Sydney.

"Exultation is the going

Of an inland soul to sea,

Past the houses - Past the headlands -

Into deep Eternity -

Bred as we among the mountains,

Can the sailor under stand

The divine intoxication

Of the first league out from land?"

Emily Dickinson 1890.

We are under way! and as a sailor of many thousands of miles I can certainly appreciate the exultation.

Finally after two weeks of very hard work as we prepared the Duyfken for the voyage of a life time we are at sea. Even though we have rain there is a beautiful southerly breeze and we are making 5 knots in our intended direction. Makes you feel good to be alive.

The day started early with a 0600 start for myself but not as early as Heidy had as she was up for a 0530 radio interview with a radio station in the Netherlands.

The weather was fine and with almost no breeze promised, a good day to have the departure celebrations. I must say that I was somewhat keen to get out to sea as I was fairly worn out with putting this all together it has all been a bit of a rush. Initially I was on for the trip as the Mate with a short spell as Master, but then the decision was made that I would be Master for the trip from Jakarta onwards, this soon changed to my being Master as of Port Douglas. Finally Gary decided that he would like to leave before we departed Sydney and so last Friday I was offered the job starting immediately. This was a bit of a big call as I had not participated in any of the planning stages for the voyage. What made the decision for me was that the Duyfken is a fine little vessel and the crew that I was with who were coming along were a group of individuals who I enjoy being with. I thought that with a group such as this we had a very good chance of completing our trip and have a lot of fun along the way. I have not regretted that decision in any way as we selected the crew all began to mesh into a hard working team and made the job of fitting out the ship a pleasure.

All morning I have been besieged with phone calls from radio stations and news papers, how mobiles have changed our lives and I am glad they will soon be turned off. By 1030 we had the dock full of well wishers and media there was a series of speeches with representatives from Holland present with the handing over of my charter, this is instructions from the foundation for the voyage. Traditionally the Dutch East Indies Company (VOC) would have given each Captain a similar set of orders.

Finally the moment had arrived and as the crew jumped back onto the vessel and prepared to depart wouldn't you know it I was being asked to give an interview for SBS. At last I was aboard and we were letting go of the mooring lines with little wind it was easy to motor the vessel out of the dock and into Darling Harbour for the trip out through Port Jackson.

We had the privilege to be escorted by two tall ships the La Violante and the Windward Bound along with a small squadron of yachts.

Sails were set before the Bridge and we motored out with all sails set and aback past the Opera house, Fort Denison the Sow and Pigs and finally out through the heads into the Pacific.

At first the wind was a light easterly with a large swell making the vessel roll in a long easy fashion. As I was not on watch and the wind was fine on the starboard bow with the vessel moving slowly north, I decided that it was time to sort out the aft cabin so that Alan and I would have some place to sleep. Three hours later I had finished and now had my Hammock slung, my gear stowed and felt that I was now ready for the voyage.

Deception Island, Antarctica

We set sail from King George Island bound for Deception Island. The seas were moderate allowing us to make good time under sail. For this short journey we set the basic working sails which consisted of mainsail, foresail, fore staysail, outer jib and both upper and lower topsails. Bergs were being sighted regularly, which was great for the passengers, but we were worried about what comes off of bergs, growlers! Bergs we were able to see on radar and with our limited knowledge we started to be able to define land covered in ice as apposed to bergs, not well but we were getting better. Our inexperience sailing in ice was a definite handicap, probably just as well that we didn’t know how dangerous that could be. We compensated for the lack of ice knowledge with a very experienced crew with excellent seamanship skills to solve all the inherent problems that came up as we proceeded. No our biggest worry with this old iron hull was growlers. They were bergs, which had melted to such an extent that they only just showed above sea level. They were still big enough to punch a good size hole in this old vessel and we always had a very good lookout forward to keep a sharp eye out for the dangers.
It was an over night sail through mostly open waters and we arrived at Deception island in the early light of the morning. I can assure you this is a cold time of the day for these latitudes. Nothing like climbing up the steel rigging with bare hands (to give a firm confident grip that was not possible with gloves on) to furl the square sails. Your hands on the way up loose all feeling as the cold rigging wire saps all the heat out. By the time you start working on the equally cold sails you actually start to loose strength in the hands. Though interestingly enough several of us used to take off our jackets to climb aloft so that we did not over heat and start sweating. Once you started sweating in your foul weather gear it was very difficult to keep warm when you cooled off and the rest of the watch would be spent miserably cold.

Deception Island is a live Volcano, which has had the caldera breeched and so flooded with seawater, hence the name deception. The breech makes it possible to sail into the actual caldera itself.
We made our approach to the entrance of the caldera, called Neptune’s Bellows, from the north/east, with sails stowed and main engine thumping away. The sky was a watery grey and the outer rim of the Island was dark with just a few hints of colour. The slight grey colour, was given by the tough tussocky grass and snowy caps surrounded by black rock. Fortunately the weather was fine and promised to remain fine for the next two days. It looked to be a tight squeeze for us to get through the jagged entrance but the gap was deceptive due to the size of the cliffs on either side. We slipped through easily, what turned out in the end to be a very large gap and made our way into Port Foster, the caldera of the volcano. What an experience sailing into the caldera of a live Volcano, not something you do every day by any means. The enormous sheltered bay of Port Foster stretched out before us giving us an idea of just how big was this Volcano. The sides of the bay were encroached by very steep walls of black/grey rock topped with brilliant white snow on the caps. At the foot of the rock walls were slopes of a tussock style grass, making the general image very bleak and harsh to look at. The sun was coming up from behind us and we were able to make out the bay to our starboard, which was our destination for the day. This was Whalers Bay originally a base for sealing operations, then was expanded to whaling and finally became a research station before in the end being abandoned. Typical of all bases there was junk steel and timber lying all about the place looking like a giant scrap yard semi buried in black scoria sand.
The bottom of the caldera is steep and very deep; we were forced to anchor very close to the shore on a small under water ledge. The morning was spent ferrying our passengers the short distance ashore in the small rubber boat. They walked about looking at the wreckage strewed around the old whaling site; taking photos and trying to figure out what the various steel bits and pieces were originally used for.
There was a small wooden double-ended workboat that had obviously seen a lot of weathering through many decades of harsh climate. It was mostly buried up to its gunwales with black sand and pebbles.
We learnt later that these small workboats were used to tow whales to the shore and were often used to flense the whale from the seaward side. The research building was an intact long gable ended building with several doors and windows and what was a narrow porch along the side facing the sea. Unfortunately it was locked up, otherwise it would have been interesting to explore the inside. It too was well-weathered and showing signs of deterioration. There was also a smaller building behind and to one side, no idea what it had been used for in the past, these days it had been put in to good use, as a store for survival equipment should any one who is unfortunate enough to be in distress. To the east along the black beach you could see an unusual formation in the rocky edge of the caldera. The Admiralty sailing directions listed it as being called the Neptune’s Window. It certainly looked like the bottom half of a window as it was flat bottomed and vertical sided. From this large window you could look out onto the ocean, some of our passengers made their way over to look and reported it as quite a sight.
We only spent a few hours at the bay as there was not that much of interest but it was good to stretch the legs and certainly interesting enough for a short stop. Weighing anchor we set off further into the caldera to a more active area, a place where there was a thermal lake near the beach.
After an hour and a half steaming we set the anchor with no problems in the shallow Pendulum bay, again only a few hundred meters from the shore.
As it was the afternoon I had the job of ferrying everyone ashore and so was not able to see much of this location. The passengers were led up to the thermal lake, which was fed from water flowing off the snowy crags in the distance and of course was heated by the local thermal activity. The lake was much too hot to swim in or even put your hand in. A few alternative thinkers came up with the idea that if they made channels from the lake to the shore, then placed a dam half way down in the shape of a bath, the water would be cool enough for them to wash in. People soon grasped the concept and before long everyone was involved with making baths. For those of us aboard on duty we watched enviously as all ashore had a good hot wash something to be treasured on a sailing ship.
Our stay at the thermal lake was short as well but I was able to get a few good photos (shown in the photo library) and as the passengers had had a good refreshing wash, all were in a good mood.

Our next stop was a combined Spanish, Argentinean and German, vulcanologist research camp that was there to study the volcano and its thermal habits. They were an interesting bunch and were more than happy to talk about what they were doing etc. We brought them aboard to show the vessel and picked up in conversation that the volcanic activity was increasing. That they were waiting for a supply vessel to come and pick them up, as they thought it was too dangerous to stay.Needless to say after a warm good bye to the scientists we steamed quickly for the entrance of the caldera.

Amazon Sailing

While I was aboard the S.V. Concordia, I was privileged to spend some magical moments in truly exotic locations. I am writing a short section of when we were in Brasil sailing on the mighty Amazon River, so I hope you will enjoy.

Glenn,

At the moment the Concordia is less than sixty miles from the equator and while we are gradually working our way north we will not be crossing for a while. The air is very humid and the clouds are always on the verge of raining. The temperature is at a mild thirty-four degrees centigrade, which is considered quite normal for this region though it will get relatively cool and drop down to a chilling twenty-five. It must have been close to that motoring to our anchorage, as we were all wearing jeans and thick tops. Amazing how the body adjusts to the environment, I know that when I arrive back in Adelaide most people will think that I am crazier than usual being cold in such mild temperatures.

For most of yesterday the river was a light muddy brown colour very broad and quite easy for us to navigate at the most it would narrow down to about a mile wide and yet at no point did we have less than twelve meters below our keel.

Plenty of river traffic ranging from quite large ships of about ten thousand tones to river barges consisting of a smaller pusher with three or four barges joined together as a solid pontoon, carrying aboard large road trailers. The most common type of powered craft is a small river ferry, which ranges from twenty five to fifty feet, the hull is always shallow draft and well shaped to make the least resistance in these strong tidal waters, atop of the hull is a superstructure which usually looks like an elongated home built garden shed that was thrown together until a proper one may be built. Paint is not always a feature and I guess being built out of hard woods plus floating in fresh water it is not a necessary expense. Last of course there is the dugout canoe almost as common as raindrops and as varied in shape and size as there are builders.

We left port at five am local time, which was the top of the tide and had aboard at first two harbour pilots who were there for official purposes. With out advice, or need of, the captain took the vessel away from the berth and on down stream. The harbour pilot was aboard for less than thirty minutes, had a cup of coffee and cost us $170 US. The river pilot was also expensive though worth it as he began his day at departure and did not turn in until midnight when we had our anchor down. What ever they paid him he certainly earned it!

So yesterday was quite boring not a lot to see as the river banks were commonly over a mile away and of no particular interest. Plenty of rain and as I said quite cool for us. The watches on the bridge went by quickly as there were plenty of course changes and the pilot was quite talkative. Despite there being a language problem, I was able to learn quite a bit from the man, he has spent twenty one years working on the river and was able to share a lot of his knowledge.

Today I took my watch at four in the morning, pilot was called at four thirty and the vessel was away by five. We were now in a section of interconnecting waterways called the narrows, I can assure you that the name is appropriate, as I hand steered the vessel along waterways that at the most were only one cable in width and more often a lot less. A little unusual for a deep-water sailor such as myself. At first visibility was very restricted with no moon and plenty of the usual rain, the small river ferries had the disconcerting habit of using powerful spotlights to navigate by and of course while it makes it easier for them to see, they would as is humanly natural shine these lights upon us to see what vessel we were. I can assure you that it did wonders for my night sight. I would imagine that tall ships are not a common sight on their river.

The turns in the river were almost continuous requiring constant attention to helming. As it became lighter with the coming dawn more details began to show. The area despite being covered in dense jungle is quite populated and we would often pass small villages built on the banks or the odd isolated shack remote from all else. By six most of the people were up and about and we began to see more of them standing at their houses or on the small wooden docks. Download amazon_dugout.jpg Children would come paddling at great speed in their small dugouts to have a closer look, giving us some fine examples of paddle skills, even the smallest would handle their canoe with a deftness that would put my small boat skills to considerable shame, these kids could not have been more than four of five years old. Some of the people waved but most just stared and I wonder what they thought of our wonderful vessel? The people were for the majority or a dark brown skin with definite Indian origins and little European, though I did see one little girl in a canoe with very, very blonde hair. All were dressed in western clothes and at the mill camp there was electricity as well as a satellite TV antennae at one camp. We passed through two quite large lumber operations with rafts of logs strewn across the river making for tricky navigation; the logs were large about eighty centimeters across and about three meters in length. There were the occasional log, which had separated from the pack, causing some mild concern, it was quite possible that we had hit one of these logs during the night as I heard a large thump forward during my watch, no visible damage from the inside of the hull. Coming around one bend in the river we came across a logging camp of considerable size. Also of considerable size was a Russian cargo ship, old Rusty and battered of about twelve thousand tones. Must have been quite a job navigating that through all the bends, the ship was loading rough sawn timber and by her marks looked to be about half full.

At the end of my watch I was glad to stand town and take a rest. I was also glad to have the opportunity to take photos of the scenery and the people; I hope that they turn out. For close up shots of the people it would have been nice if I had my SLR but experience at sea has taught me that water proof cameras such as my Nikonus are the best for long term investment at sea.

By midday we were out of the narrows consequently the scenery was harder to observe as well as appreciate and so we became less interested. Still how many people can say that they were aboard a fifty-eight meter tall ship that sailed through the Amazon Delta?