At Sea, West Indies
Last night we sailed all night under the full moon. This morning at 8am crew went aloft to set more sails to take advantage of perfect conditions. All sails on the foremast were set, even the uppermost sail on the foremast - the royal. All jibs were set as well, save one; under windy conditions yesterday afternoon the outer jib developed a small tear, so it is being repaired by Igor, the sail maker on board. On the mizzenmast, lower and upper spankers were set. We will continue sailing through this night as well, until our arrival in the British Virgin Islands tomorrow morning.
The weather is partly cloudy, and no land is within sight. Off of our starboard side, a strange, grey haze hangs in the air; Emma informs us that it is ash from the volcano at Montserrat, 70 miles upwind! The volcano had been dormant for 400 years, but in 1995 it returned to life, and two years later it erupted violently with a pyroclastic flow. Flying fish keep us company, and occasionally we see splashes as larger predatory fish pursue them. In fact, the crew has set a fishing line off the port quarter, and they catch a large dorado (also known as mahi mahi or dolphin fish). The bright golds, blues and greens of the fish fade to white, then to blue, and finally back to white as the fish dies.
We gather in the lounge as Captain Henrik Karlsson gives an introduction to the film, ‘Last of the Windjammers.’ Our captain formerly ran the maritime museum on his home islands of Åland. The islands, between Finland and Sweden, was also home to Gustaf Eriksson, a great Finnish shipping merchant who had an enormous fleet of cargo-carrying square-rigged sailing ships. We watch the program and learn about the last days of great, square-rigged sailing cargo ships, and are suddenly reminded that we are under sail as Sea Cloud II makes some large rolls. We fly along under sail at 10.2 knots!
This day is devoted to learning about ships and sailing; we are offered tours of the bridge with the officer on duty, and Emma gives us an in depth tour of the sails and lines: halyards, downhauls, buntlines, clews, tacks, sheets, braces, brails. It is hard to imagine that young British sailors were able to learn remember the countless lines, while consuming their daily allowance of 20 ounces of rum!
In the afternoon we continued with ship tours, and at tea time, our dessert chef prepared delicious Crepes Suzette on the Lido deck. Our lecture series continued with Tom Heffernan’s presentation about Europeans in the Caribbean. Late afternoon fades into evening, and the sails remain up. It will be another glorious night of sailing.
Last night we sailed all night under the full moon. This morning at 8am crew went aloft to set more sails to take advantage of perfect conditions. All sails on the foremast were set, even the uppermost sail on the foremast - the royal. All jibs were set as well, save one; under windy conditions yesterday afternoon the outer jib developed a small tear, so it is being repaired by Igor, the sail maker on board. On the mizzenmast, lower and upper spankers were set. We will continue sailing through this night as well, until our arrival in the British Virgin Islands tomorrow morning.
The weather is partly cloudy, and no land is within sight. Off of our starboard side, a strange, grey haze hangs in the air; Emma informs us that it is ash from the volcano at Montserrat, 70 miles upwind! The volcano had been dormant for 400 years, but in 1995 it returned to life, and two years later it erupted violently with a pyroclastic flow. Flying fish keep us company, and occasionally we see splashes as larger predatory fish pursue them. In fact, the crew has set a fishing line off the port quarter, and they catch a large dorado (also known as mahi mahi or dolphin fish). The bright golds, blues and greens of the fish fade to white, then to blue, and finally back to white as the fish dies.
We gather in the lounge as Captain Henrik Karlsson gives an introduction to the film, ‘Last of the Windjammers.’ Our captain formerly ran the maritime museum on his home islands of Åland. The islands, between Finland and Sweden, was also home to Gustaf Eriksson, a great Finnish shipping merchant who had an enormous fleet of cargo-carrying square-rigged sailing ships. We watch the program and learn about the last days of great, square-rigged sailing cargo ships, and are suddenly reminded that we are under sail as Sea Cloud II makes some large rolls. We fly along under sail at 10.2 knots!
This day is devoted to learning about ships and sailing; we are offered tours of the bridge with the officer on duty, and Emma gives us an in depth tour of the sails and lines: halyards, downhauls, buntlines, clews, tacks, sheets, braces, brails. It is hard to imagine that young British sailors were able to learn remember the countless lines, while consuming their daily allowance of 20 ounces of rum!
In the afternoon we continued with ship tours, and at tea time, our dessert chef prepared delicious Crepes Suzette on the Lido deck. Our lecture series continued with Tom Heffernan’s presentation about Europeans in the Caribbean. Late afternoon fades into evening, and the sails remain up. It will be another glorious night of sailing.
