Man the flying jib gear! Ease the flying jib halyard!

For those of you who are remotely interested in the things that I am totally passionate about, here are some points of clarification on what I have gotten myself into on Sunday mornings.

First off, this is the Star of India. She is a 278 foot long, 3 masted Barque, with a main mast height of 124 feet from the deck. She was launched on Nov. 14, 1863, five days before Lincoln gave his Gettysburg address. She had a rocky start from her first maiden voyage from England to India, and had many problems for the first couple years of service. Eventually she ended up as a cargo and passenger ship ferrying immigrants (willing and wanting to go) from England to New Zealand. Over the course of her career, she made 22 trips around the world. For those of you who don't appreciate the wonders of sailing ships, that is like going to Vegas and rolling 22 winning throws in a row at the craps tables. Eventually she ended up in Hawaii, just as those beautiful isles were annexed to the US, and thus began her life as a US Citizen. She was purchased by a lumber company in San Francisco and after a few years of service was laid up in the Alameda bone yard to be decommissioned. Her fate as a movie prop or military target practice was averted when some concerned citizens from San Diego purchased her. She was towed down to San Diego, and continued her rotting for another few years, at one point narrowly escaping being used for bullets in WWII. After a scathing commentary on the shortcomings of San Diegans was published in a major newspaper by a well-respected ship master who was horrified by the Star's condition, the city decided enough was enough and the ship was gradually restored. She now serves as the oldest active iron-hulled tall ship in the in the world, and is a gallant survivor of the glorious age of sail.

More on the others ships later. The classes I'm taking are all on the Star, and focused on her, but applicable to most other kinds of tall ships. The goal of the class is to qualify for the Sail Crew that sails her out on her annual voyage up and down the San Diego bay in November. MY goal is to not only do that but also be a part of the museum's other major project. The restoration of the HMS Surprise. She is not sail worthy at the moment, thanks to Fox Studios, but will be, hopefully by then end of next year. It would take a herculean effort to render her worthy by this November, and I think there are enough of us willing to try, but the First Mate and both Captains don't seem to enthusiastic about that much effort. So, next year. So, for now, the Star. And she is a beautiful ship.

Now, I know what you are thinking. It is a big metal thing with a lot of canvas and everyonce in a while, people go floating on water with it. Well, I disagree. The Star is a beautiful lady, with her own personality, her own way of communicating, and she is a prime example of some of the wonders of engineering and transportation that man has accomplished in our history. And if you can't see that, well, that is why I am crazy enough to get up at a quarter to 6 on Sunday mornings to drive an hour and half to spend the day keeping her in tip top shape, and you are not.

Ta! (and yes, I know. I'm crazy. I love a ship. *sigh*)

On the main! lay aloft and loose all sail!

This past Sunday was the first day of Sail Training. Muster was at 7:30, on the docks, for sign in and such, which meant that I'd have to leave my house at 6:15 to get there on time. I was all set. I had both my alarms set and all my stuff ready. That morning, the first alarm went off, and I turned it off, waiting for the second to go off 30 minutes later at 5:45. I woke myself up a couple of times, and then wondered why it was getting light out. I looked at my clock, and it said 6:30. CRAP! I was out of bed in an instant, and within 10 minutes I was dressed, teeth brushed and out the door. I made it to San Diego at 7:45. I won't say how fast I was driving. I got there just in time to stand in a line for 20 minutes. *sigh*

After that, things got better. There were about 130+ people there, so we were divided up into groups. Each group had a station to be at, to learn new things for a certain period of time, then the groups would rotate. We learned to tie some of the very important and common knots on board ship, we learned history, we learned terminology, we learned safety and we had a physical test. There are three jobs for crew members. There is the Deck Crew, who work the lines and capstans and such on deck. There is the Top Crew, which go up the shrouds to the yards and take care of the sails, all the way up to the top of the masts. And there is the Jib Crew. They go out on the jib boom, which sticks out of the very front of the ship, to tend the four sails that anchor to that boom. To qualify for deck crew, I had to be able to haul a 75 lb bag of rocks about 15 ft in the air vertically, and from a horizontal rope (the rope came down from the pulley, through a block anchored to the floor and over to me). To qualify for Top crew, I had to climb a 15 rope and be able to do 2 pull ups. And to qualify for Jib crew, I had to be able to hang from each arm for 5 seconds. I passed for deck crew only. I can't do the other things...yet. But I don't ever want to go up top anyway. The Star of India's mainmast rises 148 feet off the deck....I ain't goin' up there. Ever.

So anyway. The classes went well. I can now tie a bowline knot, and do a clove hitch or two half hitches, make a stopper knot and do a figure 8 knot. I also know the names of all the sails, the anatomy of the ship and a few other things. But I think that the most important thing about this entire experience is that I've been making friends. The people who teach us, the maintenance crew and the new trainees are all volunteers. They are there because they love the ships. And most of them are really really nice. That's important to me. Making friends, learning new stuff, and most importantly, getting to know better and spend time on these marvelous creations that up until a hundred years ago, were the way to travel the world.

Ta!

Rise tacks and sheets! Haul away on the port braces!

To me there is something mysterious and beautiful about a tall ship. The way the masts rise up out of the deck, carrying great billowing sails. The way the ship moves through the water.

I've liked ships for as long as I can remember. And ever since I first visited San Diego, I've loved visiting the San Diego Maritime Museum's family of ships. The beautiful 3-masted barque, Star of India, the charming little topsail schooner and privateer, the Californian, and most recently added, the lovely HMS Surprise, or as she was once known, the HMS Rose. Well, back in November I recieved an email from the museum, saying that they were going to offer one of their rare sail training courses. It is a 5 week course, covering the basics and some details of sailing tall ships. If one were to pass the course and final exams, one would be elligible for the Sail Crew, to go sailing on the Star of India when she goes out on her annual sail down the San Diego bay. And of course, to go out on the Californian whenever possible, as she sails constantly.

I freaked out when I saw that, and I've been desperately waiting for it ever since. I've gone to several Maintenance Crew meetings, on Sunday mornings and I really enjoyed those. I also got a lot of volunteer hours racked up, because to be on the Sail Crew, one also has to have as many volunteer hours as possible. Happily, my total drive time counts towards those hours, so that's an extra 2 and a half hours to me each visit! Yay! But most importantly, I've been meeting people, and making friends. So its been worth it.

Still Here

When I first started this blog, the temptation to simply ignore its existence and not write anything for long periods of time, was something I had to try to get over. Obviously it has been a loosing battle. But the war is not over. I have returned. If only temporarily.