Tallships' Atlantic Challenge: Race Update

So this year's Tall Ships' Atlantic Challenge is now well underway. The vessels are currently racing towards Bermuda and the latest report from the organisers follows:

"All the vessels now have a little wind that is helping them on their journey towards Bermuda although the Race Committee will make a decision about cutting the race short this week, in order to ensure all vessels are in Bermuda on time.

On Spirit of Bermuda the skipper, Simon Colley, reports: “Discipline and morale remain high, despite the searing heat and repetitiveness of our recent days.  All watches are collaborating on creating a new orientation manual for oncoming crew.  Our current trainees have more experience sailing Spirit offshore than any past crew and their combined perspectives and insights are invaluable.  They have become the perfect team for this race.”

On Tecla they are quite excited by the prospect of the race being cut short, simply because it means they can make some calculations and know what they have to do to remain in second place or even take the lead. Jet Sluik reports: “Taking the lead is not impossible now that the frontline had no wind and we at least have some wind. All hope is certainly not gone! Everybody is now so used to the movement of the ship that they can watch movies downstairs without feeling sick. Of course Pirates of the Caribbean was the first movie to be watched.”

All the pictures posted are from when the fleet was in Tenerife (both in port and at the race start).

You can see regular updates on the Races along with fleet tracking position and images or register for RSS Feeds visit www.tallshipsraces.org

 

Comments

[Mary Orme]

My daughter was a crewmember of a tall ship, the A. J. Meerwald, part of the Bayshore Discovery Project based up in Port Norris, NJ. Before that, she was on HMS Bounty, out of St. Pete, Florida. She seemed to really love the tallship life, being able to travel and see so many parts of the world under sail.

She died tragically as a passenger in a car accident this summer at the age of 24, while working on the Meerwald.

She kept endless journals filled with art, poetry and prose, and I am assembling it all into a book, which I will publish and donate proceeds to her favorite charities.

So ANYWAY, one of the things I found in one of her journals follows, How to Simulate the Life of a Tall Ship Sailor. I thought it was very entertaining.

I am sure you will agree that probably only a crew member who has lived the life of a tall ship sailor will appreciate this, and perhaps you would be interested in posting it.

How to Simulate the Life of a Tallship Sailor
By Tanya Orme
Sunday, March 15, 2009 at 9:56pm

~ Buy a steel dumpster, paint it gray inside and out, and live in it for six months.

~ Run all the pipes and wires in your house so they are exposed on the walls.

~ Repaint your entire house every month.

~ Renovate your bathroom. Build a wall across the middle of the bathtub and move the showerhead to chest level. When you take showers, make sure you turn off the water while you soap down.

~ Raise the thresholds and lower the headers of your front and back doors so that you either trip or bang your head every time you pass through them.

~ Disassemble and inspect your lawnmower every week.

~ On Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays, turn your water heater temperature up to 200 degrees. On Tuesdays and Thursdays, turn the water heater off. On Saturdays and Sundays, tell your family they use too much water during the week, so no bathing will be allowed.

~ Raise your bed to within 6 inches of the ceiling, so you can’t turn over without getting out and then getting back in.

~ Sleep on the shelf in your closet. Replace the closet door with a curtain. Have your spouse whip open the curtain about 3 hours after you go to sleep, shine a flashlight in your eyes, and say, "sorry, wrong rack."

~ Make your family capable of operating each appliance in your house – so you have a dishwasher operator, blender technician, etc.

~ Have your neighbor come over each day at 5 am, blow a whistle loudly, and shout "Reveille, reveille, all hands heave out and trice up!"

~ Have your mother-in-law write down everything she's going to do the following day, then have her make you stand in your back yard at 6 am while she reads it to you.

~ Submit a request chit to your father-in-law requesting permission to leave your house before 3 pm.

~ Empty all the garbage bins in your house and sweep the driveway three times a day, whether it needs it or not.

~ Have your neighbor collect all your mail for a month, read your magazines, and randomly lose every 5th item before delivering it to you.

~ Watch no TV except for movies played in the middle of the night. Have your family vote on which movie to watch, then show a different one.

~ Make your family menu a week ahead of time without consulting the pantry or refrigerator.

~ Post a menu on the kitchen door informing your family that they are having steak for dinner. Then make them wait in line for an hour. When they finally get to the kitchen, tell them you are out of steak, but they can have dried ham or hot dogs. Repeat daily until they ignore the menu and just ask for hot dogs.

~ Bake a cake. Prop up one side of the pan so the cake bakes unevenly. Spread icing real thick to level it off.

~ Get up every night around midnight and have a peanut butter and jelly sandwich on stale bread. (midrats)

~ Set your alarm clock to go off at random times during the night. At the alarm, jump up and dress as fast as you can, making sure to button your top shirt button and tuck your pants into your socks. Run out into the backyard and uncoil the garden hose.

~ Every week or so, throw your dog in the pool and shout, "Man overboard port side!" Rate your family members on how fast they respond.

~ Put the headphones from your stereo on your head, but don't plug them in. Hang a paper cup around your neck on a string. Stand in front of the stove, and speak into the paper cup, "Stove manned and ready." After an hour or so, speak into the cup again "Stove secured." Roll up the headphones and paper cup and stow them in a shoebox.

~ Place a podium at the end of your driveway. Have your family stand watches at the podium, rotating at 4- hour intervals. This is best done when the weather is worst. January is a good time.

~ When there is a thunderstorm in your area, get a wobbly rocking chair, sit in it and rock as hard as you can until you become nauseous. Make sure to have a supply of stale crackers in your shirt pocket.

~ Make coffee using eighteen scoops of budget priced coffee grounds per pot, and allow the pot to simmer for 5 hours before drinking.

~ Have someone under the age of ten give you a haircut with sheep shears.

~ Sew the back pockets of your jeans on the front.

~ Lock yourself and your family in the house for six weeks. Tell them that at the end of the 6th week you are going to take them to Disney World for "liberty." At the end of the 6th week, inform them the trip to Disney World has been canceled because they need to get ready for an inspection, and it will be another week before they can leave the house.

Best regards,
Mary Orme