Nomad Mariner

Dry Dock Again.

I have just finished work and this last trip was interesting to say the least. When I was called up by the office it was with the original idea for me to take the Day Tide to Tunisia, North Africa via Cape Town. This sounded like a great trip and I was really looking forward to it. However on arrival in Darwin to pick up the ship I was informed that the delivery voyage had been cancelled and we were going to be doing spot charters around the coast. A bit disappointed as I was all geared up for an ocean passage. We continued doing two weeks work at the rig Ocean Bounty and then even though the clients, Woodside, wanted us to continue working with them we had to go. We developed a leak in the port Stern tube and this was a dry docking job. With a near new vessel, the company was not going to risk damage at such an early stage in life. Nearest dry dock was back in Dampier but they were booked up for the next month. The other options were Singapore 1680 nautical miles away or Fremantle 1610 nautical miles away. The company had possible tenders for the vessel in Australia so it did not make sense steaming to Singapore when the return journey was twice as long as that from Fremantle. So we set off for Freo and began making preparations to pull the vessel out.

This was to be my eighth dry docking in the offshore industry and I must say while they are involved it is really quite easy and of course practice makes easy. This docking was to go smoothly and we achieved a lot of good work. Having been to his yard before when I brought the Sam S. Allgood here for her ten year docking, I can honestly say I like the dock yard as they are accommodating and efficient, which makes our job so much easier.

 

The most nerve wracking dry docking for me was when I was master aboard the Duyfken and we took her out of the water at Simons town South Africa.

We had pulled up at the navy docks on the 10^th of November to make the vessel ready to be lifted out of the water by the navies synchro lift, essentially a big platform that is suspended on wires from winches evenly spaced along the finger jetties either side. This platform has railway tracks and the carriage that supports the vessel out of the water the carriage is rolled along onto the platform, secured and then submerged until the vessel can float over the top. When the vessel is in position, the platform is raised by all the winches, synchronised to lift together (hence synchro lift) and the boat is then pushed on the tracks to the hard stand where work is carried out.

Sounds easy and it is, it is a very practical and efficient method of working on vessels the only difficulty for me is that we were putting a four million dollar irreplaceable vessel into the dock and I had to get it right.

The 12^th rolled up when the crew and I took the vessel off the pontoon where we had been tied up for the night. It was a short motor around to the dock entrance and the wind was blowing a good forty plus knots. It was so strong I had difficulty turning the vessel around into the wind so that I could steam to the dock. That was one of the less redeeming feature about the little Duyfken, she was difficult to manoeuvre under engines at slow speed, with so much windage she would go side on to the wind and just stay there making it a right struggle to turn. Thankfully the dry dock was aligned into the prevailing wind so I had one less worry as a beam wind would have meant moving into the dock on an angle and that would have been impossible. As it was the pressure was on me to ensure I kept the bow dead into the wind, if I had allowed the wind to catch one side as we approached, the Duyfken would have sheared away and made a solid impact on the dock sides with resulting damage. The whole time I was master of the vessel I was always worried about damaging her as it would have taken a long time to make repairs and we did not have any time to spare to make the scheduled arrival in Holland.

We made it into the dock and fortunately this was a dock where the dockmaster took control of the vessel by mooring lines on large capstans the moment the bow passed the dock entrance. So once we had their lines secured fore and aft I could turn the engines off and relax. From that point it all went smoothly and we were able to carry out a very good docking for the vessel.

 

I have no doubt that in my career their will be plenty more times when I will be required to take a vessel to dry dock but the time with the Duyfken was the most tense and memorable.

Catching up to a fellow ship mate and adventurer.

As some of you who have been reading my post would know, I have the tremendous luck to sail on many wonderful sailing ventures and one of them was from New Zealand to the UK aboard the topsail schooner ‘Tradewind’. This all occurred end of 91 and lasted for nine and a half months.

I was very fortunate to be a part of this expedition and literally just made it aboard as I believe I was the last crew member to be selected. It started off with my being in the middle of studying for my Master Class four ticket (marine qualifications start off at Master five and progress upwards to the penultimate Master One). I was in need of some clarification with certain points of celestial navigation and so went to see my friend Pete Manthorpe a great bloke and as it happens a master mariner as well as a tall ship devotee. He was fortunately able to help me with my navigation problem and while we talked about sailing he mentioned that Mark Hammond owner/master of ‘Tradewind’ in need of a mate for a trip to the UK via Cape Horn, Antarctica, Caribbean and taking part in the 500^th anniversary of Columbus discovering America regatta. I think it took me all of two seconds to decide and I now wonder why it took that long.

Next four weeks were busy applying for the position, studying, renewing passport, applying for visa’s, tickets and wet weather gear to be purchased. As you could well imagine it all culminated in a big rush. On the Wednesday two exams, Thursday two exams, Friday two exams and the oral exam at the port authority. If that was not enough I had two hours after the last exam to say good bye to everyone and make the plane to Sydney. Stayed over night in Sydney and then on the Saturday flew to Wellington NZ where I joined the ‘Tradewind’ after lunch. Sunday noon we sailed for the Chatham Islands and the adventure had started.

Now the reason why I am writing all of this is to introduce one of the crewmembers who sailed with me, a fellow Kiwi, Trevor Ross. Trevor was the youngest crewmember aboard and was not only a first class sailor but also a top bloke as well. In his early twenties he had already led an interesting life and continues to do so, which rings a similar echo with myself.

I had not heard from Trevor for the better part of seventeen years, when out of the blue I get an email saying remember me? No problems there, you can’t forget a bloke who has been a fellow crewmember on a journey such as we had. Apparently he was surfing the web and came across this blog site and lucky for me decided to get in touch by email. Life has definitely changed for Trevor and I am not going to write here about what is happening to him, you are far better off visiting his own blog site at http://trevorandbreda.blogspot.com/

Needless to say I was keen to catch up but as with all these things it took a while to organise us both in the same spot at the same time. Last week it happened, I was in Perth for reasons of work and contacted Trevor in the hope to catch up for a drink. We gathered at the Melbourne on Hay St and the conversation just flowed, I had a great evening and felt a great connection despite all the years we have been going our own ways. The beauty about it is Trevor is in to writing as well and there is a hint of a possibility we may do some collaborating and write more about our journey aboard Tradewind, it would be great to see the trip from two different perspectives. Who knows what will happen.

Mean while I continue to have stories gathering up in my head, just need time to type and edit them. It will happen just need time.

Trapped

Well not exactly but definitely feeling restricted.

I have just begun my leave and making my way back home from Western Australia and have had to pause the return journey in Sydney, (not too bad a place to take a break) the reason for the pause is flooding in Northern NSW. My place is Ok as the shed and where I am building the house is 18m above the river so all is good there but the roads are at least a meter under and I believe the powere is out now. So while it would be very interesting to spend the time at my place with a glass of red over looking the flooded valley, it is not too be as I have the good fun of staying with my friends in Pittwater Sydney.

I hope to be able to continue my journey mid next week and while I am confident nothing much will need to be done at my place, I am sure I will be working the shovels at friends homes cleaning up the mud from the flooding. No doubt the yacht club will be in need of a good clean out as well.

Australia, land of fire and flood. You just gotta love it.

What a slacker

I can't believe how long it has been since I wrote my last blog. In fact it has all the indications that last summer was great! And it was. so in the next few weeks I will do my best to catch up with all the great things that are happening. I also have a couple more interesting stories involving sailing aboard Tall ships in my mind and I am anxious to get it on paper.

A present I am aboard the Day Tide and we are out of the water at the ship yard in Fremantle to do some work on the vessels propellors. Long days and very busy but should get some spare time over the weekend if I am lucky.

So hang in there and I will get started on some more posts.

Of all things back in to Lasers!!

Last weekend my local sailing club the Big River Sailing Club (http://www.bigriver.yachting.org.au/), held its annual Laser regatta, for those who are not familiar with the boat check out the following you tube clip.

Note that I am not sailing in any of this video. When I was 21 I could sail like this and compete with the best but that was quite a few years ago, now I am happy to get around the course and have fun.

The week before the regatta I rang the club president and asked if he knew of anyone who had a boat I could loan for the regatta, preferably with the big rig. Within a day a boat was arranged and I was committed.
I rolled up early on the Saturday and was introduced to Colin who was the owner of the boat I was to sail. Great bloke and keen to see the boat do well as it was up for sale. This made me nervous and I had to explain to Colin that while I can sail a boat and used to be quite competitive in a laser, I had not sailed one for a long time. This did not seem to faze him much and in the end we agreed that the main idea is to have fun.
22 boats turned up at the club for the regatta and all were keen to get out on the river for a sail. The race was to be around 6 marks in a complicated zig zag and we were to do it twice. Lots of marks because the river is not that wide so to get a good race in we were going to be sailing a complex route. The wind was blowing accross the river and while on our side it was reasonably steady, I could see on the other side it was going to be light with strong gusts coming through the trees. Sky was overcast with what looked to be light showers, so they would affect the wind direction and strength as well. Quite a challenge and this my first time back in the boats, I could see that there was a very good chance of my going swimming.
At the end of the day we completed two races and I was exhausted. I capsized four times and had all sorts of boat handling problems, which absolutely drained me, but boy did I have fun! I didn't disgrace my self either finishing 5th on the first race and 7th on the second, so in the top half of the fleet and feeling pretty good about that.
I went home that night and after a long hot shower and a good meal it was not long before I was in bed feeling drained and content. Hopefully tomorrow the wind won't be so gusty and sailing will be a lot easier, don't know if I could keep up todays exertions again.
The next day it was still overcast but the rain had passed on and the wind was light. First race was away at 1000 and only 5 marks this time. Being one of the heavier sailors I did not fancy my chances sailing against all the light weights but even though I had shocking starts I quickly made my way to the front five each time and had good speed for most of the day. In fact the results show this with a 5th, 4th and another 5th. Races were quick and interesting with shifting winds and strong river currents, on the course tactics were important as in one beat I went from near last to 3rd around the next mark. Not having local knowledge I think helped as the river was not behaving as the locals predicted.
In the end I was very pleseantly suprised by finishing 3rd in the regatta and taking home a bottle of wine for my efforts. Colin was happy as his boat went well and he could use that to keep a good price on it.
Above all I had fun and revelled in the knowledge that the right decisions were slowly coming back to me. Now I just have to get the body used to sailing again, more fitness work and a lot more time on the water practising.
My OK dinghy will be in the water next weekend and I will be keen to see how it performs. I need to get it right as the following weekend it is down to Port Stephens for their regatta and there will be plenty of other OK's there as well, I want to make a good impression.

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

Home for November

I got off of the ship at the end of October and for once it was on the scheduled date, amazing. The swing at sea had gone relatively smoothly and I was by all accounts quite relaxed, tired but not stressed as has been the case on some swings. Good crew and good vessel really helps, I just hope that after the vessel has been in dry dock we will pick up another contract here in Australia and I can continue aboard as master.
Just as well I was rested as there was not a moment to lose when I got off. Made it home on the Thursday and stayed in my flat that night. Next morning at 0530 I was on the road south with the car packed full of friends belongings, camping gear and sailing gear. Drove down to Sydney and stayed with my friends Jon and Sandy that night, it was there belongings in the back. It was only to be a one night stay with them as I was off to South Lake Macquarie for a sailing regatta.
After a few wrong turns getting to the South Lake Macquarie Amateur Sailing Club (SLMASC) I arrived in time to set up my tent, pay my entry meet Paul who was kind enough to loan me his Ok dinghy and check out the boat. Paul's boat can be described as 'Bright' he named it 'Jesus built my Hot Rod' and I was not going to be missed out on the water.
The regatta was sponsored by Zhik (pronounced a bit like psych) and it was for single handed dinghys, so we had the full range of small boats a total of 56 of which 15 were Ok dinghys.
The format for the weekend was to be two races each day and the races were to be about 60 minutes long, so nice short fast courses, just right for me as this would be the first dinghy race I had participated in for the last 25 years.
It was strange getting in the boat again but I was able to keep up right and just in the top half of the fleet finishing what I would call a creditable 6th place for the regatta. We sailed the races in light winds around 8 - 12 knots, which allowed for me to get out hiking some times and test the legs out.
                                           
Lots of fun and the Ok people are very friendly and helpful I can understand why people who sail the boats do so for many years.
The regatta just gave me more enthusiasm and determination to get my own boat in the water ready for sailing. This was going to take time but it would be worth the effort.

On the Monday I made the long drive back home and basically crashed for the remainder of the day.

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.

What an excellent time off I had, absolutely no rest but it was certainly packed with lots to do.

Our crew change was late again and I made it home on the Sunday, which is all right as at least I was home. It was good to walk in to the shed and make my way into the flat inside, as even though it needed a good clean from the last month of being empty it was my home, a good feeling for some one who has been a nomad for so much of his life.

Sorting through mail and giving the flat a bit of a quick sweep soon had me feeling comfortable, once I had the sky TV up and running I knew I was home.

Went for a walk down to where the house site is and noted that quite a bit had been done since I was last home. All the reinforcing was in place for the slab and looked to be ready for the final pour. The pier holes for the rest of the house were all dug and it looked good. I was excited about the progress but feeling tired from work and not too enthused about getting my hands dirty just yet.

I made a few phone calls and found out from my friend Simon that the slab for my house was to be poured tomorrow, Monday morning! So I was to be in the thick of the construction right at the beginning, I had hoped for a couple of days where I could get my head from being at sea to being ashore but no such luck.

Monday went smoothly and the slab was poured with out a hitch, lot of work particularly with the wheel barrow work for filling in the pier holes. What a great site seeing the base of the house in situ gave a truly positive feeling within.

For the next four days I was watering the concrete twice and sometimes three times a day to keep the slab surface from drying out too quickly. In between that it was being busy making plans for the next stage, which was the concrete block walls to be laid. I had arranged for my friend Jon to come up from Sydney to resume his old trade as a brickie and looked forward to seeing him, he is very good company and never short of interesting, sometimes way out there conversations. Working with Jon would be another local brickie Wayne and with the two of them I would be the green labourer. If only I knew what I was too be up for!

Before the block walls could go up I had to dig a drainage trench around the outside of the slab where it cut into the hill. When it rains hard in this area the water just flows out of the ground, once you are through the topsoil there is a soft sandstone and lots of rock. The ground was hard and difficult to get out, I hired an electric jack hammer to help break up the clay, sandstone and rock, tough going and a lot of soil to remove but a vital job for that sleep easy at night when it is raining scenario.

The block walls went up quickly and we were really lucky with the weather, most days it stayed fine even though it usually looked as though it would rain. Only a couple of afternoons the skies opened up and gave us a drenching but the work was hardly affected. Long days though with most mornings starting at 0630 and working, when it was not raining well, into the night.

Within an amazing 10 days all the walls were up and it was time to core fill the open blocks. The day I had booked the concrete pump and trucks did not start out well. The concrete pump operator contacted me twice to ask if I was still going on with it as it was raining heavily inland. The sky where we were was overcast and did have that look of rain but it was still high cloud and I was determined to get the job done. As it was the rain held off until it was finished and as we were cleaning up after the concrete pour it started with a vengeance. Nice feeling sitting in the shed listening to the rain drumming down knowing the work was completed.

I was so relieved that we had completed the job on time and in good order, there were many things that could have held us up but it was not to be. I could feel my body starting to relax. I was pretty tired from my exertions as a labourer, 16 tonnes of concrete block was laid 3 tonnes of sand and I was not in shape for that kind of work. I was however very thankful that I had started an exercise program months before as it allowed me to keep up the pace though only just.

 

 

There were still lots of jobs to be done before I could move on from the block walls. The outside of the retaining walls needed cleaning up and all the gaps pointed so that there was a smooth surface for the water proofing to be painted on. The trench around the outside needed cleaning up and certainly the slab and the general work site needed a good straighten up. Slow tedious work but very much needed so that I could get on with the next stage, which was erecting the steel frame.

I also needed to get ready to go back to work. Definitely did not feel that enthusiastic about returning to sea as there was so much to still do but the mortgage does not pay itself. What was worse is I could feel a cold coming on and that I really did not need.

No place for Old Men!

No place for old men,

 

Yet in this day and age that is unfortunately who is working these tough jobs. Very few younger people want to get into the industry and those that do are finding it very hard due to a combination of not enough public knowledge explaining how and organisations i.e. unions and companies as well as the government not coordinating to make entry a smooth exercise. Frustrating for those who want to get in and frustrating for those of us who are seeing a serious decline in man power.

 

This video gives a very graphic illustration of why you need to be fit and agile. This sort of weather comes up regularly and many a time a vessel is caught in a compromising position where the crew have to face unnecessary danger. The risks here for the crew are being knocked down and falling awkwardly as well as being swept up the deck into something hard. Easily done and obviously one crew member did not have the chin strap from his hard hat secured. The danger of being swept over board is not as likely as you would think, the force of water comes through the gap where the roller is and dissipates on the deck not all the water flows out the back again but flows out the sides. This usually means you end up swept up the deck in an undignified manner.

I have had this done to me a few times and it is not a nice feeling being swept with such force and having very little control, especially with so much steel around. But that has not been the most dangerous time at sea for me so far. In fact while you get bruised and tired rolling about the deck there is always some element of control and you are working as a team in a coordinated way to solve the problem, which is visibly recognisable.

No the worse moment for me was again on the S.V. Tradewind.

We were sailing from the Falkland Islands to South Georgia Island made famous by the whaling stations and the heroic exploits of Sir Ernest Shackleton who is buried there. The ocean between the two islands is relatively shallow as both islands are sitting on the same ridge. Ocean currents sweep from Antarctica north over this ridge and bring not only cold water but also bergs, very big bergs. These bergs ground on the ridge and sit there until they break up. Of course the breaking up period is continuos as pieces calf off and drift north.

Our route took us straight through this mine field of ice and we soon realised that it was best to steer south of each of the massive ice islands to avoid all the chunks of ice heading north. Unfortunately there were times when we could not avoid going north of the berg and we had a dreadful time dodging smaller bergs, growlers, brash ice etc. During our off watch hours we could often here brash ice grinding past the hull, very nerve wracking to say the least, particularly as the hull riveted iron and was built in 1911!

I had the night watch and we were sailing at a good clip of about 7 knots. I had two seaman with me and the voyage crew. We had set up a rotation of taking turns on the helm, being lookout on the poop deck both port and starboard side and being lookout on the bow. When not carrying out one of these duties people had the opportunity to rest. This night we were passing through a large group of bergs, one we measured on radar to be nine nautical miles long. And there was a lot of growlers in between. Growlers are very low in the water and can be particularly hard to see especially if there are large seas with white caps. Of course there were lots of white caps that night and seeing the dangers was very difficult. I made sure my watch understood the danger and emphasised the importance of being vigilant.

At the time of the incident Trevor, one of Tradewind’s crew was at the helm, I was standing to one side straining my eyes forward and keeping a watch on my lookouts. The lookout forward was an interesting bloke ex green beret from the USA and was a decent bloke, unfortunately he had the very annoying habit of reading books on the seats aft and after each page he would dramatically rip it out of the book and toss it overboard. When you are at sea for months at a time it does not take long to read the ships library and we were all frustrated that this would be a book we would never read. Anyway on the night I noticed that our ex green beret lookout forward was standing in one place and not moving from side to side. I went forward to explain that with the bow sprit and net blocking so much of his view forward he needed to move from one side of the bow to the other to be sure he observes all of the sea forward. As I approached him I looked forward myself and got the fright of my life. From my angle I could see a small growler, about the size of a three tonne truck, was only twenty or so meters ahead! I immediately ran aft yelling for Trevor to alter course, which fortunately being the man he is, he responded quickly. We passed the growler by four to five meters on the starboard side and I could feel the sweat jump out of my skin. In this remote part of the world you do not want to be ship wrecked and that growler would have done us in for sure.

Over the years I have been placed in some awkward positions and while some may say they were life threatening I would probably disagree, however that night on Tradewind was I believe the most dangerous moment I have ever experienced and it still is vivid in my mind.