At Sea – en route to Tobago, West Indies
Last night we had a fresh breeze of 25 knots – Captain Karlsson called it a topgallant wind – which stayed with us through the morning. The sun was bright and the temperature was a pleasant 76F at 9am. Our destination is Charlotteville, Tobago, a distance of 375 nautical miles. The crew went to sail stations at 1am and sails were rigged by 10:30am. We were making such good speed, about 7 knots, that we did not set sails above the topgallants. As the sails unfurled majestically white against the blue sky the Sea Cloud II came into her own as a wind-powered ship. The engines were silent and all we heard was the repetitive ‘whoosh-whoosh’ as the bow broke through the blue sea. As the wind caught the sails the ship heeled over ever so slightly and sliced the water. In fact, the sails acted to reduce the movement of the ship through the waves. Imagine sailing with a technology that first began more than a millennium ago, doing it with no power other than that of nature, and moving a vessel of 117 meters which weighs almost four thousand tons.
We had our life boat drill and had a chance to hear the officers explain professionally the procedures to take in case of emergency. It is a comforting feeling to know that we are in the hands of such competent sailors. Tom Heffernan gave a talk on the “Magic of the Caribbean Languages: their Evolution from Aboriginal, Indo-European and African Languages” on the Lido deck at 3pm and at four we watched the sailors furl the sails for the evening. Tonight Captain Karlsson formally introduced his officers and we celebrated the Captain’s Dinner, a tradition dating back to the 17th century if not earlier.
Last night we had a fresh breeze of 25 knots – Captain Karlsson called it a topgallant wind – which stayed with us through the morning. The sun was bright and the temperature was a pleasant 76F at 9am. Our destination is Charlotteville, Tobago, a distance of 375 nautical miles. The crew went to sail stations at 1am and sails were rigged by 10:30am. We were making such good speed, about 7 knots, that we did not set sails above the topgallants. As the sails unfurled majestically white against the blue sky the Sea Cloud II came into her own as a wind-powered ship. The engines were silent and all we heard was the repetitive ‘whoosh-whoosh’ as the bow broke through the blue sea. As the wind caught the sails the ship heeled over ever so slightly and sliced the water. In fact, the sails acted to reduce the movement of the ship through the waves. Imagine sailing with a technology that first began more than a millennium ago, doing it with no power other than that of nature, and moving a vessel of 117 meters which weighs almost four thousand tons.
We had our life boat drill and had a chance to hear the officers explain professionally the procedures to take in case of emergency. It is a comforting feeling to know that we are in the hands of such competent sailors. Tom Heffernan gave a talk on the “Magic of the Caribbean Languages: their Evolution from Aboriginal, Indo-European and African Languages” on the Lido deck at 3pm and at four we watched the sailors furl the sails for the evening. Tonight Captain Karlsson formally introduced his officers and we celebrated the Captain’s Dinner, a tradition dating back to the 17th century if not earlier.
