Wed Dec 31,08
My night watch last night had some excitement to liven things up. I was on helm and we were sailing on
the port tack around 1:30pm with all square sails set, spanker and inner and outer jibs. Then the wind
dropped away to almost nothing. In another minute it came back from the opposite tack ,blowing and
gusting much stronger than it had been. The rest of the watch took in the spanker and royals while I tried
to keep the ship steady. It was tough, it took a lot of turns to get her to respond then when she did she
would take off so I had to correct fast. Exciting and frightening at the same time.
After the sails were adjusted and I finally got her back on course I was relieved at helm by Bruce.
Adrenaline works wonders for ones reflexes and man did I have lots of that! It was hard keeping track of where the wheel was relative to midships. It takes 8 full turns to go from midships to hard over so one has
to always be counting the turns to be able to get her straight once she starts to turn. I’m still learning how
to handle this beautiful ship, and it is still scary to have control of all 200 tons of her like that.
The rest of the watch was uneventful, thankfully.
There will be a Marlinspike of sorts tonight to celebrate New Years Eve and hopefully we will have our
ball drop ready. It is grey and cloudy at the moment so not sure what it will be like tonight.
More later…
It’s later and I’m getting ready to catch a few hours sleep before the action starts around 10:00pm.
We are definitely in the tropics now, we have steady NE Tradewinds blowing and I saw my first school of
flying fish this afternoon while I was aloft on the foremast. Trade Winds, Flying Fish and a landfall in
West Africa possibly as early as tomorrow, what a way to start 2009!
Thanks for reading and Happy New Year to all.
May 2009 be a good one for you and your loved ones.
Bright Blessings
KJ
P.S. The Ball dropped right on schedule last night!
We ended up with a low windage version because rather than wrap it in tinfoil we used garlands and
Christmas lights around it as well. Everybody came on deck about 10:30. Munchies and popcorn was
set out. I supplied a nut cake I got in Switzerland, thanks to Ursula and Francois.
At 30 seconds to midnight the countdown started and the ball was dropped down to the hatch cover. At
the stroke of twelve shouts of Happy New Year rose up and the ships horn blasted out into the tropical
night. There followed dancing and revelry until 1:30am when we set the sails and carried on.
Last night was the first nightwatch that I didn’t have to wear a coat until I went on lookout. A sign of
things to come I hope.
Happy New Year!
I hope 2009 is a good one.
Thanks for reading.
KJ
Here are pictures of our New Years Eve festivities on the main hatch.
2014 Postscript
One thing I did not mention above but that sticks in my memory was the sight of a cargo ship all lit up steaming past us just after midnight. I've always wondered what they thought of us, if they even saw us.
Atlantic Rollers
Showing posts with label December. Show all posts
Showing posts with label December. Show all posts
Wednesday, December 31, 2014
Tuesday, December 30, 2014
Underway to Dakar Senegal Dec 30,08
Tuesday Dec 30,08
Word from Paul, the 2nd mate, is that we will likely get into Dakar on the 2nd of January. Odd to think
that the first decade of the 21st century is nearly over. We still don’t have any flying cars! Blah. I guess
the old saying ‘the future isn’t what it used to be” applies.
My little laptop is working really well. It does everything I need it to do onboard and will be doing more as
I figure it out. The 3 hour battery life is not conducive to much experimentation but as long as I can keep
a good charge I take 20% and play around :-) Thanks again to Mark and his gang at Tremar Computer
Solutions!
Yesterday I spent an hour up on the foreyard adding a second siezing to the stirrups that support the
footropes.
Watch last night was uneventful, the haze that typifies this area blocks all but the highest stars and there
was not as much phosphoresence in the sea so there wasn’t much to look at. At least my cold has run it’s
course and my back is slowly getting better.
Since our watch will be the ones to ring in the New Year tomorrow night, Paul has devised a plan to create
a big ball to drop at the critical time! Construction will begin shortly. I’ll let you know the progress later.
Later…
We got a good start on the ball it is a wire sphere about 2′ in diameter with two 100 watt light bulbs inside!
We will also have a spotlight with 2009 on it to shine on the mainsail at the critical time. Should be an
interesting evening tomorrow if we can get it all done.
Afternoon watch was uneventful, spent it working on the port head, which is finally back together and
fully operational. It was dismantled in Las Palmas and with only one head available for the salon crew to
use for number 2s… well you can imagine how welcome the rebuilt one will be :-)
One more day in 2008 to go.
I hope your New Years plans go well.
Thanks for reading.
KJ
Word from Paul, the 2nd mate, is that we will likely get into Dakar on the 2nd of January. Odd to think
that the first decade of the 21st century is nearly over. We still don’t have any flying cars! Blah. I guess
the old saying ‘the future isn’t what it used to be” applies.
My little laptop is working really well. It does everything I need it to do onboard and will be doing more as
I figure it out. The 3 hour battery life is not conducive to much experimentation but as long as I can keep
a good charge I take 20% and play around :-) Thanks again to Mark and his gang at Tremar Computer
Solutions!
Yesterday I spent an hour up on the foreyard adding a second siezing to the stirrups that support the
footropes.
Watch last night was uneventful, the haze that typifies this area blocks all but the highest stars and there
was not as much phosphoresence in the sea so there wasn’t much to look at. At least my cold has run it’s
course and my back is slowly getting better.
Since our watch will be the ones to ring in the New Year tomorrow night, Paul has devised a plan to create
a big ball to drop at the critical time! Construction will begin shortly. I’ll let you know the progress later.
Later…
We got a good start on the ball it is a wire sphere about 2′ in diameter with two 100 watt light bulbs inside!
We will also have a spotlight with 2009 on it to shine on the mainsail at the critical time. Should be an
interesting evening tomorrow if we can get it all done.
Afternoon watch was uneventful, spent it working on the port head, which is finally back together and
fully operational. It was dismantled in Las Palmas and with only one head available for the salon crew to
use for number 2s… well you can imagine how welcome the rebuilt one will be :-)
One more day in 2008 to go.
I hope your New Years plans go well.
Thanks for reading.
KJ
Monday, December 29, 2014
Underway to Dakar Senegal Monday Dec 29,08
We are sailing due South just West of the border between Western Sahara and Mauritania in Africa.
Yesterday morning I awoke to the sound of our “iron topsail” firing up. The winds had dropped to almost
nothing. By the time my watch started at noon however the wind had begun to blow from the NE instead
of the NW and the order was given to set all the squrae sails and the engine was shut down shortly
thereafter. Corey, who was on helm at the time, says the Captain had come up to the quarterdeck just
before, looked up into the sky and said “the start of a real wind”. By the time of my night watch at
midnight we were sailing along at 5 knots under a steady force 4 from the NE! Still going this morning.
During my night watch last night it was overcast so the brightest lights were in the sea itself. We sailed
through bands of some creature that lit up very brightly as we passed. There must of been millions of
them, they were bright enough to cast a faint shadow. They were mostly round so the consensus was that
they were jellyfish but some of them were cylindrical so they might have been squid.
Dolphins were cruising around the ship and playing in the bow wave most of the watch. When they charged into a group of these creatures there was a bright flash as maybe 20 or so would fire up at once. It was like
green fireworks under the surface of the sea. Beautiful and strange indeed.
Thanks for reading.
KJ
Sunday, December 28, 2014
On Projects and Procedures Dec 28,08
Tuesday, January 6th, 2009
Been pondering a couple of things lately, usually while on lookout. The seas are pretty empty here off the
coast of Africa maybe one ship every other watch. The two things are what project to work on in my off
watches and the way “procedure” is detailed on board.
The reason for the concern about project is that nearly everyone is working on something or other. Today
was Sunday so there was no shipwork but everyone was sewing, doing ropework or woodwork or
practicing their instruments etc. Now to be honest they have all been doing this for 6 months, actually
nearly 8, whereas I have been aboard for just under 2 months. So what to work on? The contenders for me
is fancy ropework on my telescope, to give it a more nautical flair and also to give it a bit of protection,
and some kind of navigation instrument like a chip log or an astrolab or something. The latter seems likely
to be a bad idea if only because I would be on my own and it wouldn’t really be “sailors” work.
As for procedures, they are not really written down, the orders are however, nor are they fixed. The
procedures for doing the various tasks that keep this amazing machine running are organic. They have
grown along with the ship. Their roots are centuries old but then specifics are as linked to this ship as
much as my speech pattern and mannerisms are linked to me.
Learning them is more akin to learning to walk than learning math or any other subject for that matter.
They are a combination of physical actions coupled with knowledge of what is to be accomplished and the
order in which those things need to be accomplished. We don’t have specific duties for sail handling, for
example, people just lay out to do what needs to be done when the order is given. For me still unsure of
what is happening I end up at the back of the line “tailing on”. When an order comes and I am the first or
nearest to the line I should be taking the lead but my uncertainty makes be hesitate and I almost get run
over as the more experienced people get on with it. This is in no way a bad thing and know it won’t be
long until I can keep up but it is still a bit frightening when lots of things are happening at once.
Frightening and exciting at the same time. This is the way seamen have learned their trade for centuries.
Is it better than modern “school” methods? I don’t know. I do know that the seamen of yesteryear, experts
at their trade, knew no other way to learn or teach the way of their ship so it certainly does work.
Time will tell.
Thanks for reading.
KJ
Posted in Musings | No Comments »
Been pondering a couple of things lately, usually while on lookout. The seas are pretty empty here off the
coast of Africa maybe one ship every other watch. The two things are what project to work on in my off
watches and the way “procedure” is detailed on board.
The reason for the concern about project is that nearly everyone is working on something or other. Today
was Sunday so there was no shipwork but everyone was sewing, doing ropework or woodwork or
practicing their instruments etc. Now to be honest they have all been doing this for 6 months, actually
nearly 8, whereas I have been aboard for just under 2 months. So what to work on? The contenders for me
is fancy ropework on my telescope, to give it a more nautical flair and also to give it a bit of protection,
and some kind of navigation instrument like a chip log or an astrolab or something. The latter seems likely
to be a bad idea if only because I would be on my own and it wouldn’t really be “sailors” work.
As for procedures, they are not really written down, the orders are however, nor are they fixed. The
procedures for doing the various tasks that keep this amazing machine running are organic. They have
grown along with the ship. Their roots are centuries old but then specifics are as linked to this ship as
much as my speech pattern and mannerisms are linked to me.
Learning them is more akin to learning to walk than learning math or any other subject for that matter.
They are a combination of physical actions coupled with knowledge of what is to be accomplished and the
order in which those things need to be accomplished. We don’t have specific duties for sail handling, for
example, people just lay out to do what needs to be done when the order is given. For me still unsure of
what is happening I end up at the back of the line “tailing on”. When an order comes and I am the first or
nearest to the line I should be taking the lead but my uncertainty makes be hesitate and I almost get run
over as the more experienced people get on with it. This is in no way a bad thing and know it won’t be
long until I can keep up but it is still a bit frightening when lots of things are happening at once.
Frightening and exciting at the same time. This is the way seamen have learned their trade for centuries.
Is it better than modern “school” methods? I don’t know. I do know that the seamen of yesteryear, experts
at their trade, knew no other way to learn or teach the way of their ship so it certainly does work.
Time will tell.
Thanks for reading.
KJ
Posted in Musings | No Comments »
Saturday, December 27, 2014
Underway to Dakar Senegal Dec 27
Tuesday, January 6th, 2009
Note: This was originally posted as one long post covering the passage from La Gomera to Dakar Senegal.
I have split it up to post daily.
The weather hasn’t changed all that much except that the wind died today so we had to motor for most of
the day. In the ten hours our engine was on we covered more distance than the preceeding 3 days
combined!
Mary Joyce, one of the trainees was putting messages in bottles and throwing them overboard today. Each
one has a note with the latitude and longitude of our current position and a description of who we are and
where we are heading plus her email and contact info. She also puts one of the ship’s business cards in.
She says one of the bottles she put over off the coast of Spain was found and they publiished the note in
the local paper. It got a good response with lots of emails when she hit shore.
We are now sailing again with all square sail set so it should be a nice quiet evening.
Thanks for reading.
KJ
Note: This was originally posted as one long post covering the passage from La Gomera to Dakar Senegal.
I have split it up to post daily.
The weather hasn’t changed all that much except that the wind died today so we had to motor for most of
the day. In the ten hours our engine was on we covered more distance than the preceeding 3 days
combined!
Mary Joyce, one of the trainees was putting messages in bottles and throwing them overboard today. Each
one has a note with the latitude and longitude of our current position and a description of who we are and
where we are heading plus her email and contact info. She also puts one of the ship’s business cards in.
She says one of the bottles she put over off the coast of Spain was found and they publiished the note in
the local paper. It got a good response with lots of emails when she hit shore.
We are now sailing again with all square sail set so it should be a nice quiet evening.
Thanks for reading.
KJ
Friday, December 26, 2014
Boxing Day 2008 underway to Dakaar Senegal
Tuesday, January 6th, 2009
So it’s Boxing Day, a holiday celebrated by about 50% of the people on board apparently. I’m on galley
duty which is sweet because I didn’t have to get up for my night watch.
The little Christmas Tree is still on the hatch and the decorations are still sparkling in the light but we are
back to normal ship routine today. There is a change in the weather coming. This morning we still had the
same light winds and long slow swell from the NW but awe also had high Cirrus clouds, Mare’s Tails alsso
coming from that direction. by midafternoon the wind has dropped almost entirely and the sky is covered with a haze that makes it look quite “brassy” it’s bright but you cannot see the Sun.
Hmmm. Hopefully we will get a fairer wind out of whatever is coming because at this rate it will take 20
days to get to Senegal!
Thanks for reading.
KJ
Posted in Uncategorized | No Comments »
So it’s Boxing Day, a holiday celebrated by about 50% of the people on board apparently. I’m on galley
duty which is sweet because I didn’t have to get up for my night watch.
The little Christmas Tree is still on the hatch and the decorations are still sparkling in the light but we are
back to normal ship routine today. There is a change in the weather coming. This morning we still had the
same light winds and long slow swell from the NW but awe also had high Cirrus clouds, Mare’s Tails alsso
coming from that direction. by midafternoon the wind has dropped almost entirely and the sky is covered with a haze that makes it look quite “brassy” it’s bright but you cannot see the Sun.
Hmmm. Hopefully we will get a fairer wind out of whatever is coming because at this rate it will take 20
days to get to Senegal!
Thanks for reading.
KJ
Posted in Uncategorized | No Comments »
Thursday, December 25, 2014
Christmas Day 2008
Tuesday, January 6th, 2009
Merry Christmas! Last night we hung a “clean” sock outside our bunks and in the morning each one had
some trinkets in it from a sack into which we each put some little goodies. I got a book “Baumgartner’s
Bombay” by Anitabr Desai and a brass keyfob in the shape of a porthole. I now have the only bunk
in the salon with a porthole
Today was a fabulous sunny day with very light winds. We drifted along off the coast of Africa
taking our time and enjoying the day.
Around 3:00 this afternoon the Captain ordered the ship hove to and swim call was ordered. The crew
took eager advantage and piled into the calm deep blue sea. I was ordered into the maintop as shark
watch. This was cool as the water was so clear that from up there it looked like the crew were flying and
swooping in the air.
There followed a great present opening that took nearly an hour. I got all kinds of great goodies,
chocolates, a nice cuban cigar (thanks Kolin), some licorice ropes and a DVD with all his pics from the
first leg of the trip from David and a number of other goodies including a replica “piece of eight” used in
the Pirate Master show that was filmed on board the Picton Castle.
For dinner we had roast suckling pig which was barbecued during the day plus a prodigious amount of
cookies, cakes and pie. Yummy!
As the sun set a group of people sat on the hatch with guitar, boran, fiddle, penny whistle and several
drums acquired in Moroco, playing and improvising complex music. It was awesome!
A long slow smoke of my pipe in the twilight while the music played was a lovely end to a beautiful day.
I hope you all had a great Christmas with your loved ones.
Thanks for reading.
KJ
Posted in Uncategorized | No Comments »
===================================
2014 Postscript
Here are pictures from our Christmas off the coast of Africa
These were not uploaded till January in 2009 when we reached Senegal.
Merry Christmas! Last night we hung a “clean” sock outside our bunks and in the morning each one had
some trinkets in it from a sack into which we each put some little goodies. I got a book “Baumgartner’s
Bombay” by Anitabr Desai and a brass keyfob in the shape of a porthole. I now have the only bunk
in the salon with a porthole
Today was a fabulous sunny day with very light winds. We drifted along off the coast of Africa
taking our time and enjoying the day.
Around 3:00 this afternoon the Captain ordered the ship hove to and swim call was ordered. The crew
took eager advantage and piled into the calm deep blue sea. I was ordered into the maintop as shark
watch. This was cool as the water was so clear that from up there it looked like the crew were flying and
swooping in the air.
There followed a great present opening that took nearly an hour. I got all kinds of great goodies,
chocolates, a nice cuban cigar (thanks Kolin), some licorice ropes and a DVD with all his pics from the
first leg of the trip from David and a number of other goodies including a replica “piece of eight” used in
the Pirate Master show that was filmed on board the Picton Castle.
For dinner we had roast suckling pig which was barbecued during the day plus a prodigious amount of
cookies, cakes and pie. Yummy!
As the sun set a group of people sat on the hatch with guitar, boran, fiddle, penny whistle and several
drums acquired in Moroco, playing and improvising complex music. It was awesome!
A long slow smoke of my pipe in the twilight while the music played was a lovely end to a beautiful day.
I hope you all had a great Christmas with your loved ones.
Thanks for reading.
KJ
Posted in Uncategorized | No Comments »
===================================
2014 Postscript
Here are pictures from our Christmas off the coast of Africa
These were not uploaded till January in 2009 when we reached Senegal.
Wednesday, December 24, 2014
Christmas Eve Dec 24,08
Tuesday, January 6th, 2009
Last night the wind dropped to an almost flat calm. We were ghosting along barely keeping steerage way. The sky was ablaze with stars. It’s odd to see Polaris so low in the sky.
There are starting to be new stars to the South that I have never seen before.
Lookout was really cool. The calm suface of the sea has alot of flashes and sparkles from small sea
creatures. Occaisionally there are diffuse bursts of light that are coming from deeper down. There is an
almost constant haze that masks the horizon so the sea just seems to turn into starry sky without a break.
Today is Christmas Eve and all morning there has been a beehive of activity with present wrapping and
decorating. The ship looks quite fancy in her Christmas sparkly bits :-) There is Christmas music
playing from someones Ipod on the welldeck and the there is a bright blue cloudless sunny sky above and
a calm deep blue sea below!
When I get off watch this afternoon there will be a Fancy Dress Marlinspike and tomorrow we have
present opening and Christmas dinner.
If the Thanksgiving dinner was any indication it should be great.
More later
It’s later, I just came off the afternoon 12-4 watch. Spent most of it stringing popcorn on thread. We also
calculated the speed of the ship by timing the passage of a piece of paper or popcorn a it drited along
beside the ship, the formula to calculate the speed in knots is 36/time for the object to drift 60.8 ft.
For the record we were sailing along at 2 knots.
When it was my trick on the helm I was instructed to sail her ‘full and by” rather than a specific compass
course. Sailing “full and by” means to sail as close to the wind as we can. The helmsman keeps his eyes on
the windward leach of the main royal sail, the highest and smallest square sail. It is braced in a little
sharper to the wind so it luffs first allowing the helmsman to correct by falling off slightly.
We had a very nice marlinspike with champagne punch and a prodigious amount of cookies baked by the
various watches late at night. After dinner which was a simple penne and sauce, we hung around talking
till the sun started to set below the horizon. As I watched the sun set Isaw the fabled Green Flash! An
awesome way to end the day of Christmas Eve.
Thanks for reading
KJ
Posted in Uncategorized | No Comments »
Last night the wind dropped to an almost flat calm. We were ghosting along barely keeping steerage way. The sky was ablaze with stars. It’s odd to see Polaris so low in the sky.
There are starting to be new stars to the South that I have never seen before.
Lookout was really cool. The calm suface of the sea has alot of flashes and sparkles from small sea
creatures. Occaisionally there are diffuse bursts of light that are coming from deeper down. There is an
almost constant haze that masks the horizon so the sea just seems to turn into starry sky without a break.
Today is Christmas Eve and all morning there has been a beehive of activity with present wrapping and
decorating. The ship looks quite fancy in her Christmas sparkly bits :-) There is Christmas music
playing from someones Ipod on the welldeck and the there is a bright blue cloudless sunny sky above and
a calm deep blue sea below!
When I get off watch this afternoon there will be a Fancy Dress Marlinspike and tomorrow we have
present opening and Christmas dinner.
If the Thanksgiving dinner was any indication it should be great.
More later
It’s later, I just came off the afternoon 12-4 watch. Spent most of it stringing popcorn on thread. We also
calculated the speed of the ship by timing the passage of a piece of paper or popcorn a it drited along
beside the ship, the formula to calculate the speed in knots is 36/time for the object to drift 60.8 ft.
For the record we were sailing along at 2 knots.
When it was my trick on the helm I was instructed to sail her ‘full and by” rather than a specific compass
course. Sailing “full and by” means to sail as close to the wind as we can. The helmsman keeps his eyes on
the windward leach of the main royal sail, the highest and smallest square sail. It is braced in a little
sharper to the wind so it luffs first allowing the helmsman to correct by falling off slightly.
We had a very nice marlinspike with champagne punch and a prodigious amount of cookies baked by the
various watches late at night. After dinner which was a simple penne and sauce, we hung around talking
till the sun started to set below the horizon. As I watched the sun set Isaw the fabled Green Flash! An
awesome way to end the day of Christmas Eve.
Thanks for reading
KJ
Posted in Uncategorized | No Comments »
Tuesday, December 23, 2014
Underway to Senegal Dec 23,08
Tuesday, January 6th, 2009
Saw dolphins frolicking at the bows last night while I was on lookout.
There was no moon so it was really dark and they appeared as ghostly phosphorescent swoops and curls
around the bows. Everywhere the sea breaks it glows in afaint greenish light.
I seem to have caught a cold, blah, plus with my sore back standing is a pain so lookout and helm were not
real fun.
My new watch is a good crowd. I learned how to fill in the log while underway lastnight from the 2nd Mate Paul who is our watch officer.
The afternoon watch was really nice and warm. The weather was great, steady winds and bright sunshine.
There was a small hawk flying around and the debate was whether it was lost or migrating or what. That
was the only thing other than us on the sea all day. The sea is a wonderful dark blue.
Tomorrow is Christmas Eve and Kolin, the Bosun, says there is no shipwork so it should be a good day too :-)
Thanks for reading.
KJ
Posted in Uncategorized | No Comments »
Saw dolphins frolicking at the bows last night while I was on lookout.
There was no moon so it was really dark and they appeared as ghostly phosphorescent swoops and curls
around the bows. Everywhere the sea breaks it glows in afaint greenish light.
I seem to have caught a cold, blah, plus with my sore back standing is a pain so lookout and helm were not
real fun.
My new watch is a good crowd. I learned how to fill in the log while underway lastnight from the 2nd Mate Paul who is our watch officer.
The afternoon watch was really nice and warm. The weather was great, steady winds and bright sunshine.
There was a small hawk flying around and the debate was whether it was lost or migrating or what. That
was the only thing other than us on the sea all day. The sea is a wonderful dark blue.
Tomorrow is Christmas Eve and Kolin, the Bosun, says there is no shipwork so it should be a good day too :-)
Thanks for reading.
KJ
Posted in Uncategorized | No Comments »
Monday, December 22, 2014
Underway to Senegal Dec 22,08
Tuesday, January 6th, 2009
This morning dawned hazy and calm.
I discovered that I have caught a cold despite all my precautions so now I’m stuck at sea for 10 days with
astuffed up head. I also threw my back out working in an odd position on Saaturdy and it hurt a bunch to
straighten up this morning. Blah.
We heaved up the port anchor this morning and found it fouled by thestarboard anchor chain. The ship
has been swinging as the wind grew light. A bight of chain was drapped over the stock of the anchor and
had to be lifted in such a way that it would fall away on its own. Took manning all five capstan bars to get
it don but once free we were able to hoist itaboard and get it “catted” ie lashed to the cathead which is a
stout bar that sticks diagonally off the focsle deck for that purpose.
Once the crew that had gone ashore this morning returned, with Veronica our new AB and Mate, we
hoisted up the starboard anchor and motored away from Gomera. We have started our 10 day sail down
the coast of Africa to Senegal.
They have reorganized the wtches, I’m now on the 12-4 watch which means I’ll get to do more ship work
during the day, oh goody more sanding and painting. Bruce tells me the biggest problem with 12-4 is that
breakfast and lunch break up the off watch making it difficult to get enough sleep. I’ll have to watch that.
Thanks for reading.
KJ
Posted in Uncategorized | No Comments »
This morning dawned hazy and calm.
I discovered that I have caught a cold despite all my precautions so now I’m stuck at sea for 10 days with
astuffed up head. I also threw my back out working in an odd position on Saaturdy and it hurt a bunch to
straighten up this morning. Blah.
We heaved up the port anchor this morning and found it fouled by thestarboard anchor chain. The ship
has been swinging as the wind grew light. A bight of chain was drapped over the stock of the anchor and
had to be lifted in such a way that it would fall away on its own. Took manning all five capstan bars to get
it don but once free we were able to hoist itaboard and get it “catted” ie lashed to the cathead which is a
stout bar that sticks diagonally off the focsle deck for that purpose.
Once the crew that had gone ashore this morning returned, with Veronica our new AB and Mate, we
hoisted up the starboard anchor and motored away from Gomera. We have started our 10 day sail down
the coast of Africa to Senegal.
They have reorganized the wtches, I’m now on the 12-4 watch which means I’ll get to do more ship work
during the day, oh goody more sanding and painting. Bruce tells me the biggest problem with 12-4 is that
breakfast and lunch break up the off watch making it difficult to get enough sleep. I’ll have to watch that.
Thanks for reading.
KJ
Posted in Uncategorized | No Comments »
Sunday, December 21, 2014
Gomera Dec 21,08
Sunday, December 21st, 2008
Happy Yule, Winter Solstice to you all!
Went ashore on the first skiff run this morning.
The town we are anchored at is Valle Gran Rey. It is a nice town clustered at the base of the cliffs. A deep
valley runs up into the center of the island. There are a lot of Germans in town. Some of the other crew
mentioned they were mostly “hippies”. My kind of place :-)
Spent the day driving around this very rugged island. The island is basically the eroded remnant of a large
shield volcano. The valleys are steep and very deep. The vistas are spectacular and far off in the North we
could see the peak of Tenerife showing above the haze on the sea.
There is a National Park that covers most of the plataeu at the top of the island. This is a forest called a
“laurelsilva”. It is a forest that exists because of the fog that builds up over the top of the mountains. It is
an evergreen forest very cool and green. A marked contrast to the arid bluffs near the shore. The forest
collects wate from the fog and allows it to flow into the ground where it emerges as springs far down on
the valley walls.
The trade winds also bring storms that dump large amounts of rain in very short periods of time which the
islanders collect in lots of reservoirs and pools for use when it is dry. According to the locals the rain the
other day was the first they’ve had in a while. Heh.
We went to a small black sand beach in a town called Alojera. I sat on a wave worn chunk of lava
drinking wine and eating a chicken salad baguette. For desert I had a chocolate filled cruoissant and some
coconut cookies… In sunshine to boot.
Strange to think that this is the shortest day of the year and that the Sun has begun his ages old journey
north again.
May the rising Sun bring health and happiness to you all.
May the growing light guide you in the cold of winter.
May “that which is greater than the all” bring you safe through all of Winter’s trials.
Bright Blessings and…
Thanks for reading.
KJ
The pics are here.
Posted in Ashore | No Comments »
-----------------
2014 Postscript
Later that evening after dinner I went and found a little Internet/Gaming Cafe and logged onto the Internet.
In my living room back in Calgary my family was having a Yule dinner.
With my eldest daughter's EEEpc setup so its camera could see the room, I was able to join the fun!
I could see and hear them, but they could only hear me as the cafe computer didn't have a webcam.
Was a lovely way to celebrate and made this poor, slightly homesick sailor very happy indeed.
Happy Yule, Winter Solstice to you all!
Went ashore on the first skiff run this morning.
The town we are anchored at is Valle Gran Rey. It is a nice town clustered at the base of the cliffs. A deep
valley runs up into the center of the island. There are a lot of Germans in town. Some of the other crew
mentioned they were mostly “hippies”. My kind of place :-)
Spent the day driving around this very rugged island. The island is basically the eroded remnant of a large
shield volcano. The valleys are steep and very deep. The vistas are spectacular and far off in the North we
could see the peak of Tenerife showing above the haze on the sea.
There is a National Park that covers most of the plataeu at the top of the island. This is a forest called a
“laurelsilva”. It is a forest that exists because of the fog that builds up over the top of the mountains. It is
an evergreen forest very cool and green. A marked contrast to the arid bluffs near the shore. The forest
collects wate from the fog and allows it to flow into the ground where it emerges as springs far down on
the valley walls.
The trade winds also bring storms that dump large amounts of rain in very short periods of time which the
islanders collect in lots of reservoirs and pools for use when it is dry. According to the locals the rain the
other day was the first they’ve had in a while. Heh.
We went to a small black sand beach in a town called Alojera. I sat on a wave worn chunk of lava
drinking wine and eating a chicken salad baguette. For desert I had a chocolate filled cruoissant and some
coconut cookies… In sunshine to boot.
Strange to think that this is the shortest day of the year and that the Sun has begun his ages old journey
north again.
May the rising Sun bring health and happiness to you all.
May the growing light guide you in the cold of winter.
May “that which is greater than the all” bring you safe through all of Winter’s trials.
Bright Blessings and…
Thanks for reading.
KJ
The pics are here.
Posted in Ashore | No Comments »
-----------------
2014 Postscript
Later that evening after dinner I went and found a little Internet/Gaming Cafe and logged onto the Internet.
In my living room back in Calgary my family was having a Yule dinner.
With my eldest daughter's EEEpc setup so its camera could see the room, I was able to join the fun!
I could see and hear them, but they could only hear me as the cafe computer didn't have a webcam.
Was a lovely way to celebrate and made this poor, slightly homesick sailor very happy indeed.
Thursday, December 18, 2014
Underway to Gomera Dec 18,08
Sunday, December 21st, 2008
We left La Palmas around 10:00am this morning and have been sailing all day South around the island of
Gran Canaria heading for a small island called Gomera. There we will be anchored off a nice beach
apparently so I hope the weather continues to improve.
For a while today we were sailing with all our sails set, save one.That is the first time since I’ve been
aboard. She is a fine sight fully dressed like that I imagine. It’s interesting but as time goes on the rig takes
on a very utilitarian, but still beautiful, look. That is mostly my getting used to it and understanding where
all the lines go and what they do.
Also, except for the first hour or two I haven’t felt very queasy, hopefully that is a good sign.
Not sure what if any Internet access there will be on this small island so not sure when you will get to read
this but hey, that’s life in the “slow lane” :-)
Later…
Just got off our night watch. I had helm for the last hour and watched the rising Sun illuminate the rocky
outline of Tenerife. The volcanoe, active but currently dormant, on Tenerife is 12,000′ high. Along the
south coast are a couple of cinder cones making for a dramatic landscape.
We can see Gomera on the horizon. Mike says we shoulkd be there later today. I saw no lights from there
last night so not sure what that implies for getting Internet access.
Thanks for reading.
KJ
Posted in On Watch | No Comments »
We left La Palmas around 10:00am this morning and have been sailing all day South around the island of
Gran Canaria heading for a small island called Gomera. There we will be anchored off a nice beach
apparently so I hope the weather continues to improve.
For a while today we were sailing with all our sails set, save one.That is the first time since I’ve been
aboard. She is a fine sight fully dressed like that I imagine. It’s interesting but as time goes on the rig takes
on a very utilitarian, but still beautiful, look. That is mostly my getting used to it and understanding where
all the lines go and what they do.
Also, except for the first hour or two I haven’t felt very queasy, hopefully that is a good sign.
Not sure what if any Internet access there will be on this small island so not sure when you will get to read
this but hey, that’s life in the “slow lane” :-)
Later…
Just got off our night watch. I had helm for the last hour and watched the rising Sun illuminate the rocky
outline of Tenerife. The volcanoe, active but currently dormant, on Tenerife is 12,000′ high. Along the
south coast are a couple of cinder cones making for a dramatic landscape.
We can see Gomera on the horizon. Mike says we shoulkd be there later today. I saw no lights from there
last night so not sure what that implies for getting Internet access.
Thanks for reading.
KJ
Posted in On Watch | No Comments »
Wednesday, December 17, 2014
Las Palmas Dec 17,08
Sunday, December 21st, 2008
Was on galley duty today which wasn’t too bad really. I also laid in with the rest of my watch working on
getting the ship ready to sail. We are supposed to leave for another island in the canaries tomorrow
morning.
I helped to undo and re-bend on the Main Lower Topsail this morning. This entails going aloft onto the
yard and then cutting the old robands, thin strands of manila rope that lace the sail to the yard. Once the
sail is free the lines holding it to the ends of the yard are tightened up with a block and tackle (called a
“handy billy”). Once the head of the sail is tight and centered on the yard, we lace it back on by using
more robands. It’s odd to think of the ship being pulled along by what amounts to twisted grass.
Hopefully there will be Internet access wherever we endup in the next couple of days but if not oh well
that’s the way the cookie crumbles…
Speaking of cookies, as I typed this Bruce came back from shopping and offered me a chips ahoy cookie.
Synchronicity in action :-)
Thanks for reading.
KJ
Posted in On Watch | No Comments »
Was on galley duty today which wasn’t too bad really. I also laid in with the rest of my watch working on
getting the ship ready to sail. We are supposed to leave for another island in the canaries tomorrow
morning.
I helped to undo and re-bend on the Main Lower Topsail this morning. This entails going aloft onto the
yard and then cutting the old robands, thin strands of manila rope that lace the sail to the yard. Once the
sail is free the lines holding it to the ends of the yard are tightened up with a block and tackle (called a
“handy billy”). Once the head of the sail is tight and centered on the yard, we lace it back on by using
more robands. It’s odd to think of the ship being pulled along by what amounts to twisted grass.
Hopefully there will be Internet access wherever we endup in the next couple of days but if not oh well
that’s the way the cookie crumbles…
Speaking of cookies, as I typed this Bruce came back from shopping and offered me a chips ahoy cookie.
Synchronicity in action :-)
Thanks for reading.
KJ
Posted in On Watch | No Comments »
Monday, December 15, 2014
Driving across Gran Canary Island Dec 15,08
Monday, December 15th, 2008
Went with John, David and Gary for a jaunt across the island today in a little rent a car. The weather was
really wet and rainy up high. We spent most of the trip in the clouds but it was better than hanging around
the ship watching for chafe on the docklines :-)
Actually while we were out one of the docklines chafed enough to part. When we got back they had
rearranged a bunch of the lines to reduce the chafe.
The pictures of our jaunt are here.
The center of the island is very rugged with steep narrow valleys and very lush vegetation. There is a
national park somewhere up there, we saw the sign in the mist.
When we came back down to the NW corner of the island we saw some amazing surf, it was breaking
20-30′ high!
I also have tomorrow off so I hope the weather is good so I can just sit and drink cappuccinos and surf the
net :-)
Thanks for reading.
KJ
P.S. It appears that we will be leaving Las Palmas on Thursday to go to another island in the Canaries. We
will be leaving for Senegal some time after Dec 21 when our new pro crew member and mate Veronica
will be joining us.
P.P.S It’s Wednesday morning and I’ve had a great 3 hours doing emailing, chatting and hanging around in
a little Cafe on the waterfront. The sun is shining although the sky has a misty watery look to it. The
electronic sign on the promenade says 21C so not too bad for December 16 :-)
Going to do some shopping at the big 7 floor department store they have here. Probably won’t buy
anything but hey It may be the last Big Store(tm) I’ll see for a while.
KJ
P.P.P.S
Check out this late afternoon shot!
Finally a chance to enjoy some sunshine on the beach on a far away island.
Not a snow shovel in sight :-)
Posted in Ashore | No Comments »
Went with John, David and Gary for a jaunt across the island today in a little rent a car. The weather was
really wet and rainy up high. We spent most of the trip in the clouds but it was better than hanging around
the ship watching for chafe on the docklines :-)
Actually while we were out one of the docklines chafed enough to part. When we got back they had
rearranged a bunch of the lines to reduce the chafe.
The pictures of our jaunt are here.
The center of the island is very rugged with steep narrow valleys and very lush vegetation. There is a
national park somewhere up there, we saw the sign in the mist.
When we came back down to the NW corner of the island we saw some amazing surf, it was breaking
20-30′ high!
I also have tomorrow off so I hope the weather is good so I can just sit and drink cappuccinos and surf the
net :-)
Thanks for reading.
KJ
P.S. It appears that we will be leaving Las Palmas on Thursday to go to another island in the Canaries. We
will be leaving for Senegal some time after Dec 21 when our new pro crew member and mate Veronica
will be joining us.
P.P.S It’s Wednesday morning and I’ve had a great 3 hours doing emailing, chatting and hanging around in
a little Cafe on the waterfront. The sun is shining although the sky has a misty watery look to it. The
electronic sign on the promenade says 21C so not too bad for December 16 :-)
Going to do some shopping at the big 7 floor department store they have here. Probably won’t buy
anything but hey It may be the last Big Store(tm) I’ll see for a while.
KJ
P.P.P.S
Check out this late afternoon shot!
Finally a chance to enjoy some sunshine on the beach on a far away island.
Not a snow shovel in sight :-)
Posted in Ashore | No Comments »
Friday, December 12, 2014
Las Palmas Gran Canarie Dec 12-13,08
Saturday, December 13th, 2008
Yesterday John, Gary and David and I went ashore for a laundry run and to do some Internet stuff and
generally have a look around.
Las Palmas is a very European place very much like Mallorca but newer. Not really too much to see. It
would be really nice if it was sunny and hot but it is actually fairly windy and cool. The German tourists,
hardy sorts them, don’t seem to mind though.
Had a nice dinner in a restaurant called the Happy Cockerel and hit the bunk around 10:00pm.
Went for a wander hunting a Geocache with John this morning.
Found it part way up a cinder cone on the North side of the beach.
So I have done the second thing on my “bucket list” which was to walk on a volcanoe. Number one was to
sail on a square rigger which is currently underway :-)
After finding the cache we walked North down to the little town of Las Colorados. The surf there was
incredible. There was a blow hole that would stream water and spray for a good 10-15 seconds after the
wave passed.
We then walked back along the coast and had coffee and a croissant in a little cafe on the promenade.
An interesting phenomenon here is the use of Santa Claus in decorations. They are all little stuffed Santas
climbing ladders into the apartments. In one narrow street we saw 5 of them! There are also the three
Magi doing the same. They look kinda like looters after a power outage or something.
After picking up my laundry I headed back to the ship and then went over to the Danmark to take a look
around. The Danmark is a bigger ship than the Picton Castle so there is a lot of room aboard as the
available space goes up as the cube of the dimensions. The typical crew is 100, 80 trainees and 20 pro
crew including a chef and a full time baker!
Their decks are holystoned and all brass is highly polished. Being “ship rigged” she has a lot more rigging
and lines around the mizzen mast. She also has 3 wheels, two before the chart house and one on the poop.
There is also a big electrically operated windlass for raising the anchor. Nice.
I’m going to try and head over to the technical museum this afternoon which has a display on ships and
maritime transport.
Looks like we will be here until later next week due to visa issues going to Senegal so I might tag along
with the gang who are planning on renting a car to see more of the island.
Thanks for reading
KJ
Pictures of my rambles in Las Palmas are here.
Posted in Ashore | No Comments »
Yesterday John, Gary and David and I went ashore for a laundry run and to do some Internet stuff and
generally have a look around.
Las Palmas is a very European place very much like Mallorca but newer. Not really too much to see. It
would be really nice if it was sunny and hot but it is actually fairly windy and cool. The German tourists,
hardy sorts them, don’t seem to mind though.
Had a nice dinner in a restaurant called the Happy Cockerel and hit the bunk around 10:00pm.
Went for a wander hunting a Geocache with John this morning.
Found it part way up a cinder cone on the North side of the beach.
So I have done the second thing on my “bucket list” which was to walk on a volcanoe. Number one was to
sail on a square rigger which is currently underway :-)
After finding the cache we walked North down to the little town of Las Colorados. The surf there was
incredible. There was a blow hole that would stream water and spray for a good 10-15 seconds after the
wave passed.
We then walked back along the coast and had coffee and a croissant in a little cafe on the promenade.
An interesting phenomenon here is the use of Santa Claus in decorations. They are all little stuffed Santas
climbing ladders into the apartments. In one narrow street we saw 5 of them! There are also the three
Magi doing the same. They look kinda like looters after a power outage or something.
After picking up my laundry I headed back to the ship and then went over to the Danmark to take a look
around. The Danmark is a bigger ship than the Picton Castle so there is a lot of room aboard as the
available space goes up as the cube of the dimensions. The typical crew is 100, 80 trainees and 20 pro
crew including a chef and a full time baker!
Their decks are holystoned and all brass is highly polished. Being “ship rigged” she has a lot more rigging
and lines around the mizzen mast. She also has 3 wheels, two before the chart house and one on the poop.
There is also a big electrically operated windlass for raising the anchor. Nice.
I’m going to try and head over to the technical museum this afternoon which has a display on ships and
maritime transport.
Looks like we will be here until later next week due to visa issues going to Senegal so I might tag along
with the gang who are planning on renting a car to see more of the island.
Thanks for reading
KJ
Pictures of my rambles in Las Palmas are here.
Posted in Ashore | No Comments »
Thursday, December 11, 2014
Las Palmas in the Canaries Dec 11,08
Friday, December 12th, 2008
We sailed into the harbour of La Palmas this morning.
There are two other square riggers here. The full rigged ship Danmark, she has square sails on all three
masts, from Denmark and the Tenacious which is a barque like us, from England. The Captain
served as Bosun on the Danmark and still calls her the “Finest Sailing Ship Ever”.
According to a book listing all the Tall Ships the Tenacious is designed for handicapped sailors as well as
able bodied ones from ages 17-70. The tops have guard rails! I will try and get some pictures of her.
My watch is still on duty today but I have the next two days off so hopefully there will be some good stuff
to share with you all.
Thanks for reading
KJ
Posted in Ashore | No Comments »
We sailed into the harbour of La Palmas this morning.
There are two other square riggers here. The full rigged ship Danmark, she has square sails on all three
masts, from Denmark and the Tenacious which is a barque like us, from England. The Captain
served as Bosun on the Danmark and still calls her the “Finest Sailing Ship Ever”.
According to a book listing all the Tall Ships the Tenacious is designed for handicapped sailors as well as
able bodied ones from ages 17-70. The tops have guard rails! I will try and get some pictures of her.
My watch is still on duty today but I have the next two days off so hopefully there will be some good stuff
to share with you all.
Thanks for reading
KJ
Posted in Ashore | No Comments »
Wednesday, December 10, 2014
Underway to the Canaries Dec 10,08
Friday, December 12th, 2008
Since I had galley duty yesterday I didn’t have to stand the normal watch so I took the opportunity to do
what I seem to always do when free here…sleep.
Had my normal 4:00am watch though, which was rough for me this time. The weather was actually pretty
good. We had fairly warm temperatures with a steady NW Force 5 wind with gusts to force 6. Steering
was hard as she tends to bounce around in the waves and gusts. I lost track of how to bring her back
steady on her course at one point and the Mate had Ben take over till she was stabilized. For some reason
I had alot of trouble staying alert for the rest of the watch. Must be the motion which is making me a bit
queasy again.
We will be getting to the Canaries on Thursday afternoon at this rate.
I saw the North Eastern most island on the horizon this morning.
Thanks for reading.
KJ
Posted in On Watch | No Comments »
Since I had galley duty yesterday I didn’t have to stand the normal watch so I took the opportunity to do
what I seem to always do when free here…sleep.
Had my normal 4:00am watch though, which was rough for me this time. The weather was actually pretty
good. We had fairly warm temperatures with a steady NW Force 5 wind with gusts to force 6. Steering
was hard as she tends to bounce around in the waves and gusts. I lost track of how to bring her back
steady on her course at one point and the Mate had Ben take over till she was stabilized. For some reason
I had alot of trouble staying alert for the rest of the watch. Must be the motion which is making me a bit
queasy again.
We will be getting to the Canaries on Thursday afternoon at this rate.
I saw the North Eastern most island on the horizon this morning.
Thanks for reading.
KJ
Posted in On Watch | No Comments »
Monday, December 8, 2014
History Unfolds
I have posted all the entries up to Dec 8, 2008.
Jayne suggested I post the rest as well but schedule them to appear on the equivalent dates to when they originally happened. That sounds like fun and a great way to re-live my Atlantic Passage.
Even though I tried to write something everyday, when I originally posted these entries to my Wordpress blog they were posted in batches whenever I managed to get ashore and get WiFi. You can see the date they were posted in bold as the first line of each post. I will be re-posting them daily instead of in those batches.
On a fun note the dates and days of the week in 2008 are the same as in 2014!
Thanks for reading and following along.
KJ
Jayne suggested I post the rest as well but schedule them to appear on the equivalent dates to when they originally happened. That sounds like fun and a great way to re-live my Atlantic Passage.
Even though I tried to write something everyday, when I originally posted these entries to my Wordpress blog they were posted in batches whenever I managed to get ashore and get WiFi. You can see the date they were posted in bold as the first line of each post. I will be re-posting them daily instead of in those batches.
On a fun note the dates and days of the week in 2008 are the same as in 2014!
Thanks for reading and following along.
KJ
Underway to the Canaries Dec 8,08
Friday, December 12th, 2008
It took until 11:00 to get clearance to leave, then we up anchored and
motored away from Essaouira, there being almost no wind. By mid
afternoon there was a light NW breeze and we started to set sail. By
the time I went on watch at 4:00pm we had all our square sails set and
most of the fore and aft ones as well.
A pod of dolphins came by for a romp in the bow wave around 2:00pm, they are amazing to watch up
close. They can swim much faster than we can sail.
We are now sailing along at 5 knots under a partly cloudy but moonlit
sky. The air is warm and the ship steers beautifully. As the captain
told me when I was on helm “It’s a lovely evening”.
I noticed something interesting tonight. The sea has no smell. There
is no “sea smell” to speak of at all. The smell I had always
associated with the sea is actually the smell of the shore. Interesting
that I just noticed that now. Hopefully that means I’m getting more
comfortable with this sea life thing.
The trip to the Canary islands will take 3-4 days and the weather forecast is for fair winds building over
the next couple of days.
I have galley duty tomorrow so I don’t have to stand our night watch tonight which is sweet. Plus we are
sailing on the starboard tack so the ship heals to port. Now since my bunk is on the port side I will be held
into my bunk instead of risking being thrown out as she rolls.
Thanks for reading.
KJ
P.S. Just finished the breakfast dishes and thought I would write this down before I forget it. Last night
about 3:00am I woke up to an odd sound. It was like a long drawn out squeak but very quiet. At first I
thought it was something moving with the rolling of the ship but after a while it was obviously coming
from the water. My bunk is below the water line so sounds in the water are pretty clear. I think perhaps it
was whales.
Have to keep an eye out today and see if they can be seen.
Posted in On Watch | No Comments »
It took until 11:00 to get clearance to leave, then we up anchored and
motored away from Essaouira, there being almost no wind. By mid
afternoon there was a light NW breeze and we started to set sail. By
the time I went on watch at 4:00pm we had all our square sails set and
most of the fore and aft ones as well.
A pod of dolphins came by for a romp in the bow wave around 2:00pm, they are amazing to watch up
close. They can swim much faster than we can sail.
We are now sailing along at 5 knots under a partly cloudy but moonlit
sky. The air is warm and the ship steers beautifully. As the captain
told me when I was on helm “It’s a lovely evening”.
I noticed something interesting tonight. The sea has no smell. There
is no “sea smell” to speak of at all. The smell I had always
associated with the sea is actually the smell of the shore. Interesting
that I just noticed that now. Hopefully that means I’m getting more
comfortable with this sea life thing.
The trip to the Canary islands will take 3-4 days and the weather forecast is for fair winds building over
the next couple of days.
I have galley duty tomorrow so I don’t have to stand our night watch tonight which is sweet. Plus we are
sailing on the starboard tack so the ship heals to port. Now since my bunk is on the port side I will be held
into my bunk instead of risking being thrown out as she rolls.
Thanks for reading.
KJ
P.S. Just finished the breakfast dishes and thought I would write this down before I forget it. Last night
about 3:00am I woke up to an odd sound. It was like a long drawn out squeak but very quiet. At first I
thought it was something moving with the rolling of the ship but after a while it was obviously coming
from the water. My bunk is below the water line so sounds in the water are pretty clear. I think perhaps it
was whales.
Have to keep an eye out today and see if they can be seen.
Posted in On Watch | No Comments »
Essaouira Dec 7,08
Friday, December 12th, 2008
After an excellent nights sleep in a non-rocking bed I got up and had along leisurely shower in a
non-rocking shower and then an excellent continental breakfast sitting at a non-rocking table.
Did I mention that the Hotel was non-rocking :-)
The big plan for today was to go camel riding in the afternoon. I spent a couple of hours surfing the net
and looking for hints on how to extend the battery life on my laptop then wandered off to the boat landing
where everyone was meeting.
Essaouira is so friendly and clean by comparison to Marrakech that it wa almost like walking at home.
The camel riding was really cool. There were 5 of us, Ryan, John, Gunner, Gary and me. It cost 150 DH
for an hour and we headed down the beach towards the sand dunes and ruined fort to the South. It was
facinating and very hard on the thighs. A camel is a lot wider than a horse so by the end of the hour I was
really ready to get off even though that hurt too.
After that we just wandered around eating and wasting time till the 7:00pm skiff run. Time well spent in
this fascinating place.
Tomorrow we leave for the Canaries which should take 4-5 days depending on the weather.
Thanks for reading.
KJ
Here are some pictures from my adventures today!
Posted in Ashore | No Comments »
After an excellent nights sleep in a non-rocking bed I got up and had along leisurely shower in a
non-rocking shower and then an excellent continental breakfast sitting at a non-rocking table.
Did I mention that the Hotel was non-rocking :-)
The big plan for today was to go camel riding in the afternoon. I spent a couple of hours surfing the net
and looking for hints on how to extend the battery life on my laptop then wandered off to the boat landing
where everyone was meeting.
Essaouira is so friendly and clean by comparison to Marrakech that it wa almost like walking at home.
The camel riding was really cool. There were 5 of us, Ryan, John, Gunner, Gary and me. It cost 150 DH
for an hour and we headed down the beach towards the sand dunes and ruined fort to the South. It was
facinating and very hard on the thighs. A camel is a lot wider than a horse so by the end of the hour I was
really ready to get off even though that hurt too.
After that we just wandered around eating and wasting time till the 7:00pm skiff run. Time well spent in
this fascinating place.
Tomorrow we leave for the Canaries which should take 4-5 days depending on the weather.
Thanks for reading.
KJ
Here are some pictures from my adventures today!
Posted in Ashore | No Comments »
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