Galleries
Clipper Ship "Stad Amsterdam"
2015-10-13 Tuesday - In the Kattegat
I used to see this only in my classic photo books ... now I see this for REAL!
04:00 AM: my first White Watch in the morning (no camera taken with me, too dark yet) An orange and a Twix as breakfast - I used not to be hungry that early ... On the F'csl (indeed they call it "buck"), joining the outlook at the bowsprit. This post is swapped every hour by another crew member - same as on the "Götheborg III". For some reason, I still do not need my cap ... 05:00 gathering in the long room wher we used to have our meals. Some sailing theory, rigging details And here is what makes me a non-seaman: under deck, I get seasick when the ship is pitching. That had been so ever since for me: I have zero problems on deck, no matter how heavy a gale can be - there I can see some horizon. Under deck, I cannot. As soon as I realize this, in order to avoid the worst, I excuse myself to go on deck again - back to the outlook post. In the end I was having smalltalks with THREE crew members in a row on the forecastle (they were: Katrin from Finland, Kristina from Denmark, and Niels from the Netherlands), who were swapping posts - while I was always there, almost 4 hours; again, without my cap ... BTW although this is a Dutch ship, the commando language onboard is English, even without guests. The crew itself consist of members from many nations (Netherlands by large, but also Denmark, Sweden, Finland, UK, and even Germany. The captain Moritz Kuhlenbäumer is a German who settled down in the Netherlands, and he of course speaks Dutch, English and German. Those who can understand each other by their native languages do so in personal smalltalks, or sometimes at the bridge, where the captain would speak Dutch to his officers ... as I live in Sweden, I had some nice smalltalks with Katrin and Emma. BTW: there were a LOT of female sea-wo-men. Actually, Kristina Jacobsen from Denmark, quartermaster and watch leader, is one of the most experienced, respected by the entire crew. Between 9-11 AM I needed still some sleep to fully recover from this mornings seasickness ... sleep is something You never get enough onboard. This is another reason why I am only a see-man: I can take this challenge for a week or so, but then I would be completely exhausted =)
After 12 AM White Watch lunch, I was more or less with the Blue Watch, 12-16 PM
16-20 PM: White Watch, second shift, 4 hours. We never knew if or how much work there will be for sail manouvres. Watch leaders need first to check with the officers themselves what to do. Then they would instruct us what to do. 18:00 Dinner; yet I could not eat up all: again I was kind of seasick - so I went on deck; ok ... 19:00 2nd wearing manourve in the Kattegat, again me at the brace winches, in the dark; all filmed, lots of work and manouvres, but the video I made in the dark is - erm - perfectly black on wide ranges, even with a self-tuning GoPro =) After all that I was worn and sweaty, but ok. That's how it is, this was no lazy cruise.
20:00 PM: the Captains' presentation: a nice weather forecast, we would be able to SAIL without using the aux machine.
P.S.: I made 101 photos and 7 GoPro videos. But they need some editing, I was filming at night! |