Returning to Norway was always going to be a milestone in
mine and Swan’s itinerary. The vagaries
of weather would be an unknown element in the plan but a known challenge would
be the relatively short time frame to prepare her. This is exacerbated by the even sharper turn
around on return from Norway when we have less than 36 hrs to slip for Orkney
on the start of a 3 week charter (more on that later . . ). Fortunately Scott and I have been reinforced
by Ailish. Having just completed a 1001
mile passage from Arhuss to Helsinki aboard the German square rigger “Alexander
Von Humbolt 2” as part of this year’s tall ships race her mettle is up and she
is amassing as much sea time as possible.
She has also realised that sea time is only part of her nautical education
and thus has become a dockside fixture learning about the range of broader
skills required to keep a boat like Swan in seaworthy order.
The three of us thus turned to with a range
of preparatory jobs, everything from having the capstan repaired (alas still
ashore in ITU) to victualing for a 10 day passage. As well preparing for sea we also had to
squeeze in some other jobs, a potential film shoot (which only got as far as
the recce and initial planning stage) and a day sail which was also cancelled;
is there a theme here? We finally
convened a training syllabus meeting, something that I have been keen to
progress and believe I can usefully contribute to as one of my strengths and
interests. Only be careful what you wish
for since I had not only to articulate idea and circulate pre meeting but
subsequently write and circulate a draft syllabus before departure. It is however something that I believe is
very important.
Enough of pre departure.
Having welcomed aboard the passengers, it was time to start to make
introductions; social and seamanship.
There is a clear legal delineation between the terms “passenger” and
“crew” and yet on an boat like swan I like to consider us as one crew who work
the ship together and of course the strict “crew” can’t easily work the ship as
a sailing vessel alone. Its back to the
difference between a group and a team.
So inductions, safety briefs, instruction in safe working practices and lunch
before casting off shortly before 1600 hrs into the North Sea.
There was a good southerly breeze and we set a reef based on
the old adage of “if you are wondering if it is time to reef, then it is” but
it was a cautious call. No matter we
made good progress with a steady 6 plus knots.
As with most sailing boats, Swan does well on a reach and as she does
less well than modern boats do when going to windward the pleasure of reaching
is extenuated. She was showing a good
pair of heels but reaching may be an unfortunate term for those of the crew
having a less enjoyable time. We had an
uneventful night and Sunday. There is
not much traffic but breking through the line of oil and gas platforms provides
a welcome miledtone at three levels.
Firstly it represents about half way, secondly it provides “scenery” to
the backdrop of sea and sky and thirdly it provokes thoughts on man’s ingenuity
as well as deeper questions on carbon economy and use of the earth’s
resources.
We also started to mull our destination landfall and after
some discussion opted to headed north to Maloy.
This would allow us to then cruise the coast in a southerly direction
and hopefully be a little further off the wind on the way home. How far south we get will depend on a number
of factors. Turning slightly down wind
and a general fall in wind strength anyway reduced the apparent wind. For non sailors think perhaps of a car crash,
if two cars collide head on each doing 15 mph then there is a collision speed
of 30 mph. if however one car “shunts”
another when the front car is travelling at 15 mph and the rear car at 20 mph
then there is a collision speed of 5 mph.
So with this fall in apparent wind we elected more sail but rather than
shake out the reef we ran out the bowsprit and hosted the jib. We back up to more than 7 knots and rapidly
closing the Norwegian coast.
There was even time and weather to shoot the sun for a "midday run sun" sextant sight.
It was now that we became a temporary stop over for a racing
pigeon. His (or her) arrival was greeted
with much excitement as not only a break to routine but a chance to offer
sucker to a shipwrecked mariner. The
pigeon did not stay long enough to gain a name but was delighted to take water
and after a bit of a rest and a deck inspection as thorough as any 1st
mates took off again and headed north until we lost sight.
Another good nights sailing was rewarded by a glorious sun
rise
and shortly after a first glimpse of land.
This was fleeting as an offshore mist soon showed
the view and shortly
after we were hit by a squall.
The wind strength rose 10 knots and we fought to
drop the jib as the wind first caught it and then when sheet and halyard were
eased and traveller hauled inboard, it flogged in the wind until grappled to
the deck to be subdued and lashed. Spray
across the foredeck added to the drama and breaking waves on the skerries and
rocky islets completed the picture and made for a dramatic landfall.
As suddenly as it hit we found shelter in the
lee of an island and were soon dwarfed by the surrounding fjord. An hour or so later we tied up in Maloy. This small industrial fishing town is twinned
with Lerwick but otherwise had no particular appeal and so after a good lunch
we slipped to explore further . . .
No comments:
Post a Comment