been a very busy one! Every morning is pretty much the same - wake up at 7:15, breakfast at 7:30, muster at 8am. Domestics are first - meaning everyone cleans our respective ships - then we are given our jobs for the morning until lunch at noon. We muster again at 12:45 and then more work, followed by training until around 5pm, dinner at 6pm and evenings free. By 10pm, most everyone has crashed for the night. As my friend Joanna says, there is very little thinking involved, since someone (or your body) is dictating your every move.
There is so much preparation to be done before we sail, despite the fact that for the majority of the time PC has been up on blocks in dry dock - meaning we had to climb the long way up to get on deck to carry out our various duties. Those of you who know how well I am (not) with heights know THAT in itself was a feat for me. But I did it and feel very proud of myself! Maybe I will make it aloft!
On Tuesday morning, I was put to work busting rust on deck. That means taking a hammer - and in tights spots a chisel - and hammer the crap out of the rusty spots to break all the rust off until we reach bare steel underneath. Then it's sanded down, covered with coro-seal, repainted with aluminum primer, primed, followed by a final paint job. It's a great job for anyone needing to vent any frustrations! Nicksa, one of the pro-crew (but not on our voyage) came over to me and told me not to worry about how hard I hit it, just to give it all I've got! Well(ahem), I'm paraphrasing a bit... Anyway, he told me the story of a girl on previous journey who, after breaking up with her boyfriend, only wanted to rust bust. All I could think was, "But I'm not mad at anyone...". Meh, I gave it my all, anyway, and did a smashing good job of it, too, I might add! Heh heh heh, no pun intended!
Later that afternoon, I was busy cleaning the galley and, as the counter tops are copper, a lot of polishing was involved! But, with a fresh coat of paint (a cheerful white with blue trim) and spotlessly clean, it looks quite nice! It even has an old-fashioned pump for water, which adds a bit of a charming quality to it.
Wednesday I was out to work in the warehouse packing and labeling books. Picton Castle delivers literally thousands of schoolbooks and reading material to various places, such as Pitcairn and Cape Town and all must be sorted and categorised, then packaged in plastic and labeled in preparation of being loaded into the hold. Wednesday afternoon, the captain was hoping to take out the small boats and do some training, but as it was cold, rainy and windy, he decided it wasn't a great idea. So, we met in the dory shop, where the smaller boats are built, and went over the basics there. For the most part, our small boats are controlled with oars, rather than engines, and so everyone has to learn the proper terms and maneouvers in order to get anywhere. I'm thinking by the end of this trip I should have some pretty impressive pipes!
Thursday I was put on Galley duty, along with Joanna, Brad, Kate and Nadja, Our pro-crew supervisor. That meant my day started at 6:00am. I was to report for duty aboard Zebroid, although breakfast was served aboard Chidley. Before I headed over I stopped to put the coffee on - a VERY important job - as well as making sure the kettle was on for hot water. No sooned had I left then the power went out! Apparently the power connection to the shore had some issues and it took a while to fix it. So, breakfast was served in the dark using flashlights. Flexibility is a very important quality to possess in order to survive on a venture such as this one! You just gotta go with the flow. But the four of us had a lot of fun! After breakfast we made our way over to the ship to finish the galley and stock it with utensils and cookware.
In the afternoon, everyone was called onto the ship to help with raising the anchor. Using the windlass on the front of the ship with 5 people per side we pumped the chain back onboard. We each took at turn at the windlass, and by my third time I thought I would puke - that's how hard it was! But on the plus side, who needs "Buns Of Steel? By the end of 14 months I should have the butt and thighs of a 20 year old! Woo hoo!
Friday PC finally came out of dry dock. Again it took a few hours to do - they needed to check the integrity of the hull before she was actually permitted to sail - so Adrianne, another Albertan and I headed to Bridgewater - a larger town about 20 minutes away to do some shopping. We hit Mark's Work Warehouse to stock up on some work pants. Apparently "Carhartt Pants" are a "must" for any true tall ship sailor, so we had to do our part to fit in. Once you have them, it is imperative they look as dirty and broken in as possible. We also stopped at a bead shop to pick up fancy twine and beads to make our "lanyards". Lanyards are made of braided twine and attached to our knives and marlin spikes. Everyone personalizes his or hers in their own way. Marlin spikes are exactly what they sound like - big spikes used for a variety of different uses from undoing stubborn knots to hammering nails when you don't have a hammer handy. Both are attached to a belt slung low on your hip, ready to use at a moment's notice. After lunch, once the ship was back at the Adam and Knickle Wharf (pronounced kuh-nickle), we all began a much-needed cleaning job of the ship. I was put to work swabbing the decks, which turned out to be a lot of fun.
Everyone was pretty excited to actually be moving in to the ship that would carry us on our adventure, although most of us chose to move the majority of our things in but still spend one final night on our respective ships since they were still heated and PC is not. Saturday was more of the same - moving in and getting settled until lunch and then we practised bracing, Bracing is when you change the tack (orientation) of the sails and then secure them. For example, if the wind is coming over the left (port) side of the ship, you would change the sails to a port tack to catch the wind in them. If the wind changed to a starboard or right side tack, then you would have to change your sails to catch the wind and then "brace" them. Make sense? Its really not as complicated as it sounds, but it takes quite a few hands to change all sails at once, given that there are two masts to work with, each having five yards (or levels) of sails. One side needs to ease the sails and the other needs to haul them. It was freezing cold, but I think we all managed to get the basic gist of it.
Saturday night, as much as I hate to admit it, the princess in me surfaced. I was so unbelieveably chilled to the bone and desperately wanted a bath, so I booked into one of the local hotels and did just that. Undoubtedly the most I've ever paid for a bath but WELL WORTH IT! I slept like a baby (for the most part) and woke up feeling well rested and rejuvenated. Sunday was a day of rest and so I gladly slept in, then headed over to the local pub/restaurant, have breakfast and some good coffee. Once I finished that I walked the 20 minutes to the laundry mat to do some much needed laundry! What a great feeling to have clean clothes - we get so dirty! It was well worth the walk in the rain to get it done.
Today, it was busness as usual. In the morning I was put on domestics and then we were busy, again, getting the ship ready to sail. My job was to carry wire "rigging" (wire cables that attach the sails to the yards) from the warehouse, to the hold of the ship. Not a clean job to say the least because each line is oiled and tarred and very messy. Once we got it into thehold, we had to sort it and hang it until it's ready to be rigged. At least I got my Carhartt's well broken in! My hands were black by the time I finished. I spent 10 minutes scrubbing my nails, but alas, to no avail. They are going to be permanently black for the remainder of the journey or so I'm told. Sigh, I guess it is just all part of the adventure...Tomorrow, weather permitting, we are going to do our first "up and over". That's when we climb up to the first yard (called the course) and over for the very first time. Hmmm, given that I am not a fan of heights, it should prove to be very interesting. But, I am determined to try.
So that's the scoop for this week. Stay tuned for my next installment coming soon... Hope everyone is well!
Wow sounds perfectly brutal Tammy...ah what we do for buns of steel. I hope you are enjoying it thus far ? It sounds like you are staying on the Picton now...did you get the bunk you wanted and did all of your stuff fit ? Miss you. Love D'arcy
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