Fickle Neptune

05-08-2011 10:00

 0230 – 57˚15.5’N x 11˚49.1’E

By Matthew Maples

 

     King Neptune himself must have been upset with us – the race has ended early due to foul winds. A south-east wind blew in the face of all the sailing ships who tried to tack around the north-west coast of Denmark. The tall ship fleet must be in the Swedish port of Halmstad by noon today. With a tight schedule unfit for easy winds, there is but one thing we can do- douse all sail and turn on the “iron jib” down below and steam into the winds. After leaving Stavanger we went south, but needed to sail halfway to Holland before we could make a tack to carry us in between the Danish and Norwegian coasts, and even that tack was not in a position to pass a waypoint that was close to the coast of Denmark. For that we would have had to probably sail yet farther south to continental Europe.

 

     It is an inglorious end to a race that never really seemed to get started. From little wind to wrong wind, the race was ended by the race authorities at 1400 local time on August 3^rd. Most ships were still under sail by this time, but a few of our competitors, such as Oosterschelde, Shtandart, Morgenster and Alexander von Humboldt, had abdicated their positions prematurely and turned on their engines. The trio of large Russian ships, Sedov, Mir and Kruzenshtern stubbornly stayed in the race, along with our the larger Scandanavian vessels such as Christaan Radich and Staatsraad Lehmkuhl. We can be counted among their number, tacking our ship until the end. In the preliminary results, we are set to finish 11 out of 20 in our class, and 44^th overall.

 

    Though we have steamed forward since, it can hardly be said that we had a bad sail. On the contrary, it can be said that we had a good sail because of the bad wind. It forces us to tack, to maneuver our ship under sail. It causes us to muster most, if not all, of our ship’s company and forces us to work together and synchronize our efforts to turn our ship through the eye of the wind…using only the wind. I suppose that is what these races are really about, to get our multi-national crew and trainees to work as one and move our floating community down the coast without spewing exhaust fumes. No mean feat by any measure to maneuver a bark with nearly 30 sails and a crew that is largely new to the ship or even sailing. But we did it, again and again while we were sailing, and probably made a better experience for all of us because of it. As much as some of us might hope for, a good race may not necessarily be with steady winds off our quarter, fishing lines off the stern, drinks on the poop-deck and sun-bathers on the fore!

     Many of our trainees came to sail and perhaps they earned a better experience by having to make the most of a bad wind and to use their muscle and teamwork to brace, set-and-re-set our acres of canvas. Though discouraging that we could not make it to our port under sail, I think everyone understands that it is a lack of time and not ability that prevents this. 

       I don’t think they are that bummed anyway. I saw most of our trainees having “a jolly good time” on the sloop deck this sunset evening, learning Shetland Isle folk dances while one of our trainees, Iain Johnson, a Shetlander, burned away at his fiddle. Apparently they are learning some fun dances to do in the upcoming Halmstad crew parade – a new class aspect to Europa’s on-going pirate-and-mermaid theme?  They still have all the experience and camaraderie of being a part of a tall ship crew, whatever the weather. When not helping us with our character-building work, they seem to be having plenty fun enjoying the sea and its sights, as well as the fun of meeting and making new friends from other countries who also like to play card games.

       I think everyone ( and maybe the galley?) is enjoying the rash of birthdays we are having on board. Cake and pies for everyone and today is the fourth one in a row! Chocolate and cherry cake for our bosun Daniel Baxter, apple pie for Scott Anderson, pineapple upside down cake for Jonas Sandberg, and lemon pie for Lydia Feller. The galley has been in constant use for most of this voyage. It is a good thing we had all that tacking to help tackle burgeoning waistlines!

       We also had an unusual afternoon guest drop in on Wednesday. A wayward falcon landed on the baggywrinkle of our mizzen mast. Unexpected, but perhaps he did not expect to find a conveniently moving island with three trees out in the middle of the North Sea.

       And what of Neptune and the bow-chasing winds he sent us for this race? I suspect this is his punishment for the fleet not using the Force 7 winds he sent us in the Shetlands. No doubt many a sailor there had their fingers crossed for wind, and Neptune duly answered with a fine sailing wind…for the class A big ships! Perhaps he is wroth for our squandering of such winds! To make matters worse, the wind is supposedly going to stop being in our face and come from the west…the day after we are in Halmstad. Fickle Neptune! 

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