Standing on the wall whilst trying to have a dry shower- Tall Ship Race Aarhus (Denmark) to Helsinki (Finland)

At the start of the race

The city of Aarhus had certainly pulled out all the stops to entertain the crews when over 100 tall ships and yachts sailed into the harbour. I signed onto my ship (SV Tenacious) just in time to enjoy the crew party where I embarrassed myself by dancing salsa with the bosun and various members of the Mexican Navy.

The tall ships races are organised by Sail Training International and see over 100 sailing ships racing in different areas of the world each year. There are different classes of ship ranging from class A which describes all the square riggers with a length of over 40m (such as SV Tenacious) to modern rigged yachts (with a water line length over 9.14m).

The next day the new voyage crew arrived on board and carried out a number of drills including an abandonment drill and a “first actions” fire drill. This basically means that myself and the bosun had to don our fire PPE (personal protective equipment) and BA (breathing apparatus) sets and be “prepared to fight a fire”. This was the first time I had donned the kit in real time so I managed to pull both spare BA sets off the shelf in my hurry to don my kit….whoops!

Overtaking on day 1

Part of my job is to be “on bells” every other night which means that if any alarms go off in the night they sound in my cabin for two minutes before going into general alarm. To prevent it from going into general alarm (which wakes up the entire ship) I have to accept the alarm in the machinery control room (MCR) which involves clambering out of my bunk, running about 150m (including two flights of stairs) and passing through 5 doors without waking up anybody else…..all in under  two minutes! 

If I’m “on bells” I’m the on-call engineer which, on this night meant that I was woken up at 0405hrs to turn on the engines as we needed more speed. In a slightly masochistic way, this is actually one of my favourite parts of the job as I feel particularly useful and being on call reminds me of being on the RNLI lifeboat in Aberdeen, UK.

The third day and night produced really heavy seas and high winds gusting up to 40 knots in some areas and we raced along at over 11knots. In the morning The Captain announced that one of the older tall ships (a Norwegian vessel built in 1898 called “Wyvern”) sank in the early hours of the morning. Initially the report stated that no lives were lost, but during the course of the day we understood the whole tragedy. The Wyvern started taking on water and a nearby tall ship (“The Wilde Swan”) came to stand by to offer assistance. All 10 crew from Viva were winched up by helicopter when it was decided that the ship was lost whilst crew of The Wilde Swan managed to get a couple of salvage pumps to run. Three of The Wilde Swan crew volunteered to go onto the Viva and try to pump her out. They only got one pump working but managed to pump out the forward part of the ship. Unfortunately the aft section was still heavy with seawater so the ship suddenly up ended and sank bow upwards. Two of The Wilde Swan volunteers managed to jump free of the sinking ship, but the third crew member became caught in the rigging when the ship suddenly up ended and started sinking and was lost. The news hit home the dangers of tall ship sailing and we can only pray for the poor soul lost at sea.

As a sail training vessel we take calculated risks and the Captain was quick to state that the risk is part of the training as we all have to come together to ensure safety through team work. However, I think the following announcement of forecasted heavier seas and stronger winds was consequently taken a little more seriously.

We have been extremely busy in the engineering department during the heavy seas as we are having issues with both the sewage plant and the freezer. On top of this, we have to turn the main engines on (in neutral) every four hours in order to lubricate the propeller shafts (as the propellers are spinning in the water due to the high ship speed and the lubrication is only produced by the action of the engine). Working is made difficult by the strong winds and heavy seas as the deck is currently angled at around 40° to port and we are pitching an additional 40° forward and back. Over 60% of the voyage crew are seasick which is making sail handling a little light handed (but at least it means there is always second helpings at meal times!) 

We remained in heavy seas and at a ridiculous angle for a few days so that both voyage and permanent crew started to feel the strain. (It is hard work when you constantly have to walk at an angle and have to rugby tackle doors open!) One of these nights I was on bells and the noise of the sails, sea and wind and the uncomfortable tack angle (that meant I was in a constant battle with my lee cloth- the piece of material that is rigged up to stop me from falling out of bed) did not allow me any sleep.  So, at 0200hrs I gave up and went to turn the engines so that by the time I did get to sleep it was well past 0300hrs. I awoke at the usual time and immediately sorted out the engines. However, I was shocked to see the unimpressed face of the Chief Engineer….Apparently I had slept right through an alarm at 0330hrs! Apart from the fact that it is my job to respond to the alarms, I was very worried as they are safety critical! However, I think it was a culmination of bunged up sinuses from a cold and lack of sleep….I still owed the Chief a beer and the Captain a massive apology though!

As punishment, I had to spend the entire morning in the forward pump room stuck behind one of the fresh water tanks, changing the element in the calorifier (which had earthed during the night and set off the alarm)…..This was less than uncomfortable given the amount that the ship’s bow was banging against the waves! The rest of the day was spent problem solving the freezer with the Chief (who had, by then, forgiven me slightly). 

After another day that started off at an angle of 40° to starboard (making getting out of bed more of an effort than usual) the wind completely dropped off so that, by the evening, we were barely making any way at all. We could only hope that the other vessels were facing the same issues, although, the first ship (a modern rigged yacht) crossed the finish that morning. 

Changing a light bulb at the top of the foremast

I spent the next day mostly doing plumbing; creating new piping for the freezer plant. On top of that I completed the usual daily maintenance, rounds, sucked out some of the bilges and reacted to little bits and bobs as they occurred including changing a light bulb (at the top of the foremast). It turned into a beautiful sunny day and we could see one other tall ship on the horizon as well as the island “Gotland”….I love my job!

I was on duty again that night so I drank a ridiculous amount of coca cola and ate lots of sugar and kept my fingers crossed that I would hear any alarms (as well as getting up at 0300hrs to turn the engines as usual).  

One of the main difficulties that we had during the trip was a serious water shortage problem. We had the amount of water that would usually last one day, with at least three days sailing ahead of us….. Our fresh water is held in five tanks, but there is no separation, so we have one load of fresh water that has to last us for food, drinking water, shower, laundry and washing etc. The voyage crew were really good and conserved water wherever possible, but it was still really tight and we nearly had to enforce a complete shower ban to make sure we had enough to drink and cook with. The lack of water was especially difficult for the engineering department when we had really dirty jobs and were unable to wash up properly. One day I took apart the plumbing that connects the oily bilge tank to the oily water separator and cleaned out the blockage. This involved getting covered in smelly, dirty, oily water and at the end of the day I had to put a tiny amount of water on me and cover myself with soap before wiping myself down with a (subsequently very dirty) towel….The joys of living at sea! 

After another period of heavy seas and high winds we all (once again) endured standing on the walls (due to the angle of the ship) and worked hard so that we finished the race in 6^th position in class and 33rd overall! On top of that but we finished with the freezer working (thanks to my superior plumbing skills), the bilge pump back on line and all systems go!   

All that was left was to continue to conserve water (most of our voyage crew carried this out by drinking beer instead of water) and elbowing our way into Helsinki harbour amidst 100 other tall ships and yachts! 

Next stop….Freemantle, Australia.

Making the most of time "onshore" - a young girls dream of Vietnam

Of course one of the advantages of being a professional seafarer is the time onshore when I’m not working… 

I must have been around 16 years old when I created a “list of things to do before I’m 30” because, at the time, I clearly believed that you had somehow “passed your prime” at 30….hmmm. The list mostly describes trekking routes and countries that I wanted to visit but it also included experiences such as “seeing the Pope at the Vatican on Christmas day” and “getting a dog”. (For your information I achieved the former in 2002 but it looks like I’m going to fail at the latter). I took stock at the age of 25 when I discovered that I had achieved most of my list and I spent a couple of years feeling pretty happy with myself…..Then I started adding to my list. It appears that the more I travel and experience, the further I want to travel and the more I want to experience!   

One of the non-movers on my list was the high priority entry of “visiting Vietnam”. The reason I had never done it was three fold: 

1)      Lack of money when I had time 

      2)      Lack of time when I had money 

      3)      I wanted to “do it right” (refer to reasons 1 and 2)

So, when I thought I was going to be on a ship working off Vietnam I took a leap of faith and booked a trip….Naturally, I left the company before the ship went to Vietnam *sigh*

So, last month I spent the most wonderful three weeks in Vietnam. I started in Hanoi where I met up with an old University friend and visited Halong Bay. We spent a magical night floating on a boat between seamounts that rose majestically out of the water, under a sky glowing with stars where all we could hear was the sound of the animals on the nearby mounts and the occasional plop of the fishermen’s nets. I realise the irony of spending time on a boat when on holiday, but I make much more sense on a boat!

I then met up with a group and we cycled around 70km every day to travel from Hanoi down to Ho Chi Minh. The cycling was tough (very tough on some days- e.g. 15km up a 10% incline!!!) but it was worth it to be part of the scenery and to have the blessing of space and tranquility that cycling allows. We travelled through paddy fields, tiny Vietnamese villages, over mountain passes, along the coast and around various temples and palaces. Cycling through the villages was brilliant as the children would always come running out to wave at us and shout “hello” and try to slap our hands as we passed. These moments where usually closely followed by Water Buffalo altercations- Vietnamese Water Buffalo become more agitated further South and find joy in splashing me with muddy water as they run in front of my bicycle! 

Cycling down highway 1 was a bit of a dichotomy in landscape, but the atmosphere it created knowing what happened there and with that famous picture fresh in my mind made it a hard road to cycle on without being in constant prayer for the children of the war.

The day after we arrived in Ho Chi Minh I took a tour to the Mekong River Delta. Here we explored some of the islands and enjoyed various different traditional boats and canoes (yes, I was back on the water!) It was incredible paddling up the small tributaries between the islands as you got a real sense of how awful it must have been for the soldiers and fighters (on both sides). The rain here can be torrential and this creates natural booby traps in the mud on the islands and must have made fighting both physically and psychologically exhausting. Add to this the fact that the tributaries wind and bend back on themselves and are covered with high grasses so that you could never be sure which direction you are travelling. It was really humbling to experience it.

If anyone is considering travelling to Vietnam, then just go! The country is beautiful, the people are really friendly and the culture and history is just awe inspiring. 

Tamsin Smith 01-07-2013