Archives for June 2011

First Taste of Lake Chop on a Day of Connections

Position: Alongside Buffalo Erie Canal Harbor
Wx: WSW F 6, Mostly Sunny

Arriving in Buffalo, PRIDE OF BALTIMORE II is serving as a lynchpin for a number of connections. First off, in this 199th year since the War of 1812, we bring the East Coast story of the Baltimore Privateers, their successes haranguing British commerce and ultimately their role in inspiring the Star-Spangled Banner to a Great Lakes Port rich with its own 1812 history. Buffalo and its surrounds had the thunderings of Fort Erie firing from the Canadian shore, daring “cutting-out” expeditions in which American sailors snuck aboard and stole British ships in the dead of night along the Niagara River and all the skirmishes and tension you might imagine in a place so strategically located along navigable waters.

Beyond that, we come from our own Inner Harbor to a section of Buffalo envisioned by Buffalo to become its own waterfront attraction, and at a time when progress towards that goal is really starting to happen. Fittingly, our escort in to the Harbor included the newly re-christened SPIRIT OF BUFFALO, under the command of Captain Rich Hilliman – native of Buffalo and former Captain of Baltimore’s own LADY MARYLAND!

This day of connections started out after a good night’s rest along the West Street Wharf in Port Colbourne. Sailing off the wall and out into Lake Erie, the crew of PRIDE II got their first taste of Great Lakes Chop. While we were transiting the Welland, a Westerly breeze was churning up Lake Erie into a considerable sea state. Granted, it was only blowing 20 knots, and the sea state was “just” three to five feet, but in fresh water, ANY sea state is a considerable sea state. The water is less dense, so the ship floats lower. In PRIDE II’s case two inches lower. And in the Great Lakes, the running joke is that when they say 3-5, they mean that many seconds apart. As with most jokes, there is an edge of truth to it – this morning’s Eastern Lake Erie Buoy report was for a four foot sea, every five seconds.

That kind of spacing knocks a boat, even a 185 ton one, around a bit. So the crew, who thus far had only experienced Lake Ontario in near calm conditions or with favorable Easterlies, got to feel the bumpy, washboard road sensation of the Lakes. Fortunately, Buffalo is East of Port Colbourne, and so down wind. But we still had some maneuvering to do in the lake, lest we be early for our grand arrival.

As I wrote yesterday, the Lake Erie Interclub Race Fleet was in Abino, Ontario, just ten miles East of Port Colbourne. The Interclub is a series of races hosted between five yacht clubs in Eastern Lake Erie. At the end of June each year for over 50 years, boats from each club do five or six races – both across the Lake between the homeports of the clubs and “round the buoys” at several of the clubs. This gives opportunities for different styles and distances of races, as well as letting each of the clubs play host to the visiting boats.

As it turns out, they had one more “round-the-buoys” race today. So as we sailed out we saw a fleet of 40 modern yachts, plus one classic Alden ketch charging along to the North of us. Aboard one of the modern yachts was my Uncle, Tom Trost, and in command of the ketch was David Bierig, the sailmaker in Erie I once worked for. Giving a wide enough berth not to interfere with the racing, we brought PRIDE II up on the wind and did a sail-by to leeward of the finish line, just as the first round of boats were finishing. There was a connection to make there too.

Seventeen years ago, I sailed that race as a teenager. I was working as the mast man aboard a 46 foot International Offshore Rule Racer named ARIES – my job was to haul (or “jump”) the halyards for all the sail changes, and assist the bow man with all the set up and clean up in between. It was a step and fetch it job, no down time, all hustle with heavy gear and lots of maneuvering, charging around race courses with a constant and laser focused eye toward every tenth of knot gained, every yard of distance shaved off the distance. I didn’t have a clue at the time, but that series back in 1994 and everything else I did like it were laying a foundation, because it is the very same type of sailing we do aboard PRIDE OF BALTIMORE II.

That same summer, PRIDE II came to Erie for a Tallship’s event a few weeks after I had sailed the Interclub. She was among 14 other vessels, but she was my favorite, just as she was when she’d come to Erie in 1989 and 1993. (In case anyone was wondering, officially and for the record, she is, in fact, still my favorite.) All I knew of this “traditional sailing” back then came from reading Treasure Island or Jack London’s Cruise of the Dazzler. But PRIDE II’s sleek lines and lofty rig screamed speed to me. In ’93, I went to the festival on my birthday, and it was so crowded I only had time to see one boat before I had to go to work. I saw PRIDE II. In ’94 she was in port alongside the replica warships ROSE and NIAGARA, and as a tourist aboard her I asked one of the crew “So you’re faster than all the rest of these boats, right?” The reply, “We have to be, they’ve got more guns than we do,” was coated with humor, but delivered, naturally, with pride. The ship was fast, and this guy knew so for a fact, but was clever enough to be modest in admitting it.

I never dreamed then that I’d someday be in command of PRIDE II. But here I am. And there was the racing fleet I’d grown up in. So, with time to spare in the schedule, I had to make a showing. We sailed so close I could recognize some of the boats from the ’94 race, still going strong, though ARIES has long since been sold out of the fleet. We tacked away, and as we turned on our heel, I gave a call to the fleet on the radio, telling them they all looked great and wishing them fast racing and safe sailing. But maybe what I should have said was “Thanks for the training, guys. You taught me a thing or two about speed. And look where it helped get me. Now I’ve got to go and sail the hottest schooner in the fleet to Buffalo.”

All best,
Jamie Trost, Captain aboard PRIDE OF BALTIMORE II

326 Ft. Climb

28 June 2011
Position: Alongside West Street Wharf, Port Colbourne, Ontario
Wx: WSW F 3-4 Partly Cloudy and Warm

Pride of Baltimore II has made it up Niagara Falls…Sort of…By using the eight locks of the Welland Canal, the ship has “climbed” 326 feet today, and bridged the gap between Lake Ontario and Lake Erie. A fitting event for my first passage back in command, because just sixty-five nautical miles to the Southwest are the very waters on which I first learned to sail. And meanwhile, yacht racers from my childhood are in a Canadian port just ten miles to the East of us, finishing up the Annual “Interclub” racing series between Lake Erie Yacht Clubs.

Our sailing aboard Pride II was overly speedy en route from Rochester, but thanks to favorable breezes we sailed from the entrance channel of Rochester to within sight of the entrance to the Welland, reducing sail at times to make the canal at day break so our guest crew could get a good look at the spectacle that moving ships vertically can be.

Compared to the sailing, the locking through the Welland was much more work. The crew have plenty to do rigging wooden fendering to protect the ship and lines to take up as furiously as the water fills the deep box of the locks. There are eight total locks in the canal, seven of them raising the ship over 40 feet. Thanks to careful positioning by the lock crews, Pride II encountered minimal turbulence, which translates to less work for the crew. But still lots of work. As a pay off, the crew was able to look astern from the top of Lock 7 and see clear back (7 miles) and down (326 feet) to Lake Ontario.

With eighteen hours of sailing and twelve hours of locking behind us, we are sitting pretty to make Buffalo – a mere 20 miles East – for a grand arrival tomorrow. Lake Erie has churned up a 5 foot chop, and the forecast is for moderation tomorrow, so we are taking the opportunity to rest up and get ready to wow them in Buffalo tomorrow.

All best,
Jamie Trost, Captain aboard Pride of Baltimore II

A Great Weekend in Rochester

DATE: SUNDAY JUNE 26, 2011
LOCATION: ROCHESTER, NEW YORK
CHANGE OF COMMAND BETWEEN CAPTAINS MILES & TROST

Rochester has proven to be a very busy port. The usual set up of the ship takes crew several hours rearranging the ship from voyaging mode to port festival mode. This involves a myriad of activities:

re-stowing emergency gear (designed to be available in case of abandon ship) down below to permit PRIDE II to appear more as she might have appeared back a couple of centuries ago;
furling sail used to parade PRIDE II into port;
setting up, both ashore and aboard, propaganda displays depicting the coming Star-Spangled 200 and bicentennial of the War of 1812;
figuring out and setting up electrical hook-up of the ship to the local power grid, as well connecting to the fresh drinking water network.

PRIDE II approach Rochester with Schooner Lynx — Pride of Baltimore II approaching Rochester with the Schooner Lynx.

It is most beneficial to all that PRIDE II was able to catch up to her original schedule and parade into Rochester Harbor on schedule with Schooner LYNX last Thursday at noon. Arriving any later would present the specter of doing all of the above prep in a compressed rush.

On top of the above there is the need to figure out crew work schedule between maintenance needs, festival needs and of course some time off. Oh, did I forget shopping? What about the needs of the galley? How and where do we send the cook to shopping? Then the phone rings…concerning daysail passenger candidates wanting to reserve space…or the local festival organizer regarding logistics or the mail that has been received on behalf of the ship…or getting the latest passenger manifest from the office for the scheduled daysails…or a friend of the ship living locally offering a car and a summer cottage for the crew!?!

Bob Castle is father to David Castle, PRIDE II crew alumnus currently out in Portland, Oregon. Young David arranged with his family to let PRIDE II’s crew use the family summer cottage and have transportation to get between that cottage and the ship, as well as any other errands wanting to be run. Thursday evening Bob met with me and took me on a tour of the cottage a mile and a half away and turned a car over to me. What a sublime setting and thoughtfully useful gift to the crew and the ship!!! And what a lot of coordinating added to the regular coordinating. The festival organizers had also provided a hotel room to the ship…some 8 miles away. With the Castle car, it became possible to get the crew between the cottage and the ship in shifts as well as get this captain to the hotel. But wait…LYNX’s captain does not have any transportation and also has a hotel room. And LYNX’s crew are welcome to the cottage as well. OK. PRIDE II’s captain has the car. So there was a lot of end of the day driving to get folks back and forth. By the way, late in the day was often around 11 PM! Because both Friday and Saturday the ship had obligations that went that late.

Now it is time for the “change of command”. Captain Jamie Trost returns to PRIDE II and Captain Jan Miles head’s off for Maryland and home & office till the end of July when he returns to PRIDE II. Jamie is coming from LYNX…only a couple of boat lengths away…so the captains discussion of the status of things is spread out over several days rather than compressed into less than a day. Sunday afternoon finds Jamie heading off for a daysail aboard PRIDE II and Jan standing on the dock dropping dock lines.

Rochester is the first Great Lakes port for this campaign. It was a busy stop with a number of day-sail events per day scheduled between being open for deck tours. During this port stop, with all of the public activities as well as getting crew to and from the cottage as well as the captains to and from the hotel, it was also important to locate and procure fuel, food and spare parts. Considering the tremendously thoughtful gift of the cottage and transportation provided by the Castle Family…something that will not be available at future ports…it will be interesting how similar scheduling & logistics will transpire. I am certain we will all look back at Rochester as particularly special for the most thoughtful gift provided by the Castle Family!!!

Signed,
Jan C. Miles, A Captain with PRIDE OF BALTIMORE II

Nearing Rochester…On Time!

DATE: WEDNESDAY, JUNE 22, 2011
TIME: 1430 EDT
POSITION: CROSSOVER ISLAND
WEATHER: STEADY DRIZZLE & LIGHT NORTHEAST WINDS

PRIDE II is now negotiating the 1000 Islands of the Upper St. Lawrence River. The challenge of catching up three lost days of transit out of a planned total of ten seems to be met. The plan is to arrive off Rochester in company with Schooner LYNX at noon tomorrow…a plan put into play more than a month ago…but was at risk when PRIDE II was trapped in Lunenburg early last week…weather bound for three days.

The key to catching up the three lost days was balancing fuel use with sailing opportunities while keeping a high enough average speed to catch up the lost three days of time. It is 1,160 nautical miles to Rochester from Lunenburg. Having ten days to cover the distance required 4.8 knot average speed. Covering the same distance in seven days required 6.9 knot average. Meanwhile there is not enough fuel aboard PRIDE II to motor for whole distance. Plus the distance is not truly representative of the actual through the water distance traveled considering the need to motor against the flowing current of the St. Lawrence River.

There was not much wind to use right after departing Lunenburg. In fact no wind was there till 36 hours after departing Lunenburg. When the wind did show, it came from a helpful direction with enough force to help PRIDE II cover over two hundred nautical miles in less than 24 hours. Except for that short fresh breeze, PRIDE II would not be able to contemplate arriving Rochester on the originally intended day.

While we did not get much sailing beyond a day in. We caught a significant break! Typically wind in the St. Lawrence River comes from the southwest. This is the first time in almost two dozen trips up & down this river the wind has been predominately northeasterly. Having a favorable wind while motoring makes a huge difference in PRIDE II’s motoring speed and fuel efficiency. I had been worried that going fast enough under power to make up the lost time could use too much fuel and we might just be on time only to lose to the need to stop for fuel. As it stands now, it looks like PRIDE II will arrive Rochester with less than seventy gallons…which is less than ten percent of fuel capacity and represents only twelve hours of engine time.

With so much motoring, what kinds of things do the crew do when not sailing? If the weather is good, maintenance. With the additional good fortune of dry weather while motoring up the St. Lawrence River the crew were able to do quite a bit of painting while PRIDE II was grinding her way up river to the Great Lakes.

We still have more than a hundred nautical miles to go…something could still go wrong…so please keep an eye out for the Rochester news. There ought to be two Chesapeake Bay Schooners arriving at noon tomorrow.

Cheers,
Jan C. Miles, Captain aboard PRIDE OF BALTIMORE II

Playing the Game of "Catch Up"

DATE: FRIDAY JUNE 17, 2011
TIME: 1300 ATLANTIC DAYLIGHT TIME = 1200 EASTERN DAYLIGHT TIME
POSITION: NORTHUMBERLAND STRAIT BETWEEN CAPE BRETON ISLAND AND EAST END OF PRINCE EDWARD ISLAND.
WEATHER: FLAT CALM, SUNNY, PLEASENTLY DRY & WARM

We are making a stab at catching up with the original itinerary from Lunenburg towards Rochester, New York. We are three days behind schedule due to the easterly winds that kept PRIDE II in Lunenburg.

So far we are keeping to the new “catching up” schedule of still trying to arrive in Rochester on the original date…despite being behind by three days at the start of this transit. The problem with this effort is that it is right on the edge of feasibility. Several things can go wrong. The central trick is to keep a reserve of fuel for the required motoring up the narrow part of the St. Lawrence River, i.e., not use more than the excess allowance of fuel beyond what is required to climb the narrow part of the river as we make our way through open water to the narrow part of the river.

The only way we can achieve this goal is to find favorable wind during the more open water areas of the route to Rochester…wind that will push PRIDE II along at the needed speed, or faster, for at least a day without motoring…hopefully nearly two days. In other measure, we need to be able to cover at least 200 nautical miles under sail…it would be better if we could cover 400 nautical miles…before we reach the pilot station at Les Escoumins, Quebec (about 150 nautical miles east and down river from Quebec City). If we cannot find enough wind to carry PRIDE II the needed distance in short enough time…we will arrive late through waiting to sail the needed minimum distance…no matter how long it takes. So I am keeping track of the weather forecast and continually reassessing what fuel we can use while the wind is not strong enough to push PRIDE II along fast enough to catch up with the itinerary.

Right now, and since departing Lunenburg, there has been very little wind. The little bit of wind that showed itself Thursday as we traveled east along the Nova Scotian coast was favorable, but not enough strength to keep speed up with the goal of catching up our lost time. Had we decided the lost time was lost to us and accepted a late arrival in Rochester…we could have sailed yesterday about half to two thirds the time. But we would have taken almost half again as long to cover the distance. If we had done that, we would be near 12 hours behind where we are now. The current strategy is to go ahead and see if we can keep a higher speed while under power when the wind is not blowing, with the hope the new and favorable wind expected tomorrow (Saturday) will enable us to turn engines off and still sail at our motoring speed, or even faster. If we can get at least 24 hours sailing time (preferably longer) of similar speed to what we are achieving under power, or faster, I think we can conserve enough fuel to not risk running out at the last little bit of distance before arriving Rochester, while also catching up to the original itinerary.

The success of this strategy is dependent on the weather report. If the forecast I am seeing turns out to be mostly correct, it looks like we may be able to get 24 hours, maybe even longer, of similar or faster speed while sailing without engines during Saturday and part of Sunday. If we are able to achieve that, I think we could be successful with this hurry up effort.

Wish us luck!

Cheers,
Jan C. Miles, Captain aboard PRIDE OF BALTIMORE II

A Break in the Weather

Thursday, June 16, 2011
PRIDE II…finally able to depart Lunenburg bound for Rochester, New York.

For three days PRIDE II has been weathering out contrary weather on the Atlantic shore of Nova Scotia. But it looks now like the weather is changing and PRIDE II will be able to depart early Thursday for her destination of Rochester, New York.

So…what has been this contrary weather? And what is Lunenburg like for a weather bound vessel?

The weather has been a pretty consistent easterly wind of between 20 and 35 knots caused by a low pressure area south of Nova Scotia. Low pressure zones in the northern hemisphere rotate counter clockwise. As a result, being as there is a low to the south of Nova Scotia, there are winds rotating from east to west north of the center of the low, blowing along the Nova Scotia shore, setting up sea swells of 2-3 meters…6 to 10 feet…coming from the east as well. For PRIDE II to proceed towards the Great Lakes, she must head east from Lunenburg. The easterly conditions are impossible to motor into without using a prodigious amount of fuel and risking damage to PRIDE II by pounding into the waves. Not motoring directly into the weather means zig-zagging first to the south, then to the north, while trying to gain distance to the east against the wind and the swell. Trying this also presents a lot of wear and tear on the ship and crew. In the end…it is my experience that it is better to wait…even at the risk of appearing at our next obligation behind schedule. Meanwhile, it is looking like the waiting might provide a bit of a favorable push along our way after we turn north at Cape Canso to cross the Gulf of St. Lawrence. This “push” might come in the form of another low system sliding east-southeastward from the bringing south to southeast winds ahead of it starting late on Friday. It might be that this new low pattern could track in such a way as to help PRIDE make a speedy run through the Gulf and around the Gaspe Peninsula. If such were to happen…maybe we can capture back much of our delay and not be altogether late into Rochester. The proof of this will be in the doing. But we can surely hope!

For any not-for-profit managed vessel like PRIDE II Lunenburg is a terrific port stop. There is a kind of language of special understanding about such vessels as PRIDE II in Lunenburg by many of those that live and work here. The commercial fishing vessel services understand the needs that a vessel like PRIDE II has and how they can help during our stay in Lunenburg. For instance Adams and Knickle generously provided complimentary docking with electricity and fresh water. The office of PICTON CASTLEprovided access to internet and local knowledge and transportation to run errands…as well the fax machine to complete Canadian Customs paper processing. Of course there are recreational establishments that know how to satiate the mariners thirst and hunger. There is also interesting marine history to be seen here…the rebuilding of the Canadian Fishing Schooner BLUENOSE II and The Fisheries Museum…if the captain provides time off to the crew so they might see such. Lunenburg is also home to the building of local small schooners…two by the company that operates the PICTON CASTLE…as well the sailing of them…kept on moorings out in the harbor during the summer, ready for immediate sailing and easily visible to PRIDE II’s crew as they work at tending to PRIDE II while waiting for a break in the weather.

But as nice as it is to visit and linger in Lunenburg…there is a job to do elsewhere…and time is slipping by. With the break in the weather…it is time to go. So off we go in pursuit of the job PRIDE II is tasked with doing.

Signed,
Jan C. Miles, Captain aboard PRIDE OF BALTIMORE II

Waiting Out Weather in Lunenburg

DATE: MONDAY JUNE 13, 2011
POSITION: LUNENBURG, NOVA SCOTIA, CANADA

The weather outside is contrary for where we want to go…but the conditions in Lunenburg are friendly.

Lunenburg is very well known worldwide as being a multi-century fishing port and the home of the fastest cod fishing schooners of all of North America.

As nice and friendly as Lunenburg is to sailing vessels of all kind, the weather can be quite the opposite. Today is officially PRIDE II’s departure day, but we cannot depart because of the weather. Currently there are wind measurements along the coast ranging from >20 knots to >30 knots from the easterly quadrant…the very direction we need to go to continue the trek into the Great Lakes.

The more important news about this weather is not that it is strong…quite the contrary…the current easterly winds are from a quite moderate low passing by to the south of Nova Scotia. Rather, it is about how long these winds may continue to blow. Forecasts are indicating these fresh contrary winds could last well into Thursday!!! Such a reality will really put a crimp in PRIDE’s ability to make her next port of Rochester, NY on schedule. The situation has my nearly undivided attention…I will keep all appraised as time rolls on by.

Meanwhile the crew have been able to get some significant milestone maintenance accomplished and also get some well earned time off.

Saturday the crew painted a full new coat of paint to the yellow whale strake on the outside of PRIDE II as well another full coat of black on the bulwarks. Having the weather and the time to do such painting is hard to come by considering that usually PRIDE II is available to the public when she is in port. But visiting Canada as a foreign vessel requires meeting the rules of Canada and that means not being available to the public without making certain government related arrangements. Which are time consuming and not without expense…so we are only cleared into Canada on a “passing through” basis, hence not doing any public business. This situation provides time for uninterrupted maintenance…and the odd bit of time off.

For those of you that follow sailing history, you will know that Lunenburg is home to some pretty famous vessels.

The “home team” vessel of renown is Schooner BLUENOSE II. A really excellent reproduction of the most famous Canadian Cod Fishing Schooner BLUENOSE…the holder of the equivalent to the America’s Cup from the intense fishing schooner racing of the early part of the 1900’s between the American cod fishing schooner fleet and the Canadian cod fishing schooner fleet of nearly 100 years ago.

The other well known “Lunenburg vessel” is the Barque PICTON CASTLE…at the moment sailing home from her fifth around the world voyage…due to arrive this Saturday, Saturday June 18.

BLUENOSE II is currently being rebuilt…some say being rebuilt to virtually new…meaning there won’t be much of the original BLUENOSE II save for her masts, spars, rigging and sails. The project is a pretty big wooden construction. There is a lot of modern wooden construction technique being used…i.e. laminated frames…to name one significant difference to the normal way of building a cod fishing schooner. But as different as that may seem…it is a good decision for added strength & longevity and really does not much change the plank-on-frame style of construction used back in the day. One can see the construction via the internet. At the moment the frames are done…but the planking is only about half completed. The schedule has BLUENOSE II sailing again in 2012. She will again be a truly grand sight upon the water!

In all other ways Lunenburg is a standard Nova Scotia town with very quaint style and friendly helpful residents. There is an ongoing effort to keep the town waterfront from turning into residential condos and knickknack stores by preserving the functionality of the commercial marine wharves and maritime commerce buildings. The buildings that are on the waterfront have been there for more than 100 years, most of them, and are all imminently preservable and functional. As a result, the town is featured as “the New England” town in the series of made for TV movies JESSIE STONE staring Tom Selleck.

Signed,
Jan C. Miles, Captain aboard PRIDE OF BALTIMORE II

Closing in on Lunenburg, NS

DATE: FRIDAY JUNE 10, 2011
TIME: 1300 EASTERN DAYLIGHT TIME/1400 NOVA SCOTIA TIME
POSITION: MOTORING PAST LIVERPOOL, NOVA SCOTIA

PRIDE OF BALTIMORE II is about 5-6 hours away from Lunenburg motoring along in light and contrary conditions. We have been motoring since yesterday around mid afternoon with nearly calm wind. This light and variable weather reality presents the option of arriving in Lunenburg this evening rather than wait till tomorrow. Arriving early will provide for some extra maintenance and readiness time for the ship as well maybe some down time for the crew before heading off on the next much longer 10 day transit between Lunenburg and Rochester, New York.

I have updated our friends at the office of BARQUE PICTON CASTLE. They have made arrangements for a dock and with my news that we could be coming in early, they have set things up for that eventuality. For those not familiar with BARQUE PICTON CASTLE, she is soon to finish her fifth around the world voyage. For those interested in her adventures and curious of the possibility to sail on a square rigger, let me direct visit PICTON CASTLE’s website read all about such opportunities and adventures. There are few square rigged vessels in North American available for anyone to sail on. Now that PICTON CASTLE is returning to North America, it will again be possible to get a chance to sail her this summer…without having to sail around the whole globe to do so. Check her out!

Signed,
Jan C. Miles, A Captain of PRIDE OF BALTIMORE II

Boston to Lunenburg ~ Ocean Sailing

DATE: JUNE 9, 2011
TIME: 1000 HOURS EDT
POSITION: 42d 54m NORTH X 68d 15m WEST, OR NEAR MID-GULF OF MAINE
WEATHER: WNW’rly 15-20 KNOTS, HIGH ALTITUDE CLOUDS
SEA STATE: 2-3 FEET WITH 5 FOOT GROUND SWELL
SPEED: 7 KNOTS
HEADING: 085 MAGNETIC
SAILS SET: ALL SAIL (MAIN, FORE, STAYSAIL, JIB, JIB-TOP, FORETOP, MAINTOP)
TRIM: BROAD REACHING ON A PORT TACK

Moral aboard is high. This year’s crew feels they are now finally making a “real” ocean sailing passage as PRIDE II heads out across the Gulf of Maine toward Cape Sable at the southern tip of Nova Scotia. The weather is fair and the sailing is good.

Meanwhile, Boston was an opportunity to have family day for a full third of our crew who are from the area. We have two from the Peacock clan of New Hampshire; we have one from the Ordway clan of outer Boston and one from the Krasinski clan of Boston. This is the highest concentration of New England crew I can recall being aboard PRIDE II at the same time. Or maybe it is the highest concentration of Boston centered New England crew I can remember being aboard PRIDE II. I guess it does not matter. There was family everywhere aboard!

Getting the ship and her crew ready to go to sea is a matter of checking and rechecking the status of spares, stores, functionality of gear, last minute maintenance on top of the regular maintenance and dealing with a lot more paperwork because of going foreign. With the help of Pride, Inc.’s staffer Jane Wilcoxson and PRIDE II’s 2nd Mate a whole lot of paperwork needed to be accomplished before getting underway. In these days of potential terrorism it is required to notify the 1st foreign port of call that you are coming by boat at least 4 days before arrival…or on departure day if the voyage is shorter. The information required includes all the particulars of the ship and her legal status as well as a list of everyone who’s sailing aboard. We must also declare any taxable items beyond a certain quantity and we must declare the quantities of certain goods on a list…if carried. All this must be understood and fulfilled before departure. Jane Wilcoxson is a master at getting the information and making sure all the details are addressed. Meanwhile the 2nd Mate made sure details needed were provided by all aboard and I made sure all of the proper information was located. After a lot of emailing back and forth to verify all the forms are filled correctly and the ship has copies of what was submitted to Canadian authorities prior to departure…it became time to get underway at around 3:30 PM.

After motoring out of Boston Harbor against an on-shore breeze, we found a decent slant near Boston Light and set all sail and had a great sail away from Massachusetts as the sun went down in the west. The sea was smooth and the wind fresh enough to give all aboard a sense of great speed and a quick trip. As I said, spirits were high.

This morning the weather has moderated some and speed has dropped so there won’t be a record run…knowing the forecast I could have told everyone that…but why spoil their fun? But the conditions remain mild and PRIDE II continues to sail at around 5-7 knots. The weather forecast indicates some changes coming tonight. Wind is described to change from W-NW towards North with threat of thunderstorms as another moderately weak cold front passes by late tonight. We saw lighting off in the distance to the west last night and heard weather warnings of thunderstorms occurring back ashore and near the coast. None of which bothered us. I am uncertain what might be the chance of a thunderstorm tonight. Such things are to be given a great deal of respect. I can only hope that we won’t be approached by any. If we do get approached…sail will have to come in till such threat passes…it is really the only thing to do.

Signed,
Jan C. Miles, Captain Aboard PRIDE OF BALTIMORE II

Boston and the War of 1812

The War of 1812 did not play out in Boston the way it did in Baltimore. Boston was never directly bombarded due to Fort Independence, which guarded Boston from marine invasion, and possibly the fact Boston was not building a type of vessel that was causing the British fits like the Baltimore Schooner did that caused the British to be interested in getting past Fort McHenry so as to burn the Fell’s Point shipyards building the fast “sharp built” Baltimore Schooners. But the waters off of Boston did see a number of American vessels captured by the British Navy during American efforts to conduct trading by water near Boston.

Boston is the home of “Old IRONSIDES”, the American Navy’s longest surviving warship, the USS CONSTITUTION. During the War of 1812 with England, OLD IRONSIDES engaged the Royal Navy on four separate occasions and won all of them. While none of these engagements had any pivotal impact on the course of the 1812 War, they did have a significant impact on the self esteem of Americans at an uncertain time during our early years as a nation, as well as earning the grudging respect of both the British Empire and the rest of the world for American boldness, seamanship and inspirational maritime naval prowess. USS CONSTITUTION is reputed to have gotten her nickname of OLD IRONSIDES due to sailors observing a cannon shot “bouncing” off of USS CONSTITUTIONS hull during the vessel’s first naval engagement, which took place off of Nova Scotia against the HMS GUERRIERE.

PRIDE II is moored in Boston at Rowes Wharf. Over the years Rowes Wharf has been very generous permitting PRIDE II to dock as a guest through the auspices of Sail Boston, a not-for-profit organization that concentrates on providing welcome of sail training vessels on behalf of Boston. On this arrival yesterday the Colombian sail training vessel GLORIA was leaving just as PRIDE II arrived to take her place. PRIDE II’s stop in Boston on the inbound voyage to the Great Lakes was primarily for the purposes of exchanging Guest Crew between transits.

The Maryland Port Administration (MPA) took advantage of PRIDE II’s stop in Boston by hosting a sailing reception of their commercial maritime partners in the Boston area. There was not a breath of wind so PRIDE II was motored around the edge of Boston harbor. Just before the end a cannon salute was made toward Faneuil Hall.

Today the crew are completing some “get ocean ready” details for the long trek around Eastern Canada on the way to Rochester in Lake Ontario. By 1400 hours…all crew could be given the rest of the day off. With only two nights in port it is very hard to both keep PRIDE II functional and provide the crew with time off. But to tell the full truth…the crew are very anxious to make this voyage. So, even a little time is received very well.

Signed,
Jan C. Miles, Captain aboard PRIDE OF BALTIMORE II

Archives for June 2011

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