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Starting the sailing season in Chesapeake Bay with a new crew is a lot different from going straight out to sea with a new crew, something that has happened on a number of occasions over the decade plus that Pride II has been sailing.

The main similarity between the two scenarios is the five to six weeks it takes to reassemble the ship by the new crew. During that time, the covered empty barge of winter is transformed into a graceful sea going, modernly equipped, 1812 privateer. During those first weeks, the crew gets to know each other and the ship, both in and out of the water, since the annual dry-docking occurs during the reassemble period prior to the sailing season.

Even if they have never sailed together before heading directly to sea, they will have been together dealing with many aspects of the ship – her rig and hull, their private bunk space, the ship's storage areas, the way of life aboard, ship and company policies, and their own differing styles of recreation and rest. At the end of the spring fit-out, they know each other in a rather intimate way. Not as intimately as they will become over the rest of their six-month commitment, but certainly the beginnings of trust have been established.

Sailing directly off shore is always a shock to the system. But the crew knows a great deal about the ship and themselves, and they bring a lot of experience aboard other vessels. Since those vessels have block and tackle and sail similar to Pride II (except for the combination of sails and the way they work together), there is not a lot of mystery about the mechanics of sail handling. But when at sea, they learn continuously with little rest except for their off-watch time.

Sailing around Chesapeake Bay rather than going directly out to sea consists of a series of daysails during which the sails go up and down within the same day. Between those daysails, there are maintenance and mission responsibilities which break up the sessions of leaning to sail the ship. These pauses offer time to reflect and to talk about their experiences without the pressure of watch and watch turn-around. Bay sailing offers time to gather and discuss as a whole crew rather than a few at a time. Hence sailing in the Bay offers a gentler means of learning the ship. But make no mistake, either system of learning pushes the crew impatiently into becoming proficient at their jobs!

This year, my partner Captain Dan Parrott has sailed the first two weeks of the season. I have the following five weeks. Then at the end of May, Dan relieves me and continues on with the ship for eight weeks. So far, I have had two full 8-hour daysails and two short three-hour daysails with this year's crew. There have been tacking drills with all sail set except the top-gallant (we call it the gant'sl). There have been jibing drills with all sail set including the gant'sl and the studdingsail (we call it the stunns'l). There have been drills sailing the ship with only half the crew using only the foresail, foretopsail, and the forestaysail. Meanwhile there have been a half dozen Open Houses and three dockside receptions. There has also been a lot of maintenance. For instance, the remaining three-quarters of the black hull have been painted (the first quarter was painted when Dan was aboard). All of the "Pride yellow" areas have has been painted. And numerous rigging details have been attended to.

Meanwhile the engineer, Cal Ocampo, has been going over every system in the ship. Earlier this year, while the rest of the crew was rigging up, Cal had to rebuild the starboard engine's head gasket since there was a minor oil leak.

Usually springtime in the Bay has Pride II visiting a half dozen Maryland ports before she goes off over the horizon. But this year, the ship must leave earlier than usual in order to visit a number of East Coast ports on the way to a very full and active two months in the Great Lakes. Getting to the Lakes requires the greater part of a month because Pride II must go all the way around Eastern Canada and up the St. Lawrence Seaway. To accommodate all this activity, Pride II must keep her Maryland spring itinerary brief this year. So besides sailing in her hailing port of Baltimore, she will only visit Cambridge, St. Michael's, and Annapolis. In Baltimore, she attended the annual Baltimore Maritime Festival (next year the Festival will be concur with the Volvo ‘Round the World Race).

Right afterward, Pride II went to Annapolis to participate in the Maryland Heritage Festival. That Festival anticipates the same Volvo ‘Round the World event since after the racers finish in Baltimore, they go to Annapolis to gear up for the start of the next race leg.

As interesting as all this is to the crew, they are anxious to start traveling! And soon it will start. We will stick around until May 14 for the 15^th anniversary Memorial Service in memory of the loss of Pride of Baltimore. Then it is off for the rest of the summer. I know the crew cannot wait.

But while they wait, we must continue to make Pride II ready for being away from home for five months. There are several inventories to check and restock. The cook, Sarah Raff, must try to fill all the galley storage areas to maximize the economics of feeding the crew with food bought at home, which is almost always cheaper than when bought in far away ports. The second mate and the two captains must make sure the ship has all the necessary maritime publications and charts for her voyage. The captains must be sure all the details of the legal status of the ship are up to date and that any special legal requirements along her voyage route have been satisfied before she departs home waters. This year, we will participate in tall ship events in Canada, so that presents international issues like customs, sale of souvenirs, and immigration clearances.

An additional twist for us captains has been the disappointment of not nailing down the crew roster for the whole summer. This year, signing on officers for the whole season has been impossible. Since the current officers must leave in July for previous obligations, two more officers must be located to replace them. They have not been located as yet. Also our cook must leave in June. We have suffered the loss of two cooks who promised they would replace Sara but had to drop out after making their promises. We have only just found someone who can fill in for about a month. So we are still looking for a cook to finish the year. Meanwhile there will be more changes expected in late September as the original crew fulfill their normal contract of six months aboard.

This life is intense and it is usual to begin to tire of the goldfish bowl atmosphere at about the six month mark. So we captains are already looking for more crew to finish out the season which will end on December 14. Got any ideas? Want to be paid a small stipend for a demanding yet rewarding job aboard a very busy traditional sailing vessel? Experience is required, but maybe not a lot.

Cheers,

Captain Jan C. Miles