The Pride of Baltimore II Logs

June 1997

DATE:	MONDAY, June 30, 1997
TIME:	22:25 1997-06-30 GMT MONDAY (1825 HRS SHIP -4)
POSITION:	Latitude 45 20,70 N Longitude 073 52,58 W In the St. Lawrence Seaway, after clearing the St. Lambert lock
CONDITIONS:	SP: 6.7 KNTS OVER THE BOTTOM. 8.3 KNOTS THROUGH THE WATER. C: 247 M. WX: CALM. SS: FLAT. TEMP: 87 F. BP: 1011.0 F. SKY: CLEAR. 24HR POS: NEAR OGDENSBERG-PRESCOTT BRIDGE TO CANADA.. 24HR WX: SW FORCE 2-4.
ENTERED BY:	Captain Jan Miles

Our run from just down river of Quebec to Montreal was uneventful and less frustrating then it was at the time of my last report when PRIDE was making only 1/2 a knot over the bottom while steaming through the water at 6.5 knots or better. Even so, the current made the ride to Montreal longer than I hoped. We did not get in till four hours later than I had estimated. Also, we negotiated the prettiest part of the river, the area around Quebec City, in the dark and that city was not lit up as it can be. However, on Sunday, there were lots of folks out on the river speeding around in their motor boats. On several occasions, there were as many as a dozen within two of hull lengths of us milling about admiring PRIDE. A bit disconcerting FOR the mates as they navigated the river. But all the gawkers were friendly.

We arrived Montreal after dark at a marina in the old part of the city, called Old Port. This area of town has gone through a lot of changes over the last 15 years. We arrived to the noise of an out-door rock & roll concert. You could hardly breathe for all the noise! But we were docked by 1020 pm and the crew went off to check out the activities.

Now we are underway again. This time there's a lot less current! We are now in the St. Lawrence Seaway, a distinct section of the St. Lawrence River. It is the section with locks between Montreal and Lake Ontario. Up to Montreal there were no locks to limit the speed of the current and help get vessels up to higher levels. Without assistance of any locks on the way to Montreal from the Atlantic, PRIDE alternately struggled or was assisted by currents ranging from 1-6 knots. From Montreal to Lake Ontario the current should not get above 2 knots, and in my experience won't often get above 1 knot.

But now we have locks. The first lock, St. Lambert, was misleadingly easy to negotiate this afternoon (I've covered this part of the Seaway before). This was probably due to the 30 odd small craft that were in the locks with us. The lock manager controlled the rate of water flow into the lock so there was little or no turbulence to distress the small craft operators. This made PRIDE's ride sublime. I have known rides that shove PRIDE around so much that it takes all of her engine power AND the strength of the crew to keep her from twisting in the lock and slamming her head-rig or stern into the lock wall. It appears having all the 'yachties' out and about during these holiday times is a benefit to PRIDE in terms of lock turbulence. If true, maybe we should schedule going up the canal system during Canada's 'Dominion Day' holiday period every time we come this way!

My day today started by contacting the Seaway Authorities to determine if PRIDE could be inspected today. Or was it a national holiday? (If it was a holiday, there is a $600 surcharge to inspect.) Fortunately, today was a working day for the Seaway Authority and an inspector was available for 0930 hrs. Then it was time to give our two temporary cooks money to go shopping for more fresh produce to tide us over for the next week or so. (Pam and Pat have been alternating as emergency cooks on a weekly basis since our previous cook left the ship in Newport, RI.) They had a couple of hours to get what they wanted.

Meanwhile the mate had the other watch diving into maintenance of the cosmetic variety. The Seaway Inspector arrived 45 minutes early, and we get down to verifying that there have been no changes to PRIDE since she was last here in 1993. But we still needed an hour to fill out paper work because the Seaway's form had changed and a new one had to be filled out.

Then we had a consultation with the marina people about when we were leaving. The manager, Mr. Sylvain Deschamps, had given PRIDE free docking for the night as he knew her from her 1993 visit and was expecting her again this August. Then it was off on an errand to change money to Canadian currency to be sure to have enough aboard for the $10 fee per Canadian lock (all but two of the seven St. Lawrence locks are Canadian, the other two are in the United States). The cooks returned from their shopping foray at 1130 and we had lunch before departing.

Vessel prep to 'ride' the locks is a bit special. We can't use normal fenders because if they get ripped away from the ship while in the lock, it is possible they could be sucked into the pumping system. What we use to protect PRIDE are a pair of large, squared off wooden posts. They act as skids while PRIDE rides the lock wall as the lock fills. The filling action often presses PRIDE against the wall, so ordinary fendering can be subjected to a lot of friction downward as the water level rises and presses PRIDE against the wall. The skids are hung from PRIDE's rigging and are quite effective at sliding along the wall.

There is also a custom way we must rig the bow line. As PRIDE enters a lock on the way up the river, the lock is empty and the walls can be 50 feet high. The anchor haws-holes in the bow are not oriented well for the vertical angle of strain that comes to the bow line. So, a large snatch-block is rigged to the inner portion of the bowsprit with a large lashing. The stern line is used in the normal way, i.e. it passes through the stern haws-hole located in the after bulwarks. Only two lines are used to moor PRIDE. Using only two lines reduces the need for crew to lock the ship, which allows one sea-watch to continue to rest.

As I have been writing this, we have cleared the first lock and transited to the second lock, St. Catharine. The fleet of pleasure craft has grown. There's so many now that there is not enough wall space outside the lock for all of them to tie up to while everyone waits for a 'down-bound' ship to come out. So the 'extras' drift around while they wait. PRIDE, due to her size, is permitted to tie-up on the commercial outer wall. It took nearly an hour for the down-bound vessel to clear the lock. Then it was another 1/2 hour waiting for the pleasure craft to get organized and tied up --some of them six abreast. It is difficult to describe the haphazard appearance of 30+ small vessels trying to line themselves up to enter a 100 foot wide lock and get themselves tied up to each other. But they can sure untie themselves quickly and speed off at near 20 knots once they get the green light to go.

I doubt we will have so many little craft for company when it becomes dark and we continue on our way. But then, we may pull over to the side and anchor for the night since we are ahead of schedule. If we did anchor while it was dark, we could see the St. Lawrence in the day light and we might be able to continue maintenance at the same time. We shall have to see. Cheers
Captain Miles

The weather is warm, the sky is clear, the scenery is to ooh and ahh over. An added attraction is our sightings of Beluga whales (an all white mammal that collects in the upper part of the St. Lawrence estuary during the summer). But PRIDE is stuck making less than a knot over the bottom as she pushes against the ebbing stream and a fresh breeze of almost 20 knots. Talk about paddlin-maddlin! PRIDE is all serene and classic above the waterline. But down below those propellers are frothing up the water at a merry rate. And for what? A measly 1/2 knot of speed over the bottom?! There is little else to do. At least this part of the river reverses it's current with the rise and fall of tide. The current we have against us will, in time, push PRIDE along later on today. Till then, we merely churn the water making little headway.

We started this marathon motor up the river yesterday at lunch time. The wind had died a slow and languorous death. After some calculations and consideration of the latest weather report, it seemed better to hit the 'high road', so-to-speak, and start pushing up the river. If we were fortunate with our timing and guessing, we may just make Montreal before supper Sunday night. This would give us all a night off from the motoring before we press on through the St. Lawrence River Lock System. That means more motoring, along with a lot of docking and undocking as we maneuver PRIDE into and out of the seven locks of the upper St. Lawrence. But at rate we're going, we may not make Montreal by supper on Sunday. Too bad! I was looking forward to a movie and some French pastry.

The area of Quebec Province we are passing through is an area of small towns, each with it's Catholic Church, and now abandoned ski facilities on large hills. There is not much boating on the river. Considering the current, that's not surprising. But we have seen some -- two intrepid sailing yachts in the 30 foot class, one ski-do with two riders, and a small cabin cruiser. Since we are less than fifty miles from Quebec City, it was also not surprising to see a fast ferry pass us by as it nearly flew back up the river toward the city.

Life for the crew while PRIDE motors is pretty quiet. There are no sails to handle and so they've settled into the routine of steering, log entry, vessel safety checks below, and standing lookout up forward when the visibility drops or it gets dark. In between watches there is resting, eating and hobbies. The First Mate is a driver though! Nick has his watch getting some tarring done in the dry, warm weather we have recently gotten into.

Speaking of weather. It came as a surprise to read in the e-mail from my colleague and partner, Captain Robert Glover, that it had reached 104 degrees in Baltimore June 25th! Since arriving in Canada, the weather at sea has hardly broken 60 degrees. But today we motored into a nearly hot wind under clear skies. While listening to the local weather reports from Quebec it appears it is pretty warm further inland. The reports have mentioned 22-28 degrees Celsius. That converts to 70-84 degrees Fahrenheit. Not nearly as hot as your 104 with humidity! My condolences. I think it will be hot aboard PRIDE when we get into the Lakes within the next week or so.

Cheers
Captain Miles

PRIDE is again as far north on the Eastern North American Continent as she has ever gotten. From here it is a southwesterly course as she starts the climb up the St. Lawrence River towards the Great Lakes. By the time she gets to Chicago, PRIDE will be 577 feet above sea level. To get that high she will negotiate some 15 locks. There are seven to get to Lake Ontario, some 243 feet above sea level (an average rise of 35 feet in each lock). And there are eight locks to rise up to the level of Lake Erie, some 326 feet above Lake Ontario (an average rise of 41 feet per lock) By the time we're in Lake Erie, we'll be 569 feet above sea level. The remaining 8 foot rise to Lake Michigan will be against a stream of current between Lake Erie and Lake Huron (via the Detroit River, Lake St. Clair and the St. Clair River) which is at the same level as Lake Michigan.

Naturally, there won't be much sailing in the St. Lawrence River or the locks of the Welland Canal that runs between Lake Ontario and Lake Erie. So we are maximizing the opportunity now in the St. Lawrence estuary before we get into the narrow part of the River. Not an easy thing to do in this part of the world because the prevailing current (down river) is against us, as are the prevailing winds (from the west). But we have been doing reasonably well despite the odds.

We managed to sail from Luninburg to Cape Canso (the east end of Nova Scotia), a distance of 160 miles. We also managed to sail for 50 miles near the east end of Prince Edward Island. We sailed from the eastern extremity of the Gaspe Peninsula towards the northwest for 80 miles. This morning we are sailing again, albeit very slowly, in fickle winds from the east. This makes 330 miles under sail for a total distance traveled so far from Luninburg of 557 miles. That's not bad considering that since 1981 I have commanded vessels around this area eight different times and have actually sailed only half of the time.

Maximizing sailing when the air is very light and changeable in direction demands a lot of activity from the crew. Most sail usually comes down if we start to motor. When the wind comes back, the sail goes back up and the engines stop. What we hope for is a wind with some staying power. But we often don't get that so we have to call the stand-by watch to help handle sail. To add to the vagaries of what to do with the sails in the fickle wind is the fact that PRIDE is now within the authority area of the Vessel Traffic Service for the St. Lawrence River. This means we must declare our presence via radio and advise them of our estimated time of arrival (ETA) to the next call in point (CIP). When the wind is helpful this requirement is not a problem. When the wind is not cooperative, there is the extra stress of having to explain to the Traffic Service what is going on. I fear the Service personnel are not used to dealing with the vagaries of vessels under sail, much less one that can't keep to a schedule because of vague winds. In time I suspect we will discover if this "vagueness" is a problem or not.

They next crew member to give you a glimpse into life aboard PRIDE II is Pamela Coughlin, crew member extraordinaire. She has been sailing in traditional vessels for some time and comes to us from the West Coast with a lot of experience in the field of nursing. When we lost our cook back in Newport a week ago, Pamela volunteered to take on the responsibility of cook for the first week. She did a wonderful job. Now she is back on deck and another crew member, Patrick Curry, has taken over the cooking job for the this week. In her "Crew's View" report, Pamela will describe how she became a sailor on a traditional vessel - and why. Click on her story under "Crew's Views" at the top of this page.

Cheers,
Captain Jan Miles

Cheers,

We are sailing along what the Canadian weather officials call the Nova Scotia Eastern Shore -- the coastline east of Halifax. We are now three quarters of the way along it making use of a fickle wind that was once from the north, then the southwest, and is now hinting at going southerly. It is not a strong wind and we have all sail up including the top-gallant and studdingsail. The sky was clear and blue but is now sporting very white, puffy cumulus cloud that is forming over the land due to the increasing heat. The sea is relatively smooth and a gorgeous cobalt blue. The air temperature is climbing with the direct sunlight and the off watch is lounging around on deck. Chris, our Second Mate, is strumming his banjo. Everyone is in good spirits. While the weather helps keep morale high, everyone is a little more expectant of things to come because they have not been in this part of the world before. New territory!

I left readers with PRIDE motoring across the entrance to the Gulf of Maine on her way to Luninberg, Nova Scotia. We arrived there Saturday afternoon having motored all the way, except for the last 10 miles. We treated the locals to a mini-grandstand sail-in complete with cannon blasting announcement of our arrival. Consequently PRIDE and her crew were the talk of the waterfront during her stay. Luninberg is a well known fishing town. It is also the maintenance home for Nova Scotia's proud sailing ambassador BLUENOSE II (she usually operates out of Halifax). This vessel is a near replica of Canada's most renown fishing schooner, BLUENOSE, who earned her renown for winning a series of fishing schooner races held between Canada and the United States earlier this century. Those of you that have been to Canada may have noticed the Canadian dime has the likeness of BLUENOSE on one side. To say the vessel is an important symbol to Canadians is an understatement. So it was a great compliment to PRIDE OF BALTIMORE II and her crew to be so enthusiastically received by the locals. A great deal was made of our sailing into Luninberg, something BLUENOSE II probably could not have done. BLUENOSE II is somewhat larger than PRIDE and also faster. It would be very tricky to sail her into town on a breezy day such as we sailed PRIDE. So the fact that we sailed in was truly appreciated.

PRIDE II was made welcome at the piers of the Fisheries Museum of the Atlantic. After docking, the crew turned-to tiding up and I went to get clearance with Canadian Customs. This resulted in a rather dopey and frustrating hour of trying (and failing) to talk to someone in authority. The hour ended with the sage advice of a Royal Canadian Mounted Policeman telling me to "Call the authorities on Monday." If they gave me a hard time to refer them to him, Constable Young. With a small sense of relief I was able to let the crew ashore to attend a party being held Saturday night by the officers and crew of the PICTON CASTLE, another traditional vessel in the area. Several of that crew are American and some are past shipmates of PRIDE's crew. It turned into quite a 'old home week' party. PICTON CASTLE is an early 20th century English fishing vessel made of steel that is being converted from her original motoring configuration to a square rigged bark. Her American Captain and owners are investing in a vessel that will carry adventure sailors around the world in 18 months via the exotic ports of the world, particularly in the South Pacific. Captain Daniel Moreland is the inspiration of the venture and a contemporary of mine. He has much experience in square rig and has been a Mate on a voyage similar to the one planned for the PICTON CASTLE. He also is an alumnus of the first PRIDE. He was Captain of PRIDE in the winter of 1979-80.

The conversion is about two thirds complete. PICTON CASTLE now has masts and a couple of yards up. The vessel is quite large at an overall spared length of 178 feet. Her hull length is 130 feet. She will carry a professional crew of 10 and some 35 participating enthusiasts of all ages from late teens on up. Everyone will stand watch and climb the square rig to handle sail as she plies the more exotic islands and ports of the world, such as Pitcarin Island, to name one example. For those of our readers interested in reading more about the PICTON CASTLE, she has a web page. Here's the address: http://www.tallships.istar.ca/life/picton/

I gave the crew Sunday off except for one hour each as an 'on dock' interpreter for PRIDE. The public, divided between locals and tourists, were very interested and asked many questions. We had a number of Marylanders who voiced their enthusiasm at seeing their PRIDE so far from home! Meanwhile the crew spent their day milling about town, which is a fine example of quaint Canada. Houses painted in all kinds of colors, many bright red, yellow or green. Lots of antique displays and many manifestation of their proud BLUENOSE II, often in the form of a detailed wooden model. (At this time BLUENOSE II is not even in Halifax. Instead she is on a cruise of the Great Lakes. We will miss her though).

Monday was 'get ready to go' day. Laundry, fuel, customs, incidental spare part shopping, grocery shopping, and maintenance. Customs turned into a very easy experience where they took the name and number of the ship along with the masters name, details of the voyage, etc. They gave me a 10 digit filing number and wished me a pleasant stay. When PRIDE comes back through Canada in late August, the formalities WILL NOT be as easy or quick. The paper work to get permission for PRIDE to host receptions and sell souvenirs is awesome and time consuming. But since at this time we are merely passing through, the simplicity of the formalities is a joy, even if a bit confusing.

Around 1530 hours on Monday, June 23, we got underway. The wind was out of the north west and once clear of the dock we turned off the engines and sailed out. The breeze was fresh and PRIDE romped along at 8+ knots through supper. Just as we came up on the entrance to Halifax, the wind shifted a bit ahead and with it blowing alternately at 12-15 knots and 20+ knots, PRIDE would alternately loaf along at 6 knots or heel over and storm along at 9 knots. This frequent change of strength is typical of a northwest-north breeze. By midnight the air was truly fickle. It would die altogether for a few minutes and then come in at 7-10 knots. Being from the north the wind was pretty cool. We kept the hatches closed to retain the heat down below. But now the wind is warm and from the south to southwest. PRIDE is sliding along anywhere from 4 to 7knots. This is a lot more pleasant than motoring!

The next entry in our continuing Crew's Views reports is from Jason Quilter, our ship's Bosun. Jason sailed with us as a deckhand for the first half of the 1996 European Campaign and is one of the younger crew members - he's just 22 years old. Check out his story under the Crew's Views.

Cheers,
Captain Miles

An oily sheen (caused by pine tree pollen) surrounds us as we motor along between Cape Cod and Nova Scotia on an ocean with little breeze. The sky is cloudless and the 4 foot irregular swell coming from the southeast and south causes PRIDE to heave and roll as she pushes through the wind zephyrs that are scattered about on this somewhat calm day. We have been motoring since yesterday (Thursday) morning when we got fueled up in Newport, Rhode Island, at the Goat Island Marina. While it is a little boring and a somewhat expensive, the lull in sailing activities and close in-shore maneuvering has offered all hands a chance to rest up from our stay in the Big Apple earlier in the week.

My last report to you was from North Cove Marina on Manhattan's Lower East Side in New York City. With both of our two 'in-shore' watches getting two days off each while we were there, there was a fair amount of mid-night oil burnt seeing friends that had either traveled into the city or by going out of the city. We also got a lot of maintenance done. We hosted two day sails with Tate Access Floors while in New York. Both were good outings with all working sail set. This includes the mainsail, foresail, forestaysail, jib and foresquaretopsail. That's a lot of sail for the crew of 5. But they had help getting them up - at least the mainsail. The guests were dragooned into service (or there wouldn't have been any sailing). Our guests truly worked hard with the crew to get the mainsail up. Those that imagine sailing but don't do it much are always surprised and chagrined to experience first hand the effort that goes into setting a large traditional mainsail the size of PRIDE's. When they realize our crew of 10 sailors (not including the captain or cook) do this on a regular basis, the guests usually shift their marveling of the vessel towards admiration of the crew.

Our transit from New York towards the Great Lakes was purposely routed via Newport for two reasons. First, with the right timing, PRIDE can make better time going along the inside route using the currents than she can outside, unless there is an ideal wind. And second, we have a contact in Newport that has gifted us with discounted fuel. As it turned out, there would be no sailing to Newport anyway due to a lack of wind. We arrived in Newport around midnight Wednesday having negotiated our way over the last 60 miles through dungeon-like fog. We did not see a thing until we got within three boat lengths of shore!

Yesterday, Thursday, was a hectic day that turned into a stressful management day. First there were the obvious tasks; fuel up being sure to appraise the engineer of some of the tricks of 'pressing' up the tanks so that they were well and truly full; arrange to get a propane tank filled and pick up some needed items; check on the latest requirements for clearing the States for a foreign destination; and go off on my own shopping run. Then comes the not so obvious development. Mark, our cook since May 23rd , had to leave the ship due to personal issues back at home! I won't go into the details but that announcement had a major impact on my day and eventually affected everybody. As of yesterday, Pam Caughlin, deckhand, is now cook for a week. Bless her heart and soul! But I dare not count on her for the next three weeks it will take us to get to our next scheduled stop, which is Wyandott, Michigan. So something may well change again before long...I just don't know what. The possibilities and problems abound with this situation. They are being held in abeyance temporarily by the volunteerism of crew. I hope we all can persevere till we get things straightened out.

We took off from Newport, RI, at 1500 hrs Thursday. The wind was light out of the southwest but we kept motoring to make the last of the fair current through the Cape Cod Canal. We even caught the fair current around Race Point near Provincetown as we turned out east for the southern tip of Nova Scotia some 220 miles away. The full moon and clear sky along with the very quiet night and only moderate swell gave us all a very pleasant night. Today, Friday, June 20, has been uneventful except for the sighting of something that could have been some emergency gear from some marine accident. We turned to investigate and discovered it was a large bunch of party balloons colored orange and black. I assume some revelry in Boston lost control of their balloons and they now pollute the ocean rather than mark some special shore-side event.

But we have natural pollution as well. The ship and the ocean here is covered in pine tree pollen - a yellow powdery substance that clusters in bunches both on the water and on deck.

Cheers
Captain Jan

I left you readers with PRIDE tacking to windward toward New York. As you can see from the ship's position at the head of this log entry, we made it!

The sailing on the way here was truly good. We often make the decision to motor rather than sail when the wind is contrary. We usually do this when faced with a schedule made months in advance that many others are depending on. There is also the issue of how much physical labor is required to sail this vessel to weather. Doing it during the day with a full night of uninterrupted sleep to look forward to is one thing. But to do it knowing that it could be going on during the coming night and into the next day can cause for slovenly response by the crew. However, since this boat is so good at going to weather and when the progress is measurable for all to see, the crew maintains their willingness to do the physical part even as the hours sift by. So we sailed rather than motored from Buzzard's Bay.

Mind you, I did not have all hands 'up' for the day. In fact the crew were in three sea-going watches at 0900 hrs, three hours after getting the ship underway from Block Island Wednesday morning. So, although we had to call the stand-by watch whenever the ship had to be tacked, that watch could go below and return to their chosen pursuits as soon as the tack was over. Therefore, after a full night's sleep, the crew had a day of naps or personal hobbies between standing watch every eight hours for four hours and jumping up to help tack when they were on 'stand-by' watch. That left the four hours of off-watch completely undisturbed. This relatively civilized sailing life preserved a positive and willing spirit in all. PRIDE was tacked efficiently to windward a mere seven times as she sailed from Block Island, through "The Race" (the east entrance of Long Island Sound) and down about two-thirds of the length of the Sound (just past Middle Ground Shoal). This is a straight line distance of about 80 miles, but an 'as sailed' distance of 105 miles in 21 hours. We made an average speed of 5 knots through waters that had reversing currents of strengths between 1 and 2.5 knots, against a wind strength of 6-16 knots. To my way of thinking, this just goes to show what can be done when effort and intelligence is put to a well designed and well built windjammer. And look at all the fuel that we saved and the experience the crew gained! I guess my pride is showing, huh?

We did in fact have to motor to keep the schedule for arrival in New Jersey on Thursday, June 12. The wind had died out to near nothing by 0400 hrs Thursday morning when it became time to fire up the engines at 8 knots just to make the favorable current through Hells Gate in the East River of New York. The run down the East River is a fascinating one for all boaters, especially those with some experience. This river has a lot of twists and navigational obstacles to delight the avid navigator as well as the distraction of one of the world's most fascinating cities to watch. We came down the river during the morning rush hour and had the joy of going faster than the jammed commuter traffic on East River Drive as they tried to get to work on time. Although the day was overcast, the view of New York's skyline was perfectly clear. For as many times as I have been up and down the East River from the time I was in junior high school in the mid sixties, I was still delighted to see a brown brick building right on the river that had a 20th story penthouse on top that looked like it could be a elegant brick farm house for all the ivy that was going up it's sides.

Since arrival in New York harbor, we have hosted one reception with the Chief Officer of the Maryland Port Authority, Tay Yoshitani. We also had a sailing reception with Tate Access Floors, a Maryland based company, and are booked for two more next week. And we have been open to the public. The crew have been split into two watches; one has time-off while the other handles the needs of PRIDE. And whenever there is a spare moment there is maintenance being done.

Cheers,
Captain Jan Miles

We are sailing against the wind again. It has again become the joke of the crew. Wherever PRIDE goes it is sure to be up-wind. Truly it is peculiar luck that we had northeasterlies to contend with on the way up to Boston from the Chesapeake Bay while we now have westerlies to contend with on our way to New York from Boston. Typically, during the summer, winds are westerly and southerly. So what we are experiencing now is normal and to be expected. But in the heels of the northeast -- proof positive that PRIDE is cursed. The real test will be when we leave New York next week bound for Nova Scotia on our way to the St. Lawrence River and the Great Lakes. If we have a northeasterlies....the crew just may have a point.

We reached the Cape Cod Canal before midnight on Monday and hove-to to wait for the favorable current due to start at 0130 Tuesday morning. We pushed through the canal under power and against the wind with the fair current and kept the fair current all the way down Buzzards Bay and into Rhode Island Sound. At breakfast we were in the Sound with some choices as to what to do. I decided to go to Block Island. We would arrive there at 1030 and be able to get some varnishing done after we arrived. It was promising to be one of the warmest and driest days in weeks and if we were timely with our arrival and crew efforts, we could get a lot of varnish spread around.

Block Island is one of the East Coast's quintessential summer resorts. It is small enough and removed enough from the mainland that it has not yet been spoiled by a large winter population, nor has it been built up with places for a large summer population. Therefore the island is still very much "country" rather than residences. People are scattered so that quiet is easy to find. There is history to be found, too, if you go looking. Some of it is American Indian history. In this case one tribe all but decimated another by causing the first to be pushed off 100+ foot high cliff on the south side of the island where a light house now stands. PRIDE anchored on the east side near Old Harbor, the location of the only town on the island. This town has a number of large, ramshackle wooden hotels from the early part of this century. All very simple and unpretentious. Of course there are numerous bars and restaurants. Better still there are several ice cream shops!

Our view of the island from the ship was that of a New England beach grass, scattered houses of mixed design (but mostly wood clapboard and shingle). A long sand and rock beach was ahead at a distance of half a mile. As the crew worked on sanding the rail to be varnished, voices of kids playing on the beach could be heard over the muted surf sound. It was a cloudless day and the temperature got up there, but out on board it was still comfortable in the breeze. During the afternoon work, our four passengers went ashore. After dinner the crew went ashore, as did I. Looking back at PRIDE from the island you couldn't help think about earlier days. Especially with the many questions from locals who recognized the strangers from the even stranger sail boat at anchor off their town. "Are you from the boat out there? What is she? She sure is pretty! Where is she from? What is she? Tell me about her!"

This morning we got up at 0600 and sailed away from the anchor. With the wind from the west we all knew that it would be a lot of tacking to windward today. We have all working sail set plus the maingafftopsail, and jibtopsail. We have PRIDE strapped in tight as we point her as close to the wind as possible. The currents at the east end of Long Island Sound turn to the west at 1046. We will get a bit of a push to the west till 1700 when the current starts heading east. Maybe at that time the wind will have gone southwest, as indicated by the forecasters. If it does, we may be able to continue sailing through most of the night. It would be nice. But we must be at the east entrance of the East River by breakfast time. That is some 90 miles away. With the west wind, that is a lot of tacking! But if we can maintain a 4 knot average, we may just be able to sail most of the way. What a feat that will be. The crew will probably get pretty tired. It may not pay to try so hard.

Speaking of crew, we're beginning today to send to the office and then to the web a series of observations about life aboard Pride II written by our crew. Today's entry is offered by Cindy Thomson. She is going to try to describe a day in the life of a deckhand. It won't be easy. Today she is a deckhand sailing. Yesterday she was a cosmetic prep specialist working on the varnish. In Boston and soon again in New York she will be an ambassador and co-host to parties planned aboard with the Maryland Port Authority and Tate Access Floors. She will also be an interpreter/ educator to the general public during the open houses we will have. You'll be able to read her impressions soon on our new and improved web site under the heading "Crews Views"

Cheers,
Captain Jan Miles

Tuesday, June 10, 1997
TIME: 0137 GMT (2137 SHIP -4)
POSITION: Latitude 41 53,41 N Longitude 070 30,19 W
In route from Boston to New York
ENTERED BY: Captain Jan Miles

We are now sailing along the Boston South Shore, just outside Duxbury Bay. It is a nice sail in sunshine with the wind coming off the shore keeping temperatures warmer than they might otherwise be. With an off-shore breeze, the sea is smooth and PRIDE is sliding along easily in spite of being trimmed as close as she can be and still sail effectively. It has been a very pleasant day after a busy, hardworking, and productive week in Boston.

As fortune would have it, our stay in Boston was a dry one, which permitted quite a bit of cosmetic maintenance. However all the locals complained of the cool temperatures. Aye, it was cool – it did not get to 70 degrees until yesterday! The temperature stayed mostly at 60-65. But the dry weather helped the crew get a good jump on varnish and paint.

While in Boston, PRIDE was the backdrop for a high profile dinner held in the Kennedy Library located on the north shore of Dorchester Bay. This was an event hosted by Coca-Cola for a large group of international supermarket operators. Nearly 30% of Coca-Cola's business originates in supermarkets. So every year, when these operators get together year in a different part of the world, Coca-Cola throws them a superparty. In this case, they wanted PRIDE for a nautical motif. It was a lot of work for the crew and on the night in question we did not get the ship tied up again until 0100 hours the following morning. But it was a very interesting event.

PRIDE sat at anchor with her mainsail and maintopsail set with a large set of spotlights shining on her to make her visible through the large glass window of the I.M. Pey designed library where the guests were dining. Meanwhile the crew were prepping the cannons for firing during the 1812 Overture which was played after supper by the Boston Pops (no less). There was a conductor from the Symphony aboard who was in radio contact with the conductor leading the orchestra. I am told the synchronizing was quite successful. Certainly the crew were busy getting the cannons reloaded for the second round of shots!

Today we all got a chance to see the new sails for the U.S.S. CONSTITUTION being set and refurled by it's all Navy crew. She is now completely re-built and is being taken for a sail within the next several weeks. There is no doubt she was a unique vision for those of us who got to see her with her sails set. While the sail drill was going on, PRIDE was maneuvered into position so that our photographer, Bill McAllen, could photograph CONSTITUTION and PRIDE in the same frame. I hope those photos work out. It is not often we Americans get to see two marine examples of the War of 1812 next to each other. In that war, the CONSTITUTION gave better than she got while fighting the Royal Navy. PRIDE represents the most successful privateering tool of that war, the Baltimore Clipper.

As we maneuvered to leave Boston Harbor, I decided we would sail out against the light breeze rather than motoring, in order to give the crew another chance to practice handling sail. The weather lived up to predictions and remained nice but the wind was dead against us. So we have been tacking back and forth as we work our way towards the Cape Cod Canal. When the wind settled in at between 12 and 15 knots, I was able to show the crew just how well PRIDE can sail to windward despite her antiquated rig style. PRIDE went from 6.5 knots on a starboard tack heading on a course of 138 degrees to a speed of 6.5 knots on the port tack heading 118 degrees. That is a tack of 80 degrees! The wind instruments aboard showed the apparent wind at 30 degrees, which suggests just how close we can trim sail aboard PRIDE. This includes the squaretopsail! Mind you, this performance is not possible when the wind strength gets up around 18 knots or falls below 12 knots. When this happens we either can't keep the jibtopsail or the maintopsail set, or the weight and size of the ship are too much for the sail area to drive the ship very well. But when it's perfect like today, there is no denying the abilities of this ship.

As I have been writing, we have passed by Plymouth. The sun has gone down and the shore lights appear nearer than they are in this clear night. Mark Randal, our cook (actually chef), has served a supper of chicken and spinach wrapped in a thin pastry (none of that store-bought stuff either, he wrapped it all himself this afternoon as we were sailing against the wind at angles of heel of about 10-15 degrees). There was also coos-coos, peas and spinach soufflé, and a spicy ginger salad. We are doing some serious dining ourselves with Mark who joined us just as we left Baltimore for Boston on May 23. Sometime near midnight we will be near the Cape Cod Canal and have to take in sail to motor through. Since the weather prognosticators are promising fresh winds of 20-25 knots out of the southwest, west and later northwest, I am not sure what we will do on the other side of the canal. But it has been a good day today!

Cheers
Jan

DATE: Monday, June 2, 1997
TIME: 0100 GMT
POSITION: At Anchor in Boston's outer harbor near Deer Island
ENTERED BY: Captain Jan Miles

We have arrived in Boston's outer harbor - a little earlier than expected. We'll stay out of sight in the outer harbor until our downtown arrival time at Rose Wharf at high noon. This has given the crew another nice sailing day and yet another full night of relatively uninterrupted rest. AND the sailing so far has been in moderate conditions. Overall, nothing to complain about here.

The crew got a chance to have a run ashore on Cuttyhunk Island Friday evening. They reported back that the walk was good, as well the phone-calls. But there was no ice-cream store!

After one night at anchor in Cuttyhunk, I decided to get underway rather than stay another night. The weather was predicted to take a change that might bring with it northeast breezes. Possibly strong. Rain was promised as well. Thus maintenance would not be as fruitful as it recently has been. So Saturday we motored up Buzzards Bay and on through the Cape Cod Canal into Cape Cod Bay. There, in very light air, the crew set all kinds of sail. We got nearly the whole suit up _ mainsail, foresail, forestaysail, jib, maintopsail, foretopsail, jibtopsail and the top-gallantsail (gan'tsail). This was only the second time the crew has set the gan'tsail. So there was a lot of interest in how it worked.

The afternoon turned out pleasantly as the rain stopped and PRIDE covered the 20 odd miles to Provincetown, on Cape Cod, in a little better than 4 hours in the light breeze. We sailed right up to the town waterfront. As soon as the anchor went down a thick wet fog drifted in blanketing everything. We could not see shore which was only a quarter of a mile away! But that did not dampen crew interest for a run ashore.

This time they did find ice-cream (at least those that wanted it). Provincetown offers a lot more than just ice-cream. We now have fudge in the snack locker!

Getting to shore and back to the ship again in fog in PRIDE's small out-board driven rubber boat is an exercise in voyaging, even if on a small scale. A compass is needed. And a light since it's after dark. And a two-way radio. Then a discussion orienting the boat operator as to where they are going and how to stay oriented in the dark, encased in very thick fog. With a crew of twelve and two guest crew to take ashore in groups of 5, the boat went back and forth a number of times. At one point as the fog got so thick that we used the radar aboard PRIDE to track the small boat back and forth. Kind of like air-traffic control.

Today we got underway after breakfast. This time we sailed off the anchor. The crew has done this before, but it is always different each time we do it. In this case it started with getting the mainsail up, as well the maintopsail. Then the foretopsail is unfurled as well as the jibs. Then we rig the jib so that it can be backed to the port side. When it gets hoisted at the point the anchor is coming up off the bottom, it is backed against the wind and thus forces the bow to starboard. This is the direction we wanted to head to leave Provincetown. The crew then cranks on the windlass and hauls up some 100 feet of chain and a large anchor. At the moment the anchor comes off the bottom, the jib is hoisted and the sheet pulled to flatten the sail by three crew who are diverted from anchor cranking. The wind catches the backed jib and the bow swings off to starboard. With the mainsail set along with the maintopsail, the bow only swings to a point half way from the wind. By this time the anchor is at the waterline and the anchor crew puts the handles away and gets the anchor burton (rope and block tackle that is used to hoist the heavy anchor to the rail) hooked to the anchor. Meanwhile the jib hoisting crew passes the jib over to starboard and trims it for the wind and immediately hoists the forestaysail. The ship at this point has stopped drifting away from the wind and, with the sail that is now set, is beginning to forge ahead. While the anchor crew goes about getting the anchor up on the rail, other crew sets the foresail and trims it in. They then go forward and set the jibtopsail. By this time the anchor is on the rail and the foretopsail can be set. But all is not done!

The ship has arrived at the entrance of the harbor and it is now time to re-trim sail for a broad reach as PRIDE must turn down wind. This requires adjusting the trim of the foretopsail by hauling braces that control the yards so the sail is nearly square (athwartship) to the ship. Then it's back to the mainsail to rig the mainboom preventer. This is necessary because the rake of the masts tends to prevent the boom from swinging out over the rail. Almost as soon as this is done, it's time to jibe the ship in order to head for Boston. This requires all fore & aft sail forward of the mainmast to be trimmed in flat and close to the centerline of the ship. Then we must rebrace the foretopsail for the new angle of wind. Then all hands move back to sheet in the mainsail to the center-line. This requires taking in the main-boom preventer gear. The ship is then turned and, as the stern passes though the wind, the mainsail is eased out on the other side of the ship to catch the wind. The crew then runs forward to pass over the sails forward of the mainmast.

But first the running mainmast stays must be switched! And did I forget to mention the running backstays? There are two per mast and they have to be switched at the proper times as the mainsail and the foresail are passed from one side of the ship to the other. At this point the ship and crew have been underway for less than half an hour! A great way to begin the day? YES!!!

Our sail over to Boston from the tip of Cape Cod was without incident _ except it was a great sail! The wind was only about 10-13 knots and PRIDE sailed well at 6-9 knots. Sometimes it was foggy and occasionally a little misty. But the sea was nearly flat and PRIDE just leaned over a little and went her straight and true way.

Everyone aboard enjoyed the sail, especially our two guest crew, Bob Johnson and Leonard Koenick, who have been aboard since leaving Chestertown. These two have been great to have aboard. They must surely have been disappointed to have sat around the Sassafras River so long and motored so much of the way along this trip. But you would not know it from the way they have joined the crew in everything _ including the maintenance! I am glad we finally got a chance to really sail.

On the way over to Boston, the crew had time to finish up maintenance on the gun doors. They also had a demonstration lecture about the engine room and it's pumping systems. Then it was time to negotiate the fairly elaborate channels between the islands that make up Boston's outer harbor.

Now, after the crew has put all the sail away in tight neat stows, there is time to talk about the schedule during our week-long stay in Boston and arrange for crew time-off, cook time-off, and maintenance.

Cheers
Captain Miles

Other Past Logs

| May 1997 | March - April 1997 | December 1996 | September - November 1996 |
| August 1996 | July 1996 | June 1996 | May 1996 |