26 July 2010
Pride of Baltimore II
Pos: 47 36.6′N x 089 20.8′W
Wx: SSW F 3
Sailing under all plain sail
Course: 272, Speed: 6.0 kts

Another splendid sailing day aboard Pride of Baltimore II. The sea state is still calm, the wind still enough to move us along, though also still coming from nearly exactly where we want to go. This morning we tacked South off Isle Royale. So we have passed the eye of the wolf’s head and approach our destination at the end of the snout. But, it seems, our weather luck is coming to an end.

The best-laid plans of anchoring in the Apostle Islands in the way I had imagined have encountered a twist. I myself may have jinxed them yesterday by speaking so glowingly of them, thinking of their rich, red bluffs crested with green pines under the kind of crystal sky we have had the last few days. Instead, the upcoming forecast is for rain, thunderstorms and brisk contrary winds. And the latest edition of the forecast has altered Wednesday’s previously workable Northwest and Northerly breezes to plain in our face West.

Resultantly, my picture perfect anchorage has been water stained and wind blown. Few locations in the Apostles would offer good protection for the variety of breezes to be expected, and we would have the poor luck of sitting just offshore the gorgeous islands in the rain with the constant threat of a storm keeping us jailed aboard monitoring the weather. “It would be like looking through the windows of a closed candy shop,” surmised deckhand Jeff Crosby, our Duluth native and as such best local knowledge of the islands.

Stopping for any time in the islands also creates the very real possibility of sloughing along the last 60 miles of lake against brisk Westerlies – no good way to end a passage that has seen such pleasant sailing, if it can be avoided.

What do to, then? Of the nearly limitless options, I conjured up four that seemed plausible:

1) Pack in all the sailing gear and motor the 60 miles to the Islands, hoping for a quite night at anchor and a brief time ashore before the rain tomorrow. Deal with snotty Wednesday Weather on approach to Duluth. 2) Continue sailing with an arrival to the Islands early tomorrow morning, then anchor and try to get ashore, still dealing with Wednesday’s weather. 3) Abandon idea of Islands and just keep sailing as long as possible, then motor to make Duluth before onset of weather. 4) Pack it all sailing gear and motor straight for Duluth, starting now. Get in well ahead of weather.

At this stage, this blog could become like one of the “Choose Your Own Adventure” books so popular when I was in grade school. Each option would have a different page to turn to, with a new set of circumstances and choices.

But this is life, and there is turning back to the choosing page. Nor do I have anything but my best guess as to what the new circumstances will be.

So many factors influence the choice. The safe and on-time arrival of the ship (or early, but never late). The hope for a good experience on the part of the guest crew, who have take time out of their lives for this passage.  The cost of fuel and how much it will take to enact any of these plans. The morale of the crew. The endless list of projects to keep Pride II in working order.

All this could, in fact, make the head spin. And after a remarkable three days of beating up Lake Superior in unusual comfort behind us, veteran Guest Crew Jim Hilyard claimed today this was the most pleasant sailing he’d had in his 14 passages aboard Pride II. So the idea of “ruining” such a trip – either by motoring or through a miserable last day – seems horrifying. But one or the other is necessary.

Which will it be? Stay tuned to find out tomorrow.

All best,
Jamie Trost and the suspense-filled crew of Pride of Baltimore II

25 July 2010
Pride of Baltimore II
Pos: 47 36.7′N x 087 50.0′W
Appx 8nm Due North of Copper Harbor, Michigan
Wind: W Force 4
Sailing NW at 6 knots under Four Lowers, Foretops’l and Jibtops’l

Pride of Baltimore II is having a splendid sail in the Greatest of Lakes. For nearly 48 hours now we have scarcely heard machinery aside from our daily generator cycles and a few brief periods of motoring in lulls. But mostly we have had Westerlies between 8 and 20 knots. Not the right direction, but so far Pride II has covered nearly half the distance along the rhumb line, despite the fact she’s been beating to weather the entire time.

This is one of the pleasures of sailing aboard Pride II – if she were not as weatherly, we would either be forced to start thinking about motoring now, or would have been motoring quite a bit already. But with careful attention to sail trim and helmsman-ship, plus a routine of tacking around the watch changes, we are able to make tracks in these moderate conditions without increasing our carbon footprint. It is no small task to get a sailing vessel upwind, particularly a 19th century style schooner. But that makes it all the more rewarding when we put in the effort to do so.

We have just tacked away from Michigan’s northern most town, Copper Harbor, nestled in back in the molar section of the jaw, if you follow the image of Lake Superior as a giant wolf’s head. This marks the northern most point of land for us to round, and the furthest North Pride II has been since entering the St. Lawrence River over a month ago. The days are quite long and the nights have been near crystal clear with a gleaming moon that reaches full tonight.

On this heading, there is the temptation to carry on and find an anchorage off Isle Royale, the National Park Island near the Canadian shore that forms the eye of the wolf’s head. We can only stop there on the way into Duluth, or after a diver has certified Pride II‘s bottom as free of the invader-species Zebra Mussels before leaving Duluth. The National Park Service is intent on keeping the Zebra Mussel – a Black-Sea shellfish that came to the Lakes in the ballast water of ocean-going freighters some 20 years ago – from tainting the waters of Isle Royale. And fair enough, the Zebra Mussel has been a menace on the Great Lakes. From water intakes to public beaches to the boat bottoms, the creatures have made a negative name for themselves across the region.

But the forecast is calling for brisk Southwesterlies on Tuesday and Tuesday night, which would mean a 150 nm slog toward our arrival in Duluth on Wednesday. So that distant anchorage will have to remain a notion. Lucky for us, Lake Superior offers more than one spectacular vista, and the Apostle Islands National Lakeshore is right on the way.

This string of islands – strangely, despite the name, more than 12 – dots the northern extremity of Wisconsin and has hosted Pride II on both of her previous voyages in Lake Superior. Once in 1989 and the other two years ago. Both times, the Pride II anchored in the cove between Rocky Island and South Twin Island. We learned this aboard in 2008 when we discovered an anchor marked on an old chart of the Apostles that was in with our Great Lakes packet. At that time, we were anchored within 200 yards of the spot. With the current forecast, however, that location won’t serve as well. But there are plenty of others to choose from in the island chain and anchoring in an area of spectacular natural beauty is never a let down.

Not that this has been a taxing trip. The breeze has been fairly steady and we are keeping ahead of schedule on it. This is a welcome contrast to the hot and humid light air racing out of Cleveland and Bay City, where the boat speed was consistently low enough to cause concern about even finishing, and the fluky breezes necessitated constant tinkering. Additionally, as Pride II was communications vessel, we were charged with roll-calling the fleet and recording positions every four hours.

Instead, on this passage, we are working our way into a crisp and comfortable Great Lakes breeze, and the only race is to get to the Apostles with enough time to enjoy them.

All best,
Jamie Trost and the crew of Pride II
(PS: Deckhand and resident comedian Jeremy Tagliaferre wishes everyone Merry Christmas, in July)

24 July 2010
Pos: 47 44.4′N x 085 12.5′W
15 nm East of Michipicoten Island, Canada

Pride of Baltimore II is back in Lake Superior for the second time in three years. This time, as last, it is the ship-enamored city of Duluth, Minnesota that draws her there. Prior to our 2008 visit to the world’s inland-most port, Pride II had been there only once, on her first Great Lakes tour in 1989.  So to be making such a quick return to a unexpectedly exotic place creates a feeling of familiarity and excitement. Our last visit there was marked by a good sailing passage and completely unanticipated reception by the people of Duluth and the surrounding area, who came out in the tens of thousands to see Pride II, the Brig Niagara and the Schooner Madeline.

So far, our passage has been decent. The breeze came up to sailing strength from the West Northwest at sunset last night, and we used for about 12 hours until it faded, gaining some ground to the North for a forecast shift to North Winds later today. We are within sight of some high and beautiful Canadian Shoreline, and motoring on one engine in a calm until the breeze returns.

During the 2008 passage there was a sense of wonderment among the crew to be bound for the “inland most” port in the world. The collective emotion aboard was hard to express, but carried the compounded awe of being so far from the ocean, so high above sea-level and passing 90 west longitude while sailing in a gigantic lake. This time around, most of the crew have changed, and for all but Jeff Crosby, a Duluth native who first introduced himself to Pride II by applying to be a deckhand during our 2008 visit, this is their first time on Superior. So, aside from the local knowledge Jeff provides, and my tales of our previous visit, the sense of newness and excitement are the same.

This marks my third trip to Duluth in three years. Last year, during one of my off stints away from Pride II, I took the Schooner Denis Sullivan from Milwaukee to Duluth. It is odd to have such a consistent run of trips to such an out of the way place – in fact, the most out of the way place – but I enjoy it and, like those in crew on their first journey here, I am still a bit awestruck.

The landscape, when we are close enough to see it, is gorgeous, and the geography of the lake lends itself to vivid and unique description. Lake Superior appears on a chart or map as a Wolf’s head. The St. Mary’s River end of it at Whitefish Bay is the throat, the Keweenaw Peninsula, jutting out from the Michigan Shore, is the open mouth. Wisconsin’s Apostle Islands dot the muzzle like whiskers and Isle Royal National Park is the eye.  Far off at the West end, at the tip of the Snout, is Duluth. And as I write, the breeze has come back and we headed that way under full sail.

All best,

Jamie Trost and the “snout”-bound crew of Pride of Baltimore II

23 July 2010
Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario
Pride II preparing to shift to the Michigan side of the “SOO” for customs, then depart for Duluth.

Having finished race two of the Great Lakes Challenge Series in the early hours of Wednesday morning, Pride of Baltimore IIstayed on station near the finish line to fulfill our obligations as communications vessel until we needed to make way up the St. Mary’s River. In the lower river, off St. Joseph Island, we joined company with the Tall ship Bounty, and both vessels sailed past the ruins of Fort St. Joseph, a British military installation erected in anticipation of conflict along the United States and Canadian Frontier just before the war of 1812. Re-enactors lined the shore and the two ships sailed past firing salutes.

This unofficially marked the beginning of our visit to Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario, as the re-enactors at the fort were part of the multi-faceted group who approached Pride IIabout coming to Sault Ste. Marie. Due to the cruise ship Celia II occupying the dock, Bounty and Pride II made slow steady progress up the river to arrive in the evening just as the dock was clear.

What a welcoming we received from the Canadian side of the St. Mary’s River! There were thousands of people lining the waterfront parks cheering and waving. The scene was a busy one out on the river as well, with Celia II departing to make room for our historic vessels, two 1,000 long lake freighters passing in the river just astern of us, the European vessels Roald Amundsen and Europa secured on the American side and a float plane landing just off to the Canadian side of the channel.

Once secure at the Bondar marina – a facility named after one of Sault Ste. Marie’s most famous natives, Roberta Bondar, the first neurosurgeon in space – we cleared customs and prepared for the next day’s events. The schedule was typical, with public tours through the day and a private event at night. But the themes were all encompassing. The point of the festival, as with many of the festivals this year, was to highlight Great Lakes United and their mission of promoting clean water on the Great Lakes. To augment this, Bounty was representing the ever popular “pirate ship” theme North American audiences have come to love so much, and Pride IIwas to provide the maritime portion of a War of 1812 exhibit that included re-enactors of British soldiers and Canadian Voyageurs. The combined event drew 2500 visitors over Pride II‘s deck in just five hours of public tours and a one hour private event for city workers.

It is a bit strange to have such a warm reaction to an American War of 1812 vessel in Canada, particularly in Ontario, where the contest was largely fought between Canadians and Americans, and where Canada inarguably came out as the victor. With an expressed declaration of taking over southern Ontario, our young nation launched no fewer than 13 invasions into Canada, but ended up back on our side of the border each time. So, from a Canadian historical perspective, we attacked, they defended, we retreated, they won. And just as the conflict helped America develop its identity and need to take itself more seriously, the call to arms against invaders forged a Canadian national identity as well.

But at the remove of nearly 200 years, all of them peaceful, we can certainly set aside the adolescent squabble between our countries, and with motivation from Great Lakes United, join forces to help preserve our shared resource of fresh water on the Great Lakes. And what better way to draw focus to clean water than with a sleek sailing vessel that tries like crazy to keep a low carbon footprint by using the wind.

All best,
Jamie Trost and the celebrity (at least in Sault Ste, Marie) crew of Pride II

20 July 2010
Pride of Baltimore II at 44 50.1′N 083 02.3′W
SE entrance to Thunder Bay Michigan
Sailing under all sail at 4.1 knots on course of 040T

Pride of Baltimore IIis back at the races. The second race of the ASTA Great Lakes Challenge Series started last night at 1900, this time in Lake Huron from just off Tawas, Michigan toward Drummond Island and the entrance to the St. Mary’s river. It would be near impossible to race in the river, and so the finish line is far from the fleet’s next scheduled port of Duluth, Minnesota. But it is still 121 nm and we’re not quite half way through it.

At the awards ceremony in Bay City, Michigan, we learned Pride II was second on corrected time for the first race. This is a disappointment aboard due to all the hard work put into that light-air race. The winning vessel, St. Lawrence II, out of Kingston, Ontario, was well sailed and put in just as much hard work, however. She is smaller, and so Pride II needed to be further ahead of her to beat her due to a handicapping system that allows dissimilar vessels to compete on a level plane. Under this system, larger vessels typically “owe” time to smaller ones, meaning they need to be a specific interval ahead for each mile that the race represents. In a race that featured a stretch of near calm for some three hours, this would have been difficult to do – when all of the boats are nearly motionless, it allows the smaller ones to “catch-up.” Particularly when they are as well sailed as St. Lawrence II. Congratulations to St. Lawrence II, and to Appledore V, who took third place.

This time the fleet started with fewer boats, as not everyone in Bay City was bound for Duluth, and not all the boats bound for Duluth were in Bay City. The Class A square riggers began early to make use of the Southerly breeze and were off and running three hours before the B, C & D boats. Lynx and Pride II were again able to make a strong showing for Baltimore Schooners at the starting line. Pride IIwas over the line 30 seconds after the gun and just finishing setting the main and main gaff tops’l. These sails had been left off for ease of maneuvering toward a downwind start line.

Sadly, Lynx’s schedule does not take them North to Duluth, but instead South to Toledo, Ohio. So they had to retire shortly into the race. Denis Sullivan also withdrew early on, and Playfair and Roseway did not start the race at all.

So currently the non-square rig class is only Pride II and Pathfinder. At our 0800 positions, Pride II was approximately 12nm ahead of Pathfinder, but Pathfinder is the same type of vessel as St. Lawrence II, so we will need to keep opening the gap if we are to finish ahead of her on corrected time.

The relatively light air conditions are again a challenge, but steadier than in Race 1. All this after a very busy port call in Bay City, where we saw nearly 8000 people board the vessel. Bay City goes all out to throw a good festival for both the public and the crews, and the amenities offered to sailors included free haircuts, free laundry and discounts at nearly every place you could think of in town.

Situated in the Saginaw River Valley, Bay City also has a nearly magic quality of warding off weather. The Parade of Sail on Thursday and the public tours Saturday and Sunday looked certain to be completely spoiled by approaching thunderstorms. Yet each time the line seemed to bifurcate around Bay City, with the thicker weather passing North over Saginaw Bay or South towards Lake St. Clair. Whatever the cause, the weather was only a problem one time through the festival, while we were securing as the last boat in
from the Parade of Sail.

All best,
Jamie Trost and the Superior Bound Crew aboard Pride of Baltimore II

17 July 2010
Saginaw River
Bay City, Michigan

Alongside Wenona ParkPride of Baltimore II is nestled in sung in the Saginaw River alongside a tree-lined park in a diverse fleet of ships that has see a few changes since Cleveland, where I re-joined Pride II to relieve Captain Jan Miles in command.

The passage from Cleveland ended up a relatively breathless one in terms of both wind and activity with spectacular amounts of effort required of the crew and ship at both ends. Departing Cleveland, Pride II began the first of the Great Lakes Tall Ships Challenge Races for this year. With the large square-riggers Europa and Roald Amundsen starting at 1200, the smaller “B” & “C” class boats converged on the line thirty minutes later. Pride II was under all working sail to leeward of the start boat and sailing close hauled for the line with the weather stuns’l boom run out in preparation for falling off on a reach for the finish. The breeze faded slightly in the final starting sequence throwing off the timing of our approach. With the delay, we were third over the line, with Appledore V and Lynx just ahead.

With the stuns’l and t’gallant set, we proceeded to plow ahead with the breeze back up to 12-15 knots, trying for a gap between Lynx to weather and Appledore V to leeward. Not wanting to be shadowed by our 9700 square feet of canvas, Appledore V made a sharp move to weather forcing us to come up above Lynx. The combined image was very dramatic, with the two Baltimore Clippers within 100 feet of each other and making over seven knots.

In short order, however, Pride II’s longer waterline had us out in front of Lynx and gaining on the “A” class boats that started 30 minutes earlier. Within two hours and thirty minutes of the start, Pride II was clear ahead and making nearly ten knots!

But the wind got fickle and bottomed out completely around 1500, veering to Northwest as it veered and turning the race from a rhumbline reach into a drift to a distant weather mark. With tight schedules, boats began dropping out and motoring through the fleet. First Denis Sullivan, then, surprisingly, Lynx, who gave up her second place position to make some distance toward Bay City. Finally the Toronto Brigantine Pathfinder retired from the race after the 1800 positions had everyone barely half way to the finish.

Those of us who stuck it out faced one of the most mentally strenuous challenges of sailors, one rarely encountered in the modern era – light air sailing. On a typical passage, Pride II would not dawdle along at 0.7 to 1.5 knots very long before the demands of the schedule brought motoring into the equation. But the race gave reason to gut it out and tinker with trim and angles for hours and hours. Frustrating and taxing as this is, the constant quest for a tenth of a knot hones the craft of sailing. It may be less physically exhausting than sailing Pride II when charged up, but because the sheets and braces are not under as much strain, it is possible to tinker with them, and that possibility leads to necessity in the performance focused environment of a race.

This tinkering went on aboard all five remaining competitors for the duration of the race. As the race stretched on without a wind increase, the race became one against the 12 hour time limit more than against the boats. For a time, this looked hopeless, but the breeze filled in from the East, and the possibility of finishing became real and eagerly pursued with various tactics of reaching up or even going wing on wing. Through the evening and dark hours, Pride II stretched slowly ahead of the fleet and for a brief period was on schedule to finish the race just inside the time limit.

But we couldn’t make it happen. The breeze faded again and when time expired, Pride II was 0.882 nautical miles from the finish. We sailed across the line. The results are still pending, but as Pride II was 5.9 miles ahead of the next vessel, Appledore V, we are hopeful.

After the race, the crew we busy busy busy stowing sail and motoring up the Detroit River. Tired as they were, we tied up Tuesday night at the Bean Docks in Port Huron, just below Lake Huron, for some rest. Fading breezes kept us from sailing Wednesday, so the highlight was the crew adding another Great Lake to their swim call challenge. They are now up to three – Ontario, Erie and Huron. We’ll see how cold Superior is for them shortly, but first we’ll have another race and a stop in Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario.

Signed,
Jamie Trost, Captain aboard Pride of Baltimore II

Captain Miles goes home and Captain Trost assumes command of PRIDE OF BALTIMORE II.

I am writing from home, having been relieved by Captain Jamie Trost Monday morning in Cleveland, after 24 hours of consultation during the change of command process. This process is quite involving…even for two captains that are familiar with the ship and the mission. PRIDE is a complicated vessel with a complicated mission. Discussions of the condition of the vessel and the progress of the eleven officers and crew follow a random flow brought about by diverting often into detail to insure full comprehension.

As I write PRIDE is making her way from Cleveland towards Bay City. This morning she is departing Port Huron, MI after taking advantage of a free dock location last night. Crew are now rested from a hectic departure of Cleveland Monday racing the other tall ships. Today the weather in Lake Huron is light so PRIDE is able to motor along her way with little resistance. Soon, later today, PRIDE will be turning west into the shallow Saginaw Bay. Maybe they will be able to do some sailing then. You should soon read directly from Captain Trost about that.

Signed,
Jan C. Miles, a Captain with Pride of Baltimore, Inc.

1300 hours Friday July 9, 2010

PRIDE is alongside in Cleveland, Ohio hosting hundreds of public visitors attending this weekend’s Tall Ship Festival sponsored by The Cleveland Rotary.

The heat is just beginning to break. Last night temperatures came down with a new wind associated with the beginning of rain and thunderstorms passing by associated with the passing cold front. Today’s rain looks like it may end before mid afternoon. A new northerly wind and the passing of rain should bring lower humidity with lower temperatures…all very welcome!!!

The key difference between Cleveland and Toronto Tall Ships is concentration. The ships were spread out in Toronto. A very pretty scene along Toronto’s waterfront parks. In Cleveland the ships are all bunched together at a commercial port facility. Not a pretty scene…all tarmac and steel, sprouting white tents and colored umbrellas of refreshment stands with a lot of sailing vessel masts along the edge of the dock facility. But being bunched together offers the crews of the ships the chance to mingle more easily…and they are mingling…much more than in Toronto.

The first day of a festival is always quite complicated and confusing, attending to the many details of locating support for the ship from the festival organizers and getting ready for safely boarding the public overseen with inspections from USCG inspectors. Yesterday was an all-hands day running around with the critical help of local volunteers getting laundry done, food shopped, shipments aboard while also hosting the first day of public visits. With the first long day ended and almost all preparations for the next leg of the tour completed PRIDE’s crew are able to divide into two groups, with each group scheduled to get time off equaling a day and a half each by Monday morning…departure day. 

They will depart with a different captain. I will be going home while Captain Jamie Trost returns to assume command till early September when I am expected to return to PRIDE in Erie, PA.

They will also depart for the first race of the 2010 ASTA/GLU Tall Ships Challenge. There looks to be two classes. The square rig class…otherwise known as Class A. And the fore&aft rigged class…depending on length of the vessel, known as Class B or Class C. The first race of this “support for the Great Lakes” regatta should introduce an interesting conversation dynamic to the relationship between crew members and trainees of the ships.

0800 hours Tuesday July 6, 2010

Sailing “full&by” midway between Dunkirk and Erie, Pennsylvania about 6.5 nautical miles off (north of) the southern lake shore. Wind about 8 knots from the southwest, making between 3&4 knots. Less than 100 nautical miles to go to Cleveland in the next 24 hours.

Our visit with the rest of the sail training fleet in Toronto’s Tall Ship Festival over their Canada Day Weekend went well…mostly because of the weather. A glorious cool dry cold front weather pattern. It had us in long sleeves and sweaters at night and shirt sleeves during the day. The Canadians were complaining about the cold…I was rejoicing in it. I cannot speak for the crew.

Between two square rigged vessels from off the continent and those from the North American Continent there were four square rigged vessels of greater than 150 feet as measured by their protruding spars fore&aft (EUROPA, ROALD AMUNDSEN, FLAGSHIP NIAGARA & HMS BOUNTY). In addition there were several fore & aft rigged square topsail rigged vessels adding together PRIDE OF BALTIMORE II, UNICORN and the small but tremendous Toronto Brigantines PLAYFAIR and PATHFINDER. In addition there were several fore & aft rigged schooners from the U.S. ~ ROSEWAY, APPLEDORE V & DENIS SULLIVAN.

For the Great Lakes this is a pretty good sized fleet. In Toronto it would look bigger than it actually is because Toronto has two rather large three masted schooners (KAYANA & EMPIRE SANDY) used as local day trip vessels. Then there is the active private recreational fleet from surrounding marinas and yacht clubs…some located on the outlying islands that form Toronto Harbor and can only be reached by ferry…and there are lots of ferries. Overall, the maritime scene along Toronto’s Harbor Front was very active celebrating tall ships as well Canada Day.

Getting from Lake Ontario to Lake Erie is a process for vessels. It requires negotiating Welland Canal’s 8 locks, of which 7 lift or drop a vessel about 55 feet each in order to cross over the Niagara Escarpment. With vessels seeking to go down as well to go up, and typically only one vessel per lock at a time, the process generally takes less than 12 hours. Due to the inexplicable strategy of blocking the sail training fleet entry into the lock system by Welland Canal Dispatch till early Monday morning rather than let those that requested it to enter during Sunday night, then clustering the fleet into tight groupings of 3 groups of 3 vessels for simultaneous locking back to back created significant slowdown of transit. This slow down resulted in complaints from other larger commercial traffic forced to experience slowdowns due to one-way traffic. It would have been better for all had the sailing vessels that wanted, be “let into” the system overnight. It would have reduced the clustering and spread out the clustering that occurred. As a result, instead of spending 12 hours PRIDE spent almost 16 hours in the system…a record for me with 12 up bound transits of the Welland Canal over the last 30 years.

Since clearing the Welland Canal into Lake Erie at 2100 hours last night PRIDE has been sailing in light SW winds. This morning the topgallant is being set for the 2nd time due to confusion of the deck officers…they are getting the process correct now and soon it too will be adding effort to sailing toward Cleveland ~ ETA tomorrow morning. With less than 100 miles to go, we should be on schedule…but I doubt we will be able to sail the whole way if winds are always SW, considering that is where Cleveland lays.

0930 hours Wednesday June 30, 2010

PRIDE OF BALTIMORE II is docked at Toronto’s people friendly waterfront park and residential harbor side.

PRIDE helped form a mini-tall ship parade into Toronto Harbor yesterday afternoon with EUROPA and ROSEWAY. I am told there was good imagery captured by the news media helicopter that made two passes over the small fleet. The wind was fresh at near 20 knots and PRIDE’s crew put their hearts into sail handling under full sail and her sometimes 10 knots of speed.

For PRIDE’s crew the work associated with full-sail sailing in 20 knots of wind was significant in that this was the first time they had sailed her in such conditions with full-sail set. For this captain, the work was keeping track of when the helicopter was going to be passing by so as to minimize the time PRIDE would be in the middle of a turning maneuver with the associated reality that such a maneuver puts the sails in all kinds of weird orientations. When not turning, PRIDE’s sails are all harmoniously trimmed and full of wind pulling her along at best speed for the angle of wind. Sometimes that means sails trimmed tight, flat and close for sailing as close to the wind as possible. Sometimes that is a broad reach with the wind coming over the after (stern) quarters and filling the properly trimmed “full looking” sails, resulting in some of the fastest boat speeds available for the wind strength. Broad reach sailing in 20 knots means near maximum speed for PRIDE of around 10 knots. Staying close to other vessels that are moving at lesser speeds presents the trick of maintaining parade position for the short time frame of the “live shot”.

Setting up the parade by falling into line behind EUROPA, who was in an up-wind location from us, required sailing PRIDE first upwind to get behind her, then turning downwind to reach along behind her in parade position. To do this my focus was on avoiding collisions, maneuvering outside of shoal water waters, keeping an eye on spectator traffic, keeping an eye on deck maneuvers and calling out sail trim orders, as well as keeping track of the helicopter, all while figuring out an expeditious route to sail to get into parade position and hopefully provide an attractive and dynamic image in harmony with the other vessels for the camera to capture for the mid-afternoon live TV coverage.

From the crews’ perspective this was some of the best sailing they had seen so far this year. Especially as they were seeing for themselves that they knew more about what they were doing and could anticipate better than ever what was needed and when. From my perspective I feel we should have provided some good imagery for the camera. But a “live” showing does not offer the opportunity to pick and chose the best imagery. Like a theatrical stage show…we either got it right at the right time…or we got it right at the wrong time.

We followed up this sailing dance and parade by sailing into Toronto Harbor right up to within 100 feet of our assigned dock. Soon after docking Canadian Customs came aboard and within half an hour we were cleared and the crew proceeded with tidying up the ship in preparation of a full maintenance day come Wednesday. As I write there is a scramble to sand the bulwark rail cap and get it varnished today. Tomorrow we are open to the public, so on-deck cosmetic maintenance must come to a stop.

Cheers,
Jan C. Miles, Captain aboard Pride of Baltimore II