Good morning everyone. Building a new crew each year is one of the biggest challenges and joys that Jen and I have each year. Each year is so different even if the same people are sailing together. But I am not telling any of you anything that you don’t already know. For those of you who have sailed with us you know that every cruise is different even if you see the same familiar faces you may have sailed with before.
With Katie and Rob in the lead our crew is now complete. Morgan, our new assistant cook, Rebekah, our new deckhand, and Cara, our new cook, are all here ready to go. I picked Morgan up at the airport on Friday afternoon and she was painting the bulwarks less than an hour later. Friday was the last sunny day we will see for a while so we worked right up ’til early evening. Saturday was a rigging day and this crew did something I have not seen accomplished in many years. The head rig (jibboom, whisker shrouds, martingale and it associated wires) and both topmasts including shrouds, backstays, triadic and freshwater stays were all sent aloft. 0800-2000… local metric time… now that was a long day day. I complimented the crew on sticking with the rigging process all the way through even if they didn’t have the big picture to start with. All those sticks and strings can get confusing for the uninitiated.
For many new crew the idea of putting the rig together in one day is horrifying. Many crew arrive at their boat in some far off place and she is ready to go. Lucky are those that get to climb aloft and see how the position of every shackle can be critical. Those crew understand every component of what is there, why it is there, and how important attention to detail can be. Even more horrifying for new crew is the idea that a twelve hour day is the norm. I think that in this day and age the reality that sailing ships present is a reality that builds a little more backbone out of necessity, perhaps even out of survival. I hope I don’t sound too pompous in all this. There are examples of this kind of character requirement everywhere. But I feel hopeful when I see young adults working as hard as these folks work. No one watches the clock. No one drops their tools just because it is noon time. We go until the job is well done and that, my friends, is a days work. Yesterday was a well deserved day of rest.
Have a great day. Be well. Do good.
Comments