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Schoonersail Newsletter Archive
Autumn 2005 Contents
Sail
Amsterdam
New Sail and Topmast for 2005
Man hugs dog
Sail Amsterdam 2005 Celebrations
by Hetty Snodgrass
Ship's Stamp
Screaming Lord Sutch and the Towers
(local site of interest in Thames
Estuary)
Handling Under Sail (how to
get away from anchor under sail)
Rigging Week
The Single Parent Dilemma (sailing
with young children) by Don Findley
Sailing on a Tall Ship Again by
David Pridmore
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Show me
the itinerary for 2010
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| Trinovante’s summer this year varied
from gentle light airs and coastal cruising to rough
North Sea passages with guests of all ages from 10 to
70.
Here’s a little of what we have been up to with
some articles contributed by the crew.
Sail Amsterdam
Sail Amsterdam was the highlight of the year.
Only held every five years it is one of the biggest
sail festivals in the World.
After a rough crossing to the
Netherlands in a force seven we arrived in Schreveningham
and then sailed in company to Ijmuiden.
The sail-in parade was absolutely
fantastic. Huge crowds, who had turned out to watch,
lined the banks of the North Sea Canal for more than
10 miles, all the way from Ijmiuden to Amsterdam. We
were told that all the roads into Amsterdam were blocked
by people trying to enter the city.
Thousands of boats jostled to
reach the city centre from the biggest tall ships right
down to rafts made of water containers.
It seemed as if the whole city had
been preparing for the boats to arrive and the hospitality
and really warm welcome we received was amazing.
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Schooner Trinovante (photo
courtesy of joyfulpeter@webaplomb.com)
New Sail
and Topmast For 2005
For 2005 Trinovante had a second
topmast and a new topsail to go with it.
The choice was between a conventional topsail of about
200sq ft set from the gaff or the much more exciting
option of a fisherman’s topsail of 350sq ft set
flying.
Steve, our sailmaker from North Sea
Sails, had never made a fisherman’s topsail before
but, given all the sizes by John, he was quite willing
to apply his expertise to the task.
The sail has more than fulfilled
our expectations, giving us much more speed and pointing
ability. It’s also a new challenge for our crews,
some of whom have become quite practised in setting
it.
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Man Hugs Dog
John, Trinonvante’s
skipper enhanced Anglo-Dutch relations when he rescued
a dog in distress from the harbour at Schreveningham.
A pre-Sail Amsterdam event was underway when a long-haired
German Shepherd slipped and fell into the water from
a great height while crossing a gang plank.
Lots of people,
including the distraught owners, ran around trying to
get to the struggling dog but were unable to reach it
due to the sheer dock walls.
Eventually
John managed to get down to the water, secure the dog
in a fireman’s lift and climb a ladder with it.
Both man and dog ended up wet and rather
smelly!
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Watching the fireworks from onboard
Trinovante
Europa coming up close astern of
Trinovante during the Sail Amsterdam Parade
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Sail Amsterdam
2005 Celebrations
Try to imagine
nearly sixty tall ships of varying shapes and sizes, four
naval ships and hundreds of other vessels of all descriptions
descending upon one small area of Amsterdam.
Throw in several thousand visitors and loud banging music
from our neighbouring “Rap Stage” and you will start
to understand what the Sail Amsterdam Festival was like!
The Dutch are clearly very proud of their
seafarers and everyone from grannies and grandpas to kids
in pushchairs were out to celebrate.
Each ship had their own student
organised by the local university to show the crews around,
and make sure we all had a good time. This involved
a crew breakfast (food as far as the eye can see), a Captain’s
Party, a non religious sail blessing ceremony, fireworks every
night and so many other events that we couldn’t get round
them all.
The tour of Amsterdam was a real highlight.
We were expecting to be put on a touristy boat and be taken
around the canals with a commentary. It soon became
clear, however, that we had our own private tour just for
the crew off Trinovante, organised by one of the Yacht Clubs
in Amsterdam! The hospitality seemed to be never ending.
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They took us round the canals for hours, and
provided up with as much wine, beer and food as we could manage.
At ten p.m. on the final night the festival finished
with an even bigger fireworks display than normal, topped off with
all the ships blasting their horns and making a huge noise. There
were blasts of every pitch and it really touched me to think that
all those people on all those ships, boats and yachts were there
with one really important thing in common, and that was their love
of the sea.
What an incredible experience!
Hetty
Snodgrass
Rig maintenance on board the city of Brests'
schooner La Recouvrance
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Ship’s Stamp
One of the fun things for young people
to do at a sail festival is to go around all the boats and
collect impressions of the ship’s stamps from all around
the world.
Until this year Trinovante didn’t
have a ships stamp but Dennis one of last years crew very
kindly sent us one for Christmas.
We have to say it went down very well with
all the kids, at times we had quite a queue of them with their
official Sail 2005 forms.
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The lower sails going from forward to aft are called
the Jib topsail, Staysail, Gaff Forsail, Gaff Mainsail
and Mizzen.
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| Screaming
Lord Sutch and the Towers |
| The Red Sands
and Shivering Sands towers can only be seen by boat and Trinovante
is a frequent visitor. Seen from afar they stalk the mouth
of the Thames like creatures from ‘The War of the Worlds’.
Up close they are no less striking.
Now abandoned, the towers were built during
the Second World War as anti air craft forts to protect London
and shot down many aeroplanes and flying bombs. Each fort
was made up of seven towers connected by aerial walkways and
could house up to 265 men.
Because they were just outside the three
mile territorial waters limit the 1960’s saw the towers
used as pirate radio stations and Shivering Sands was occupied
by City radio and DJ/rock singer ‘Screaming Lord Sutch’.
He went on to stand as an ‘independent candidate’
against the then Prime Minister Harold Wilson in the 1966
general election.
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Red Sands Towers
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Handling Under Sail
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We always get under way under
sail if we can and this is one of the situations that arose this
year.
Trinovante is lying head to wind
and tide and we wish to sail west. The gaff foresail, mainsail and
mizzen are set with the boat head to wind but no headsails. The
jib topsail is ready to go. The staysail is left furled so as to
leave the foredeck clear for the anchor winch crew.
The anchor chain is shortened
up to twice depth of water. The rudder is put to port to sheer Trinovante
in the tide. The Foresail is held aback on a line that can be easily
slipped. The aim is to use the power of the wind in the backed foresail
and the weight of the vessel slewed in the tide to trip the anchor
and turn the boat short almost in its own length without running
onto the banks on either side.
The fore deck team get
cracking on the winch and wind home the anchor as quickly
as possible. at the same time the jib topsail in hoisted aback
to increase the momentum of the turn. The main and mizzen
sheets are already slacked off as far as they can be and the
peaks are eased to delay the moment when these sails begin
to drive for as long as possible.
Now the bows are turned one hundred
degrees from the wind the foresail looses its turning moment and
the main and mizzen start to drive.
At this point we must get steerage
way on the vessel as soon as possible so as not to ground on the
north bank. The slip on the foresail is released, the jib is sheeted
home on the port side and the staysail is hoisted and while the
skipper holds his breath we turn and sail away down river.
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Rigging Week
Last years rigging week was an occasion for
factor 25 sun cream which wasn’t the case this year but that
didn’t stop us enjoying ourselves and cracking a few beers
on the job.
Having designed and rigged Trinovante ourselves
its great if we get the opportunity to share some of the things
we have learnt along the way.
Rigging week was all about just that.
How to bend on gaff sails and the theory surrounding tackles and
purchases, it’s also a good chance to have a go at seizings
and whippings and the odd less well used knot like the bunt line
hitch.
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If you are really enthused here are
a few books on the subject.
The Complete Rigger Wire and Rope by Brian
Toss.
The first few chapters are a good intro to basic rope working
skills.
Hand, Reef and Steer by Tom Cunliff.
Good first book on traditional rig.
Admiralty Manual of Seamanship Volume 1.
Best to find an old copy in a second hand book shop. A bit
more advanced and geared towards small ships.
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The single parent dilemma:
You go to the travel agent:
"I’m looking for a holiday,
something a bit unusual, for me and my daughter, Oh and before you
suggest it, my daughter spends a lot of time in After School and
Holiday Clubs - half terms etc - so please, no ‘you can
relax on the beach, while your daughter joins the activity club’
suggestions either”.
Well as it turns out a week
on the Trinovante was the perfect answer. We were there with another
family, the girls got on like a house on fire straight away. The
three of them had their own cabin to themselves, which was great
for them and the adults.
The week was leisurely,
combining some great sailing, with fun on-shore. The kids enjoyed
relaxing in hammocks, fishing and crabbing. They helped out hauling
on the halyards and tried their hands on the helm, but mostly chilled
out together
Probably the high-light was a camp
fire and BBQ on a deserted beach.
The adults spent more time getting to know the rig, getting
the most out of her, sailing surprisingly
close to the wind, hoisting all six, or was it seven,
sails and setting them. The big advantage on Trinovante
is that each individual sail is relatively small, making them
easy to handle for people new to the rig.
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Balloon dogs, swans, swords...
We had some beautiful sunsets in
secluded anchorages, lots of fun with a sprit rigged tender,
great food, good wine. Trinovante is about as distinctive
a vessel as you can imagine. Everywhere we sailed, we seemed
to be a focus of interest.
I’m already planning for next
year. Some serious passage making for a week or two sans family
and then a relaxing week with kids sounds just perfect.
Don Findley
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| Sailing
On A Tall Ship Again
Sailing on Trinovante recently gave me
the chance to be reacquainted with the excitement of Tall
ship sailing. After a break of 10 years I was feeling a little
apprehensive at the prospect as I neared Brightlinsea.
My mind was thinking back to the previous
trips and the highs and lows that had blown up around the
Irish Sea. The majority of my memories were good, but I couldn’t
help remembering those situations with lots of bits of string
to pull and crew that can’t remember which, or the slightly
military feel to the whole week.
In the end after spending a week aboard
Trinovante there was no need to waste time on such thoughts.
The week was excellent.
The relaxed adult atmosphere was far removed from the visions
I had from previous Sail training.
So I got thinking how is this different?
What is sail training for? Why are two boats so different?
There is no doubt that sail training has a valid part to play
in the development of young minds. It offers excitement, responsibility,
lessons on getting on with others, sharing and living together
in close proximity. It also offers people an opportunity
to appreciate the simpler things in life that are often forgotten.
But being a little older and feeling that I had grasped the
basics of the above, I didn’t really need this reinforcing.
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Sue and John are excellent teachers and
hosts. After a week the rudiments of working the rig and sails
is easily grasped unlike a larger vessel with more “knitting
and string to pull” Yes - the sail handling is
more involved than a yacht, but this too can work as an advantage
to those who
are more active and don’t want to just sit in a plastic
cockpit wrapped in oilies for a week.
Sat in a snug cabin with a beer in hand
after a days relaxed sailing around the beautiful East coast
- what could be better than that?
Dave Pridmore
Raising the anchor
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