Journal entry for week April 23 to April 29                

April 23, 2006
Anchored in San Salvador, Bahamas

Last night, Ryan woke me at 3:30am with her flashlight shining in my face telling me that I had ten minutes until anchor watch. Standing anchor watch means that you are awake at night checking that the boat is staying in one place and that the anchor is not dragging. I climbed the ladder up onto deck and started the process of turnover. She showed me the bearings, and the VRMs on the Radar, and the depth. I was supposed to wake Mr. Wells (the first mate) if any of these indicators changed during my watch. At turnover, Ryan showed me the depth was flickering between 39/40 feet. Once I was given all the information, she went down below and I was left to fend off the scary creaking noises myself.

I kept checking the depth, and twenty minutes into my watch, the depth suddenly reached 43 feet. It was time to enter the adventure of going into the Crew’s Quarters for the first time. I climbed down the ladder and was greeted with the sight of hanging towels, books, and clothes everywhere. I started the hunt for Mr. Wells’s bunk. I pulled back the curtain to every single crew member’s bunk before finding his. When I whispered that the depth had changed, he seemed to not care. I told him that it was at 43 feet, and he simply told me that he would “Keep an eye on it”. I went back on deck and continued to do a boat check, and make sure that our two little boats weren’t sinking with water.

In the morning, C watch knocked out soles and bowls, cleaning the toilet bowls and scrubbing the dirt and hair off the floor. When we were done, we headed to the helm to help out the crew brasso-ing (cleaning the brass on deck) that always needs some extra hands.

During our morning class, the Bahamas Group presented their research topic and the history of San Salvador. Next, a group of students presented their science project about coral reefs and surveying the reef. We would all get to help this group collect their data this afternoon snorkeling on a reef here in San Salvador. We listened as the snorkeling science group presented instructions for us to follow. We were split up into groups and were asked to look for specific fish and the way that they interact and behave with other fish. I was in a group with Jane, Mercedes, and Angel, and our focus was the rainbow parrot fish.

Once we all got packed and ready to go with our swimsuits, snorkeling gear, and towels, we loaded up in Armin E. and Gordita and headed to the dock of San Salvador. The whole ride there, we were amazed by the color of the Bahamian water. It was a turquoise blue, a blue that was so clear that you could see the shape and color of the rocks on the very bottom. The dock of San Sal was an enclosed little space, with calm waters, and scuba boats surrounding the docks. We stepped up the best ladder so far (as all the ladders on the other docks have been older, rustier, and generally harder to climb). We started walking towards the road that would lead us to the snorkeling spot. As we dodged horrible drivers, checked out the resorts in construction, and passed the Club Med, we finally reached the mini trail that lead us to a rocky area that held the same colored water that we had seen on our way there. We dove right into it: I, wearing my orange life-jacket, entered the water very cautiously. We swam more and more towards the open water and saw more coral reef and fish. Marcos dove down at one point and brought up a live conch. It was so cool to see the conch slug hide back in its shell.

Once we had all done our research, we swam against the drift and tried to lie comfortably on the rocks as we fantasized about what kind of wondrous island food we would eat this time.

In about no time, we were back on the dock waiting for the boats to come get us. At exactly 5:15, we heard Spirit on the radio calling, “Spirit Mobile, Spirit Mobile, this is Spirit of Massachusetts standing by on 010, over.” Nettie let me call back on the radio. After much practicing with myself, I said, “Spirit of Massachusetts, Spirit of Massachusetts, this is Spirit Mobile on 010. Over.” It was Mr. Ridgeway telling us that they were ready for boat runs.

Our evening consisted of many things. We first tried to have a study hall, but I managed to write a sentence in my journal before an important muster was called. We had a serious issue. We figured out that we had no more spending money from out fundraising account. So we sat on the starboard side of the main salon figuring out alternative methods of spending our time together, besides eating out. We went through passing the salt shaker in a clockwise direction, just to control the amount of people that had so much to say. After the muster on fundraising, we felt the need to plan something special for the crew at the end. After discussing the different ideas that we came up with, we elected chair leaders and a game plan to try to plan the huge festival that we have planned.

After the first two musters, we then decided that a huge muster was needed to express how we each feel about the recent way that our group has been interacting. We moved up on deck and sat in a circle, and each said everything that was on our minds from day one. It was a heartfelt breakthrough, with each girl almost breaking out in tears. Not everyone left the muster feeling as good as others, but the talk between us definitely gave us more to work on. It let the guards down, and made us realize that we are all human and are all learning to work on our differences. The talk left us feeling more connected, and more together than we have felt in a long time.

Christine Fong

April 24, 2006
San Salvador, Bahamas

Today was our last day in our last port stop. We went to San Salvador High School to speak to the students. The view from the school was absolutely amazing. Overlooking from the top of hill was a beautiful beach with light blue and dark blue colors across the horizon. The light blue shallow water flowed onto the sandy white beach which seemed untouched and the dark blue water slowly crept back towards the ocean hitting rocks and reefs that stuck out in the middle. The gorgeous green palm trees overlooking the beach added the right texture to the picturesque view.

That view made me happy and I am sad that I could not take a picture to remember it by We met the Principal, Mrs. Green after the students went to class. She was very nice and seemed interested about our school on the boat. She hoped that through us maybe the students would be inspired to sail on a boat for a career and maybe leave the island.

Taking us to different classrooms, Mrs. Green split us up to talk to the students about what we do and why we were there. The class I was in was very small. The students ranged in age from 14 to 17. The students were nice and some were really interested.

When we left the school, we went on a tour of the island. One interesting place was a slave plantation that still had the plants they used to help with different diseases. They call this “bush medicine” and some Bahamians still use these remedies today. Our tour guide even pointed out two plants that helped with diabetes and asthma. At the end of our tour, we had a picnic with the students to get to know them and vice-versa. We played volleyball and danced to local music, some being the music we listened to. We had so much fun. As the day grew old, we all knew what was next. We grew sad knowing that this was our last island. We danced until the last moment. We will never forget this island and it will stay with us forever.

Mesha Drew

April 26, 2005
Underway to Charleston

Yesterday morning we took our last trip to the windlass to haul up anchor and begin our voyage to Charleston, South Carolina. The crew had decided that it was time for us to expand our wings, so to speak, and soar our way to Charleston without the help of any of the mates or deckhands on board. The night before we elected three leaders to take on the responsibility of organizing the new watches and assume leadership roles within the three separate watches, Christine on A-watch, Mia on B- watch, and myself on C-watch.

Our first task as watch leaders was to organize the voyage plan. We combined all three watches and planned our course to Charleston based on how long it would take us to get there under worst and best case scenarios. We separated into sub groups in order to distinguish the factors that could possibly throw us off course while we are underway. We discussed the forecast on wind and sea conditions and possible squall build up. Based on the forecasts for the next week, we determined what our best course would be to make it into Charleston on time. Lucky for us it looked as if we would be able to sail a course straight north to Charleston, however the forecast had predicted that winds would be continuously shifting north as the days went on. This could cause a problem for us because it meant that in order to get to Charleston from San Salvador we had to sail directly into the wind. It is impossible to sail straight into the wind and it makes things really hard because we would have to set a close haul point of sail with our sails pulled in tight. This would cause us to basically push our limits and sail as close to the wind as possible with the risk of taking the ship “into irons” which would prevent us from sailing at all. Going into irons is means you’ve steered the ship into the “no go zone” of sailing. Once you’re there it is impossible to sail because your sails are facing the wind and cannot catch any wind. Another problem we faced was the fact that the ship had barely enough fuel to make it to Charleston in the event that there would not be enough wind for us to sail at least an average speed of four knots and we would have to use the motor.

To be ready for any of these options, Cap suggested that we plan three course lines - one expecting to sail straight up to Charleston, one expecting to stop at a port along the coast of Florida to refuel and one for a destination we could reach and then determine the best course for Charleston from that point. Ultimately we estimated that it would take us about six days which was the worst case scenario to get to South Carolina based on each course line. The chance of us sailing upwind could potentially slow us down and we also had the strong currents of the Gulf Stream to worry about.

Upon presenting our plans to the crew, we appointed three junior watch officers, also known as J-WO, to call the setting of the sails and get us started on our voyage home.

Written by Christina Marquez

April 27th 2006
Written by Amelia Robertson

It has gotten colder since yesterday, bucket showers are out of the question. Instead, people are starting to layer up with long underwear, winter coats, and 'foulies.' Foulies is sailor-speak for foul weather gear, a.k.a. the giant orange rubber suits we wear in, you guessed it, foul weather. They cover everything but your hands, feet, and face, and for anybody under five foot five, they cover everything but your face. Despite weighing in the neighborhood of eighty thousand pounds, they keep you amazingly warm and dry, definitely a hard to reach goal in our new territory of the North Atlantic.

At this point in our trip, the wind is coming from the Northeast, which is unfortunately the way to our destination. Since a sailboat cannot sail directly into the wind, we are sailing 'close hauled', or as close to the wind as we can. Because of this, we're fairly heeled over; meaning that one side of the ship is basically in the water. Unfortunately, the side currently in the water is the side my bunk is on. At this point, there are seven dippers in my bunk, lining the small crack a torrent of seawater has managed to gush through. Thankfully, Huggies Extra Soft diapers are fairly absorbent, and the situation is bearable if not desirable.

I'm starting to think about how this is the last of our journey. For so long, everything we've done has been oriented around the word 'Charleston.' It's become almost magical, a word meaning everything from 'end' to 'home,' and now that we are finally pointed towards it, it's only getting stronger. While a lot of people are getting excited about seeing their families, I'm getting kind of nervous. What will I do without Spirit? She's been my world for six weeks, twenty-four hours a day. Even when we're ashore I can usually make out her tall masts against the horizon, or see her hull hovering above the harbor swells. Sitting in restaurants I can feel the rocking motion that used to nauseate me, and I'm beginning to wonder what life will be like without all this.

The sunsets out here have been incredible. Sure, they were a little boring in the beginning, but now they're making up for lost splendor in a big way. Every morning and every night peach rays melt all over cream puff clouds (can you tell I miss sugar?) and we sit on deck, scrubbing dishes and marveling at our life. It almost makes up for the fact that I don't have my iPod.

I've been thinking about what the rest of my life is going to be like, and I've decided to alter course. Being a veterinarian is a great goal, and I'm sure a lot of young women would love to follow that goal through college and into practice, but my tack has changed. Valerie, our amazing bosun, has inspired me, and now college will have to wait. Instead, I'm going to dedicate my life to learning about rigging and engine rooms and small boat maintenance and sail stitching, in short, “bosunery”. Mum, I understand if you're upset about this. I know that I won't be able to fund your retirement to a quiet, nice a rest home, but I think you understand. Sacrifices must be made, and if financial security is one of them, well then, I'm willing to make it for the sake of spending the rest of my life on a tall ship.

Underway to Charleston

April 28th 2006
Leaving San Salvador for Charleston

Today was our last day in San Salvador before we lifted anchor and set sail to sea. Today was also our last day setting sail and hauling away on the windlass which we use to lift the anchor. Today was also the first time that the JWOs (Junior Watch Officers) actually played an important role and stepped up as actual leaders. From now on it will be the students making the decsions on board Spirit. The first big thing we had to do was make a voyage plan. We had to figure out what course we would take and how long it will take us to get to Charleston.

For class today, we got to read A Tempest. This is a play that is like the Shakespeare one but is about colonialism. I love it when we get to read it because its not just reading the book, because it is a play, Marcos makes us ACT out the play. If someone didn’t act out a part out right or emphasize a word correctly, Marcos would ask them to try it again or try to get someone else to volunteer the answer. I got to play the part of Eshu, who is like a trickster, so it was real fun.

Today we went through some rough weather. The boat was heeled over so much that we had to put weather boards. These are slots of wood that go in front of all the hatches to keep water out. Every time the front of the boat would dip into the water, the water would come gushing into the foc’sle. Everyone is really anxious to be on our last leg. I’m excited that we get to sail the boat in ourselves into Charleston.

April 29, 2006
Underway to Charleston April 29th

A bum rush for cameras and jackets hit the main salon before the words even finished spilling out of Ms. Falby’s mouth that there were dolphins. Bruising our legs all over the ladder while trying to fly up to reach the deck, we huddled together moving aft and forward trying to catch the best possible glimpse of the dolphins that we could with our cameras in hand. Sprinting forward after hearing Cap say that they were playing around the bow (front), I leaned over the side. I watched the school of 25 or more dolphins splash around, showing off to their audience of sailors. After a couple minutes of this, Cap came over explaining that she needed a line coiled out on the bowsprit (front pole that stems off of the ship) so I slapped on a harness and hurried on out. I rushed to the bag, threw on a twisted harness and began to climb the dripping wet safety net that runs under the bowsprit.

There I was at the end of the bowsprit way too far from the dolphins for my taste. I decided that it was high time to slip under the safety net and walk the chain towards the boat and closer to the water to enable myself to touch the dolphins. Walking down the chain, I could feel it slipping under my feet. I held on to the outside of the wobbling net checking that my harness would catch. I allowed my self to half walk and half slip down. With each wave the bowsprit would dip under water. At first, it pulled me down to where I was now sitting on the chain instead of standing on it and then it pulled me off of the chain completely until I was dangling from my harness. Off went my shoes, then my hat. I kept being sucked under the ship bashing my body against it. Up on deck a man overboard alarm was sounded and everyone began to do their assigned jobs to help me get back on board. I was finally pulled to safety by three of the crew, wrapped in a warm towel and sent down below to change. When I came back up on deck I was still in shock but we needed to retrieve the man over board gear that had been thrown over during the incident. We finally got it all back and set sail again.

After a first man over board experience that was not a drill, the weather was so rough that the captain decided to heave to and wait it out. We lost about six hours and drifted in the wrong direction as well. All and all, it was not my day. But, at least I have battle scars to show and a story to tell.

Written by Angel Thackeray