Down to the sea in ships

by Mary Jo

I must go down to the seas again, to the lonely sea and the sky,
And all I ask is a tall ship and a star to steer her by,
And the wheel's kick and the wind's song and the white sail's shaking,
And a grey mist on the sea's face and a grey dawn breaking.

(John Masefield, "I must go down to the sea," verse 1)

Most people love the sea, which is why waterfront property is so expensive.  A lot of us like to visit the sea on our vacations.  I am definitely of that number. 

So this year the Mayhem Consultant and I took our annual winter getaway on a week long yacht charter in the British Virgins.  For years we've watched graceful sailboats cruising the Sir Francis Drake Channel through the Virgin Islands, so this year we decided to give it a try on the 45’ yacht Corus, which is owned and sailed by a British couple, Ann and Bill Hastert.  

Research afloat:

For a writer of historical novels, it was a fascinating and visceral education in what it must have been like to travel on sailing ships in the past.  Mind you, we had a gourmet meals and a crew dedicated to giving us the kind of vacation we wanted.  We had our own private cabin with bathroom ("head"), and choice of wines for lunch and dinner. (Ann in the galley, below.)

The Downsides:

BUT--sailboats have tight quarters.  I'm a short person, and I was still banging my head, knees, and other body parts all week.  With a cockpit about 6' x 8'. there wasn't any walking room.  (Though I was dropped off on little beaches so I could stretch my legs once a day.)  When we were under sail--a couple of hours a day, from one island to another--the cockpit cushions were stowed below and we were sitting on hard teak benches and hanging on so we wouldn't go tumbling.   (Getting a numb backside was one of the major downsides.) 

The Pluses:

The upside included masses of reading time (bliss!), and fun beach walks with sea dogs and flowers and diving pelicans.  Just what I needed to recharge my batteries before staring to write Lost Lords #5.
 
It was an entry into a new world, with lots of sunshine and great food.  A new world that was always moving in three dimensions, at least a little and sometimes a lot. 

Luckily, the Mayhem Consultant and I are not prone to seasickness, but the Corus's movements could cause problems, like bashing into walls or pouring more wine than expected.  (Sad, that. <G>) 

Interestingly, though we weren’t seasick, we have found that ut took several days to fully regain our land legs.  The ground underfoot felt like it might be about to move.   Not a problem, just—interesting.

 

A'roving, a roving:

As a dedicated landlubber, this is all part of the adventure that I wanted to experience.  One really becomes aware of the weather when on a sailboat.  A line of squalls might sweep across the water, completely covering an island, then move on leaving rainbows in its wake.  In the middle of the night, I'd hear rain falling and have to close the hatch and the little portholes so we wouldn't get rained on.  Then open them again when the rain stopped and the cabin got stuffy. <G> 

Lessons Learned:

I learned the true meaning of “ship shape.”   There is limited storage space, and if things aren’t properly stowed, the result was instant clutter, and possibly objects flying around the cabin as the boat rocks and rolls. 

I learned about limited resources of electricity and water.  The reading lights were very small, there was no real shower, and the V-shaped bed made me appreciate the sheer genius of a rectangular bed with a pillow top mattress. <G> 
 
I learned something about simplicity.  I've never gone shoeless for a week in my life, yet when I obeyed the ship rules and took off the sandals, I didn't miss them at all.  I could have gone the whole week on one pair of shorts, a chambray shirt, a sun hat, and a hoody for evenings.  (Though I did go for clean underwear every day. <G>)  With only one mirror and that mostly above my eye level, I forgot about appearance and tangled hair.  (And in fact, hair can go a lot longer without washing than one realizes. Another reminder of times past.) 

(I should note that I didn’t care about my appearance then.  But now that I’m home, I find the pictures taken of me on the Corus so alarming that no one is going to see them. <G>)

I also recognized that the sea is beautiful but unforgiving.  Even in well traveled waters, meticulous attention is required for the weather, the seas, and the setting of the sails.  Luckily, Bill and Ann are both certified captains and very experienced so we were in good hands. 

The experience gave me much better insight into the long sailing journeys of the past, when it took weeks or months to reach a destination.  I better understand how very alone and terrified one might feel at sea in a storm, and the patience and contemplation that sailing engenders.

Since I am not patient and my mind tends to run like a gerbil on a wheel, I am not cut out to be a sailor.  But the experience was wonderful and enlightening, a real shower when I got home felt FABULOUS, and in the future, I'll write more heartfelt sailing scenes in my books. <G>

Returning once more to John Masefield’s lovely poem, verses 2 and 4:

I must go down to the seas again, for the call of the running tide
Is a wild call and a clear call that may not be denied;
And all I ask is a windy day with the white clouds flying,
And the flung spray and the blown spume, and the sea-gulls crying.

I must go down to the seas again, to the vagrant gypsy life,
To the gull's way and the whale's way where the wind's like a whetted knife;
And all I ask is a merry yarn from a laughing fellow-rover,
And quiet sleep and a sweet dream when the long trick's over.

I'm not that sort of true sailor.  But I think I understand such folk better now.

Knowing the kind of readers Word Wenches attracts, I suspect that some of you have sailed single handed across the Atlantic. <G>  What are your sailing experiences?  And if you haven't sailed, would you like to?

Mary Jo

Comments

[Jenny]

Great blog Mary Jo. Makes me want to go sailing - may be, one day, in the future. From this you will be able to tell I have never been sailing. I have undertaken a number sea voyages in the past however. My first visit overseas was from Australia to England by ship - 5 weeks. I now live in Tasmania and in the past when we have wanted to travel to the mainland and take the car, we have travelled by sea, overnight. Lots of fun, but the ship was very much bigger than a sailing boat. I have to say I think I will give the sailing a miss, especially at my age and getting older. But good luck to those who like it, and glad you had a good time.

[Mary Jo Putney]

Jenny--

Five weeks by ship to England! That's nothing like the months the trip originally took, ut it's still a long time at sea, and supports my belief that Australian women are the world's most intrepid travelers, equalled only by New Zealand women. *g*

Even in this day and age, the sea it the logical route in many, many places. Where there are inhabited islands, there are ferries. But as you say, they're a lot larger and more solid than sailboats.

Maybe one day you might want to try a sunset sail just for the fun of it? It is a different sensation!

[Isobel Carr]

I’ve only done day trips with friends (though I have gone out the Golden Gate on a tall ship, which was AMAZING!). One of my buddies spent a year sailing the world as a crew member on a large tall ship. I love talking to him about what that experience was like. And he assures me that if you want to know what bilge smells like, that Bourbon Street in New Orleans is a pretty close approximation.

[Mary Jo Putney]

LOL about the bilge smell, Isobel! I'd love to travel on a tall ship some day. The most luxurious yacht ever built (around 1930), the Sea Cloud, has recently been rehabbed. Totally gorgeous--and $50K or so for a week in the owners' suite, which even has a fireplace. *g*

Sailing under through the Golden Gate....now THAT'S romantic!

[Cate S]

Some sailing on Class C Scow.. Did a day sail in the USVI a number of years ago.. but we just sat or snorkled... and have been on a cruise ship [which doesn't count really]... But I love being ocean side and would like to sail some more... Your photos were wonderful.

[Diane Sallans]

I've always wanted to go sailing! I had wanted to go on one of those Windjammer Barefoot cruises but never did before they closed up a few years ago. The casual nature of those cruises appealed to me more than the big ships. I have gone on a few catamaran sails & loved that.

[Mary Jo Putney]

Cate, there are all kinds of ships out there! Most big cruise ships are like being in your living room. I hope there are sailing trips in your future.

Thanks for the picture compliment. Some of the pics are mine, a few are from the Corus website. Hard to go wrong with sunsets and seas as subjects!

[Mary Jo Putney]

Diane--it's very sad that the Barefool Cruise company went under. I have friends who sailed on them and loved it. Maybe when the economy picks up, someone else will move into that market niche. In the Caribbean, barefoot on shipboard feels just right.

[Cathy Gilleylen Schultz]

Lovely post! It made me think of the hour we spent on the Chesapeake Bay on a chartered sail boat out of Rock Hall, MD--wind in my hair, sun warming my skin, and the sky so blue against the water. I think what I love best about sailing is when the boat is turned and it leans into the wind--exhilarating! I've not experienced a storm, though, nor had to go a week without washing my hair. Perhaps it's not as romantic for more than a day as the novels lead us to believe?

[Mary Jo Putney]

Rock Hall, Maryland! You're in my neighborhood, Cathy--I've lunched in Rock Hall. And yes, the Chesapeake Bay is one of the great sailing venues.

Day sailing has the fun without the hair washing issues. *g*

[Louis]

I've also sailed under the Golden Gate bridge...in a troop ship...sea sick a lot.

A friend's 25 foot sail boat was the most enjoyable and I didn't get sea sick.

John Masefield is a favorite poet.

[Mary Jo Putney]

Louis, the troop ship does NOT sound like the ideal travel vessel! A small sailboat has more of that wind and spray in your hair feel. I've always loved that Masefield poem in particular, but he's always good.

[Barbara Ankrum]

What a fabulous trip, Mary Jo! I've always fantasized about taking a sailing ship somewhere. I will look forward to reading those scene in your future books! Miss seeing you every now and then!
xo B

[Mary Jo Putney]

Barbara, lovely to hear from you! Living in California, there's lots of sea for you to sail on. *G* I hope you get the opportunity.

[Laura]

Beautiful, beautiful post, Mary Jo! and gorgeous pictures.

I enjoyed your humorous summary of most of the negatives of sailing :D And many of the positives. I LOVE your comment about alarming hair photos!

For all of you who want to sail, come to Annapolis, Maryland! We have it all!

It looks like you had a wonderful trip, and such a unique adventure. Wonderful! Thank you for sharing some of your lovely time.

[Mary Jo Putney]

Thanks, Laura! As a real sailor, I'm sure you could identify with my points. *g* It was a great experience. And have I mentioned the great food lately??? *g*

[Laura]

Hi, Mary Jo! Really, it's Doug who's the real sailor. I tag along. And get to see the great scenery. And storms.

I'm so glad it was a great experience. Do tell more about the great food! :D

[Anne Gracie]

Lovely blog, Mary Jo and it sounds like a wonderful trip. I'm sure you came back renewed and refreshed.

My father often quoted that Masefield poem -- he'd start, and the rest of the family knew the first verse, but he and my mother could quote the entire poem. And then they'd start on another poem, and another. A poetry quote-a-thon. Shades of the days when schoolkids learned so much by rote, and recitals were a regular form of entertainment.

[Mary Jo Putney]

Anne--how great to have family poetry "quote-a-thons!" The advantage of having both parents be teachers. *g* And yes, a week on a sailboat left me very ready and recharged to write the next book.

[Hannah Lee]

What a lovely travel post! My father-in-law celebrated a milestone birthday by inviting all the children and grandchildren for a day on a catamaran, which went along the Hudson and into the harbor at the tip of Manhattan. That was a lovely experience.
Fortunately for my birth family, when we came to the U.S., we got to fly and not come by steerage (as that would have been our class of passenger if we'd come at the turn of the 20th century).

[Mary Jo Putney]

A catamaran ride up the Hudson! What a lovely way to celebrate a milestone. My family would have come in some incredibly rickety olf ship well before steerage was invented, so flying sounds pretty good by comparison!