Fetch my below decks frolicking helmet!

I’ve been home for 32 or so hours from one of the most incredible experiences of my life.  The stress of the experience in the moment – climbing up routinely 50 or so feet above the deck in heavy winds to furl or un furl sail – sometimes prevented me from displaying just how incredible I felt, but sitting at home has given me time to realize how much I’m starting to miss it.

I usually save thank-you’s for last, but I think I’ll start off with some for the professional crew:

Brendan Reed is an ordinary seaman, so in Niagara’s configuration he rotates weekly to different watches.  However, he started out in Charlie Watch and taught me pretty much everything I knew there.  Even when he rotated out, he was a constant source of support and knowledge for me as I tried to get my feet under me, learn their system and begin to contribute.  Brendan has some pretty incredible political ideas too, and I don’t know if he’ll ever read this, but despite the pessimist I can be, I think he’s on to something very special.  It’s too bad he couldn’t stay with our watch the entire trip, we all loved him; he was the best at what he did and he taught us what we needed to know – plus some – in a way that made us not feel dumb or like dead weight.  Thanks Brendan.  Despite the incredible level of grief I gave him when he picked me up and threw me out of my comfort zone, Charlie Watch Able-bodied Seaman Isaiah Young was with us the entire 2+ weeks and was a constant reassuring force for at least me – and I’m gonna say the rest of Charlie Watch – when we were sent to do different things with sails and lines across the ship.  I know I didn’t always show it with him, mostly because I was in constant freak-out mode, but I truly appreciate what he did to finish the work Brendan started in getting us trained into something useful.  The professional crew was tasked with teaching us how to sail a vessel in the same way it was in the 19th century, while keeping us safe.  Isaiah did both.  When we all got sea sick, he bailed us out (he's also the medical officer).  I appreciate that, and I thank you for everything you did.  The Bosun – person in charge of the rigging and lines and such –  is a former Navy reservist named Ryan Whitehead.  I don’t remember anyone calling him by his name…he was either Bosun or Rhino (or Rhyno....not sure how they spelled it).  I called him Bosun.  After we got under way, he was the most reassuring professional crew member for me; I shadowed him a fair amount.  He was incredibly down to earth and realistic about what we were capable of and what we could be capable of (sub out “we” for “me” and it works just as well).  He was plain and simple just a great guy, and had a lot of respect for what we as students were trying to get out of the program, just as I had a ton of respect for his difficult position of having to perform his regular duties while also teaching us as much as we could absorb.  Last for the crew – then I’ll thank more people later – is Captain Wes Heerssen; Chief Mate on this voyage, but quite often the ships captain.  Specifically, when we were in Put In Bay, Ohio and I managed to charge my phone for the first time to see an email from an Executive Branch agency regarding an internship I applied for requesting some information from me, he went above and beyond to accommodate me in getting that info filled out and submitted.  All of this happened in the midst of him having to deal with a malfunctioning engine.  I’m having trouble finding the right words to express the gratitude commensurate with what he did for me.  The entire crew of The Niagara is in a unique position to pass on skills to younger generations of what is – quite frankly – an art form; rigging, sailing and maintaining a square-sailed ship is no small task.  Take that, add their joint role as educators, and a former trainee like myself can look back and have nothing but positive thoughts, and feel encouragement that people actually still go to work at something they love, not just something they get a paycheck for.  I tip my hat to the entire Niagara crew, and thank you sincerely for one hell of an adventure.  

Okay, so thanking people is cool, but it’s probably more cool to talk about the experience itself that would make me thank them….It started with 3 days of prep in Avery Point (Groton, CT) and I only covered the first night in a previous post…so let me finish the prep up before we jump over to western Pennsylvania:

Monday morning we had a history class on The War of 1812, an insanely under reported and under appreciated war.  Its significance to the future of America is almost off the charts.  I won’t bore you with details of a war almost 200 years in the past; but suffice to say the stalemate we achieved with the British was lucky…and specifically the Battle of Lake Erie was critical to maintaining America’s northern border.  Immediately after class we got on to one of UConn’s research vessels to go up to the New London Customs House to check out the museum there.  Honestly, it was underwhelming and disorganized; but it was a lot of fun to take a look at a completely different type of museum.  This place has ONE full time staff member; relying almost entirely on the resources and time of the surrounding community to keep it open.  I think it’s fantastic they’ve been able to do just that for so long.  That afternoon we went to the Coast Guard Academy right in Groton, CT to see the museum there.  Quite simply, it blew me away.  I’m a real sucker for everything military, and this totally and completely satiated that love.  The first painting on the left wall right before you even enter the museum area is of a US Coast Guard Cutter intercepting a Soviet Ice Breaker summed up – to me at least – what The Coast Guards’ responsibilities are.  I see them as silent helpers, protecting us in more ways than we can quantify, mostly unknown to us.  The exhibition was put together very well for the lack of space.  Most museums can only exhibit 10% of their collection; it seems almost criminal how much the curator had to leave out.   I'll post pictures as soon as I can put them together...we really weren't supposed to take any there..but I managed a couple without flash.

This is that painting I just mentioned that was on the wall right before the entrance to the Coast Guard Museum

The next day was spent entirely at Mystic Seaport.  Both professors from our contingent have connections there, and The Seaport proved to be a great foundation for our time on The Niagara.  Despite already knowing a fair amount about maritime history, Mystic helped me to appreciate it even more.  The ship model in the first exhibition we went into reminded me fondly of my visit to the National Maritime Museum in Greenwich, England.  I have a soft spot for ships – military ship specifically – and getting to see them to scale allows  me to see an entire ship in one look; rather than going over the life-size ship and missing some things.  With that said, opportunities found at Battleship Cove, Mystic Seaport, Portsmouth Naval Yard in England, The USS Intrepid and The Smithsonian Air and Space Museum are all equally incredible places to get hands-on experience.  We got to go aboard the C.W. Morgan, and old whaling vessel being completely refurbished from essentially the keel up.  We also had the opportunity to go aloft on The Joseph Conrad; which was nerve-wracking.  I only made it up half way...pretty bad considering tall ship sailing is almost all about going aloft repeatedly.  So it came as a surprise to me about how comfortable I’d become on the headsails (the 3 sails off the bow/front of the ship).  

The Charles W Morgan in dry dock

in case you were curious..it can't float yet

a close up of where they're replacing the planking on the hull

some seriously good interpretive artwork of The Charles W Morgan

a close up of my favorite one

when you're a sailor, you've gotta get sleep when you can...

our group getting a talk on the history of The Morgan before we go inside

the slipway thing The CW Morgan was hauled up out of the water

Going aloft, the term itself is harmless enough; but the actual experience itself is far from just a word and some assumptions garnered from movies.  In one day – the first full day at Erie -, I probably broke out of my “shell” so to speak, and stepped out of my comfort zone in a way I seriously doubt any other type of experience could match.  The initial climb up to the fighting top and down the other side was a great start…and where I thought it would end for the day.  I was wrong to say the least.  Soon after, Charlie Watch was assigned to climb on the bowsprit to ready to the foretop mast stay sail and jib to be brought up.  These are 2 of the 3 sails on The Niagara that hang over the bow over the water.  It was a thrill, but not the end either.  Shortly after I got back on deck, I found myself volunteering to climb up 105 ft in roughly 20 knot winds to practice furling the Main T’Gallant sail.  I credit Brendan exclusively with getting me up there and keeping me safe up there…I was nervous as all hell.  I survived that, but vowed to never climb that high again.  I found my limit.  I went all over the ship to every other yard at least three times for the next 2 weeks, but not the T’Gallants again.  I’ve mentioned Charlie watch a couple times.  The students were broken up into 3 watches with the pro crew; Alpha, Bravo and Charlie.  There were 5 or 6 students per watch and 3 or 4 pro crew members.  It’s an easy way to divide up the work when setting sail or furling sails.  I’m getting a little ahead of myself though now…

The Niagara at night

just chillin on the headrig, something like 30 or 40 feet off the bow of the ship

aloft on the shrouds of the main tops'l...

aloft on the other fighting top a bit later

that's me and fellow trainee Marguerite sea stowing the Course...the lowest yard on the Foremast (the mast closest to the bow of the ship)

aloft on the shrouds with pro-crewer Jeremy to tighten said shrouds with little tools called "come-alongs"

A little recap, we arrived in Erie on a Wednesday, and had a week to prepare for our 8 day voyage.  In that time, we trained on the lines on land and on the ship at port and on 2 day sails.  Those day sails were trial by fire, but we managed.  We had to pretty much  learn as we go with about 30 to 50 people just chillin on the deck watching us.  It was a lot of pressure to try and look confident in front of all of these people while also not messing up in front of the crew bad enough for them to call you out in front of the guests.  The first day underway though for our 8 day voyage, everyone got seasick.  I did okay, but I had a moment or two when I was as bad as everyone else.  I’ll spare you the details of that part.  In the midst of all of that, we were put into the 3 watch rotation that would cover the 24 hour work day.  The 2 day watches were 6 hours long, and the later one got into the night, the shorter they got – shortest being 4 or 5 hours.  With 3 watches, every watch got each time slot at least twice as it worked out for us.  When we were at anchor or port (a thrice happening occurrence), a different watch schedule was employed that kept more people asleep.  It kinda stunk at some points when you were on watch for 6 hours – no sitting or anything like that – and then couldn’t go to bed because we had class or something.  Classes were great, but I wish I had some sleep under my belt so I could get more out of it.  The ships captain, Walter Rybka, taught half a dozen or so classes on the history of sailing on The Great Lakes and The War of 1812 in general.  These classes – with the exception of 1 – were taught under way while we moved from port to port.  The 2 UConn professors with us taught their classes on shore…also great discussions and lectures.  These didn’t happen every day, but there was a fair regularity to them.  After the seasickness lifted and all the watches had the opportunity to “run the deck,” we arrived at our first port.  My experience at our first port of call – Put In Bay, Ohio – is best shown in pictures:

the main drag

never saw so many pay phones in one place ever

we probably rented the slowest golf cart on the island

The Perry monument..commemorating the US victory on Lake Erie

Koala and I ready to roll

nothing but the open road!

Koala and Gabe

a view of Put In Bay from the boardwalk...the farthest we could drive out in the gold cart we rented before we could venture no further

The Captain with The Perry monument in the background

def the slowest cart...we're getting passed by other carts!!

I thought this was legit

golf cart mecca

we spent a half hour trying to find this pirate ship; only to find out it was a floating bar...not an enemy ship to board....sad face

I've never seen a better golf cart driver...or a more reckless one lol....never try to drift in a golf cart

Only at Put In Bay

Charlie watch was on duty the evening of the day we left Ohio, and we had to tack on our own 5 times in the middle of the night.  Tacking is the process of re-directing the sails to take the most wind.  Not such a big deal for the pro crew on our watch, but a reasonably big deal for us trainees.  After a brief stopover in Erie to get one of our engines fixed, we departed again.  Our second port of call was Port Colburn in Canada…again, pictures speak the best:

we got a Canadien pilot to guide us in!  He just drank coffee the whole way

A cannon at Fort Erie

part of Fort Erie

Is our tour guide a ghost or do my camera skills need serious work?

3rd Mate found legit the only reference to naval warfare in the whole fort

view of the visitors center from the fort

this hat makes me look good

archeological dig site on the outside of the fort

a monument....that will be explained below:

BAM! explained

Next stop was Niagara Falls...never been before

look! A Canadien lighthouse

Not sure here...I could be going out on a limb but I'd say this is a casino...

next stop was the lock system spanning the space between Lake Erie and Lake Ontario

Why did I think I'd get through my entire stay in Canada without some reference to hockey...

the next morning we had breakfast on deck!!!

Canadien customs agents are so nice!

our chariot

 WAAAAIIIITTT!!!!!!!! I've got 2 more pictures...a little out of sequence, but whatever:

wait for it, wait for it....

BAM

As time progressed, I think I can speak for all of us trainees in saying we felt more and more comfortable with what the pro crew wanted us to do.  I felt more useful and confident in what was being asked of me.  It’s kind of a funny thing, as I wrote my journals I’m flipping through now, I stopped putting the date at the top.  I started to lose track of time.  I’m normally such a slave to dates and times, but when it comes to sailing – especially on The Niagara – things are gonna happen when they happen.  Maybe it’s the personality of the leadership or just a serious attempt to harken back to the days of sailing in 1813 where things happened based on the wind.  Either way, it’s real nice to have the chance / opportunity to go through more than a week at a time not working in a certain time frame.  I guess to clarify and re-word it, to do a job until it’s done or to not have the authority to determine your own schedule.  While totally the opposite of my regular personality, I’ve quite enjoyed the go-with-the-flow mentality.  I’ll never achieve the level of laid-backness some of my peers and the crew have; but I can at least appreciate how things can go when every minute is not scheduled.  

The funniest moment of the trip was probably the last day sail the day before we left for home.  There is a really tall guy on the crew named Jeremy; this week was his turn to be assistant cook.  He bumped his head against the bulkhead pretty hard in the beginning of the week…to a point where he bled pretty good.  So I’m on lookout right above the hatch to the galley and hear him say: “Chelsea, fetch by below decks frolicking helmet.”  Chelsea is an apprentice, the gray area between pro crew and trainee.  He doesn’t have such a helmet yet, but I really hope he gets one.  The way he said it was hysterical.  

Now for the last round of thank you’s:

The appreciation and array of emotion I feel to the indelible support my parents and sister provide me showed again here; they were nervous about the whole climbing aloft thing…but I made it guys!!!  I’m home safe and sound for the time being.  Big thanks to Gabe Rosen to renting that golf cart with me in Ohio and matching me with witty comebacks left and right.  Adrian “Koala” Kowalski is one of the smartest people I’ve met, and he’s a fantastic cartographer.  If you needed a laugh, you'd just go right to him and he'd take care of you.  The two professors, Mary K Bercaw Edwards and Kroum Bachvarov (sorry if I messed that up) were great.  They didn’t have to do any work, but they pulled on lines side by side with us, worked the late watches, taught classes, and listened when we needed to vent.  You guys are awesome.  

I’m having a tough time trying to look retrospectively back on the trip; I’d be lying if I said it was all good.  There were some head scratching moments no doubt, a point or two when I asked myself what I was doing there – when I really didn’t know what I was doing and the crew assumed I did – but overall it was an incredible experience.  I learned a little more about myself, my threshold for pain being one, as well as my threshold for taking direction.  People generally don’t like being bossed around…I’m no exception.  On a ship – especially a ship of war – you have to come to terms with it and embrace it.  I accepted the fact from day one that I knew nothing compared to the pro crew and I’d let them boss me around as much as they’d like.  Believe it or not, I learned a ton just listening.  If you know me well, you’ll chuckle at that…I like to talk, a lot.  

I’m off to NBC at 30 Rock this summer, I’ll give ya a weekly update there…again half a record for you and half as a record for me.  As I get more rest, I’ll add more details to this post about the trip…but until the next time I’ll leave you with this quote:

"It is not the mountain we conquer but ourselves." 

-Edmund Hillary

to me, this means - as always take out of the quote what you will - in regards to the trip I was just on, I conquered and surpassed some of my fears of stepping out of my "shell," not just specific apprehensions about climbing aloft and working up there. 

Stay Tuned…