Trainee Training

2009 07 05 - Day 9 – Gdynia


Here the really salty seaman Gunnar is letting us trainees know that, now there's no escape, if we don't give 1001% and do exactly as he and the crew say he'll break our legs with his bare hands like the poor sap behind him!
Having said that, it could just be that I misheard him and actually he was welcoming us aboad and introducing the crew... but lets not quibble over minor details.
The pic was shot from the hip at our first 'Munstering' at sea... 'Munstering' is where everyone gathers on deck for some reason or other and should not be confused with becoming more like, or generally immitating, The Munsters!

Thankfully, no one made that mistake while I was on board... no more broken legs!
The most exciting and challenging part of our early training was definitely going aloft – climbing the rigging that is.

I was initially surprised, some may say alarmed, that we wouldn't be using our harness, other than wearing it, when climbing the ladder-like bits (I realise my professional sailing terminology probably falls short here). But, due to their gentle slope, I found them surprisingly comfortable to climb. The scary bit was negotiating the overhang onto the first platform as you have to lean backwards... thankfully we did use our harnesses for this bit.
Going out on the yards to furl/unfurl the sails was also a bit intimidating, but once you were out there, I found it surprisingly comfortable as your centre of gravity (your gut) is on the yard, your hands are fairly free and unless you do some stupid maneouvres or movements, you aren't going to be doing anything painful, like falling... we also used our harnesses here just in case.