Time is quickly becoming a blur.
My last entry was a while ago.
It was wonderful to meet up with Pia in Copenhagen but it was a busy time. I think for the first week we went out to visit friends twice a day, lunch and dinner. Among the visits was a 50th celebration with our friend Marian. We were about 50 people at a Greek restaurant and there was amazing food lamb (spanicopita, greek salads, chunks of feta), lots of speeches and singing.
We left for Jutland where we visited my cousin Ole and wife Ane Marie. They are always great to visit and Ole's brother (and my cousin) Lars and his wife and Lene showed up and we had a great meal at a traditional Kro. Pia went for a rowing trip wit Ane Marie and her team. They were practicing for a race.
Pia and I left Randers on August 27 on the train and headed for Breamerhaven where Sørlandet was taking part in a tall ship festival. The train ride was smooth and we passed through agricultural landscapes. An indicator in the car showed the speed - over 200 kmh. What struck me as different from Canada was that there were only few corn fields.
In Breamerhaven Pia was staying at a hostel for two days before joining me on the sail to Kristiansand. We went to the hoste and got Pia checked in and then we took taxi to the warf. It was not a long ride but I had my large pack to carry.
The warf was teaming with life. There must have been 50 tall ships taking part in the festival. There were thousands of people milling about. We heard later that 1.8 million people had taken part in the festival. It was like nothing I had ever seen. And there were concession booths, and entertainment everywhere. At times it was hard to move.
Boarding the Sørlandet was surreal, all the people, all the activities. This was definitely the way to do it. I could just imagine in the past, and not all that long ago really, tall ships lined up along wharves in coastal towns and people milling about.
Sørlandet is the oldest tall ship still sailing. She was built in 1927 as a tall ship and therefore has beautiful lines. Many tall ships today are ships that have been converted and therefore the lines are often broken. Sørlandet originally had no engine, only the wind powered her. In 1937 she crossed the atlantic for the first time when she sailed to New York.
During the Second World War Germany occupied Norway and they used Sørlandet as a prison. At the end of the war they sank the ship but the Norwegians re-floated her and fully restored her. This is when an engine was installed.
In the 70's the owners of Sørlandet ran into financial problems and were about to sell her to a foreign concern. A group of people in Kristiansand somehow raised enough money and bought her and she is now owned by the town. She sails mainly during the summer where it takes "trainees" (basically passengers) out who have the money and time and want to go for a trip and work on a tall ship.
But back to Breamerhaven. All the teachers arrived on August 27 and the next day we started the introductions and going over all the material that needed to get covered before the students arrive. Having students on board for 8 months having to live, study and work requires much planning from discipline, logistics, to what happens if this and if that and so on.
While in Breamerhaven the food arrived, two big trucks full. I heard the figure of 30,000 Euros worth of food. We unloaded it by hand, transferred it to the ship by hand (in rain), carried it down stairs by hand and had to find storage for it all. It took two days.
Sunday came and Pia boarded, we were going to sail that evening. Tall ships were leaving all day. Generally this required a tug helping out so it was congested in the harbour. Those giant tugs were amazing how they could be maneuvered. They must have has propellers all around. We were scheduled to leave at 1800 hours. We were all excited. About 20 trainees had joined us.
At 1800 hours two giant tugs came, tied unto us one at the bow and one at the stern and they slowly pulled us out. There was a bridge that opened and the tugs expertly pulled us through the narrow opening. There was only about a couple of metres of clearance on either side.
We also had to go through a lock. It was huge. There were three tall ships in the lock but there was room for many more ships. We were lowered four metres or so and were then headed for the North Sea. It was now about 2300 hrs. Most of us went to bed.
In the night the ship began pitch. We were headed straight into the wind so there were no sails up. In the morning we were pitching not hard but more than moderately. It was difficult to stand and walk and many people began to get seasick. There are two funnels at the fore of the main deck and you can guess what they are for - yes, puking and many people spent time there including me. I was fine for some time but then I had a cup of coffee and that was it. Later I learned that caffeine promotes seasickness. I made sure I stayed on deck and that helped, but still. The first day was miserable but the second day I was fine. Pia had a rough first day as well as did the Class Afloat teachers except one.
We had to be in Kristiansand Wednesday morning so we were trying to make as much speed as we could and that did not help matters because the faster we went the harder the pitching.
It was phenonmenal. Waves would hit the boat and be ejected off in huge cascades of spray. Some waves almost reached the railing and at times people standing close to the side of the ship would become drenched.
Wednesday morning we awoke and it had calmed down. When I went up on deck Norway was quite close and by 8 am we were along the wharf in Kristainsand.
It was surprising how many parents did shop up. There was a quire singing sea shanties.
