Well at last, I'm posting my Antarctic photos from my two voyages south aboard the Europa (2006) and Lord Nelson (2014).

I've let this site lie low for a couple of years after my big voyage. I didn't have any internet access during the trip. then I got badly injured towards the end of the voyage. It took me 18 months and a major operation to get over it.

But I'm back sailing, and here's to the future. I'll keep this updated, especially when I'm sailing.

Mike

So Where Are We?

So were the hell are we?

 

Still on Queens Wharf, Auckland I’m afraid!

I joined the ship on Sunday along with the rest of the voyage crew.  It was a usual sort of joining day, meeting up with friends and the permanent crew.  The crush below decks to sign on (or become indentured), hand over your passport, and get allocated a bunk.

The bunk is really important, especially on a voyage of this length. It’s where you sleep, read, listen to music, and spend some quality time away from the rest of the crew. It is about the size of a larger single bed, and it is your personal space.

 Usually I’m in the fo’c’stle, together with 8 other crew. Its cramped, it can be smelly. It is busy, and can be noisy (snoring in particular), it’s where you get bounced around in storm. But it is a place where you have cooperate with each other and the crac is usually good. But not for me this time!

This time I’m sharing a cabin with Garry. Here we have a bit more room. We’re on the same watch, so it’s less noisy. We keep saying that this is the party cabin. I keep saying that we will name it ‘The Cavern’ or ‘Erics’ to reflect the party life we will have to organise over the next two months.

But the big news is that the main jack stay is broke and lying on the deck. Can’t really sail without this huge piece of wire cos it holds the masts up and we fly a staysail off it. We’ll have a new one by Wednesday. But in the words of Nelson ‘men and ships rot in port’!

Errrrrrrrrrrrrr…………..but the shopping good!

Break, Break, Break

By Alfred, Lord Tennyson 1809–1892

Break, break, break,

         On thy cold grey stones, O Sea!

And I would that my tongue could utter

         The thoughts that arise in me.

O, well for the fisherman's boy,

         That he shouts with his sister at play!

O, well for the sailor lad,

         That he sings in his boat on the bay!

And the stately ships go on

         To their haven under the hill;

But O for the touch of a vanish'd hand,

         And the sound of a voice that is still!

Break, break, break

         At the foot of thy crags, O Sea!

But the tender grace of a day that is dead

         Will never come back to me.

What is a Barque?

 

 

 

 A barque, barc, or bark is a type of sailing vessel with three or more masts having the foremasts rigged square and the aftermast rigged fore-and-aft.

Etymology

The word barque entered English via French, which in turn came from the Latin barca by way of Occitan, Spanish or Italian. The Latin barca may stem from Celtic "barc" (per Thurneysen) or Greek "baris" (per Diez), a term for an Egyptian boat. The Oxford English Dictionary considers the latter improbable.

The word barc appears to have come from Celtic languages. The form adopted by English, perhaps from Irish, was bark, while that adopted by Latin as barca very early, which gave rise to the French barge and barque. In Latin, Spanish and Italian the term barca refers to a small boat, not a full-size ship. French influence in England led to the use in English of both words, although their meanings now are not the same. Well before the 19th century a barge had become interpreted as a small vessel of coastal or inland waters. Somewhat later, a bark became a sailing vessel of a distinctive rig as detailed below. In Britain, by the mid-19th century, the spelling had taken on the French form of barque. Francis Bacon used this form of the word as early as 1605. Throughout the period of sail, the word was used also as a shortening of the barca-longa of the Mediterranean Sea.

The usual convention is that spelling barque refers to a ship and bark to tree hide, to distinguish the homophones.

 

 

 

 

Bark

 

In the 18th century, the British Royal Navy used the term bark for a nondescript vessel that did not fit any of its usual categories. Thus, when the British Admiralty purchased a collier for use by James Cook in his journey of exploration, she was registered as HM Bark Endeavour to distinguish her from another Endeavour, a sloop already in service at the time. She happened to be a ship-rigged sailing vessel with a plain bluff bow and a full stern with windows.

William Falconer's Dictionary of the Marine defined "bark", as "a general name given to small ships: it is however peculiarly appropriated by seamen to those which carry three masts without a mizzen topsail. Our northern mariners, who are trained in the coal-trade, apply this distinction to a broad-sterned ship, which carries no ornamental figure on the stem or prow."

The UK's National Archives states that there is a paper document surviving from the 16th century in the Cheshire and Chester Archives and Local Studies Service, which notes the names of Robert Ratclyfe, owner of the bark "Sunday" and 10 mariners appointed to serve under Rt. Hon. the Earl of Sussex, Lord Deputy of Ireland.

Barque Rig

By the end of the 18th century the term barque (sometimes, particularly in the USA, spelled bark) came to refer to any vessel with a particular type of sail-plan. This comprises three (or more) masts, fore-and-aft sails on the aftermost mast and square sails on all other masts. Barques were the workhorse of the Golden Age of Sail in the mid-19th century as they attained passages that nearly matched full rigged ships but could operate with smaller crews.

The advantage of these rigs was that they needed smaller (therefore cheaper) crews than a comparable full-rigged ship or brig-rigged vessel as there were fewer of the labour intensive square sails, and the rig itself is cheaper  Conversely, the ship rig tended to be retained for training vessels where the larger the crew, the more seamen were trained.

Another advantage is that a barque can outperform a schooner or barkentine, and is both easier to handle and better at going to windward than a full-rigged ship. While a full-rigged ship is the best runner available, and while fore-and-aft rigged vessels are the best at going to windward, the barque is often the best compromise and combines the best elements of these two.

Most ocean-going windjammers were four-masted barques, since the four-masted barque is considered the most efficient rig available because of its ease of handling, small need of manpower, good running capabilities, and good capabilities of rising toward wind. Usually the main mast was the tallest; that of Moshulu extends to 58 m off the deck. The four-masted barque can be handled with a surprisingly small crew—at minimum, ten—and while the usual crew was around thirty, almost half of them could be apprentices.

A well-preserved example of a commercial barque is the Pommern, the only windjammer in original condition. Its home is in Mariehamn outside the Åland maritime museum. The wooden barque Sigyn, built in Göteborg 1887, is now a museum ship in Turku. The wooden whaling barque Charles W. Morgan, launched 1841, taken out of service 1921, is now a museum ship at Mystic Seaport in Connecticut. The United States Coast Guard still has an operational barque, built in Germany in 1936 and captured as a war prize, the USCGC Eagle, which the United States Coast Guard Academy in New London, Connecticut uses as a training vessel. The Sydney Heritage Fleet restored an iron-hulled three-masted barque, the James Craig, originally constructed as "Clan Macleod" in 1874 and sailing at sea fortnightly. The oldest active sailing vessel in the world, the Star of India, was built in 1863 as a full-rigged ship, and then converted into a barque in 1901.

Barques and barque shrines in Ancient Egypt

In Ancient Egypt barques, referred to using the French word as Egyptian hieroglyphs were first translated by the Frenchman Jean-François Champollion, were a type of boat used from Egypt's earliest recorded times and are depicted in many drawings, paintings, and reliefs that document the culture. Transportation to the afterlife was believed to be accomplished by way of barques as well, and the image is used in many of the religious murals and carvings in temples and tombs.

The most important Egyptian barque carried the dead pharaoh to become a deity. Great care was taken to provide a beautiful barque to the pharaoh for this journey, and models of the boats were placed in their tombs. Many models of these boats, which range from tiny to huge in size, have been found. Wealthy and royal members of the culture also provided barques for their final journey. The type of vessel depicted in Egyptian images remains quite similar throughout the thousands of years the culture persisted.

Barques were important religious artifacts and since the deities were thought to travel in this fashion in the sky—the Milky Way was seen as a great waterway that was as important as the Nile on Earth—cult statues of the deities traveled by boats on water and ritual boats were carried about by the priests during festival ceremonies. Temples included barque shrines, sometimes more than one in a temple, in which the sacred barques rested when a procession was not in progress. In these stations the boats would be watched over and cared for by the priests.

So folks, that a really short history of the type of ship I'll be sailing.

 

 

A brief history of sailing Cape Horn

In sailing, the clipper route was the traditional route sailed by clipper ships between Europe and the Far East, Australia and New Zealand. The route ran from west to east through the Southern Ocean, in order to make use of the strong westerly winds of the Roaring Forties. Many ships and sailors were lost in the heavy conditions along the route, particularly at Cape Horn, which the clippers had to round on their return to Europe.

The clipper route fell into commercial disuse with the introduction of steam ships, and the opening of the Suez and Panama Canals. However, it remains the fastest sailing route around the world, and as such has been the route for several prominent yacht races, such as the Around Alone and Vendée Globe.

The clipper route from England to Australia and New Zealand, returning via Cape Horn, offered captains the fastest circumnavigation of the world, and hence potentially the greatest rewards; many grain, wool and gold clippers sailed this route, returning home with valuable cargos in a relatively short time. However, this route, passing south of the three great capes and running for much of its length through the Southern Ocean, also carried the greatest risks, exposing ships to the hazards of fierce winds, huge waves, and icebergs. This combination of the fastest ships, the highest risks, and the greatest rewards combined to give this route a particular aura of romance and drama.

 Outbound

This route ran from England down the east Atlantic Ocean to the Equator, crossing at about the position of Saint Peter and Paul Rocks, around 20 degrees west. A good sailing time for the 3,275 miles (5,271 km) to this point would have been around 21 days; however, an unlucky ship could spend an additional three weeks crossing the doldrums.

The route then ran south through the western South Atlantic, following the natural circulation of winds and currents, passing close to Trindade, then curving south-east past Tristan da Cunha. The route crossed the Greenwich meridian at about 40 degrees south, taking the clippers into the Roaring Forties after about 6,500 miles (10,500 km) sailed from Plymouth. A good time for this run would have been about 43 days.

Once into the forties, a ship was also inside the ice zone, the area of the Southern Ocean where there was a significant chance of encountering icebergs. Safety would dictate keeping to the north edge of this zone, roughly along the parallel of 40 degrees south; however, the great circle route from the Cape of Good Hope to Australia, curving down to 60 degrees south, is 1,000 miles (1,600 km) shorter, and would also offer the strongest winds. Ship's masters would therefore go as far south as they dared, weighing the risk of ice against a fast passage.

The clipper ships bound for Australia and New Zealand would call at a variety of ports. A ship sailing from Plymouth to Sydney, for example, would cover around 13,750 miles (22,130 km); a fast time for this passage would be around 100 days.

Cutty Sark made the fastest passage on this route by a clipper, in 72 days. Thermopylae made the slightly shorter passage from London to Melbourne, 13,150 miles (21,160 km), in just 61 days in 1868–69.

 Homeward

The return passage continued east from Australia; ships stopping at Wellington would pass through the Cook Strait, but otherwise this tricky passage was avoided, with ships passing instead around the south end of New Zealand. Once again, eastbound ships would be running more or less within the ice zone, staying as far south as possible for the shortest route and strongest winds. Most ships stayed north of the latitude of Cape Horn, at 56 degrees south, following a southward dip in the ice zone as they approached the Horn.

The Horn itself had, and still has, an infamous reputation among sailors. The strong winds and currents which flow perpetually around the Southern Ocean without interruption are funnelled by the Horn into the relatively narrow Drake Passage; coupled with turbulent cyclones coming off the Andes, and the shallow water near the Horn, this combination of factors can create violently hazardous conditions for ships.

Those ships which survived the Horn then made the passage back up the Atlantic, following the natural wind circulation up the eastern South Atlantic and more westerly in the North Atlantic. A good run for the 14,750 miles (23,740 km) from Sydney to Plymouth would be around 100 days; Cutty Sark made it in 84 days, and Thermopylae in 77 days. Lightning made the longer passage from Melbourne to Liverpool in 65 days in 1854–55, completing a circumnavigation of the world in 5 months, 9 days, which included 20 days spent in port.

The later windjammers, which were usually large four-masted barques optimized on cargo and handling rather than running, usually made the voyage in 90 to 105 days. The fastest recorded time on Great Grain Races was on Finnish four-masted barque Parma, 83 days in 1933. Her master on the voyage was the legendary Finnish captain Ruben de Cloux.

The route sailed by a sailing ship was always heavily dictated by the wind conditions, which are generally reliable from the west in the forties and fifties. Even here, however, winds are variable, and the precise route and distance sailed would depend on the conditions on a particular voyage. Ships in the deep Southern Ocean could find themselves faced with persistent headwinds, or even becalmed.

Sailing ships attempting to go against the route, however, could have even greater problems. In 1922, Garthwray attempted to sail west around the Horn carrying cargo from the Firth of Forth to Iquique, Chile. After two attempts to round the Horn the "wrong way", her master gave up and sailed east instead, reaching Chile from the other direction.

Even more remarkable was the voyage of Garthneill in 1919. Attempting to sail from Melbourne to Bunbury, Western Australia, a distance of 2,000 miles (3,200 km), she was unable to make way against the forties winds south of Australia, and was faced by strong westerly winds again when she attempted to pass through the Torres Strait to the north. She finally turned and sailed the other way, passing the Pacific, Cape Horn, the Atlantic, the Cape of Good Hope, and the Indian Ocean to finally arrive in Bunbury after 76 days at sea.

Modern use of the route

The introduction of steam ships, and the opening of the Suez and Panama Canals, spelled the demise of the clipper route as a major trade route. However, it remains the fastest sailing route around the world, and so the growth in recreational long-distance sailing has brought about a revival of sailing on the route.

The first person to attempt a high-speed circumnavigation of the clipper route was Francis Chichester. Chichester was already a notable aviation pioneer, who had flown solo from London to Sydney, and also a pioneer of single-handed yacht racing, being one of the founders of the Single-Handed Trans-Atlantic Race (the OSTAR). After the success of the OSTAR, Chichester started looking into a clipper-route circumnavigation. He wanted to make the fastest ever circumnavigation in a small boat, but specifically set himself the goal of beating a "fast" clipper-ship passage of 100 days to Sydney. He set off in 1966, and completed the run to Sydney in 107 days; after a stop of 48 days, he returned via Cape Horn in 119 days.

Chichester's success inspired several others to attempt the next logical step: a non-stop single-handed circumnavigation along the clipper route. The result was the Sunday Times Golden Globe Race, which was not only the first single-handed round-the world yacht race, but in fact the first round-the world yacht race in any format. Possibly the strangest yacht race ever run, it culminated in a successful non-stop circumnavigation by just one competitor, Robin Knox-Johnston, who became the first person to sail the clipper route single-handed and non-stop. However Bernard Moitessier decided to withdraw from the Race after rounding Cape Horn in a promising Position. Instead of heading home to Europe he decided to continue to Tahiti, completing his circumnaigation south of Cape Town and doing actual one and a half when arriving in Papeete.

Today, there are several major races held regularly along the clipper route. The Volvo Ocean Race is a crewed race with stops which sails the clipper route every four years. Two single-handed races, inspired by Chichester and the Golden Globe race, are the Around Alone, which circumnavigates with stops, and the Vendée Globe, which is non-stop.

In March 2005, Bruno Peyron and crew on the catamaran Orange II set a new world record for a circumnavigation by the clipper route, of 50 days, 16 hours, 20 minutes and 4 seconds.

Also in 2005, Ellen MacArthur set a new world record for a single-handed non-stop circumnavigation in the trimaran B&Q/Castorama. Her time along the clipper route of 71 days, 14 hours, 18 minutes 33 seconds is the fastest ever circumnavigation of the world by a single-hander. While this record still leaves MacArthur as the fastest female singlehanded circumnavigator, in 2008 Francis Joyon eclipsed that record in the trimaran IDEC with a time of 57 days, 13 hours, 34 minutes 6 seconds.