At Sea
Over cocktails on the Lido Deck, as we were making our first introductions, it quickly became apparent that, for many, the Sea Cloud II itself was the destination as far as this particular trip was concerned: the chance to experience a square-rigger under full sail.
So we awoke on the first day with eager anticipation to watch the crew go aloft and set sail, shortly after breakfast. Sea Cloud II has 16 deck crew under the command of the boatswain (or bo'sun.) Diagrams in hand, and with expert commentary from our Expedition Leader, we were 'clewed up' on the differences between stay-lines, bunt-lines and rat-lines, and taught to distinguish between a sky sail and a royal, a main sail and a topgallant, the mizzen mast and a foremast and plenty more besides.
Part of the fun of sailing is to discover just how much the English language is still salted by its maritime heritage. We had at least made a start on 'learning the ropes', a process - the Captain later explained - that takes a full two weeks to accomplish with new ratings. To many of us, this seemed a remarkably short amount of time!
Overnight we had sailed from Barbados northwest to the windward of St Lucia and in light airs enjoyed a delightful morning's sail northbound toward Martinique.
By lunchtime we were close to Diamond Rock, a volcanic plug resembling a miniature Gibraltar which lies just to the south of Martinique's principal port of Fort-de-France (called Fort Royal in pre-Revolutionary times).
In the eighteenth century, a British naval attachment surprised the French by scaling this improbable rock under cover of darkness with men and cannon. Our afternoon was peaceful - now in the lee of the island, but still under full sail - with an introductory talk on Caribbean history and a gracious Welcome Dinner as we made for our first port of call in Dominica.
Over cocktails on the Lido Deck, as we were making our first introductions, it quickly became apparent that, for many, the Sea Cloud II itself was the destination as far as this particular trip was concerned: the chance to experience a square-rigger under full sail.
So we awoke on the first day with eager anticipation to watch the crew go aloft and set sail, shortly after breakfast. Sea Cloud II has 16 deck crew under the command of the boatswain (or bo'sun.) Diagrams in hand, and with expert commentary from our Expedition Leader, we were 'clewed up' on the differences between stay-lines, bunt-lines and rat-lines, and taught to distinguish between a sky sail and a royal, a main sail and a topgallant, the mizzen mast and a foremast and plenty more besides.
Part of the fun of sailing is to discover just how much the English language is still salted by its maritime heritage. We had at least made a start on 'learning the ropes', a process - the Captain later explained - that takes a full two weeks to accomplish with new ratings. To many of us, this seemed a remarkably short amount of time!
Overnight we had sailed from Barbados northwest to the windward of St Lucia and in light airs enjoyed a delightful morning's sail northbound toward Martinique.
By lunchtime we were close to Diamond Rock, a volcanic plug resembling a miniature Gibraltar which lies just to the south of Martinique's principal port of Fort-de-France (called Fort Royal in pre-Revolutionary times).
In the eighteenth century, a British naval attachment surprised the French by scaling this improbable rock under cover of darkness with men and cannon. Our afternoon was peaceful - now in the lee of the island, but still under full sail - with an introductory talk on Caribbean history and a gracious Welcome Dinner as we made for our first port of call in Dominica.
