The Value of Sail Training for Adults A Week Aboard the Frigate Rose by Bruce Carruthers oday, with the Age of Sail long past, few people get to sea under sail or even know the possibility exists. Through the early years of this century, out of financia l necess ity, community expectations or wanderlust, yo ung men, and occasionall y women, found their way to navies , merchant fleets orfishingvessels. Living and working conditions were harsh and sometimes brutal. While some made a lifetime career of the sea, for most it was a young man' s game, an adventure prior to "swallowing the anchor" and settling down ashore. Even so, the maritime community believed strongly that "going to sea" had a beneficial and indelible effect on the formation of character. The very harshness of the life, they believed, brought out a man 's true qualities and tempered him for the challenges of responsibility, achievement, leadership and advancement that were necessary for an officer and eq uall y valuable ashore . Even after the ascendancy of steam most maritime nations continued to train their naval and merchant officer cadets in sail. Today, many nations still maintain this
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tradition, including our own with USCG bark Eagle. During the last 25 years this be lief in sail training as preparation for life has been extended to a much wider comm unity. Numerous sail training programs for youth have emerged with programs running from one-day sails focused on team-building, to semester- long academic cruises, to voyages for at-risk youth, with the focus on rehabilitation. Little attention, however, seems to have been paid to benefits that adults might derive from similaropportunities. But the effect of sail training experience for people in their 30s, 40s, 50s and even 60s, has been generall y significant and occasionally profound. Although we are not young, many of us have found that sail training provides new in sights into social interaction and self-discovery. It seems clearly legitimate to encourage adults to experience sail training and to seek program sponsors on this basis. My own passage on a tall ship was ideal for experiencing the full effects of sai l training. I spent a week in July 1997 aboard the three-masted, square rigger "HMS " Rose, a replica of a British frig-
The author (on the sheer pole) and his watch mates descend the ratlines afterfurling sail. (Photos courtesy of the author).
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ateofl 757. Unlike many otheron-board programs, the Rose focu ses squarely on sail training; trainees are as much a part of the crew as the paid crew members. At least some members of the crew must go aloft to set and furl sail, and all crew must raise and lower yards and haul on the seeming! y innumerable lines on deck. The theoretical and practical knowledge required, and the amount of raw drudgery necessary to apply this knowledge, are prodigious. Total and immed iate immersion in the experience is almost unavoidable. My cru ise was from Portland, Maine, to Lunenburg, Nova Scotia. We spent two and a half days at sea, an afternoon and night in an isolated location (Sherbourne Harbor) in southwestern Nova Scoti a, and two days cruising off the coast on our way to Lunenburg. The weather was excellent: wind from light airs to 18-20 knots, mostly on our quarter; bright sun and moon , with on ly one day of rain; thick fog most nights (for exci tement), and only one really cold night. We had to proceed under power for only a few hours during the entire week. The experience was not diluted by evenings in lively ports; the qualities of being "at sea" became more intense all the time we were out. The program aboard the Rose addressed al l aspects of sail training: sail handling; watch-keeping; seamanship; navigation; heavy, and occas ionally dirty work; endurance. From the time we cast off in Portland on Monday morning , we trainees were crew. We had already been assigned to one of the three watches (I was in the third mate 's) and to a specific paid crew member. We started our duties as we went down the harbor towards the sea, and I was on bow lookout less than one hour after our departure. Never mind that "my" crew member was right beside me, the sun was bright, and our radar was turning. I was told the correct procedure in no uncertain terms . It was stressed that not all objects register on radar, that later in the trip I would be standing this same watch at night, in the fog , probably by myself; and that then the drill could be critical. The opaque, luminous darkness of nighttime fog did come several times, and my conscientiou s bow watch did contribute to the safety of the ship . This approach continued throughout the trip. Since only money and reasonable health are necessary for acceptance SEA HISTORY 85, SUMMER 1998