stowage of gear, setting up the hammock, use of heads, mess tables, safety briefing on location of all fire extinguishers and other safety equipment, instruction on wearing a PFD and immersion suit, launching a life raft, and review of the station bill, etc. Going aloft is required of the professional crew, of course, but is voluntary for trainees. For the willing, the first time is in port, instruction in the use of a safety harness, and individually escorted climbs to the tops and back down. Out on the yards or higher than lower mast comes on successive climbs. Next comes learning the pinrails, nearly two hundred lines. To the green novice we might as well be speaking in tongues while gesticulating at a bowl of spaghetti. It really helps to read the manuals before coming onboard. Getting underway for the first time, the trainees learn they are in the middle of a machine, a large engine that runs on wind and muscle power. One of the first lessons is that the biggest myth in sailing is " ... the wind is free!" Yes, free in that its use is open to all, but far from cost-free, in that considerable investment is needed in equipmenr, knowhow, and ongoing effort to make use of it. Sailing ships got around the planet without burning fossil fuels, but they carried an expensive "fuel" bill in terms of men, rope, and canvas. Learning the drills for fire, man overboard, abandon ship, setting sail, maneuvers, steering, reefing, taking in sail, furling, anchoring, mooring, launch and recovery and rowing and sailing of the ship's boats is not an instant process. A daysail student gets a tiny glimpse into the wooden world. Because of the ship's complexity, one-week programs do not work well on Niagara. Even two weeks is barely feasible, but we recognize it may be the limit of many people's schedules. Our experience over many years is that trainees are uncomfortable and bewildered the first week, it starts to make sense after two, and they don't want to leave after three. To encourage longer terms on board, our current policy is that the third and fourth weeks are tuition-free. In the near future this may change to a reduced rate rather than free, but the point is that longer terms are much better on this kind of ship. Niagara's schedule varies over the
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"Cutter I" is the engine driven rescue boat, here seen in a drill scenario of recovering a victim in an immersion suit with simulated injuries. course of the summer. Some weeks we are sailing several day sails out of Erie. It doesn't sound like much, until you realize that day sailing a square-rigger involves running all the events of a voyage nonstop and fast-forward, an intense amount of concentrated maneuvering and sail handling. Three or four sailing days are followed by two or three in-port days with classes, expeditions in the ship's boats, and maintenance work. This last item is both part of the curriculum, in that maintenance is where the majority of a sailor's work time is spent, and also nee-
essary for keeping Niagara shipshape. Some weeks are spent on voyages to other ports. Niagara may be underway continuously for three- to twelve days at a time between port visits. These visits are typically festival events and Niagara is a major attraction. Port events are hard work; the crew will have about a third of the time off, but when on duty, all the normal shipkeeping routines go on, as well as the task of welcoming thousands of visitors for eight hours a day for two to four days at a time, often followed by an
"Cutter II" sailing with dipping lug rig. A once common rigfor naval ship's boats it is now nearly unknown in the US. The other pulling boat sails with a sprit rig
SEA HISTORY 126, SPRING 2009