SeeingEyeBlog

This weekend was the culmination of a yearlong training commitment, as I stood aboard the Star of India as a member of the sailing crew. Standing, yes, but rarely standing around, as there was food and music and a lot of work to do to sail her properly.

I had been training to sail the Surprise, but the Coast Guard put a fork in us over a bureaucratic matter, cancelling our sail. The crew of the Star offered to give us spots on their crew, and I was able to sail on Sunday.

It was one of the most fun things I’ve ever done, and it has a lot of parallels to a film set. It is a dynamic environment where a rig might seem safe one minute and kill you the next. Time is a factor, and the entire crew must coordinate in such a way as to get the job done right. Although there is a routine to the work, adaptability and improvisation are required by the crew on almost every piece of work. There’s a lot of waiting for the next shot/tack, but then there is 5 to 10 minutes that can only be described as a dance, because our coordination has to be at the level of a dancing couple, except there are up to 75 people in the dance.

We had 24.5kt apparent winds, and the Star of India made 7.4kts. Pictures forthcoming.