'HMS' Rose Voyage Report |
In May 2000 I returned from a trip on 'HMS' Rose. The following is an account of my voyage.
1 - Getting to Antigua
The beginnings of my trip were not entirely auspicious. British Airways (God bless 'em) had booked me on a flight from Edinburgh to London Gatwick which only allowed 45 minutes at Gatwick to change to the flight out to Antigua. Two days before I was due to leave I decided this wasn't going to give me enough time and it took an inordinate amount of negotiations (plus 20 quid) to persuade BA to change me to an earlier flight. Unfortunately, the earlier flight meant getting up at 4.00 am.
On landing at Gatwick airport, the plane was directed to park what seemed like a mile from the terminal and the transfer bus came unstuck when its path was blocked by the ubiquitous builders lorry. Luckily, having caught the earlier flight I had plenty of time to spare so I could stand by and adopt an amused/bemused expression as the bus driver wandered around Gatwick looking for the builders who could move the lorry in order to let him drive the final 100 yards to the terminal. Security reasons naturally prevented the driver from simply opening the bus door and letting us all walk.
Having finally boarded the flight to Antigua (which for some reason BA decided should be air condition down to a temperature not far from absolute zero) the pilot informed us that the ground staff at Gatwick had found a "hole" in the runway. Repairs would take somewhere between 15 minutes and 4 hours, entirely believable given that the hole was apparently four feet square. Being a periodic user of the Edinburgh to London BA shuttle service I was used to this kind of performance, so I simply sat back, freezing in my lucky Team Philips polo shirt, and read my book.
We eventually took to the air, only to be slowed another 30 minutes by a vicious head wind. My trip was also enlivened by a young family of juvenile delinquents in the seats behind me who, after approximately 5 minutes, became bored and decided to fill the rest of the flight time by kicking the back of my seat at periodic intervals (usually just as I was about to drop off to sleep).
The petty officialdom of Gatwick was replaced by the rather too easy-going Caribbean attitude at Antigua airport. The flight attendants opened the plane doors and pointed to the terminal building and bundled us down the steps. Welcome to Antigua.
2 - Before Joining Rose
I had one day in Antigua before joining Rose and had booked myself into a hotel near the capital St John's. The hotel was fine, except for the fact that the air conditioning in my room didn't work - this was probably a blessing in disguise since it meant my acclimatisation process could begin ready for Rose's sleeping accommodation.
I had a look around St John's, which has a real Caribbean atmosphere, something which was definitely missing from English Harbour where Rose was docked. The local taxi drivers (of which there were approximately 500) seemed very keen for my custom. After about the 4,000th time of being asked if I wanted a taxi I gave up answering in the negative and simply ignored them. I'm glad I wasn't staying for a holiday on Antigua because of this. Still, I can recommend the Antigua Museum, Hemmingway's and the Redcliffe Quay restaurants and Heritage Quay for shopping. The 3,000 tourists who arrived on the two huge cruise liners seemed to be enjoying themselves (apart from the constant pestering by the taxi drivers of course).
3 - Going Aboard
Rose was docked at Nelson's Dockyard in English Harbour, along with scores of other yachts. Just to the West of English Harbour is Falmouth Harbour (a short walk away) where the filthy rich had parked their luxury yachts, many of which must have cost upwards of £10m. However much the other yachts cost and however ostentatious the show of wealth, Rose was still the centre of attention. For those of you not familiar with Rose, she is a replica of a mid eighteenth century frigate, built in Nova Scotia, Canada from the original plans held at the National Maritime Museum at Greenwich in London. She is a three masted (not counting the spencer mast) full rigged ship, complete with gun ports, fighting tops and rather a lot of sails and lines.
On boarding I discovered that there were approximately 20 paying trainees along with about the same number of officers and permanent crew. The officers consisted of the Captain, 3 Mates, Engineer and Cook. Orientation comprised a look around the various compartments and a brief overview of what we should and should not do. The first full day was spent going through safety drills such as fire, man over board and prepare to abandon ship. The man over board drill was somewhat disturbing, given that the First Mate told us straight-up that he didn't rate anyone's survival chances very highly (he was "brutal and honest" to use his own words). It also took more than six and a half minutes to launch the Avon, let alone get back to the position of the body.
4 - Sailing At Last
The next day we reclaimed the anchor, a long and laborious process employing lots of people on the capstan. This was something in which we were to gain plenty of experience. We spent the first few days day-sailing as we had entered the tall ships class of the Antigua Classics race and needed to familiarise the crew very quickly. A typical day involved getting up ready for breakfast at 7.15, followed by at least two hours of faffing around before we could leave. Another hour and several more grey hairs later we had negotiated our way out of the extremely busy harbour (accompanied by swearing from the charter boats which had anchored in the channel). Luckily Rose has the meanest horn in the whole world and also possesses a large number of fully functioning guns. No amount of insults from the yachting fraternity could compete with this.
Then it was up the masts to unfurl the sails and back to the deck to do a lot of pulling on lines. Organisation did not seem to be the strongest attribute on board, which in my view was down to lack of communication, it wasn't until the end of the week that the trainees had managed to anticipate what was required. Still, we put up a fairly creditable performance, setting the courses, topsails and t'gallants, as well as the lower staysails and, for approximately 3 minutes, the mizzen topsail. Apparently the Mizzen topmast required some repairs and therefore couldn't be used. This was no great loss as the winds were fresh enough to move us along at more than 8 knots. The spanker was virtually never used since it gave Rose a wicked weather helm.
At the start of the first race Nigel climbed the Foremast shrouds to the fighting top and played the bagpipes as we crossed the start line, accompanied by firing a gun just to make sure we had everyone's attention. Unfortunately, we had arrived at the start line approximately 5 minutes after our competitors. Doubly unfortunately, our main competitor seemed to be Star Clipper, a luxury sailing cruise liner capable of at least 16 knots with completely mechanised hydraulic winches and a 2,500 hp engine. Still, it wasn't the winning but the taking part which mattered - which was fortunate given that most of the competition were back in harbour before we even crossed the finish line. During the first race we wore ship at least 5 times - not exactly a relaxing jaunt! At the end of the day it was back up the masts to harbour furl all the sails.
5 - It wasn't a Bed of Roses
Now for the bad bits! The sleeping accommodation was very cramped and claustrophobic, which would have been more bearable had it not been over 80 degrees at night. Whilst underway the ship's gun ports and main hatches were closed, thereby warming the lower compartments up to near sauna temperature during the day. At night we were allowed to open a couple of gun ports, but concern for the rubber seals prevented us from opening most of the ports and thereby getting any decent amount of air circulation. We did however discover a new weather phenomenon as a consequence of the hatch opening procedures when docked at night. The rapid exit and upwards rush of warm air released on opening the main hatch caused a local cyclone, accompanied by hail and moderate lightning (only joking).
The heat resulted in 5 trainees giving up in the course of the voyage, mainly through the inability to get a decent night's sleep. I believe that the 'HMS' Rose Foundation should put fans in the berthing compartments, which would be a relatively inexpensive way of making blue-water trips much more pleasant. I spent much of my time feeling rather tired and weak, as a consequence of which I didn't feel safe working aloft.
We also had a couple of near misses. A block at the clew of one of the courses flailed wildly at one point and a couple of crew members tried to restrain it - I understand these blocks are referred to as widow makers and I can certainly see why. Later in the trip a power drill was dropped from up the mizzen mast and travelled swiftly to deck, complete with bit, to land with a rather alarming thud. Spending half a day sailing without the lee rail in place whilst the metal base was repainted also struck me as a tad dangerous. If Rose's underwriters were aware of the manoeuvring antics in and out of English Harbour I'm sure they would have a thing or two to say (this was not Rose's fault however, the officers showed matchless skill and seamanship to compensate for the harbour officials' incompetence).
6 - Back to the Good Bits
Other highlights of the trip included a beach party sponsored by Mount Gay Rum with barbecue courtesy of Star Clipper. Crew members from Rose came second in the laser racing, won the knot tying competition and had a lot of fun but lost the tug of war. Rose walked away with a clutch of awards, including not surprisingly the prize for most photogenic ship.
During one evening we watched the video of Around Cape Horn - just to show us what proper tough sailing conditions are like. This classic documentary was made in 1929 by Irving Johnson aboard the massive bark Peking. If you're interested in seeing a copy I highly recommend it, you can purchase the video at the Mystic Seaport Museum Store http://www.mysticseaport.org.
We also had another party (also sponsored by Mount Gay Rum - or was it Wadadli beer, I forget!) where we partook in some gig racing, followed by a competition to see how many people could get in a small boat and row round the mark. Most of the crews seemed keen to redefine the objectives of the competition to sinking the other competitors' boats by flooding - entirely understandable if you ask me.
One of the trainees named Peter was an expert on John Paul Jones - and one evening he showed the crew his slide presentation. This was the result of a lifetime's research into the 'father of the American navy', including an incredible amount of detail about his most famous sea battle. Whilst in command of Bonhomme Richard in 1779 John Paul Jones engaged H.M.S. 'Serapis' and the 'Countess of Scarborough' off Flamborough Head in what was one of the most hard fought engagements in naval history.
Later in the week we sailed to Guadelope and anchored in a harbour for one night (too much rolling around for a good night's sleep). Unfortunately we didn't go ashore, but we did hear the sound of the natives' drums at night (it turned out to be a shore based party and disappointingly was not followed by a human sacrificial offering to the volcanic gods).
We then sailed to Montserrat and witnessed the devastation caused by the volcanic eruption, anchoring for the night prior to our return to Antigua. Truly amazing.
7 - Return Home
The trip home was much less incident laden than the trip out. The flights were on time and HM Customs were kind enough to overlook the excess rum which I brought back with me. Edinburgh was basking in warm Spring sunshine, I had missed the torrential down-pours which had flooded much of the low-lying parts of the city while I was away - what a shame.
8 - In Conclusion
I knew it was going to be hard work, more of an "experience" than a holiday and I was right. I would not consider returning aboard the Rose in such a hot climate, at least until the ventilation is improved or air conditioning is fitted. Nevertheless, the sailing was superb and the officers were true seamen. We packed a lot in to the eleven days and I learned a lot about sailing and I suppose about myself also. This was after all the point of the trip so I reckon it was a success.
Thanks for reading.
Lawrence
Page last updated : 13 August 2007
