Many people harbor a rosy image of sailing on a tall ship. They imagine it would be nice to spend time on the deck in a nice weather and be free from distractions of the modern world. It’s appealing. Yet, this myth quickly dispels the moment you board the ship. It turns out, it’s hard...
The tall ship brings together a physical struggle to match the breaking of the mind, particularly in someone like me, with no previous sailing experience. Night’s watchkeeping, miserable sleep, every muscle in the body being called into play, blisters forming on hands, aching shoulders, stomach going into a floating wobble, time and space losing relative...
The community of Fryderyk Chopin was a reach mixture of exceptionally friendly people from different backgrounds, representing a wide range of ages and life experiences. Singles, married, old, young, teenagers and so on. This was another reason of why I was there – to feel this mysterious brotherhood of a Tall Ship. I think about...
A really fierce flood of joy came rushing over me. Look where I’m. Isn’t it too bloody fantastic? It’s me there, on the bowsprit.
Our crew was divided into three watches to oversight the ship for a period of time, four hours each – to keep an eye on the weather, observe traffic, steer the ship, or ensure that the vessel’s position was maintained when we were at anchor. Every day, one person from each watch was at the...
From Palma, pushed by a light puff of wind, we sailed towards the west coast of Mallorca, and anchored outside Port de Sóller. I made a mental note of this charming resort situated in a large horseshoe bay as a beautiful place to spend a day or two if I should one day be around....
I felt a great heart-pumping pleasure at being at the sea, enjoying light winds and warm temperature and watching the sun going down. I bookmarked the moment. It was simply beautiful. There’s just something about the tall ships that makes them so romantic. From the deck, everything seems to be different. The moon, the sun,...
Powered by the engine, we left Palma de Mallorca in the afternoon. There was not a breath of wind, the sea’s surface was flat and unbroken, and the sky was utterly cloudless. By five o’clock a gentle breeze started blowing, so we raised some of the sails. It was an incredibly feeling as we switched...
Over the next 24 hours after boarding the ship, we stayed anchored at Caló d’en Rigo outside the Es Portixol marina. A lot of things were happening to me and around me as we were going through the basic sail training program containing theory and practice. We learned all the necessary safety procedures and alarms,...
Tall. Confident. Majestic. Inspiring. Charming. Fryderyk Chopin makes such a powerful statement about romantic travel.