5 THINGS ABOUT RUNNING AWAY TO SEA
Once you’ve gone voyaging in a square-rigger, you’ll never be the same again, writes Paul Ash
Capetonians with an eye for odd details may have noticed a sailing ship snugged up against A-Berth in the Duncan Dock these past few weeks. That ship is the threemasted barque Picton Castle, which has recently tied-up in Cape Town to revictual before heading into the South Atlantic on the last major ocean crossing of her epic round-theworld voyage. In 2015 — the last time the Picton Castle called at Cape Town — I signed on as a member of her crew for a voyage up the coast to Luderitz. It was an eye-opener.
Here are five reasons why running away to sea on a working tall ship may be the best thing you’ll ever do.
1 IT’S THE ULTIMATE WORKING HOLIDAY
This is not a pleasure cruise. Life on a sailing ship means hard work at all hours of the day or night. Sure, there are many quiet moments when the vessel is borne along by the magic of the wind and you are lulled by the sound of the water burbling along the hull.
At other times — often in the middle of the night — you’ll hear the call “All Hands!” which means shaking off your slumber to help your shipmates take in sail in a squall, or bring the yards around after a shift in the wind.
2 YOU’LL LEARN THE TRUE MEANING OF CAMARADERIE
The sea is a harsh mistress and a ship is only as safe as her master and the crew who sail in her. You and your shipmates rely utterly on each other to keep you, them and your ship safe. This is the kind of teamwork of which expensive corporate team-building programmes can only dream.
3 YOU’LL FIND OUT WHO YOU REALLY ARE
If you have trouble with authority — or at least taking instructions from people more salty and seawise than yourself — perhaps stay ashore. Ships are not democracies, nor are they places to work out your anger issues. I am not used to being ordered about by millennials. I had to go to sea to unscrew my head and learn a bit of humility.
4 YOU WILL JOIN A NOBLE BAND
People have been putting to sea ever since they discovered wood and papyrus could float. The Phoenicians were sailing around Africa centuries before Vasco de Gama was a gleam in his father’s eye. Even in the 21st century, a sailing ship holds fast to methods and traditions learnt the hard way by seafarers over thousands of years. You are now part of that tradition. Epic, isn’t it?
5 YOU WILL UNDERSTAND THE MEANING OF SMALLNESS
Standing lookout in the middle of the night, or even gazing across the Atlantic on a sunny day, you will grasp how big the oceans are, how small your ship is and what a tiny place you occupy in the universe. This is a good thing, for you will realise how beautiful and yet fragile our planet is and you’ll be gripped with the urgency to protect it.