Tuesday, October 04, 2011

A different few days on the sea

I have been lucky enough to spend the last couple of days on a 3 masted Baltic schooner.  The Fulton was built in 1915 and used on trade routes to Newfoundland and southern Europe.  It was one of the last ships of this size to be built without an engine.  Today it is used by the Fulton Trust as a sailing training ship for groups of young people and I was fortunate to be on board with a group of Danish students.
As we sailed along certain stretches of coastline I couldn't help but think about its sea kayaking potential, I last paddled in Denmark in 1981, perhaps its time to consider a return visit.

 This wasn't our ship but it was similar, it passed on the first afternoon.
 Meals were prepared by the students and taken on the deck.  The weather was surprisingly warm for October in Denmark.
 The last of the evening glow as we headed towards our anchorage off Jutland.
 Preparing to hoist the sails the following morning to take advantage of the westerly force 5 as we head north up the Little Belt.
 With the sails raised we reached 8 knots on several occasions.  Quite exciting on a 100 ton ship under sail.
 Looking north up the Little Belt.
 Although not much use at sailing I was at least useful when it came to navigation.
 The beautiful view along the deck of a ship under sail.
 Looking up the mast, note the student.

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