One of our Bosun’s Mates, Brian, created the wonderful video above whilst sailing Tenacious from the Canaries to Antigua earlier this year. It captures some elements of life onboard for the Bosun and Bosun’s Mates (BMs) and we think it is absolutely fantastic.
As a member of voyage crew you might see our Bosunry team up aloft, dangling from the end of the yard or planted somewhere on the shrouds, and wondered what they’re doing. Sure, there is an amount of enjoying the view and sensation of being aloft, but our Bosun and BMs are also completeing incredibly important tasks for us whilst they’re up there. All our rig needs to be inspected regularly – from the ‘running’ rigging (the lines/ropes you spend so much time hauling on!) to the ‘standing’ rigging (the metal shrouds and stays that tension our masts and yards), to the countless blocks, shackles, ratlines and rat bars, bottle screws and other associated bits and peices that keep the rig safe for sailing. And its the sailing that makes our mission happen: it gets all our voyage crew working together, communicating and learning how to carry out the tasks in a way which everyone is involved, and gets the ship to her destination!
Whilst the work in the rigging is carried out by our fantastic team onboard, we are only able to purchase the new materials they need (from whipping twine and new lengths of rope, to the actual rig wires themselves) thanks to donations from our supporters. We depend on fundraising to meet our costs. If you remember (or dream!) of hauling away to the chant of “two-six-HEAVE” onboard, either in the glorious sunshine or the pouring rain, we would be most grateful for your support to help ensure other people can share the same experience in the future.
You can donate via our online webform, or retrieve our bank details for a direct transfer, here: https://jst.org.uk/donate-online/
Video Description:
The video starts with a shot of Tenacious’ rig in glorious sunshine against a bright blue sky with several of her square sails set, before showing various tasks carried out by the deck team, such as: preparing water buckets for the on-deck happy hour; climbing aloft and going out on the yards to carry out checks and maintenance; attending the permanent crew morning meetings; interacting with everyone onboard; driving and assisting in the small boats when coming alongside or running ashore when at anchor; overseeing various areas on deck during sailing manoeuvres, anchoring or coming alongside; enjoying working as a team and making great friendships; spending more time aloft; participating in safety drills; and enjoying life at sea on our beautiful square rigged barque, S.V. Tenacious.
