Day 3  07/07/19

When I first joined the JST and became a member of the crew on Lord Nelson I had no idea what to expect. I had been sailing before, but never on a tall ship. Immediately I was welcomed by nice and friendly people who are happy to pass on their knowledge about sailing.

The jobs on board vary from climbing the masts and setting sails, to helping in the galley. Generally speaking I am thrilled to be a part of the crew, and happy to have joined the Tall Ships Races and sailing on the Lord Nelson, it is a very positive and good experience.

After the first day of learning various jobs, such as hauling and making up the ropes and climbing the rigging, we set sail for a Parade of Sail out of Aalborg harbour. Arriving at a convenient anchorage just after 10pm we dropped anchor – the noise waking up everyone who’d gone to sleep early in the port fo’c’sle.

This morning the same people were woken early so that we could weigh anchor and head for the start line. Just after 10am we started setting sails and had every stitch of canvas flying by noon, turned off the engines and crossed the start line shortly after.

It is a beautiful clear sunny day but the wind has dropped away. We are now sailing as fast as possible (only 1 knot) and watching the other beautiful tall ships slowly overtake us. We have the amazing view of dozens of ships stretched out into the distance across the water during our watch (forward starboard: Karen, Di, Johannes, Cliff, Mikkel & Peter). As I write this Sorlandet is passing our bow.

Day 4  08/07/19

Last 24 hours have been a real taste of life at sea. After nearing the start line we handed the sails and watched all the other ships as our engines were switched off and now they are off until we reach Fredrikstad. Our start time was 10:14 GMT.

At 8pm we started our watch and saw the sun set as all the other tall ships went their own ways. At the end of our watch we tacked the ship and then got briefed about doing it again………at 4am!!

After having a long day previously pulling ropes, we all sat down the next day to a much deserved breakfast. After breakfast we cleaned the ship and got briefed about the race rules and our progress. The Captain explained due to light winds we had drifted towards shore so had to double back on ourselves moving back towards the finish line, but still have a short window for getting to the first waypoint in time.

We then had an early lunch as we were on watch again from 12:30 to 4:00pm where we saw jelly fish and many container ships. Our watch also included tacking once again.

The weather is looking sunny with clear skies and we are expecting a change in wind direction. Looking forward to another busy 24 hours.