Training Day On Board
St. Croix, USVI
Ship’s Log written by Captain Mike Moreland
February 22nd, 2024
The day came in with a cool north wind, a refreshing break from the normal humid mornings. The very tail end of a large cold front passed over us last night, pretty incredible as the centre of the low pressure was about 1300 miles north of us, off the coast of New York. You don’t usually feel the affects of North Atlantic low pressures all the way down deep in the tropics but as well all know, what used to be considered ’normal’ is changing and becoming more extreme. The cooler air was a nice break for this now seasoned crew of tropical schooner sailors.
With squalls abound, a fresh north wind and choppy situation at the dock, we decided to cancel our sunset sail and focus on training, drills and workshops for the crew. This crew has now done close to 50 sunset sails and probably just as many educational sails which is plenty of repetition of a full spectrum of schooner evolutions including getting the boat on and off the dock, setting and handling sail, launching and retrieving small boat, crowd management to name a few. They are a well oiled machine at this point, as good as one can ask for. So sometimes it is good to take the time, step back, and get into some more complex topics and evolutions. We started off with a meteorology discussion covering basics of high and low pressures, prevailing winds, forecasting models, hurricane tracking etc. Then we moved into small boat handling and outboard troubleshooting theory. All good class room material while a dense squall pelted us outside. Once the skies had cleared we split into 2 groups and jumped into our 2 inflatable tenders. The smaller one has a 15hp outboard and the larger red inflatable has a 30hp and serves as our rescue boat. The mate and I led our groups in identifying different parts of the engine and basic trouble shooting if the engine cuts out while underway. Then a bit of practice driving on and off the dock, engaging the bow as a push boat, tight quarter maneuvers etc. After lunch we shifted to practicing with the ground tackle and discussed emergency anchoring and safe handling of all the gear. The mate led a few ‘quick drops’ of the anchor and rotated the crew through different positions in order to get a feel for the how heavy and awkward handling the anchor can be.
We finished the day with a round of our regular drills including Fire and Abandon ship. Required by law to be conducted every month but also just a good idea to run through our gear, our respective tasks with in the drill, and time to discuss any ways to change or improve the response.
A productive day for this crew and good change of pace down here in our idyllic winter home of Christiansted Harbour in the Virgin Islands.
Captain Mike Moreland
