All Hands, well most!

Who, you might be asking, are our fellow crew and passengers?

Moritz, the Captain, is from Germany. An electrical engineer by trade but his passion is sailing. Eight years as captain of the Eye plus other tall ships.  He lives aboard and sails his own 59 foot yawl when at home in Germany. For this contract he brought the Eye over from Amsterdam but will be finishing up his current contract as our voyage ends and a new skipper takes over.

Daniel, second in command and navigator is from Brasil (but with a Scottish accent!). He left Brasil at 18 and settled in Oban, Scotland. He can be seen most often at the helm or shoveling down huge bowls of porridge, topped with granola topped with Nutella at breakfast.

Alex, a stoic Scot from the Orkneys, who was no doubt sailing before he could walk. Only 26 he has probably forgotten more about sailing than most people would accumulate in a lifetime. Doesn’t believe in useless chatter while working. Constantly in action and his rope-handling skills are a joy to watch.

Amy is from Canada (Edmonton) and knows the rigging inside out.  A chance sailing trip in Italy one day convinced her to give up studies at university and spend a life at sea. She has the utmost patience and encouragement with bungling guests who clutter up the decks and wind ropes the wrong way.

Guillaume – French Canadian from Quebec City, the always smiling engineer.  He’ll be found down in the baking hot engine room, tinkering, or fixing an electrical gadget in the galley that stopped working, or a toilet that needs replacing.  The burning question of the day is why do the rear of all his pants/shorts always have a hole?

Suzanne – From France, one of the trainees but Amy’s right hand when it comes to the rigging and training us landlubbers. Agile, personable and friendly. Although amazing at her job she can’t wait until her term is up (end of our voyage) to spend a couple of weeks relaxing on Martinique. I doubt she will be back sailing.

Sebastian – German, comedian and the heart and soul of the ship – the Cook.  There’d be mutiny without his delicious food – produced in the tiniest of galleys.  EVERYTHING stops at 4 pm for refreshments and his famous kuchen … different one every day. Like Pavlov’s dog, he has everyone tuned to the sound of his bell announcing meals.

Three more trainees aboard – Kirstine (Krissy) from Denmark, Karl from Sweden and Mika from Germany.  Volunteers, unpaid, cheerful, full of fun and hardworking.

Now for the passengers.

First is an intelligent, thirty-something young woman from Missouri.  Anxious for as many travel experiences as possible but somehow finds it hard keeping a positive outlook . Now studying law. Never sailed before but participates in everything.

Next is semi retired lawyer from the UK – about our age.   Good natured, easy going, competent.  Tallship enthusiast, tri-athelete and bird watcher. Every new species was avidly documented and shared.

A couple from Germany.  They had been on this particular ship 30 years ago and this time booked two successive trips. We got the feeling that it was perhaps a little too much. He is a gentle sort — thoughtful, interested in everyone and everything,  Regina chats in a delightful mix of German and English and always has her crossword puzzles at hand. They really are a charming couple.

Then there’s a May/December pairing? He’s originally from Tennessee but spent 35 years in the US navy – both as a member and contractor, now retired. One gets the feeling he was a ‘bit of a lad’ in his day.  She was introduced originally as his ‘granddaughter’ she’s from Puglia, Italy.  Beautiful, young, capable … steps in to help wherever needed, and a delight to talk with.  They live in Ireland.

Last but certainly not least is our upper crust university don and keen sailor.  What can I say … he’s almost a caricature … a flop of unruly hair, beaky nose, braying laugh and a voice that can be heard all over the boat … “I’m more of an academic, you know”.  Despite his decades of sailing experience, one could count on it always being he who was standing on the rope that some poor crew member was rapidly trying to coil… or asking what we were doing or which line to pull mere seconds after being told.  It was always he talking Moritz’s ear off about the finer points of some obscure philosopher while the Captain was explaining a crucial manoever.  Rope coiling was not his forte either … crew would just shake their heads and re-do the tangled spaghetti.  BUT he was always first in line for meals, afternoon tea and cake … and trip ashore to the nearest bar!  Entertaining, frustrating, a font of knowledge about virtually everything … but very likeable.

Ship’s complement — 19: 5 German, 4 Canadian; 2 American; 2 English; 1 Scot; 1 Brasillian/Scot; 1 Dane; 1 Swede; 1 Italian, 1 French.

Left to right:

Alex; Mica; Suzanne; Herr ‘Germany’; Amy; barely visible, Miss ‘USA’; Mr. ‘Ireland; Sebastian, ‘Retired Lawyer’; Miss ‘Ireland’; Krissy; Daniel; Frau ‘Germany’; ‘Univeristy Prof’; Guillaume; Us; Moritz (Captain) Missing is Karl.