- 4am: Wake for mariner's watch - it's terribly hard to get up and stay awake for 2 hrs this early. I sit in freezing winds for close to an hour every morning and watch for obstacles in the sea, such as other ships and icebergs.
- 7:30am: Wake up for breakfast, having slept for about an hour after my watch. We have hard-boiled eggs, cheese, and toast. I also make myself a cup of coffee to wake up a bit more.
- 8am: Colors, which we have every morning, is basically the raising of the flags and the plan for the day. Any announcements are made at colors.
- 9am: Classes start. Although everyone has their own academic schedule, most students start at 9. Classes continue until 11am, when I have a break for lunch.
- 2pm: Day watch starts. This is when we learn the trade of sailing and do work on the ship. Today we are going aloft, which means we climb up the shrouds to one of the yards and do work, such as furling the sails. Watch lasts for two hours and I have a break before class.
- 5pm: Classes resume for me. This is my last class of the day and it goes by quickly. Although I've only had three classes today, the other days are much more hectic. Our schedule in school runs on a three-day cycle. Today is day two. Academically, my least crowded.
- 6:30pm: Dinner is announced over the loudspeaker and there is a mad dash to the mess to eat. We all take turns helping with meals , called galley duty. When seas are rough, the mess hall is a fiasco, with cups and plates sliding everywhere across the tables.
- 10:30pm: I finish my homework for the day and get ready to go to bed. I have to wake up again in a few hours to start my day over with mariner's watch. The few hours of sleep every night are cherished and well deserved.
Wojceich Wacowski, First Mate
February 12, 1996 aboard Concordia,
recorded by Dr. MacDonald
Professional Crew Journal: Superstitions
Superstitions are very strong among sailors and they play a large role in daily life onboard Concordia. Most of the superstitions surrounding the sea are concerned with bad luck. In the days of square riggers, orders were relayed by whistles. No one except the Bosun or Bosun's Mate was allowed to whistle while onboard the ship. It was considered bad conduct to interfere with the Bosun's orders, and it was said that bad luck would come to those who whistled. We carry on this tradition aboard Concordia. Students are not permitted to whistle aboard even though our Bosun no longer whistles his commands.
One other superstition makes sailors refrain from talking about their next scheduled port. It is said that a sailor will not reach his destination if he talks about it. Bad luck is also believed to come to those who bring flowers aboard a sailing vessel.
There are also some superstitions that focus on good luck. The albatross, a nomadic bird that covers great distances over the ocean, is considered a sign of good luck to the sailor. When a sailor dies, it is said that the albatross carries the soul of the sailor. An albatross following a sailing vessel gives it protection, as if sailors from the past are watching over the ship and crew. For this reason, it is considered bad luck to kill or injure an albatross. Many other superstitions abound and affect daily life aboard Concordia. To let you know how seriously these superstitions are taken, Captian Straburzynski ordered us to prepare to leave Durban late on a Thursday evening because it is bad luck to leave any port on a Friday.
Kristie Moore and
Cassandra Ruff
February 19, 1996 in a Zodiak returning from St. Paul Island, Indian Ocean
A Long Way from Anywhere
We got up this morning to find the Isle of St. Paul only 6 nautical miles off the starboard bow. We were very excited to see land after 18 days at sea. On our approach, we saw evidence of a recent shipwreck (a Japanese ship we were told) and we could hear the sounds from marine mammals. Before we could go ashore, we had to strike the sails. As we were aloft, three French fishermen from a fishing trawler came over by zodiac and had a late breakfast with us. They were fishing these waters (it's a French island) and as a treat they gave us about 40 clawless lobsters. Our boat is too big to head in to the island so we launched both zodiacs. The fishermen took the first group of us to the island in their zodiac and showed us some interesting animals like the sea lions, sea elephants, and the craziest penguins ever with red eyes and long yellow eyebrows.
The island is an old volcano and has a beautiful protected laooon in its center. On the way around in |he zodiac we could see plumes of hot steam from vents that are still active. The island has been used on and off for over a hundred years as a place for fishing and meteorology. There is still evidence of buildings on the island that were abandoned long ago. One of the few new buildings was a storage hut that was built in 1981 or 82. A plaque is still there to commemorate a French observatory on the island where people witnessed Venus eclipsing the sun on December 9, 1874.
Collette, our cook, gave us a quick picnic lunch and then everyone did their own thing- climbing, hiking, or enjoying the wildlife and beauty all around us. It's amazing to think that so few people (maybe a handful of scientists or fishermen) have ever seen the beautiful Isle of St. Paul as we have today. Our day on land ended far too quickly. It was sad to leave the sea lions after hanging out with them all day, but lobster is waiting for us for dinner. Tomorrow, we'll be off the ship for another adventure- Amsterdam Island. Apparently, there are 20 people on the island at a weather and research station. Just wait until they see all of us!
Gerald Westby
February 20, 1996 aboard Concordia
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