Copenhagen & Beyond; First Impressions of St. Petersburg

DIRECT FROM Papa Tug's EMAIL:

September 3 - September 8

Copenhagen departure: Parents and other family members (still in the area) were invited to a modest send off 'coffee hour' on board which concluded 15 minutes prior to departure. My watch group (all on-board instructors have six or seven students for whom they take general oversight responsibility - their watch dog) was responsible for removing the gangway after the guests had departed to wave their teary farewells from the shore. We, of course, had never done this before, and while a simple exercise, it needed to be done seamlessly. The banners on the sides and the heavy netting below were taken away first, then the aluminum poles and ropes from the sides of the gangway, and finally the hoist was connected to what remained (the "plank?" as in gang plank, I suppose). A member of the professional crew performed this last duty (the boson's mate, Josh, a Bermudian) and my watch group guided the free swinging load to its assigned resting place. Whew, and as Dora would say, "We did it!"

Alas, not all was to be, well, "smooth sailing". The captain cannot see the stern of the ship from the bridge where he is located. He depends upon lookouts to be his eyes. The lookouts are generally students with one "pro crew" member. The students will be trained, but this was their first five minutes at sea. At the stern, raised up on a supporting framework and extending beyond the ship proper by a couple of feet, is one of the two ship tenders (the other is at mid-ships on the roof of the mess), a zodiac, ready to go. As the captain maneuvered the Concordia away from her berth next to the pier, he had to turn the ship completely around, in order to head toward the harbour entrance. Forward and aft of us were two other ships. (It was
a bit like being tightly parallel parked and pulling out while making a U-turn, with cars parked on the other side of the street. Oh, and having a filled bicycle rack on back.) In our maneuver, the ship's rear tender grazed a pier abutment, partially releasing the zodiac, which mercifully failed to reach the water, but nevertheless hung at a drunken angle for all the family members to contemplate as we sailed off with their precious cargo!

The first day at sea: It was fascinating to view the harbour traffic, and all the buildings, wind generators, piles of raw resources (coal, oil, etc.) which cluttered the docks. It was a cool, bright, breezy morning (10:30 AM or so). The ship came around the headlands and the seas really picked up. Interestingly, there were few seagulls - probably they are smart enough to be resting their wings on shore in such circumstances. Had they been in the area, however, they would have been well fed. The 'rails' and the 'heads' were popular spots for the next few hours. Jan (pronounced 'Yawn'), our German cook, did not
help matters, by coming up with a heavily spiced chicken stir fry as his lunch offering. Having felt reasonably well to this point, and possessed of an appetite of large proportions, I visited the mess - and then immediately paid my respects to the head. A short nap followed, and I have felt fine ever since.

The days leading up to St Petersburg: The second and third days out were characterized by fair weather - PEI ferry crossing seas. The instructors were all busy with our courses, while balancing other responsibilities. We teach while at sea, do field trips while in port.

We have a clothes washer reserved for staff only, so I busied myself early one sunny morning catching up on laundry. There is no dryer - one hangs the more sensitive items in one?s room, the others on the ropes (no shortage of these on a sailing ship although they are called lines) on deck. It was amusing to look out the windows of my classroom, seeing the big container ships and freighters going by, partially screened by my socks and tee shirts blowing in the breeze. To add "exposure" to my clothing repertoire the captain chose this time to stage a "man overboard" drill, an exercise that sees a buoy thrown overboard by a crew member, an alarm sounded, and a set of rescue procedures implemented, including a zodiac launch and recovery.

All this happened in the general vicinity of my washing, an added challenge for the watch (wash?) lookouts.

The professional crew has set watches. For example, Lauren, the first mate (a South African) is on the bridge 4 PM - 8 PM and 4 AM - 8 AM. I have been getting up and on deck for the fitness group each morning at 7 and generally am early which affords a good look around, and a chat with Lauren. The bridge navigation equipment is impressive. The large screen presents an entire map of the area, with all the ship traffic marked in. This morning (September 6th) I listened to an Estonian captain asking for the harbour pilot (we were 25 nautical miles east of Estonia, heading for the Bay of Finland) and a Russian vessel whose mutterings Lauren was not able to fathom (note the use of nautical terms). Out progress has been good - favourable, strong winds - so we have been getting by on sail power for the most part. In fact, we don't have all our sails up because we only have permission to arrive in St. Petersburg on Saturday evening - the way we're going we'd arrive tomorrow.

Breakfast is at 7:30 AM each day, followed by colours at 8. The latter involves raising the flag, roll call by watch groups and general announcements.

We are now above the 60 parallel - the sun was up at 4:45 AM this morning (Friday, September 7th) and I rolled out at 6:00 or so. Lauren showed me our position on the screen - there are two small islands off the starboard bow (Estonia), navigation lights on the port side some distance away (Finland), and an indistinct blur on the "12 o'clock" horizon - Russia.

I'm the banker for the students - when they came aboard they surrendered any cash in their possession to me for safekeeping. I have the combination for the ship's safe. Yesterday one of the papers to be filled out for Russian customs was an itemization of on board electronics, and currency. My records show $21,000 US, 5,400 euros, and a long list of smaller amounts of other currencies!

Desserts are not part of the regular lunch and dinner fare so last night the recently formed baking club tried their hand at brownies. Everyone got one, they were not large, but what a treat.

After colours each morning the various student watch groups go to their appointed cleaning stations. Each of us is responsible for our own rooms. It was my cabin mate Richard's turn today. It doesn't take long - I?d estimate our cabin-s floor space (counting the head) to be 36 square feet.

It is Saturday morning, September 8th. I was up very early once more (our clocks go ahead another two hours today - plus 7 from the Atlantic zone). It is another beautiful day - sunny with calm seas. The weather, as characterized by the experienced professional crew, has been very favourable for the whole Baltic run from Copenhagen. I heard the anchor chains go out (my cabin is near the bow) at 2:00 AM. We are in a holding area until later today (one can see land in the distance off our port side), as our arrival (as formalized by our Russian visas) is not official until today midnight. However, a St Petersburg harbour pilot will come on board this afternoon to guide us in, and we will clear customs. There are a number of other ships moored in this area - all container carriers and freighters.

So it is another teaching day (Saturday or not) - tomorrow we begin our four or five day St Petersburg experience in earnest.

"Back in the USSR": We're here, it is a cool, sunny morning (September 9th), and at this hour (6:00 AM ship's time, two hours later on shore) I have the ship to myself, except for those on watch, and the calico cat which adopted the Concordia after customs clearance! The pilot came aboard last evening and guided us in to St Petersburg harbour. We arrived officially at 12:01 AM. I had turned in by that time. A "PA", all hands on deck, announcement had us mustered quickly enough. We had to line up alphabetically on deck, teachers in the lead, then walk down the hastily reassembled gangway (my watch group's responsibility remember) to the customs booth. There were four agents on duty. It was like a TV skit really ? two men, two women, ill fitting uniforms, self important looking, no English spoken. I was one of the first through the process; I stood in a sterile looking booth while 'Olga' peered at my passport and, with a flourish, stamped it and handed it back to me. (She had good teeth and bad hair, with a uniform cap that reminded me of the East German take off costuming in 'Top Secret'.)

Today is a free day to wander about. Our in-port formalized activities begin tomorrow. Several of us are hoping to get to a Greek Orthodox church just to experience the feeling, and it is Sunday morning. (I hope to be sending this missive via an e-mail attachment later, once we have found a venue. The time difference with home is now seven hours I think.)

Sunday evening, September 9th: Today we were free to roam the city on foot and most of us took full advantage of the opportunity. I must have walked 10 kms. Each venture forth from the ship (and return) has us pass through the customs hall on the canal here. My passport was studied intently (it is an officious country it seems) but without incident. The Sunday morning streets and sidewalks were filled with shoppers, worshipers, tourists, (lay-a-bouts), and litter. My impression was of a city of remarkable beauty let go to waste, and being brought back to glory, slowly. Tomorrow through to Wednesday we will have organized 'field trips' with a guide, so I'll be able to give a fuller report at another time.

OK, I admit it, instead of sampling the indigenous cuisine at lunch time - borsch soup or vodka shots, for instance - I had a Big Mac witfries and a soft drink, and a chocolate bar for dessert! Then I bought some apples and oranges to take back to the ship to ward off scurvy - there were no limes on offer.

Here is another first impression: the Russians finish a distant second to the Danes in personal beauty, fitness, and style. But they out smoke them, and outweigh them, have dental work that would strain any airport security device, and look like they are 'running hard' just to make it through another day. Their 'showcase' city is on the shabby side, their vehicle emissions are out of control (25 year old Ladas still on the road (along with new Lexuses incidentally), and "low life" rule after dark - we have restricted curfews on the students and travel is in groups of four (with at least one male).