Spoke with Dad. He, and the rest of the teachers, students and crew, are comfortable and being well looked after in Rio. He will be back in Canada in the next 48 hours. We can't wait :)
To all family & friends who have been thinking of him and emailing and calling, thank you for all your thoughts and prayers and kind words.
To others who are understandably interested in his story, I am passing along a very polite but firm, "no comment".
Thank you again,
Jill
Saturday, February 20, 2010
Friday, February 19, 2010
Everybody's Fine - But the Concordia Has Sunk
http://www.cbc.ca/canada/nova-scotia/story/2010/02/19/ns-brazil-ship-sinks-students.html
The Tugwell family, along with all the families of the students and crew aboard the Concordia, were notified last night that the Concordia had sent out a distress signal, and we were later notified that everyone aboard the ship had been rescued off the coast of Brazil, after spending several hours in life rafts. Kate Knight, the Head of School at West Island College, ensured everyone was kept up to date with as much information as was available. The CBC article confirms that the Concordia sunk off the coast (way, way off), but that all crew and students (and Dad!) were safely transferred to merchant vessels.
More information will be posted here when we have it. Thank you for all your kind wishes and positive thoughts.
-Tugwells
The Tugwell family, along with all the families of the students and crew aboard the Concordia, were notified last night that the Concordia had sent out a distress signal, and we were later notified that everyone aboard the ship had been rescued off the coast of Brazil, after spending several hours in life rafts. Kate Knight, the Head of School at West Island College, ensured everyone was kept up to date with as much information as was available. The CBC article confirms that the Concordia sunk off the coast (way, way off), but that all crew and students (and Dad!) were safely transferred to merchant vessels.
More information will be posted here when we have it. Thank you for all your kind wishes and positive thoughts.
-Tugwells
Tuesday, February 9, 2010
Mailing Addresses for the Voyage...
from Jill
If anyone would like to send a letter to Maurice, the addresses are below. Keep in mind he'll only be on the ship until mid-April, and snail mail isn't always timely, as noted below, so best to send it soonish. The info below comes directly from Class Afloat:
Mailing Addresses S.V. Concordia
2009-2010 (SEMESTER TWO)
Note: Please send letter mail only (maximum size is 9x12 padded envelope – no boxes please!), unless the address indicates otherwise. Many of these agencies collect our mail free of charge and it is unfair to ask them to sign for and hold parcels.
As mail can take up to 3-4 weeks to reach overseas destinations, we suggest that you send all letters as far in advance as possible!
Receipt of mail is not guaranteed by Class Afloat, so please refrain from sending anything of monetary value. Please understand that mail which does not reach the vessel before departure will not be forwarded or returned to sender.
Montevideo, Uruguay (February 25-March 1)
Attn: ‘Student's name’
SV Concordia, Class Afloat c/o Odile Beer Viajes
Plaza Independecia 723/Ap. 102
Montevideo, Uruguay
CP 11000
Cape Town, South Africa (March 31-April 5)
Attn: ‘Student's name’
SV Concordia, Class Afloat c/o SASLA
PO Box 51372
Waterfront 8002
Cape Town, South Africa
If anyone would like to send a letter to Maurice, the addresses are below. Keep in mind he'll only be on the ship until mid-April, and snail mail isn't always timely, as noted below, so best to send it soonish. The info below comes directly from Class Afloat:
Mailing Addresses S.V. Concordia
2009-2010 (SEMESTER TWO)
Note: Please send letter mail only (maximum size is 9x12 padded envelope – no boxes please!), unless the address indicates otherwise. Many of these agencies collect our mail free of charge and it is unfair to ask them to sign for and hold parcels.
As mail can take up to 3-4 weeks to reach overseas destinations, we suggest that you send all letters as far in advance as possible!
Receipt of mail is not guaranteed by Class Afloat, so please refrain from sending anything of monetary value. Please understand that mail which does not reach the vessel before departure will not be forwarded or returned to sender.
Montevideo, Uruguay (February 25-March 1)
Attn: ‘Student's name’
SV Concordia, Class Afloat c/o Odile Beer Viajes
Plaza Independecia 723/Ap. 102
Montevideo, Uruguay
CP 11000
Cape Town, South Africa (March 31-April 5)
Attn: ‘Student's name’
SV Concordia, Class Afloat c/o SASLA
PO Box 51372
Waterfront 8002
Cape Town, South Africa
Monday, February 8, 2010
February 5th - 8th (pictures included)
Much of the first day all together on the ship (February 5th) was given over to “rules and regulations” review, at port sail training (particularly important for the new comers before we go to sea on the 8th), and food provisioning. The latter had us all form a line from the delivery truck out on the street through the alley way to the Concordia, onto the ship and down below decks to the various storage places. As our first voyage is a two week sail to Montevideo, Uruguay and there are more than 60 of us to feed (48 students, 8 teachers counting the student shipboard director, and the 8 member pro crew (captain, first and second mate, two engineers, bosun, ship’s doctor and cook), there was a lot to bring aboard.
During port stays, planned excursions involving all the students and teachers are part of the educational program. On the 6th - yesterday as I write this - we had a bus ride to several points of interest, including an historic church (the second oldest in Brazil)and village, a manitoo acquatic centre, a beach for some swimming, and, close at hand, a martial arts/dance demonstration. I have to (sheepishly) confess that the beach interlude was my favourite - it is high summer here and their Carnival time. So as one floated about (with lots of sun block on, and a hat, and while Claudia was cross country skiing/snow shoeing back home), pleasure craft and rafts with costumed trumpet players, or just “canned” Brazilian carnival music were trolling by just off shore, making for a festive and memorable Atlantic dip!
Today will involve more sail training and the practice of emergency procedures. Teachers have specific duties in this context. For example, I am responsible for the working of one of the pullied lines controlling the launch of the mid-ship rescue launch (there are two - the other at the stern; there are life rafts too, of course). Captain Bill is a patient and effective teacher in his own right and I learned much about the whys and wherefores of the zodiac launch I hadn’t appreciated during my first Concordia tour. It helps that Bill is a New England English speaker. The last time most of the crew were Polish. (The first mate on our journey this time is from Lunenburg, the second mate Australian, the engineers Polish - I know them from before, the bosun Canadian, the ship doctor an Alaskan and the cook is from the Boston area.) Tomorrow we leave port after lunch. This will be a relief in some respects because we can then get our classes started. (While at sea I teach my three courses each day.) And a more predictable routine will emerge. And there will be some seasickness!
Maurice/Tug/Papa
During port stays, planned excursions involving all the students and teachers are part of the educational program. On the 6th - yesterday as I write this - we had a bus ride to several points of interest, including an historic church (the second oldest in Brazil)and village, a manitoo acquatic centre, a beach for some swimming, and, close at hand, a martial arts/dance demonstration. I have to (sheepishly) confess that the beach interlude was my favourite - it is high summer here and their Carnival time. So as one floated about (with lots of sun block on, and a hat, and while Claudia was cross country skiing/snow shoeing back home), pleasure craft and rafts with costumed trumpet players, or just “canned” Brazilian carnival music were trolling by just off shore, making for a festive and memorable Atlantic dip!
Today will involve more sail training and the practice of emergency procedures. Teachers have specific duties in this context. For example, I am responsible for the working of one of the pullied lines controlling the launch of the mid-ship rescue launch (there are two - the other at the stern; there are life rafts too, of course). Captain Bill is a patient and effective teacher in his own right and I learned much about the whys and wherefores of the zodiac launch I hadn’t appreciated during my first Concordia tour. It helps that Bill is a New England English speaker. The last time most of the crew were Polish. (The first mate on our journey this time is from Lunenburg, the second mate Australian, the engineers Polish - I know them from before, the bosun Canadian, the ship doctor an Alaskan and the cook is from the Boston area.) Tomorrow we leave port after lunch. This will be a relief in some respects because we can then get our classes started. (While at sea I teach my three courses each day.) And a more predictable routine will emerge. And there will be some seasickness!
Maurice/Tug/Papa
Thursday, February 4, 2010
Update from Recife, Brazil
-by Maurice
Thursday, February 4th
The students arrive today, some accompanied by a parent or two. They will be flying in, the airport being a 20 minute taxi ride to the Concordia’s location. Their flight arrival times are known and divide into some late morning and mid-afternoon ones. There are 48 students in all – a full ‘house’- with 16 of them being new to the program this term. Of this total, about 20 are ‘gap’ students, the group from which I draw my class members. A couple of the teachers are stationed at the airport, and two of us are acting as a welcoming committee at the ship. The access to the ship from the street involves passage through a narrow alley, over some broken concrete, through a rusty chain fence gate and along a short unkempt path. From past experience I have observed the great variation in ‘resident amenity’; this location is well down the list.
The cabins on the Concordia are airconditioned. This is a good thing as Recife is hot and muggy despite being located on the Atlantic. It was a beautiful sunrise this morning about 6:00 and now, at 8:30 AM, I’m guessing it is 30C with little breeze.
My roommate Mark arrived in at about 1:00 AM this morning from Berlin. He was considerate in his ‘re-entry’ to ‘his’ room – I am the newcomer after all. He has now left for the airport as part of the welcoming committee.
I hope to find a few minutes this afternoon to send this update along. The internet cafe is a couple of streets away.
-Maurice/Tug/Papa
Thursday, February 4th
The students arrive today, some accompanied by a parent or two. They will be flying in, the airport being a 20 minute taxi ride to the Concordia’s location. Their flight arrival times are known and divide into some late morning and mid-afternoon ones. There are 48 students in all – a full ‘house’- with 16 of them being new to the program this term. Of this total, about 20 are ‘gap’ students, the group from which I draw my class members. A couple of the teachers are stationed at the airport, and two of us are acting as a welcoming committee at the ship. The access to the ship from the street involves passage through a narrow alley, over some broken concrete, through a rusty chain fence gate and along a short unkempt path. From past experience I have observed the great variation in ‘resident amenity’; this location is well down the list.
The cabins on the Concordia are airconditioned. This is a good thing as Recife is hot and muggy despite being located on the Atlantic. It was a beautiful sunrise this morning about 6:00 and now, at 8:30 AM, I’m guessing it is 30C with little breeze.
My roommate Mark arrived in at about 1:00 AM this morning from Berlin. He was considerate in his ‘re-entry’ to ‘his’ room – I am the newcomer after all. He has now left for the airport as part of the welcoming committee.
I hope to find a few minutes this afternoon to send this update along. The internet cafe is a couple of streets away.
-Maurice/Tug/Papa
Wednesday, February 3, 2010
Boa viagem! Have a safe journey!
Aaaaaaaaaand he's off!
Papa Tug left Halifax yesterday on a flight to New York, part of his rather lengthy journey to Brazil. He'll join up with the crew and students of the Concordia, and set sail for the first port in the ship's second semester - Montevideo, Uruguay.
For the ship's itinerary, see the link below.
http://www.classafloat.com/Default.aspx?tabid=80
Check back for updates! Tug will be sending emails whenever he's in port.
-Jill
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