TSSG 2008 Voyage Log

This week we are still working on our boat. We have been working very hard so that it can be finished by our graduation on June 6. Our instructors have said that they are very proud of us, because we’ve gotten things done faster than expected. Also we have been working on the Balcultha, bringing heavy wire up on deck from the hold and that is not an easy job. We all have this bitter sweet attitude right now about the semester coming to an end. We can’t wait until graduation, but we’re also going to miss each other because we have become sisters.

Written By: Erika Monroe

This week was one of the busiest weeks of the year. With several final papers due in English, History, and Oceanography, the girls felt a little bit of stress this week. At Hyde St. Pier on Tuesday, we got the opportunity to sail a small fishing boat that dates all the way back to 1917. We sailed away from the pier into the bay and because of the high force winds, we did a lot of tacking. We had class with Vincent on Wednesday. Unfortunately, this was the last communications class of the semester. I will never forget how he put things into prospective and his fun, loving, honest attitude that he brought to class with him every single day. He is a major part of my growth this semester. Building our small boat is coming along as well. I got my first splinter as I was drilling holes in the bottom of our boat. It hurt for a while but Molly came to the rescue and found a way to remove it from my index finger. Our documentary is coming along nicely. We put in all the interviews we wanted as the audio and even got as far as choosing B-Roll. We continued our daily exercise with running the lake and bootcamp. I’ve have done so many things this semester that I have never done before.

By: Naiema Jackson

We are in our second week into school since the voyage and have a lot to get done. Monday morning all the girls were in the classroom at San Francisco State no later than 8:35. Nettie gave us assignments that will need to be done in the last few weeks before the program ends. Things such as creating a tall ships newsletter, planning student presentations, turning in journals entries, studying for our navigation exam, and completing our oceanography project. The day ended with little meetings with either Nettie or Christine to discuss ideas for the write-up of our oceanography research.
The next day we met up at Hyde St. Pier and walked over to the Sea Scout base to meet with John Heid to start building our boat, which is going to be a 12 foot rowing skiff with a sailing rig. It was exciting we learned how to use power tools the safe way as well as what certain tools were. Unfortunately, there was only four girls because everyone else was doing their STAR testing at their high schools. With the four of us we managed to get the transom(which is the back part of the boat)created using a sline, and the side boards cut and glued. After a long day in the boat shop, we had boot camp.
Wednesday we were at SF State where we got our assignments to do our History and English essay. We were given the rest or the day to finish work and start on the essays. When it hit 3:00 we took a walk around Lake Merced. We were supposed to run (Molly and Nettie ran) but we didn’t bring a change of clothes so we stuck to walking.
Thursday and Friday we were down at the park building the boat. All the girls made it on Thursday, and it was amazing because we got a lot done. Making the stem (forward part of the boat) sanding the spine, planks, transom,adding the chimes and attaching the side boards. What an accomplishment.
To end this week, we all met at Nettle’s house for a potluck and to watch the video footage that was taken on the voyage. We will be editing this footage to make a documentary film.

By: Marleina Benavente

Coming back home from the trip was, for lack of better words, interesting. Although all of us were sad to be leaving each other, we were all excited to be home and to see our families. We were all emotional when we saw our parents and friends at the airport. I was completely overwhelmed with emotions. So overwhelmed that I began to cry and laugh at the same time, not knowing which of the two I felt more, sadness or happiness. Seeing my old friends, my mom, and my boyfriend was and still is nice, but I can’t seem to shake the feeling of being out of place. As happy as I am to see everyone, nobody seems to understand me the way they used to. Beginning this trip, I knew that I was going to come back a changed woman, but I never anticipated I would change so drastically. I found myself wanting to be with all the girls that were on the ship with me; wanting to call them and tell them everything about my day because I knew that they would be able to understand me more than anyone else. Every time I tried to explain my trip to other people, they just didn’t seem to really understand what I was talking about. I can’t blame them but it made me feel more alone and I longed for the tall ship girls even more. It also made me realize how much the other girls and I have learned and gained from this trip as well as the extremely strong bond we have with each other.

By Christina Gomez

I have been home from the voyage for a little over a week now and on Thursday I got invited to go on the Tall Ship Academy Women’s Challenge with my mom. The Women’s Challenge is a four day sailing trip in the San Francisco Bay where woman have the chance to explore outside their comfort zone and learn how to sail.

We arrived at Pier 40 to meet up with the rest of the women and the crew of the Seaward and by 6 o’clock, the sails were up and we were heading to our first destination. The first night we got to know each others names, had an awesome dinner and were all excited to enjoy this new experience. The crew decided to give the women a break by letting them sleep-in through the night instead of having them stand anchor watch, but their luck ran out the next two nights when they didn’t get to enjoy a full night of sleep after having a long day of hauling on lines, cleaning, and stretching their minds to a whole new world.

Throughout the 3 days, the ladies said that they never expected to learn so much or experience as much as they did. We all got the opportunity to learn knots, navigation, safety equipment, basic skills of sailing and much more that I know will stay with a lot of us forever. It was so great to be able to share my passion and learning experiences with my mom, and this trip just brought us that much closer as mother and daughter and as friends.

Written by Ami