stephenh
Well-Known Member
Up the rigging – T S Stavros Niarchos September 2006 Mallorca
‘No! – not there – the other end’
Not a good start, watch leader shouting already.
Deep breath , here goes – up onto the bulwark – it’s only 5 ft high, swing out, its only a 20 ft drop to the water, onto the ratlines.
‘No ! – don’t hold the bars - only the shrouds – didn’t you listen?’
The only bit I heard was ‘Don’t look down’.
Up the ratlines, only hold the black bits, this is easy , solid wood under my feet, on the weather side , shrouds sloping away , Soon I can nearly touch the main yard, only 45’ up, keep going, don’t look down, now it’s the first Jacobs ladder, that slopes too, only the other way, it’s an overhang, scary, don’t look down, clip on , just go up, get past the first crosstrees – easier said than done first time round, it’s a rope ladder , quite loose, made of thin stuff.
Oh well here goes, the rope cuts into my feet through my deck shoes (should have put boots on - pretend it’s not happening or that watch leader will be on my case again) Just look up, my rock climbing days are long gone, too many years in an office, upper body strength is far too low for this game, keep going you’re holding up other people, there’s no escape route – should have brought my own rope and then I could abseil off goes through my mind – here's the real bit , the top of the over hang, deep breath, one big heave and you are there , damn, the clip is jamming, don’t look down, can’t help it, I look down. I freeze. Shut my eyes and suddenly there I am on the platform. Phew.
Unclip – 60’ up, take five, get my breath back, wait a minute - 60 feet ? that’s 6 stories (I was a surveyor in another life) and it’s only halfway.
‘You OK?’ , I nod, am I OK ? it’s all relative I suppose, arms ache, feet sting, heart pounds, short of breath and knees shake if I think about them, so I don’t.
Unclip, swing out, on to the second set of ratlines, free climbing, up, up , up.
Don’t look down, but I do – another crew member has frozen and is being talked slowly down.
And suddenly it’s OK - I’m not holding anybody up, I stop and look , amazing – 80 feet – 8 stories – the height of a small residential tower block – the other watch have all 5 sails out on the foremast and we are creaming along , must be doing 8 or 9 knots, it’s blowing a 5 but the waves look so small from here , as do the people on deck.
Up, up, up and here is my biggest fear, the second overhang, scary. Clip on and go for it – there is no platform , just a frame , lean out , hold on, heave up and you’re there, but halfway up it happens, we hit a sea, the wind changes, whatever, the ship becomes more upright and for me that means the overhang increases, I freeze. I feel my upper arm strength fading – how far will I fall ? And then back she goes and up I go - past the overhang on to the third set of ratlines, up, up, up until I can touch the yard of the royal, just to say I have done it.
Wow! I’m 120 feet up that’s 12 stories….there's another 30 feet of mast above me but I think I’ll leave that this time.
So now it’s down, down to the upper topsail yard – I’m not really supposed to be here and our watch is behind with unfurling the sails.
‘No! – not there – the other end’
Not a good start, watch leader shouting already.
Deep breath , here goes – up onto the bulwark – it’s only 5 ft high, swing out, its only a 20 ft drop to the water, onto the ratlines.
‘No ! – don’t hold the bars - only the shrouds – didn’t you listen?’
The only bit I heard was ‘Don’t look down’.
Up the ratlines, only hold the black bits, this is easy , solid wood under my feet, on the weather side , shrouds sloping away , Soon I can nearly touch the main yard, only 45’ up, keep going, don’t look down, now it’s the first Jacobs ladder, that slopes too, only the other way, it’s an overhang, scary, don’t look down, clip on , just go up, get past the first crosstrees – easier said than done first time round, it’s a rope ladder , quite loose, made of thin stuff.
Oh well here goes, the rope cuts into my feet through my deck shoes (should have put boots on - pretend it’s not happening or that watch leader will be on my case again) Just look up, my rock climbing days are long gone, too many years in an office, upper body strength is far too low for this game, keep going you’re holding up other people, there’s no escape route – should have brought my own rope and then I could abseil off goes through my mind – here's the real bit , the top of the over hang, deep breath, one big heave and you are there , damn, the clip is jamming, don’t look down, can’t help it, I look down. I freeze. Shut my eyes and suddenly there I am on the platform. Phew.
Unclip – 60’ up, take five, get my breath back, wait a minute - 60 feet ? that’s 6 stories (I was a surveyor in another life) and it’s only halfway.
‘You OK?’ , I nod, am I OK ? it’s all relative I suppose, arms ache, feet sting, heart pounds, short of breath and knees shake if I think about them, so I don’t.
Unclip, swing out, on to the second set of ratlines, free climbing, up, up , up.
Don’t look down, but I do – another crew member has frozen and is being talked slowly down.
And suddenly it’s OK - I’m not holding anybody up, I stop and look , amazing – 80 feet – 8 stories – the height of a small residential tower block – the other watch have all 5 sails out on the foremast and we are creaming along , must be doing 8 or 9 knots, it’s blowing a 5 but the waves look so small from here , as do the people on deck.
Up, up, up and here is my biggest fear, the second overhang, scary. Clip on and go for it – there is no platform , just a frame , lean out , hold on, heave up and you’re there, but halfway up it happens, we hit a sea, the wind changes, whatever, the ship becomes more upright and for me that means the overhang increases, I freeze. I feel my upper arm strength fading – how far will I fall ? And then back she goes and up I go - past the overhang on to the third set of ratlines, up, up, up until I can touch the yard of the royal, just to say I have done it.
Wow! I’m 120 feet up that’s 12 stories….there's another 30 feet of mast above me but I think I’ll leave that this time.
So now it’s down, down to the upper topsail yard – I’m not really supposed to be here and our watch is behind with unfurling the sails.
