Seabird Tales ⛵️ Chateauroux
Cruising around the Dutch inland waters aboard a 100 year old Kliperaak.
Since I'm now a pro sailor in-the-making, with many voyages ahead, I felt like adding another little experiment to my Moonly Reviews - The tales from sailing voyages. Here's the first one.
Chateauroux
It is the first voyage after finishing my sailing school and I'm excited.
I'm about to sail for a week aboard Chateauroux, a 30 meter two master with the bottom as flat as the Netherlands, and finally put the theory into practice.
But first, my beloved Amsterdam needs to let me go.
In silence of 1 am, we moor right next to Amsterdam Centraal, requesting the main pump of the country's transportation system to pause for our ship. A green light appears next to the red and the monumental railway bridge begins to lift. I cast off the lines and we pass swiftly to begin our night voyage to Monnickendam.
I go below deck to prep the charts. Navigation is my favourite subject and I have been blessed with the most amazing teacher, and here's my opportunity to practice. Recognising my first lighthouse at the edge of Marken and fixing our position is so satisfying. At dawn we moor at Monnickendam.
It's the first trip of the season for Chateauroux and Jorn, the always smiling owner, is excited to see her fly again after the winter break. Our first crew is a group of German kids, 12-18 year old, with quite a few of them returning to the boat for the third time. Together we sweat to hoist the mainsail straight out of the port. The ship might be a bit rusty and the paint job might need some love, but the rigging and sailing pieces are tip top.
With over 7 knots, we cut through angry bursts of heavy rain and hail, with a double rainbow on starboard, and set our course to Hoorn.
Hoorn is a cute little Dutch town, which gave a name to a ship, which almost reached the cape marking the Southern end of South America, but... it burnt down. The crew boarded the second vessel of the expedition and eventually rounded the Cape, naming it after the unfortunate ship. Cape Horn, notorious for its extreme weather is a legendary place for all sailors, and one day also a destination for me. For now I explore Hoorn and find a beautiful two masted schooner with a simple, timeless advice on its window: Be nice and act nice, says that old hippie, which definitely matches the boat vibe.
The following day we fly downwind in perfect weather, and as we climb the bowsprit to get the jib ready to hoist Jorn takes a beautiful picture of me.
The kids gladly participate in all the manoeuvres and it's a great practice to explain their tasks and manage the crew. At the helm, Paul, the charming and experienced skipper keeps on making jokes, and happily answering constant questions from the group and from me. I'm so happy that he brought his dog on board. I've been missing animal presence.
Our next stop, Enkhuizen, has a special significance - my sailing school is here, and it feels quite amazing to arrive to town by sail. I take one more look at Kaatje, a training vessel on the school's courtyard. It might be a while until I see my personal Hogwarts again.
In the evening I bring out the handpan for the first time and watch the kids and Jorn get lost in a trance with beautiful smiles on their faces. When I was dreaming of a place to live during my study time I was hoping for a handpan in the living room, and as always - Playa Provides. Later during the trip we'd play on board while sailing and that is quite a flawless combination. A cat and a handpan should be a part of every ship.
The next days merge into a rhythm. We wake, get ready to go, unmoor, set sails... I try to get as much helming practice as possible. Apart from the navigation desk, the wheel is definitely my happy place. There's something special that happens when you get tuned into the ship and feel it dancing with the wind and can keep her going towards the horizon.
I also do my best to befriend the heavy duty winch system that gives me a bit of a creepy vibe. It's quite amazing how many things on a boat can kill you and your friends. But not on my ship, thank you very much. Caution, practice and check, check, double check.
Over the next days we visit Medemblik, Volendam, Edam, Marken... One cute little Dutch port after another. After we moor I explore them with Darya, always finding something beautiful and strange on our walks. Like this weird-as-fuck Chippie Guy:
Is that a chippie joint in his mouth...?
One evening I bring out my pixel whip and get everyone to play. Like a handpan, it's yet another of these things that are very hard to suck at, making it easy to get everyone to give it a go. Who knows - maybe I'll catalyse another juggler into existence? For my next sailing trip I need to pick up my fire juggling poi.
As we set sail for the last time I take a moment to process the amazingness of life. A bit less than two years ago I was sitting next to a treehouse in TDF with my friend Rim, helping me to say out loud that I want sailing in my life and making a commitment to take action towards that dream. A few months later I enrolled into the Enkhuizer Nautical College. Two weeks after exams I'm already on a boat, with more voyages coming up this season.
We moor Chateauroux and finish all the little tasks. Clear up on deck. Plug in the shore power. Fill the water tank.
And then it's time - the results of my exams have just been published.
Coming to Amsterdam I've set myself a quest of passing my exams with flying results. And here I am, looking at amazing marks, but most importantly feeling that I do indeed have a very solid foundation to build upon.
A dear friend from the school shared that I will be a great helmsman/captain. There's a long way of many nautical miles to get there, but the course is set, and the wind is right, and my heart is wide open.
⛵️
Chateauroux is the flagship of BounceSpace, an awesome coworking space in Amsterdam.