After embarking the magnificent Sea Cloud, we had hustled to cast off before the huge cruise ships in the port of Piraeus so that we could make the best time possible rounding the Peloponnesus overnight. We would be leaving the Aegean Sea, and the forecast called for moderate northwesterly winds in the Ionian, freshening through mid-day. At sunrise we had the southern island of Kithyra behind us, and we punched into a headwind until 0900 to position ourselves for a great day of sailing.
Unlike a sloop, schooner, or any other fore-and-aft rigged sailboat, a square-rigger can hardly sail into the wind, as they were made to carry heavy cannon or cargo with the prevailing winds. That meant that we would be sailing south for the day, away from our overall route up toward the Adriatic, but Sea Cloud is all about the art of tall-ship sailing so we were all excited about the palpable winds.
Captain Pushkarev called the crew to sail stations at 0900, and 18 sailors scurried aloft into the rigging and out onto the yardarms to untie the gaskets and prepare the sails for setting. The extensive rigging of a tall ship means that a strong beam wind will push most of the ship to leeward and tend the bow up into the wind, so Captain Pushkarev started by setting the headsails to keep the bow in line. The square sails were then set in order, beginning with the lower topsails, and once the upper topsails were set the engines were cut, the course altered to south, and we were sailing! We set almost all the square sails, knowing that we would have to shorten sail as the day went on, and sure enough the sailors had to hustle aloft again and again to progressively take in the upper sails as the day progressed. It was fantastic to watch all the sail activity, and nothing could have prepared us for the complexity of activity and action involved in true square-rigger sailing.
Once we all settled in to a 5 - 6 knot sail, photographic instructor Alberto Montaudon gave an introduction to photography to help us all prepare for the exceptional opportunities this authentic tall ship provided. In the afternoon, historian Tom Heffernan gave an overview of the Indo-European languages, putting the Greek, Albanian, and Serbo-Croatian languages into context for the voyages. We hauled down the sails in the late afternoon and turned the ship northward, for an enchanting cocktail party and welcome dinner with the anticipation of setting sails again tomorrow morning.
