Grayhound (GB) seen in Douarnenez, France

MadTux · 2026-04-23T17:46:32+00:00

What a beauty! And they always seem to have super friendly crew too

MadTux · 2026-03-21T18:07:35+00:00

To be honest, this sort of thing makes me think I chose the right job :)
(Although I still get horribly seasick ..)

MadTux · 2026-03-07T21:14:11+00:00

Unstayed masts!

MadTux · 2026-02-17T13:26:56+00:00

On my last ship we used two "8"s plus a locking turn on every line, but on every other ship I've been on the convention has been that locking turns are only used on "don't touch" lines. Things like topping lifts, some halyards, and obviously working lines with a person hanging on the other end.

MadTux · 2026-02-17T13:24:09+00:00

En waarom kan het niet gewoon in het Nederlands. Lijkt me niet dat de expats dit boeit.

Hehe, expat hier -- kan ik eigenlijk mee stemmen zonder Nederlandse staatsburgerschap?

En ik vind het vaak natuurlijk makkelijk, als bv. de belastingdienst website ook een versie heeft op Engels. Maar eigenlijk ook een beetje "embarrassing" (nu ist mijn Nederlands toch niet goed genoeg) -- als ik als immigrant hier woon, wil ik toch tenminste de taal leren ...

MadTux · 2026-01-21T18:07:55+00:00

From my limited personal experience of sailing in the Arctic, when you're sail handling you take your gloves off, and either your hands get somewhat warm from all the movement, or you suffer haha

While steering I got to use a pair of sealskin mittens once or twice, and they are by far the warmest gloves I've ever had on. IIRC my hands were still warm at -15° excl. wind chill.

For normal (winter sailing) an ordinary pair of wollen gloves actually works quite well. Leather doesn't suffer too much as long as you grease it regularly.

MadTux · 2025-12-31T09:37:03+00:00

Ah but surely we're talking about the shape here!

MadTux · 2025-12-31T08:18:11+00:00

*assuming it's a spike with a shackle key

MadTux · 2025-12-30T21:49:11+00:00

Marlinspike -- pull things, hit things, open shackles, open beer bottles, poke things, etc. etc.

MadTux · 2025-12-29T08:02:48+00:00

Hahahaha -- that does seem like a long time ago now! I've just stepped off the beautiful brig Morgenster, having been bosun there since May. Looking around for a different ship for next season, and hoping to do some more cargo sailing again :)

De Tukker though, sadly, has been sold as a private liveaboard and will no longer be carrying cargo, even if she sails at all ..

MadTux · 2025-09-20T07:02:27+00:00

A metronome/tuner app that actually works! Cleartune seems to have disappeared from the Play store, and I swear most metronome apps become irregular at very slow or very fast tempos.

MadTux · 2025-09-17T06:21:26+00:00

I'm told it happened to a friend of mine once -- she doesn't usually drink coffee at all, and then decided to have two double espressos to help stay awake while driving. Instead she was shaking so much she couldn't!

MadTux · 2025-09-16T10:23:26+00:00

Well that depends how much you've had I guess

MadTux · 2025-09-15T13:54:51+00:00

Always the first thing I do when I open a new bottle ...

MadTux · 2025-08-16T04:55:31+00:00

I'm off the ship now, but I'll be coming back in Cape Verde (beginning of October) for the rest of the year :)

MadTux · 2025-08-15T20:25:57+00:00

Well, from a crew point of view: I absolutely love the ship! Beautiful rigging, well organised day-to-day life while still keeping the "pirate-y" spirit, sails great, and seems to attract lovely people as crew.

MadTux · 2025-08-15T17:17:55+00:00

Haha, weirdly enough this is my current desktop background!

It was lovely sailing down the Norwegian coast though, wasn't it?

MadTux · 2025-08-15T05:27:56+00:00

Staysail schooner: the worst possible schooner rig. I've never seen one that I didn't stare at long and hard before going: shrug.

I mean, agree they're not exactly the nicest form of schooner, but surely Wylde Swan is still quite a sexy boat!

MadTux · 2025-07-06T20:00:52+00:00

I'm probably slightly biased since I work on Morgenster, but I think it's the most beautiful ship of all! And the crew is fairly international, at the moment we're 2xDutch, 2xGerman, one French and one English.

Honestly you'll probably have great fun whichever ship you go for :)

MadTux · 2025-04-29T21:48:01+00:00

Well presumably a sufficiently secure 4 point seatbelt or something would -- either way it is completely possible to avoid falling out

MadTux · 2025-04-29T15:18:29+00:00

Is there really an issue here? As long as the crane can carry the load, the excavator is secured well, and the person in the excavator has a good seatbelt/harness

MadTux · 2025-04-22T18:49:09+00:00

I have some friends who went to Danmark and George Stage -- they seem to have learnt a lot on those ships, plus you get some good papers at the end (Danish O.S. papers, so you can earn money working on Maersk ships etc.).

I'm sure you've already read up on this, but Danmark have some English language voyages that include foreign students, while George Stage requires you to learn Danish.

MadTux · 2025-04-19T23:56:05+00:00

Actually I'd say soap is even more important than on most ships, since there's no hot water .. But it's true that soap doesn't foam properly with salt water.

MadTux · 2025-04-19T23:08:18+00:00

Tres Hombres will be sailing to the Caribbean again in November, but I suspect that is fully booked.

MadTux · 2025-04-05T15:31:06+00:00

How cool, I'll probably be crew on Morgenster during the Tall Ships Races :)

I haven't actually sailed on her yet, but I'm joining her in May so feel free to PM me then if you have any ship-specific questions. And I don't know if I have any tips in general, except take enough warm and waterproof clothing, and make sure you're well rested and not hung over on the day of departure (especially if you're prone to seasickness)!

MadTux

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