- ...
- Helloooo?!
- Oh, hi.
- Hey! You must be Steve.
- Yes.
- My name is Rado /handshake/ and I heard you were looking for crew going to the South Pacific. I´d be interested but perhaps not all the way. I´m willing to explore the Latin America before proceeding further West.
- OK. Do you have any sailing certificates?
- Hmm, no.
- And what about experience?
- Well I´ve crossed the Atlantic recently plus a little bit of coastal and river sailing but that´s about it. But I definitely want to do more.
- OK. What knots do you know?
- Hmmm... A bowline, figure of eight, ... fisherman´s knot, and this other one I do not remember its name, let me show you... /demostration/
- Oh yes, that´s a reef knot. That´s good. You´re hired. You can move in as soon you´re ready, we´re departing on Thursday.
- :)) Alright!
Negotiating a ride on a boat may indeed be sometimes that easy. It took me couple of weeks to find the opportunity. Captain America´s Adventure is an old Dutch schooner, two-masted, 22 meters long steel built monohull, originally built in 1931 as a motor fishing vessel. Later converted into a sailing boat with two masts, four booms - 2 standard plus 2 hoistable gaff booms, which help to stretch the square sails between them. Plus 2 other sails in the front, the gib and yankee, as my fellow sailors called them. The yankee stretched through the Adventure´s majestic bow sprit.
A real old-school sailing experience with all the manual sail-work procedures which often could be compared to any adrenalin sports. I have learnt and enjoyed it a lot.
Our crew consisted of 5 people:
Captain America a.k.a Steve, grown up cowboy from Texas who loves his steak but didn´t feel offended by my vegan dish. He is chasing his friend´s idea to establish a shipping company and transport goods(organic melons) between some of the Southern Pacific islands using the power of wind.
Another member was/is Taras, Spaniard looking guy from Siberia who happens to be on the road for last 4 years. He claims to have girlfriends all around the world and he, at the moment, lives for this Adventure all the way to the Pacific.
Then it was JoMo, Steve´s old sailing pall from Dallas who can play well his harmonicas and who attempted to fight the boats unpleasant adour with 20 litres of bleach. Only staying for a part from Martinique to Panama.
The latest crew to board Adventure was Jonathan. 45 year old geezer born in Pool, brought up in Australia and UK who climbed and surfed many places in the world, claiming his momentary residence in the Azores. Strong and interested in sailing, wild-life, surfing, dolphins... Also the most experienced and homblest member of our crew.
What a bunch! We had a good sail the whole way to Bonaire. It took us about 4 days. Just that I had little issues and disagreements with the Captain regarding the safety and some of his methods which cumulated into a loud argument the second day in the Bonaire marina and so I decided to leave.
