Inside the Trinidad

Marie and I did go back to tour the inside of the Trinidad. Here's a view down Rondout Creek from the poop deck (the highest deck at the rear-aft).

The kind of boat is called a nao. Since I've read quite a few books with ships from the time period I wasn't sure why I'd never heard of this. That's the Spanish term. We call this a carrack. Famous ones include the ships of Magellan, Columbus, Vasco Da Gama, and many others. Although I've read about them, and even seen a couple from outside, this is the first time I've been on board.

The biggest surprise for me was that the decks are not level. Not that it matters when you are floating and the sea is heaving beneath you, but they are slightly curved upwards at the ends.

This is the main deck beneath the quarterdeck. The sailors on these historic ships slept on mats on this deck. In this reproduction, the crew has tight bunks in the deck below, in what would have been the cargo hold.

This is the capstan. It is turned by hand to raise and lower the anchor.

Here was another surprise for me. There is no wheel or the kind of horizonatal tiller one sees on smaller sailboats. This is called a whipstaff (the vertical bar- sorry, the lower end of the mizzenmast is hanging down behind the top of it) was attached to the rudder somehow and used to steer the ship. The crew all spoke Spanish, but some of them were pretty good at answering questions. We learned that the ship is still steered this way. He said it's a real pain because it's so difficult to operate.

I always knew the Captain enjoyed relative luxury, but I didn't quite understand how much space he had, relative to the 60 people crammed together everywhere else. This is the Captain's cabin. The bed is curtained. There is a large trunk for his belongings and a chair. He had windows in the stern of the ship- where the light is blasting in.

Around the corner on the left is another space of his which has a desk and storage areas for things like charts and the ship's log and papers.

I wanted to show you a picture of the Trinidad in full sail, but the only one they had on display was partly covered with a taped-on notice. I stole this from the USS Kidd Veteran's Museum. It's a four-masted ship. The mizzenmast is aft- with a lateen sail (angled and in line with the body of the ship), then the main mast (only the topsail is unfurled in this picture), foremast, and bowsprit.

The crew said it takes 40 minutes to unfurl the main sail alone, let alone adding the other sails, so they often travel with the motor unless the wind is going to be steady for a long time. Plus, they all have to work all the time when the sails have to be dealt with. The original crew of 60 allowed for shifts of work. With only 20 aboard, it takes all of them to set the sails. Also, they must use the motor to get in and out of harbors. A large ship under wind power is not very maneuverable, and they can't risk hitting other ships operating by modern standards.

Also surprising is that they take on volunteer crew members with no experience at all. It's an immersion learning experience- both in sailing and in Spanish if you don't speak that language! People sign on for 3, 6 or 12 months. One 70-year old signed up and they said he did well, although he did not climb the rigging!

I learned a lot more, but that's enough for today.

We also worked, fixed dinner (of course), and visited Selma.

See Trinidad