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Log entries from the ship 9th June to 8th July 2000. Soren
Larsen joins OpSail 2000 and Tallships 2000 through the States.
The ship sailed from Auckland on March 8th at the
commencement of her 18 month Global Odyssey voyage to the States and Europe, Britain.
Below are log reports and illustrations of her epic journey.
 Saturday 8th July 2000
- New York
The Voyage Crew for our next leg of our journey have arrived and Soren Larsen is
preparing to sail from her berth Staten Island in N.Y. Harbour. Captain Jim Cottier and
wife Terri leave the ship here and owner/Master Tony Davies has arrived from Auckland to
take over the skipper's cabin.
The ship will sail
to New London and spend Sunday night/ Monday there before sailing on to the Sail Boston
celebrations. Soren Larsen was mentioned in reports of the 4th of July Parade of Sail on
NZ radio and TV but we were pleased to see she also made the front page of the New York
Times on the 5th July -
thanks to past (and future) Voyage Crew Ed
Slaughter for sending us this picture of her on the parade in company with 'HMS' Rose.
Wed 4th July 2000 - New York
In the Big Apple for Independence Day! Soren Larsen took part in the OpSail 200
Parade of Sail - below are a few of the images captured off the webcam viewing the parade
from the New Jersey side: |
 |
 |
 |
Sunday 2nd July 2000
- Chesapeake Bay
Soren Larsen sailed from Baltimore on the 29th. The morning of the Parade of Sail
was rather damp and overcast and we followed Danmark out of the City. We are sailing
south through Chesapeake Bay in company with 'Oosterschelde', and will then make the
seaward passage round to New York. We aim to arrive there 3rd July in time to take
part in the huge Tallships and Naval parade up the Hudson on the 4th July.
Purser
Kate Ryan's Diary Extracts of the Voyage from Baltimore to NY and Boston. This first hand
account is Kate's personal view of the voyage
Wed 28 June OpSail
Baltimore |
Inner Harbour
Baltimore: A few Voyage Crews sign up for day trips to Washington DC &
Annapolis. Sampled fine dining in ‘Little Haly’ at a restaurant named
‘Delicios’! Great seafood, very cosy place. Voyage Crew of Soren are invited to
sing sea shanties at a small entertainment arena on the waterfront. Terri led the way with
her squeezebox and shanty verses. Three new Voyage  Crews join. Harry, Phyllis and Sarah. Opsail provided us all with free
tickets to see the Chieftains in concert – kicked off our shoes and danced Irish jigs
down the aisles.
Ian rings from the NZ Office to our Opsail cellphone to say .."why aren't the
floodlights on!" as he can see on the internet via webcam!! |
| Thurs 29 June Coaches
Island |
Finally our new
batteries arrive - they have been trying to be delivered to us since Charleston. We leave
our berth for the Parade of Sail under sail around 10.00am. We were sixth down from the
leading ship, Pride of Baltimore. We received a huge reception and cheer from the Tide
Point crowds. It was a spectacular sight to see all ships fully rigged and under sail
cruising down the Chesapeake Bay. We have to pick up another new Voyage Crew named Sherry,
from Maryland, she is dropped off at the ship by another boat. We meet
‘Elizabeth’, her mascot plastic duck! We anchored at Coaches Island. Watches are
allocated. |
Friday 30 June
Chesapeake Bay |
Half of the day
motorsailing out of Chesapeake Bay and then we were headed up the east coast again. Sherry
has donated a bra to assist us in making the perfect ‘water balloon funellator’.
It’s nickname will be the ‘titalator’, ‘hooter shooter’ or
'brassiere bomber’! Terris is working on the spare lower topsail. Dan has been making
a new topping lift for the mainsail. Mike has been painting the engine room. Dayworkers
have been painting the waywaters and varnishing. Steve has found his niche on the futtocks
to sketch/read and contemplate. A special thanks to all Voyage Crews for their help during
open days in Baltimore, with the shop and selling the ship. They represented us better
than the crew! |
| Sat 1 July |
Sally, Catherine and I
are planning a surprise for John’s birthday tomorrow. Lyn made an awesome card for
him. She sketched an MG green racing car on the front. Very clever.
 We sail past Captain Miranda today. We attacked her with water
balloons, we managed to aim one right through the Captain’s porthole. The Miranda had
a brass band on deck playing Latin American music. We did the congo around the ship and
made our own music with pots and pans. |
| Sun 2 July |
Sighted the QEII on
the 4-8 watch. Since then we have had many party balloons floating past us. A red love
heart floated past, and under Captain’s orders, we clued up the course, launched the
doti boat and rescued it to give it to John for his birthday today! Sighted many playful
dolphins, they leapt 2-3 metres in the air. Had fancy dress party on deck. Theme was
automobilia,  Dan was a skid mark, Pam was in ‘reverse
gear’, clothes on backwards, I had headlights (light bulbs in a bra!) and many more.
John and Lauries cabin was booby trapped with balloons, condoms, streamers and messages
for the birthday boy. |
| Mon 3 July New York |
Anchored outside of
New York at Gravesend Bay. We were struck by a freak gale force wind and lightning storm
at dinner time. We almost lost the buntings! After that excitement, we had a champagne
punch with dinner and celebrated the arrival into New York. |
| Tues 4 July New York |
A huge day! We are in
New York on 4 July 2000! We heaved up anchor around 10.00am and joined the parade of sails
into Manhattan. Tallships and navy frigates from all over the world emerged from the dense
morning fog like ghost ships from another era. We had the NZ Consulate and prominent NZ
business people aboard, we had a water balloon fight with the HMS Rose, which resulted in
them putting their fire-hose on us. We passed the frigate John F Kennedy with
President Clinton on board. We lowered flag and t-gallant as we passed. Millions of people
lined the waterfront, ferries were at their 6,000 capacity. Great atmosphere.
Berthed on Staten Island and were greeted warmly by the local wharfies and their families
inviting us to a BBQ and drinks. Very funky NY accents. Had dinner and drinks on board and
watched 45 minutes of fireworks display that went right up the river. It was spectacular
and we had the perfect view. After this several crew members decided to hit the town and
caught the free Staten Island ferry service to Downtown Manhattan. Walked Wall Street and
past the World Trade Centres, found the happening street, ‘Bleeker Street’. A
good night at the Peculiar Pub. Other crew members and Voyage Crew hit the local Irish
pub, an early morning return. |
Wed 5 July
New York |
Said our farewells to
Voyage Crew, sad to say goodbye to our long-time seaman Peter V, who has sailed with us
since Auckland. Open ship 1.00pm to 4.00pm. Goodbye dinner for Captain Jim and Terri.
Sherry and Phyllis have kindly come back and done ship–keep for us so we may all be
at the restaurant. Soren made front page of the New York Times, along with the HMS Rose.
Sherry shows us developed photos – very funny. Fiona donates a whole heap of stuff to
the crew, including an airbed that will be well used. |
Thurs 6 July
New York |
Ben Poff begins
scarfing the main boom. Dan sees Riverdance on Broadway on his day off! Nick and Eric
drove the Staten Island ferry over to Manhattan, past the Statue of Liberty. Huge crew
party put on by Opsail at the ballroom. Many navy crew from all over the world, great
food, free drinks and entertainment. Met up with Steve and Fiona there. |
Fri 7 July
NY NY! |
 My Kiwi mascot went with me to Statue of Liberty, World Trade Centre,
Times Square, Broadway and Central Park, where it ate nuts with the squirrels. New York is
a great city with a real pulse to it. At 5.00pm we sadly farewelled Jim and Terri. Captain
Tony arrived early this morning and is in high spirits. Mike went out to CBGB’s
– something he has promised himself since Auckland. |
Sat 8 July
NY |
New Voyage Crews join
around 9.30am. We have an almost full ship. It is good to see familiar faces again: Pat
& Olga, Barry, Polly, Brent, Rob, Vera, Mike, Judy, Kurt, Bill etc. Today is the
beginning of International Frigate week (or something similar). We watch a Harrier jet
hover above an aircraft carrier and do a 360° turn and fly backwards. Lots of stealth
bombers and military airforce about. OpSail Liaison officers Jane Byrd along with Steve
helped let our lines off and waved us goodbye. New Vcrew Scott is highly enthusiastic over
the water bombing of ships! We are getting better at aiming now. |
Sun 9 July & Mon 10
July
OpSail New London |
Overnight sail.
Arrived at New London in the morning. A quaint little town with a railway station and lots
of English looking brick building. We are a couple of days early for the official OpSail
event here but we were greeted by Channel 3 Connecticut News. Mike and I were interviewed.
Poor Pat was captured as he came out of the shower and put on an interview in the saloon.
Barry and Polly had all the rellies over! One huge Milne reunion! Jim and Joyce had their
family bring 7 month daughter Angelica down. A very cute baby
who had an outfit with Soren Larsen, New Zealand embroidered on the collar! Scott and Kurt
did a fantastic job at selling the ship for us.
Dan was interviewed by a good looking reporter. He went the colour of beetroot! Liaison
officers: Sean and Hal were extremely helpful. THANKS! We made the midday, 6.00
o’clock and 10.00 o’clock news! STARS! |
| Tues 11 July |
Left early. Beautiful
dear day. Dodged thousands of crayfish pots. Had a really good sail, approximately 6-7
knots towards Cape Cod Canal. Anchored off Wings Cove. |
| Wed 12 July |
Went through Cape Cod
Canal. Strange to be at the same level as a cyclist – who went past us! Anchored at
Broad Sound, just before Boston. |
| Thurs 13 July Boston |
Arrive in Boston. We
are berthed at the World Trade Centre Pier (East) next to an Irish Frigate! Could be
dangerous – according to Todd they have 25 tonnes of Guinness on board! Niagara has
pulled in as well! |
Top of this
page
Below
is Purser Kate Ryan's Diary Extracts of the Voyage from Miami to Baltimore. This first
hand account is Kate's personal view of the voyage..
| Sat 10 June Miami |
 New Voyage Crew joined yesterday at 10am - once again we have a
real smorgasbord of nationalities: Welsh, American, English, Kiwi, Australian. Our
hardworking Dutchman Peter V. remains onboard from the previous voyage (from Auckland in
fact), as does Fiona, Pam and Peter H. Ex V.crew Ben W. has rejoined us here as another
hand on deck, really great to have him back.
Larger ships leave first and we follow after
Oosterschelde. As we fly the NZ flag we are saluted by a floating band with he NZ national
anthem. A patriotic moment for the Kiwis among us. We wave Miami goodbye and sail
straight into strong force 4-5 winds and rain! All the other tallships under full sail are
silhouetted across the coastline. We put the first reef in the mainsail and wet weather
gear is pulled on. By late afternoon the weather has cleared and we focus on our
destination; Nassau, Bahamas. |
Tues 13th June
Nassau |
 Had a good trip from Miami to Bahamas. Arrived at Nassau early
morning and once again we were surrounded by many cruise ships. We are moored opposite the
famous Atlantic Hotel and we nieghbour the cruise liner 'Disney Wonder' with its vibrant
Disney colours and sound of Disney songs coming from their main deck.
I have been teaching Catherine and Terri the
pois (singing of the NZ indigenous Maori people). We aim to do performances at Opsail
Baltimore to represent that the ship is from NZ and I am really proud and impressed at now
quickly they have learnt them. Nassau is very colourful and full of outdoor markets and
humming street life - loads of souvenirs. |
Wed 14th June
Nassau |
Out initial departure
time cam and went as officials took longer to arrive then anticipated - island time! One
of the voyage crew discovered some pirate bandannas at the local pirate museum so most of
the crew have made a pirate bandanna purchase - new crew uniform??!
As we had time to spare poi rehearsals began again.
We departed by sailing off the wharf - great sailing now with all sails set.
Unfortunately at 1802 tragedy struck - we mourn the loss of Dan's hat. Big Martin tried to
do a full 360 deg turn to go back and find it but it was sadly well gone - sorry Dan... |
| Thurs 15th June |
Am on the 8-12 watch
with Harry and Linda - a great couple from Colorado, Steve and Pete H. Spent a very
special half hour on bow watch with Pete where he told me about his service in the war in
Normandy. As my own grandfather is no longer around this was a special moment for
me.
Sea shanty singing for a few hours under the bright moon. |
| Friday 16th June |
We may be slightly
behind schedule in getting in to Charleston but the sailing is so good we daren't start up
the main engine (and we wouldn't have gone much faster). We have had a beautiful
full moon tonight and some great moments on watch deep in conversation and contemplating
life. |
Sat 17th June
Charleston S.C. |
 Hoved to early this morning outside Charleston. Came into
Patriots point Marina around 0800. Soren is berthed near 'Eye of the Wind' and
'Concordia'. We are also near the famous WW2 aircraft freighter 'Yorktown'. Ex voyage crew Paul H. met
us here, coming aboard bearing gifts of photos, lollies and Samuel Adams beer. it was
fantastic to see him again, he lives a few hours out of Charleston and was kind enough to
give us a tour of his favourite town, Charleston. We saw Slavery St and the Battery
and beautiful old Southern houses
After emailing and phone calls I bumped into a few
crew members at Wet Willies and Wild Things - bars of course. Had a great dinner at
Pooches Porch and tried alligator meat! A huge BBQ and drinks was put on for the
ships by the organisers of Tallships 2000. All had a great night. |
Sunday 18th June
Charleston
Photos courtesy Tallships Charleston |
 The Southern hospitality is famous and Tallships 2000 put on a
function for all the ship's Captains at the new aquarium. Open bar and good food and an
ice carved tallship. The aquarium museum was a mazing -
exhibits of coastal reef, river and rainforest - fish everywhere!
The ship was open to the public all day - people
were very friendly and the ship's shop was very busy. |
Mon 19th June
Charleston |
A Southern character by
the name of Bones came down the wharf, dressed like he just came out of the early 19th
century! He took a 'wetslide' photograph of Jim and the ship. We have just heard sad news
that ex crew Jane B is unable to join us in Baltimore, however this confirms that Ben W
will join us as permanent crew. There goes Purser John's supply of rum.. just joking.
After a delay we leave Charleston after dinner. we
are now under sail and on our way to Baltimore! |
| Tues 20 June |
Now on the 12-4 watch
and doing breadmaking demos for our fellow watch members. A new VC – Tom, joined us
in Charleston. Our youngest member and a keen guitar player! Dolphins are sighted at the
bow. Good sailing and perfect weather for sleeping on deck |
| Wed 21st
June |
The ship stopped for a
swim – probably the last in quite a while as the water temperatures are bound to get
cooler as we pass Cape Havera. Beautiful full orange moon last night. |
| Thurs 22nd
June |
Beautiful clear blue
skies for the morning and then off Florida Beach at the entrance of Chesapeake Bay we
encountered a powerful electrical storm. Huge cracks of thunder and bolts of lightening
shot through the sky and hit the water 200 metres away.
We were sailing 8 knots when suddenly the wind
died and the sky was black and menacing. As we are near the Annapolis Military Base, the
sky was full of military planes and we were passed by extremely fast marine/naval
jetboats. We raced around handing the t’gallant and the course. VCrews really helped
us in this department! As quickly as the storm came – all cleared again. Water temp
has dropped 8 degrees. From 28 degrees to 20 degrees C.
We sailed over a bridge: ½ of it is under
water...!. Pretty spectacular and a very, very long bridge. We had a Midsummer Solstice
party last night which was a lot of fun. |
| Fri 23rd
June |
 We anchored in Chesapeake Bay around
9-10pm and set off early this morning accompanied by police boats. Our Maori poi’s
still in practice. VCrews go aloft to gasket the course – many keen sailors among
them. We had an auction today. Steve managed to buy my hat! Bummer!! We will arrange a
swap of some sort!
A special mention of thanks should go to our long term
Vcrew Peter V. who has been tireless in his help with daywork, painting and sanding - a
busy man! |
Sat 24th
June
Baltimore |
We berthed at Tide
Point in Baltimore. We tidied the ship up and opened her to the public after lunch. Our
liaison officer, Bruce, is very helpful in organising laundry and other things. Visit a
few local bars at Fells Point. A great 17th century area. |
Sun 25th
June
Baltimore |
 The locals at the business area of Tide Point put on a free BBQ and drinks
today. It was a really big affair and we had hundreds of people come on board. We had a
huge electrical storm in the middle of the night….very humid. VC’s either went
to Washington DC or to Annapolis today. We sat around after the Sunday roast talking.
Sally had her nephew and niece on board. Very cute. Thank you Tide Point for looking after
us so well |
Mon 26th
June
Baltimore |
Did a big shop for the
ship: toilet paper and cleaning goods etc. Bruce kindly drove me to the supermarket to do
this. We are now over our heads in bog rolls. Open ship was a lot quieter today as the
weekend is over. The Hill St Blues Café put on beautiful mussels and other goods and free
drinks for Søren. A huge thank you to them. We had a ball .. ex-VC Karen visited us from
DC. We all sang sea-shanties, led by Terri and chattered. Met some fantastic local people. |
Tues 27th
June
Baltimore |
Opsail 2000 have
kindly organised free passes to the aquariums, science museum and much, much more. The
aquarium takes at least 2-4 hours to see and was well worth it. We have moved the ship to
the Inner Harbour so are much closer to the other ships: Harriet Lane, Oosterschedele,
Esmeralda, Gloria, Capitan Miranda, HMS Rose, Calafornia, Pride of Baltimore and many
more. The place is humming with people. Crab cakes are
the food of Baltimore so we had to sample them. Yummo! More night-time electrical storms.
Purser John’s partner, Lorri joins us her – and John is all smiles...
Many us us making phone calls home - and realising how we
miss everyone we know there and especially missing NZ: we're so lucky to live there.
We sail from Baltimore the day after
tommorrow and then its on to New York. |
Wed 28th June - Baltimore
The ship has been open to the public each day we have been here and queues have
formed down the wharf as we limit the number coming over the gangway to
keep the numbers on deck sensible. Everyone has shown a lot of interest in the ship
and our voyage, and we have had another person sign up on the spot for our trip to New
York.
We have shifted to Pier One, Inner Harbour although we are just in view of
the following webcam - at http://www.harborcam.com
. The large black and white vessel statically moored is the USS Constellation and
Soren Larsen is moored on the end of that berth (at right angles to the Constellation).
Her masts can just be seen . Tomorrow is the Parade of Sail out of the Baltimore -
we'll leave the wharf at 10 am but we may have to return after the Parade of Sail to pick
up a vital battery delivery.
Saturday 24th June - Baltimore
Soren Larsen has arrived at OpSail Baltimore, the next stage of our voyage up the
East Coast and the third port for the Millennium Tallships events here in the US.
The ship has just been assigned a berth at Tides Point and is preparing for the public
open days. The event runs until the 29th June so all are looking forward to seeing
something of the city, taking part in the festival and seeing other ships that Soren
Larsen sailed with from Miami and Charleston, as well as others that have come here after
the Norfolk event.
Sunday 18th June 2000 - Charleston
SC. Tallships 2000
The ship arrived in on Friday afternoon and has spent the weekend enjoying the
southern hospitality of this lovely old city. This is the opening weekend of Tallships
Charleston and we were berthed on the Patriots Point side of the river with old sailing
companions Eye of the Wind. On Monday we shall sail from here and head north into
Chesapeake Bay to Baltimore for the OpSail 2000 Tallships celebrations there.
Tuesday 13th
June 2000 - Bahamas
We have called in to Nassau in New Providence in the Bahamas for a brief look at
this very developed and upmarket island. We will aim to sail early tomorrow morning
so there won't be too much time to spend fast sums at the designer label shops that line
the waterfront.
This has been a good opportunity for the voyage crew that joined us in Miami to settle in
to the routine of the ship and to get to know us all. Nassau as known as the 'Zurich of
the Tropics' - but we don't think that crew wages will warrant opening an account
here!
Everyone is looking forward to the open water passage up the coast to
Charleston. We aim to be there on Friday.
 Saturday 10th June 2000
- Departing Miami
Our new Voyage Crew arrived yesterday and settled in while the large week end
crowd of visitors swamped the wharf.We have some berths still available from Charleston to
Baltimore and Baltimore to New York and we had a couple of people actually book on the
spot from Baltimore! (Yes we have a few berths still - but hurry!).
At midday today join the Parade of Sail through
Government Cut and out of the port of Miami. This will be very exciting as for most of us
this will be the first time we will sail in the company of so many other square riggers.
There are 24 ships here and we have been given our position in the parade between the
Oosterschelde, the Dutch ship we were berthed behind, and the Californian.
We sail for Charleston South Carolina where we aim to arrive on
Friday 16th June. The Captain, Jim Cottier aims to call at somewhere in the Bahamas on the
way, probably at Nassau.
Thurs 7th June - OpSail Miami
The Opsail event in the States is officially underway. Yesterday was the last
official day of the school terms and thousands of school kids were bussed to the Port of
Miami to come and look over all the tallships. With a great deal of public interest at the
opening day all the roads and expressways to the port area were blocked with traffic for
most of the afternoon. We wonder what the week end will be like! It may be a bit of a
shock to some of us after the 3 weeks enjoying the freedom of the seas from Panama...
Tonight is the Captain's Gala dinner - very
invite only' - but many of the crew/voyage crew are planning an alternative night out in
Miami.
To see where the ship is berthed there is a
map showing our location at the NBC site: click on http://nbcin.nbc6.net/tvsd/opsail/opsail-ship-locations.shtml
(but note is is quite a large file).
Tuesday 6th June - Miami
The ship has arrived in Miami and cleared US customs!
The ship officially joins the OpSail Miami 2000 tallships regatta here and it was nice to
see that official sponsors NBC television http://www.nbc6.net have used Soren's picture on their website logo.. Its also a good
place to find out more about what's happening in Miami.
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