The Gazela Alexandria Trip

Philadelphia Ship Preservation Guild

2009-07-03T06:17:00.000-07:00

I want to thank all the people that followed this blog. The crew,Gazela and most importantly, the Guild appreciates your support.

If Gazela sounds like the place you've been looking for, come on down to Penn's Landing and check it out for yourself! You can get involved in so many ways, whether it be volunteering, becoming a member or donating.

For more information, visit our website at www.gazela.org
(Check out more Alexandria photos there too!)

Wednesday 24th: Sassafras River to Philadelphia

2009-06-25T18:41:00.000-07:00

After another, and our last evening abroad, we woke to the call, "all hands!" It is going to be all hands for the last day, and our final leg home. The ship is expected at Penn's Landing around 1700.

We started heaving the anchor 0800. After only one riding turn on the drum, the anchor was up in just 30 minutes. The crew gets more efficient and effective every time we have anchor.

We had a fair current for our transit through the C & D canal. Our speed was 11 knots during our run through the canal, which made the Captain happy because of the traffic behind us and coming in from the other end.

We exited the canal at around 1130, and turned north bound in the Delaware River. The Captain and mates seem to be at ease today, I guess it's because they have travelled on the Delaware River so much, they don't have to worry about navigating and teaching the crew at the same time.

We passed Marcus Hook at 1300 as we were getting the ship ready for Philadelphia. The decks fire hosed and the brass is getting polished.

The Captain says he wants all the sails set for our arrival in the harbor. When we left Philadelphia seven days ago, we only had one sail in the rig. Now, we have just about have all the sails ready. We might as well show them off.

The cooks getting the left overs ready for an early dinner tonight. Some people will be going home when we dock, while others will continue to live on the ship.

We passed Gazela's home port so we could allow people to see us in action. We controlled the sails as we turned around to dock. Everyone worked together one last time to get Gazela safely home.

....................................................................This trip was not what I expected, it was so much more. We learned on this trip that we weren't working hard for your watch leader, mates or the captain, you were working for Gazela. It is so inspiring to be with so many diverse people who are working towards a common goal.

I want to thank the captain, mates and crew for welcoming me on Gazela. They were patient with me when I asked about the simplest knot and were always willing to offer advice as I was thrown into the trip with very little experience. Before the trip I didn't know where I would stand, but know, I am an active member.

.................................................................This will be an experience that I will never forget.
-Abby Fazio

Tuesday 23rd: Heading Home

2009-06-23T17:29:00.000-07:00

After cleaning up the deck from last night’s thunder storm, we turned north into the Chesapeake Bay at midnight. We motored into headwinds all night and were passing Annapolis at day break.

After breakfast the crew turned to, with the morning wash down. Every morning rain or shine, the off watch crew pulls out the fire hoses and cleans the deck while others use deck brushes and sponges on the rails and deck houses.

....................Then comes the fun work. While underway passing Baltimore, our bosun (Mr. Sawyer) puts the crew to work hanging the last two square sails, the Topgallant and the Course. The Topgallant is the one all the way on top, and the course is the one on the bottom.

...........................We arrived at the mouth of the Sassafras River at 1115 and put the anchor down at 1121. Ships work continued until 1600. The 1st mate, Patrick Flynn, was the first to jump overboard when swim call was shouted. Everyone had been working hard all day, and this is our last night out before returning to Philadelphia.

Tomorrow morning we will get up at 0700 and start heaving the anchor. We will arrive at Penn’s Landing under full sail at 1700.

The crew that left Philadelphia with Gazela only a week ago, are no more. The crew that is returning is better for the experience; getting the ship ready, rigging the ship, hosting over 2,000 guests in just two days, enduring a severe thunder storm, and so many new friendships made.

...................None of us are eager to return just yet, but we have to get back to our normal lives, and also get the ship ready for the next trip.

-Abby Fazio

Monday 22nd: Alexandria to Philadelphia

2009-06-23T06:38:00.000-07:00

............................Somebody once told me, "Sailing a boat is 95% boredom and 5% sheer teeror." Although sailing a boat is far from boring, there are moments of something close to terror.

Gazela left Alexandria at 4:00 am. We cleared the bridge at 4:30 am. The bridge won't open after 5:00 am because of rushhour traffic.

We had a great day sailing down the Potomac River. We were climbing the rig and hanging on more sails. I even went out in the rescue boat to get a picture of Gazela at her best.

As usual, we had a great dinner by Paul, our cook. He made his own style of sheperds pie, which was great. We topped off the meal with icecream.

We were expecting an afternoon rainstorm,and by the time we were finished eating, it began to drizzle.

By 7:30 pm, I went below to write a new entry of my blog.

All of the sudden, I heard the rain pounding and orders being yelled. I closed my laptop and ran up on deck.

The rain was coming down so hard that you could barely keep your eyes open. We had zero visibility for 30 minutes.The crew quickly went from line to line pulling the sails down. There was thunder and lightning, and you could barely hear orders from the captain over the rain and the 45 miles per hour wind.

After the 30 minutes of organized chaos, the sun came out and we had a beautiful sunset. I heard the crew saying that the storm was their favorite part of the trip.

.....................It is amazing that after just 6 days of being together, the old and new crew worked so well together, in such severe conditions.

It's midnight now and we are just exiting the Potomac River and heading north to the Chesapeake Bay.

I will have to send this blog Tuesday morning due to laptop complications. My hurry to close my laptop during the storm could be the reason.

You never know what a day on a ship will bring you,
-Abby Fazio

Sunday 21st: Red Cross Festival

2009-06-21T15:27:00.000-07:00

We had a better weather today for our second and last day at the Red Cross Festival. I mentioned yesterday that visitors were still coming on board when I was writing.
Our final head count yesterday was 1025 people! Today we had even more, 1257. It is very rewarding to be able to say your part of the crew and share Gazela with others.

Today the crew did a lot of rigging the sails with our bosun, Rob Sawyer. As you can see in the pictures, it takes a lot of people and a lot of work to just put up one sail.

......................................................................(in above picture: Joe Schuck and Biz Goldhammer)

We will be getting underway at 4am. We’ll be leaving the docks in time for the bridge to open at this time.

-Abby Fazio
P.S. Happy Father’s Day Dad! xoxo

Saturday 20th Alexandria

2009-06-20T15:51:00.000-07:00

............................................................We docked Gazela in Alexandria a little after midnight last night.

Gazela was open to the public today from 10am to 6pm. During this time, about eight crew members were in uniform and welcoming visitors. This is a time for visitors to walk the decks of Gazela and learn all about her. We had t-shirts, posters, eye patches, necklaces, hats and more to sell. All donations go to Gazela.

After I got in uniform, it rained and rained. We were told to evacuate the visitors for a short period of time due to the lighting. However, once again, the clouds cleared and it was blue skies there on in. Hundreds of people came to the Red Cross Festival to enjoy other activities and explore the Gazela. Some even got a chance to put on a harness and head up the rig.

Our goal was to start rigging more sails. I climbed up with Dan Coppock Rob Sawyer(in picture) and we got to work. I had an amazing view of the capitol, the Washington monument, and other buildings in Washington D.C.

(in picture: below, right to left,Abby Fazio and Dan Coppock, above: Biz Goldhammer, Lukas Fauset, and Rob Sawyer) The crew on deck let children and adults set the fore topmast staysail, ring bells, stand behind the wheel and perform ship duties.(Eric Lorgus, President of the Guild, shows visitors pictures of Gazela)

..................................................It is now quarter to 7 and we are leaving the ship open to the public until 8pm. We had 964 visitors today and counting!

(Janice Aaron at the wheel with visitors)

..............................................................From Alexandria,
-Abby Fazio

Friday 19th- Sunny Day!

2009-06-19T15:24:00.001-07:00

We woke up to the sun today. It was hot on deck, but the wind from the water kept us cool. Since we were still anchored, we had an instructional lesson on how to bring up the anchor. It is a really big job and dangerous too. Each chain link weighs about ten pounds, so hauling the anchor up is hard work. The crew took turns bringing up the anchor at 8am. We were underway by 9am.
Captain authorized setting the 2 Jibs (the outer jib and the fore topmast staysail and the main staysail.)

............................................................Around noon, I was below deck receiving my camera. I saw Captain carrying Oscar (our man overboard dummy) to the galley roof. While I was heading up on deck, someone shouted, “man overboard!” Oscar was thrown overboard. Everyone reacted appropriately and performed their specific tasks for that “emergency.” Our rescue boat was lowered to retrieve Oscar and the sails were taken down. Oscar survived with minor injuries.
It is important to have emergency drills to avoid chaos. We want to be prepared for anything. As I mentioned in earlier blogs, everything on Gazela is a learning experience.

During my work hours, I strapped on a harness and climbed out on the bow sprit to hank on the inner jib with Rob Sawyer, Biz Goldhammer, Ana Bachmanova and Dan Coppock. It didn’t feel like work at all, sitting on the bow sprit and climbing around in the sun.

Lukas Fauset climbed all the way up to the top of the main mast rigging the main upper topmast staysail halyard.

......................................................We will be docking tonight in Alexandria, Virginia at midnight.

Next time, you'll be hearing from me from the docks of Alexandria,
-Abby Fazio

Thursday 18th: Rough Waters

2009-06-18T16:17:00.000-07:00

..............................................................I went to bed last night, it was very windy and there was scattered rain. I woke up at 7 to the same weather. The bow of the ship was rocking up and down, and I was trying to get dressed as quickly as possible because the sea-sickness started to kick in. When I came on deck I noticed I wasn’t the only one.

Although it started off rocky, this was my favorite day on Gazela. I was on duty in the Wheel House to start. There, I learned from Patrick the navigation system. After my hour there, I moved on to steering at the helm with Scott. It is such a good learning experience here on the ship, everyone is always teaching.
By the time I got to lookout, the wind started to settle and the rain stopped. We anchored right at noon.

We are now anchored in the St. Mary’s River, Maryland.
Once we were anchored we washed the deck and cleaned below. We have to be ready for the Red Cross Waterfront Festival in Alexandria. Since Gazela was hired to be there as an attraction, we want her to look her best.

...........................................................The rain was back on again when the crew gathered on deck as the 1st, 2nd and 3rd mates and the captain explained emergency procedures and safety equipment. During a fire, man over board or ship sinking, everyone is responsible for a specific task.
The weather changes constantly here. By the time emergency procedures were reviewed it was sunny and hot. We had a nice swim jumping off the side of the ship and the bow.

.........................................................Dinner was served by our creative cook, Paul Parsons,(above picture) who made a seafood dish.

We will get underway tomorrow so we can get through the bridge by midnight. We will dock in the dark.
-Abby Fazio

Wednesday 17th: Learning

2009-06-17T21:21:00.000-07:00

................................................I have learned a lot today! Experience on the ship varies with everyone. We have those who have been with the Gazela for years, while others like me, are undertaking their first trip. The ship provides training lessons for beginners and intermediate. Unfortunately I wasn’t able to make the beginner classes so I jumped into the intermediate classes without knowing the basics. Living on the ship, is the best way to learn the basics.

As scheduled, we left the dock at 8:00 am, and got underway at 10:00am. As we got underway, Patrick announced our, “watches.”

The crew is divided into three different watches. For each watch, there is a watch leader. My watch leader is Robin Schimpf. The other watch leaders are; Tony Coppola and Bill Bergstorm. These members are very experienced and have 7 or 8 crew members to manage. Your leader will tell you where to be and what to do.

..............................................Watches are 2, four-hour long sessions; 8:00-12:00, 12:00-4:00 or 4:00-8:00. During your watch you are taking turns steering the helm, navigating, boat check, deck ready, lookout 1 & 2 and runner. My watch leader and fellow crew were patient and willing when walking me through each procedure. My watch is from 8:00-12:00. (8am to noon, and 8pm to midnight) At least I don’t have to get up at 4am! However, each watch has its benefits.

After your watch you have work time. Your watch leader will assign jobs that need to be done on or below deck. Today, my group cleaned the 3 bathrooms below, and sweeping and mopping the floors.

We got a light rain this afternoon. Those who were not on watch, huddled on deck drinking hot chocolate and eating the chocolate chip cookies Paul quickly cooked up for us.

.................................................(Scott Cointot, Captain in above picture) We will see what the weather will hold for us tonight and tomorrow.
I’m going to get some down time before my next watch,
-Abby Fazio

Tuesday 16th: More work…

2009-06-17T21:20:00.000-07:00

............................It is hours away until Gazela is leaving the docks of Penn’s Landing. Needless to say, everyone has been working hard to get things ready. There will be a lot of work done while we sail, but the major additions (i.e. planks ) need to be done before Gazela leaves.

.....................................Today I painted, and painted, and painted the port side of the deck. The clouds were threatening all afternoon, but the rain never came. Meanwhile, the Mizzen gaff was being finished, and many worked hard from work floats (rafts) to plank, caulk and paint the port side of the boat.

.....................................Time went by quickly and work started to dwindle as the complete crew boarded the ship one by one. Barely spending time loading their belongings, everyone was eager to get to work. It is excited to see everyone working so efficiently and effectively to finish the job. We even had to use work lights as we all worked after dark.
There’s an announcement from the 1st Mate, Patrick Flynn, that everyone must be up at 6:00am to be ready to work and prepare for leaving the dock. After, of course, breakfast.

Crew Manual
Captain: Scott Cointot
1st Mate: Patrick Flynn
2nd Mate: Nancy Linden
3rd Mate: Ed Stemmler
Cook: Paul Parsons
Chief Engineer: Ed Walsh
Bosun: Rob Sawyer
*The rest of the crew will be introduced as our trip continues.

Bon Voyage!
-Abby Fazio

Monday 15th: work work work

2009-06-16T15:34:00.000-07:00

I am writing from my new bunk, which is where I'll be sleeping for the next week on The Gazela. I moved my things in a day early, before most of the crew, to get a head start on researching this trip.

Members of the crew have been working hard for months to get the ship ready for trips like this. Today, there was an afternoon rain that brought all painting to a halt. However, members of the crew were hauling chain forward to the bow of the ship for the anchor.

The anchors will be retrieved out of storage from the Barge. (The Barge is located near the Gazela at Penn’s Landing.) As you can see from the pictures, the Barge is a very cool place. There is anything you could want in there. Sails also arrived today that were in storage all winter.

The whole starboard side of the ship is all painted. The port side, had many more planks to be added, so it is still being caulked.

Members of the crew were working on the Mizzen gaff. They had to replace the old Mizzen gaff due to a brake during a day sail down the Delaware river.

The Plan for Wednesday is to leave for the pump out station at 8:00am There, we will be pumping out the waste tanks, then get under way. This will take about two hours, so we will be officially heading out at 10am.

This trip is a work trip. Therefore, we will be focusing on rigging the sails and painting while we are on deck.

We are heading for the C and D ( Chesapeake and Delaware Canal). We hope to enter the C and D Canal by 3:00pm that Wednesday. We’ll play it by ear whether we anchor or not.(this depends on how fast we are able to go.) Our goal is to be at the mouth of the Potomac River by first light on Friday.

'til next time,
-Abby Fazio

The Gazela: How I got started

2009-06-08T18:35:00.000-07:00

The Gazela Primeiro (1883)

I will be sailing on The Gazela Primeiro, the 177ft tall ship, as she makes her way from Philadelphia to Alexandria, Virginia from Wednesday 17th –Wednesday 24th. The ship is sailing to Alexandria, Virginia to share this historic, Philadelphia ambassador with others. The Gazela was built in Setubal, Portugal. It carried 35-40 hand-line fisherman to the Grand Banks of Newfoundland every spring. After a long commercial career, Gazela made her last trip to the Banks as a fishing vessel in 1969. In 1971, Philadelphia became Gazela’s home port. The Gazela is docked at Penn’s Landing, open for historic tours and educational classes.

The Gazela is maintained and owned by the Philadelphia Ship Preservation Guild. The Philadelphia Ship Preservation Guild is a 501(c) 3 non-profit organization dedicated to the preservation and operation of historic vessels. The Ship Preservation Guild was incorporated in 1985 when it took ownership of the Gazela Primeiro from the City of Philadelphia. The Gazela is supported by the active volunteers who assist with daily business as well as managing the sailing and educational classes to youths and adults about traditional sailing.

Starting Monday, June 15th, I will be living on The Gazela. Even though you all will only see my daily posts during THIS trip to Alexandria, Virgina, my journey with The Gazela started last summer.

My dad had a friend, Bob Sawyer, who was a crew member on The Gazela. During the summer of 2008, I went to see the ship for myself. As a journalism student, I interviewed Bob and the president of the ship's preservation guild, Eric Lorgus. I grew up sailing and being on the water, so it was exciting to revisit this love for sailing.

I visited The Gazela again when I began to look for an internship this summer. At Clarion University, where I study Communications with a concentration in Journalism, experience is key. After many e-mails between the guild and me, I convinced them to take me on as a Journalism intern. Scott Cointot, the captain for the Alexandria trip decided we will both benefit from this internship.

I began to visit the Gazela, at Pen's Landing in Philadelphia. I took pictures of the boat, talked with the crew members and even volunteered painting the deck. My goal was to surround myself with as much Gazela as possible.

So, in short, that is how I find myself getting ready to set sail for my first trip on the Gazela.

If you follow me during the next week and a half, you will be able to learn about the Gazela, the crew and what really goes on aboard The Gazela.

If you have any comments or questions along this trip, please don't hesitate to leave a comment. (I will do my best to make sure the font doesn't get cut-off by the pictures, but these sites are hard to use!)

-Abby Fazio