Harvey Gamage

“Strike the outer jib!” the mate cries from the quarterdeck. The command is repeated and the sail makes its way down past the two towering masts. Orders are yelled, people scurry to the halyards and downhauls. It’s week five we are finally starting to really understand what we are doing and why we are doing it. The outer jib must be stowed, so I find my harness and put it on as quickly as possible. Then I run to the sail tie bag and drape the coarse ropes over my shoulder. I hear the scraping of the sail against the outer jib stay. The ship’s crew yell cries of, “Halyard fast!” and “Downhaul fast!” It’s time to go out onto the head rig. I run aft to the mate and yell “Going out on the head rig!” I see him flash the thumbs up which means I am good to go. My cry of, “Laying on!” is almost drowned out by the roar of the sea. I hear the clips of the carabineers of the people clipping into the jack line behind me. We grab the miter furl and furl the sail. As the sail begins to take on the tubular shape, which we all strive to do, the sea splashes beneath the safety net engulfing my feet. We get the sail ties daisy chained around the beautiful sail and then we head back to the deck, “Back on Deck.” -- Andrew Duzs