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THE TALL SHIPS' RACES 2008: A voyage of self discovery. How to GET INVOLVED.

The Tall Ships' Races Mediterranea 2007: Photographs

The Tall Ships Forum: Add the link to the Official Web Site of your Tall Ship

In an effort to provide our visitors with useful information and resources, The Tall Ships Forum
has been launched as a place where anyone can participate and contribute.

To get the forum going the Add the link to the Official Web Site of your Tall Ship subforum has been created.

This space is provided as a place to post the links to Tall Ships' oficial web sites. Please include a short description of the site. Your cooperation is appreciated. Add your link >>>here

How you Can Get a Job on a Luxury Cruise Ship - Quickly & Easily.

Wouldn't you like to get paid visit some of the most exotic destinations on the planet? Visit the Caribbean, Bahamas, USA, Australia, Europe, Hawaii, Alaska, Africa, Canada, the Far East, the Pacific, the Mediterranean - even the Arctic!


  • Earn a great tax-free income!

  • Meet new people and make amazing friends of all nationalities!

  • Work in a luxurious 5-star environment!

  • Escape the “rat race” of home. And enjoy possibly the most amazing, satisfying and life-changing experience you’ll ever have!


Cruise lines hire 15,000+ new staff a YEAR just to keep up with all the new ships being launched.Fact is, although there are 130,000 people working on cruise ships right now…it’sone of the hardest industry's to get into…so unless you have access to the RIGHT information and know how to use it correctly -you’re going to struggle.

Neil Maxwell-Keys, is an ex-crewmember and cruise line hiring manager and he has put together a package to show you how you can quickly and easily land yourself a job on a cruise ship. Best of all, you can do this even if you have little or no experience in anything.

When Neil Maxwell-Keys stopped working at sea he stayed in the industry as a cruise ship hiring agent. He hired staff for some of the most desirable cruise line companies in the world, including: Carnival Cruise Lines, Royal Caribbean, Celebrity, NCL, Holland America, Cunard and many more!

He is responsible for helping thousands of people just like you get the job of their dreams...

He wanted to put together something so detailed and yet so remarkably simple to follow that anybody could pick up and follow the quick and easy step-by-step instructions. Now for the first time ever he has blown-open his personal vault leaving nothing to chance. He has poured every possible little detail, all his closely-guarded secrets… scraping together all of his direct contacts…all of his little-known tricks, tips and previously un-disclosed information - into one complete never-seen-before package… Get a Cruise Ship Job! How to Get Paid to Travel the World Having the Best Time of Your Life!

Tall Ships Calendar 2009 by Thad Koza

The new Tall ships Calendar 2009 by Thad Kozad is now available. Featuring the STAR of INDIA on it’s cover along with 11 other tall ships photographed during the Tall Ships’ Races Mediterranea 2007

To order in the USA download the order form

Also available in Europe through the Tall Ships blog. To order download order form


FAR BARCELONA (Spain)

The Spanish schooner, Far Barcelona, was originally built in Norway in 1874. It has been restored by a consortium of foundations, and schools under the direction of one man. It is a Hardanger jakt (double-masted schooner). It is in Spain as part of an effort by the EL FAR Consortium to open up the city of Barcelona to the sea, provide education and training in sea trades, manages institutional projects and offers services to the nautical sector.

Le DON du VENT (France)

A traditional gaff-rigged schooner, Le Don Du Vent homeports in Marseille. This Bermuda ketch is 105’ in length.

PRINCE WILLIAM (UK)

One of two brigs built in 2000 – 01 for the Tall Ships Youth Trust, Portsmouth, England. The Trust’s brigs are the largest built in Britain for over a century. Their rigging comprises nearly nine miles of wire and rope. _ey carry enough fuel to drive a small car around the world ten times. They have 50 times more computer power than the Apollo 10 spacecraft. Each voyage can accommodate 48 youth for sail training.

SEUTE DERNE II (Germany)

One of the last “Baltic traders” built in the Ring Andersen yard in 1939, the 119-foot gaff ketch now homeports in Travemunde, Germany. The ship was converted in 1964 and by 1973 became a sail-training ship.

THO PA GA (Spain)

A fore and aft schooner, Tho-Pa-Ga was built in 1924 as a traditional Mediterranean pailebot. Tho-Pa-Ga is the diminutive name of an inspirational Buddhist monk. The schooner is 138 feet in length, and is built of double-planked pitch pine.

LINDEN (Finland)

The Linden is a combination of old time shipping tradition and modern requirements for comfort and safety. She was built in Mariehamn, Åland, Finland, between 1991 and 1993, based on the original Linden fore-and aft schooner, which dated back to 1920. Her building required 1,000 pine trees, 50,000 ship nails, 1,000 liters of tar, 110,000 pounds of ballast and 40,000 manhours.

TRE KRONOR (Sweden)

Only an idea in 1993, the 115-foot Tre Kronor was launched in 2005. Tre Kronor was commissioned by Princess Victoria of Sweden in 2006 and is 115 feet long. Her first official sailing was during the Tall Ships visit to Stockholm in July 2007; her maiden journey, in 2008. She is modelled after a Brig built in 1857 as a cargo navy ship. harbor of the Navy town Karlskrona. The frame, planking and garnishing (the inside the ship) are of oak. The deck is built of Siberian larch. Masts and spars are made of pine and larch.

AMERIGO VESPUCCI (Italy)

Amerigo Vespucci is the training vessel of the Italian Naval Academy. She was built in 1930 at the (formerly Royal) Naval Shipyard of Castellammare di Stabia (Naples). following a design by Lieutenant Colonel Francesco Rotundi of the Italian Navy Engineering Corps, inspired by the style of large late 18th century 74-cannon ships of the line. The steel hull is painted black with two white stripes in reference to the gun decks of the original design, but she carries no guns. She was launched on February 22, 1931. In 2007 she was made a goodwill ambassador for the United Nations children’s fund UNICEF.

SPIRIT of BERMUDA (Bermuda)

Known as a “Bermuda sloop,” Spirit Of Bermuda is a three-masted schooner based on an early nineteenth-century design. She was designed for fast dispatch between Bermuda and the other colonial ports of Halifax and Jamaica. _e masts, with their characteristic “rake,” and the triangular sails allowed quick maneuvers and directions changes in response to the unsettled winds of the islands. She was built in 2006, and her homeport of Hamilton, Bermuda, will host the Tall Ships rendezvous in 2009.

STAR OF INDIA (USA)

The Star of India is the world’s oldest active ship. She began her life on the stocks at Ramsey Shipyard in the Isle of Man in 1863, as Euterpe. She was a full-rigged ship until 1901, when the Alaska Packers Association rigged her down to a barque, her present rig. She began her sailing life with two near-disastrous voyages to India. In 1898 she was sold to the Alaska Packers and used as a salmon cannery, under the name Star of India. By 1926 she was saved from the scrap yard by San Diegans, but not renovated until 1976

VIRGINIA (USA)

The 122-foot, $3.9 million schooner Virginia was commissioned in June 2005 as the Old Dominion’s goodwill vessel. She was built along the lines of a 1917 Virginia pilot schooner that ferried professional pilots to guide cargo ships up the Chesapeake after long ocean passages. These boats had to stand station off Cape Charles in rough weather, and had to be seaworthy as well as speedy. She can accommodate up to 12 students onboard as apprentice crew on voyages.

BOWDOIN ( USA)

The Bowdoin was built in East Boothbay, Maine, and outfitted in South Portland in 1921. Captain Donald B. MacMillan envisioned a small vessel, strong, maneuverable, and with a shallow draft for navigating in the icy waters of the far north. For decades, she repeatedly navigated uncharted waters from Labrador’s dangerous coast to the ice choked bays of Greenland and Baffin Island. _ey carried scientists researching the Arctic as well as supplies and medical aid to remote communities. Now celebrated as National Historic Landmarks, both ships are fondly remembered in the many northern communities they returned to year after year.

The size is 11 inches by 14 inches, opening at the fold to 14 inches by 22 inches.

To order in the USA download the order form

Also available in Europe through the Tall Ships blog. To order download order form

An Adventure of a Lifetime

How my first tall ships adventure has led me to want to work with them regularly.

By Melissa Joy

Prince William (arriving in Portsmouth 8th Sept 2007)

I’d been interested in tall ships for a few years before I went on my first voyage, and I’d been studying them mainly through the internet. Following that initial interest, I knew I needed to do the research in order to write as well considering I am also an aspiring fantasy writer. For a long time I’d wanted to sail on a tall ship to get the hands on experience for both of these things, but hadn’t been able to afford it. However, when my 21st birthday came in August 2007, that all changed.

My older brother asked me what I wanted for that birthday, and told me that he wanted to do something very memorable for me. I said that I would love to do a day sail on a tall ship, and would like to do it in Portsmouth so that I could visit HMS Victory as well. On my birthday, my brother surprised me with the paperwork that said I’d be sailing on a tall ship for a week from Barry in South Wales to Portsmouth. At first, I couldn’t believe what I was seeing or hearing, but the excitement soon settled in.

Roughly three weeks later when I came to do the voyage, of course I was nervous and afraid of embarrassing myself in front of others. For a long time I’d been an introvert and not very social. I didn’t have many friends that I could see on a regular basis as most of them worked a lot of the time or they lived a great distance away. Instead, I amazed myself. I got along with everyone and I settled in very quickly. I already had some knowledge of tall ships from my research online, but it wasn’t going to stand up to actually sailing on one and working as a member of the crew.

I sailed on the Tall Ships Youth Trust’s brig Prince William with other people of my age range, and loved every minute of it. I was a member of perhaps the most spontaneous and excitable watch on board; humour and laughter being the two main highlights of being with them. I actually started to feel sad when the voyage was rapidly coming to an end. What it taught me though was how to socialise better, how to be an effective team member, and how to live life to its full potential. I really felt empowered.

Since that voyage, I have sailed with the Jubilee Sailing Trust on board LORD NELSON (November 2007), and have also taken up volunteering for both of these trusts. The ocean calls me now, and every time I’m at the coast I long for the next time I’ll get to be out on it sailing on a tall ship. I’ve found a big part of myself in sailing on these magnificent vessels, and enjoy sharing my experiences with other people. For some people it’s a once in a lifetime experience, but for me it’s something I’m going to do continually as much as I can. I am now looking into short term maritime courses that I hope will allow me to take part in working with tall ships more. My next voyage is already arranged, and that will be in the Caribbean on board Stavros S Niarchos in April 2008.

You can contact Melissa Joy on Facebook
or visit her website

Mariner's Compass

A compass, (or mariner's compass) is a navigational instrument for finding directions on the Earth. It consists of a magnetized pointer free to align itself accurately with Earth's magnetic field, which is of great assistance in navigation. The face of the compass generally highlights the cardinal points of north, south, east and west. A compass can be used in conjunction with a marine chronometer to calculate longitude and a sextant to calculate latitude, providing a very accurate navigation capability. This device greatly improved maritime trade by making travel safer and more efficient.

An early form of the compass was invented in China in the 11th century. The familiar mariner's compass was invented in Europe around 1300, from whence later originated the liquid magnetic compass. Fundamentally, the classic compass is any magnetically sensitive device able to indicate the direction of the magnetic north of a planet's magnetosphere. Often compasses are built as a stand-alone sealed instrument with a magnetized bar or needle turning freely upon a pivot, or floating in a fluid, thus able to point in a northerly and southerly direction.

Many enhancements have been developed. A compass dial is a small pocket compass with a sundial. A variation compass is a specific instrument of a delicate type of construction. It is used by observing variations of the needle. An Orienteering compass consists of a ruggedized needle compass permanently attached to a transparent baseplate containing tools to assist the user in working with maps in a field setting (as opposed to in an office at a desk).

A recent development is the electronic compass, which detects the magnetic directions without requiring moving parts. This device frequently appears as an optional subsystem built into Global Positioning Satellite Receivers (GPSRs).

There are other, more accurate, devices for determining north (known in such cases as true north, as opposed to magnetic north), which do not depend on the earth's magnetic field for operation. A gyrocompass (ships) or astrocompass (aircraft) can be used to find true north, while being unaffected by stray magnetic fields, nearby electrical power circuits or nearby large masses of ferrous metals.

Pre-history

Prior to the introduction of the compass, direction at sea was primarily determined by the position of celestial bodies. Navigation was supplemented in some places by the use of soundings. Difficulties arose where the sea was too deep for soundings and conditions were continually overcast or foggy. Thus the compass was not of the same utility everywhere. For example, the Arabs could generally rely on clear skies in navigating the Persian Gulf and the Indian Ocean (as well as the predictable nature of the monsoons). This may explain in part their relatively late adoption of the compass. Mariners in the relatively shallow Baltic made extensive use of soundings. The astrolabe, originally invented in the Hellenistic world, was significantly improved upon by later medieval Muslim astronomers and navigators who used it to aid in navigation.

Compass correction

Like any magnetic device, compasses are affected by nearby ferrous materials as well as by strong local electromagnetic forces. Compasses used for wilderness land navigation should never be used in close proximity to ferrous metal objects or electromagnetic fields (batteries, car bonnets, engines, steel pitons, wristwatches, etc.)

Compasses used in or near trucks, cars or other mechanized vehicles are particularly difficult to use accurately, even when corrected for deviation by the use of built-in magnets or other devices. Large amounts of ferrous metal combined with the on-and-off electrical fields caused by the vehicle's ignition and charging systems generally result in significant compass errors.

At sea, a ship's compass must also be corrected for errors, called deviation, caused by iron and steel in its structure and equipment. The ship is swung, that is rotated about a fixed point while its heading is noted by alignment with fixed points on the shore. A compass deviation card is prepared so that the navigator can convert between compass and magnetic headings. The compass can be corrected in three ways. First the lubber line can be adjusted so that it is aligned with the direction in which the ship travels, then the effects of permanent magnets can be corrected for by small magnets fitted within the case of the compass. The effect of ferromagnetic materials in the compass's environment can be corrected by two iron balls mounted on either side of the compass binacle. The coefficient a0 representing the error in the lubber line, while a1,b1 the ferromagnetic effects and a2,b2 the non-ferromagnetic component.

Fluxgate compasses can be calibrated automatically, and can also be programmed with the correct local compass variation so as to indicate the true heading.

Using a compass

The simplest way of using a compass is to know that the arrow always points in the same direction, magnetic North, which is roughly similar to true north. Except in areas of extreme magnetic declination variance (20 degrees or more), this is enough to protect from walking in a substantially different or even opposite direction than expected over short distances, provided the terrain is fairly flat and visibility is not impaired. In fact, by carefully recording distances (time or paces) and magnetic bearings traveled, one can plot a course and return to one's starting point using the compass alone.

However, compass navigation used in conjunction with a map (terrain association) requires a different compass method. To take a map bearing or true bearing (a bearing taken in reference to true, not magnetic north) to a destination with a protractor compass, the edge of the compass is placed on the map so that it connects the current location with the desired destination (some sources recommend physically drawing a line). The orienting lines in the base of the compass dial are then rotated to align with actual or true north by aligning them with a marked line of longitude (or the vertical margin of the map), ignoring the compass needle entirely. The resulting true bearing or map bearing may then be read at the degree indicator or direction-of-travel (DOT) line, which may be followed as an azimuth (course) to the destination. If a magnetic north bearing or compass bearing is desired, the compass must be adjusted by the amount of magnetic declination before using the bearing so that both map and compass are in agreement. In the given example, the large mountain in the second photo was selected as the target destination on the map.

The modern hand-held protractor compass always has an additional direction-of-travel (DOT) arrow or indicator inscribed on the baseplate. To check one's progress along a course or azimuth, or to ensure that the object in view is indeed the destination, a new compass reading may be taken to the target if visible (here, the large mountain). After pointing the DOT arrow on the baseplate at the target, the compass is oriented so that the needle is superimposed over the orienting arrow in the capsule. The resulting bearing indicated is the magnetic bearing to the target. Again, if one is using 'true' or map bearings, and the compass does not have preset, pre-adjusted declination, one must additionally add or subtract magnetic declination to convert the magnetic bearing into a true bearing. The exact value of the magnetic declination is place-dependent and varies over time, though declination is frequently given on the map itself or obtainable on-line from various sites. If not, any local walker club should know it. If the hiker has been following the correct path, the compass' corrected (true) indicated bearing should closely correspond to the true bearing previously obtained from the map.

This method is sometimes known as the Silva 1-2-3 System, after Silva Compass, manufacturers of the first protractor compasses.

A dynamic rotating draggable Silva compass is available online to practice setting compass and map bearings: http://geographyfieldwork.com/UsingCompass.htm

From Wikipedia under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License. (See Copyrights for details.)

Where to get a compass?

The Oldtimer Meeting - Gdansk, 29th - 31st August, 2008


The Oldtimer Meeting - Gdansk, 29th - 31st August, 2008

THE IDEA

The Oldtimer Meeting is held in Gdańsk for the third time. The aim of the event is to integrate water sports enthusiasts, owners of old vintage boats and yachts as well as to popularize sailing among the citizens of Tricity and all tourists visiting our region. We would like to demonstrate Gdansk's ancient connection with the sea by gathering beautiful and proud oldtimers at the very heart of the Old Town.


3rd OLDTIMER MEETING

3rd Oldtimer Meeting is going to take place from 29th to 31st August, 2008. The event will be held under the patronage of the President of the City of Gdańsk as well as the Marshal of the Pomeranian Voivodeship. We are preparing a wide range of attractions and sub-events for the participants of the rally and tourists as well. The rally programme includes shanty concerts, slide shows documenting sea voyages, visiting particular units and meeting with Gdansk authorities. We are also going to organize a solemn and incredibly spectacular yacht parade on the Motlawa river. All sailing units will be allowed in the Gdansk marina free of any charge.

All interested in taking part in the event are invited to download and fill in the application form available at our website. 3rd Oldtimer Meeting

http://sailgdansk.pl.

Nautical Gift Shop

Nautical gifts make great gifts for boaters anytime and are available now for secure online ordering and fast delivery.

pabloavanzini.com|TALL SHIPS Nautical Gift Store is a boaters and mariners true delight with Anchors, Bells, Whistles, Clocks, Sportif, Flags, Sextants, Binnacles, Ship Wheels, Deck Chairs, Compasses, Diving Helmets, Fishing Nets, Floats, Lamps, Lighting, Model Ships, Portholes, Scrimshaw, Sextants, Telescopes, Wheels and other Nautical Decor galore.

Nautical Gifts US | Nautical Gifts UK | Nautical Gifts CA | Nautical Gifts AU

So, your looking for Nautical Gifts? You have come to the right place! pabloavanzini.com |TALL SHIPS offers a huge selection of antique and new Nautical Gifts. We run everything based on an auction style setup, so people are selling these products live, as we speak. Our inventory is constantly changing based on what people are selling, so if you see something you like, you better act quick as it may be gone the next day!

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