Tall Ship Race and Stay at Aalborg

Race and Entering Aalborg

            The ship had been preparing for this race for last couple of months and the succeeding paragraphs innumerate the events from 28-30 Jul 15 during and after the race. 

 

Photographs Taken By Young Endeavour Crew – Tarangini At Sail Parade

            The Sail Parade commenced at 1200 hr local time after the ships were lined up in the promulgated formation. Sail Parade was an evolution where 86 tall ships were required to sail together in a designated formation at a distance of 01C from each other and a speed of 5 knots. In the sail parade the ship covered a distance of 12NM. Maneuvering during the Sail Parade was tricky as hundreds of boats owned by locals continued to pass the ship at 10 meters or less.

THE START

On completion of the Parade of Sails the ship started preparations for the race. These included removing the dressing lines, ungasketing and setting sails.  A two watch organization for the race and an SSD organization for the Race Start had been formulated. The winds were from WNW the start line was oriented 000-180 by the Race Control, which was operating from Norwegian Coast Guard Ship Svalbaard. The ship thus proceeded to a position East of the Start Line, to enable a starboard tack, broad reach start. To facility adequate maneuvering space and no close quarter situations a Start Gate of 20 minutes was promulgated for Class A ships. The ships were thus required to start anywhere between 1800 to 1820 hr local time and their time of crossing the start line would be counted for final calculations. As the winds were from the quarter it was decided to start at the back of the fleet and them build up during the race. The starts for Classes B, C and D were scheduled at intervals of 20 minutes thereafter. The ship thus started at 1817 hr local time. The winds being from stbd qtr ensured that the ship got better speeds than all those ahead of her and in close vicinity. By 2200 hr local time, the ship had gained gained 04 positions among Class A ships. The sky was overcast and rainy throughout the night and the crew kept pushing her from one vessel to the other.

Lining Up For The Start

DAY TWO

The daybreak saw the ship rounding Waypoint 1. By then the ship had passed one-third of the fleet and some Class B, C and D ships had over taken us. As the vessels converged at waypoint 1 the winds died down to 3-4 knots and the weather forecast indicated nil to very low winds in the next 12 hours. The ship had experienced a 1-1.5 knot easterly current on the way to Kristiansand in the same region, it was thus decided to go as south as possible without losing distance. This was done to ensure that the ship drifted past waypoint 2 with the current even if the winds reduced further. The distance of about 50 miles to waypoint 2 was covered in 24 hours. These 24 hours were packed with activity as lack of winds meant lack of steerage way. The crew worked tirelessly to benefit from ever gust of wind and to ensure that no close quarter situation slows the ship down.

                                                                   Race Underway

GALE WARNING

At daybreak on 30 Jul the ship overtook the Brazilian Naval STS Cisne Branco and rounded waypoint 2. At this point the winds had started increasing and the ship was now in the middle to the fleet. With another 65 Nm to waypoint 3 and 120 Nm to finish the prospects of finishing somewhere in the top of the fleet looked good. The call to go south after waypoint 1 had paid off, as many who didn’t, had missed waypoint 2 and had to come back to round the mark. At around 1000 hr local time the Race Control announced that the race was being called off at 1200 UTC view weather and the positions at 1200 hr would be noted to decide final positions. After the final position of the ship was passed to the Race Control a Gale warning was issued and ships were told to indicate ETA Aalborg. The ship thereafter sought permission to enter Aalborg on the 31 Jul 15, a day in advance. Wind speed increased gradually and by the evening of 30 Jul 15 ship was under sails with winds of 25- 30 knots. While the ship made her way to Aalborg most of the ships from neighboring countries entered ports along the way with most of them entering the port of Skagen in Denmark.

 

 

                                     Gale Winds after The Race Was Called Off

            The ship commenced entry into harbour at 1100h after embarking the pilot. The channel to reach the berth was 21NM in length. For the entry into Aalborg the ship was dressed over all and the ship side was manned by ship’s company. Due to 25-30 knots of head on winds the ship could average a speed of 5 knots while entering harbour and thus took 7 hours from pilot embarkation to alongside. The tugs available for berthing were not suitable and due to lack of space the ship had to make a stern board approach on to the 40 meter berth. With winds of upto 25 knots and a current of 2 knots, both from right astern the approach required some fine maneuvering to get alongside.

                                           Entering Harbour Knots Of Head On Winds

            A knock out football tournament for crew members of all the participating ships was held on 01 Aug 15. Ship’s football team finished runners up in the tournament. In an exhilarating and closely fought final, they lost to team from Brazilian Naval ship, Cisne Branco. On their way to the finals, the ship’s team had beaten teams from Netherlands, Germany and Ecuador. 

 Football Finals With Brazil

 

Runner Up Of Football Championship

                A Crew Parade of all the participating ships was held from Aalborg Central park to the Main stage in the port area. The ship paraded two contingents. A marching contingent of Officers and sea trainees and a contingent of ship’s company dressed in traditional wear representing different states of India. The crew of the ship had created a two minute continuity drill for the marching contingent. This drill was practiced at sea on passage to Kristiansand and then finally fine tuned on the jetty at Aalborg. The ship’s marching contingent which was lead by the “Nishaan Toli” in full ceremonials, with the Bugler playing and the Sea Trainees singing along was a big hit with the spectators. Even the crew from other ships stopped during the parade to watch the drill.

Continuity Drill On Jetty

Nishan Toli during Continuity Drill In Town Square

            At 1000hrs on 03 Aug 15 Vice Admiral Sunil Lanba C-in-C Southern Naval Command visited the ship. Admiral had a walk around of the ship. Thereafter he addressed Sea Trainees and the crew of the ship. He congratulated the ship’s company for the voyage so far and wished the best for upcoming events. During the address he also shared his experiences at sea. On completion of the address he interacted with ship’s company and Sea Trainees.

 

Receiving FoC-in-C South Vice Admiral Sunil Lanba

            A reception was hosted onboard at 1900 hrs on 03 Aug 15 followed by dinner. The ship remained dressed overall for the occasion. The reception was attended by C-in-C Southern Naval Command Vice Admiral Sunil Lanba, The Ambassador of Indian to the Denmark, The Mayor of Aalborg, Chairman and Members of the Sail Training International, DAs of other countries and captains of other Tall Ships. The Commanding Officer addressed the gathering and expressed his gratitude to the government and the Aalborg. After this he gave a small brief on the ship and this voyage, this was accompanied by slide show depicting various activities of the ship. 

Chairman Sail Training International Addressing The Gathering
 

Foc-In-C South Presenting A Silver Salver To Lord Mayor Of Aalborg

            The highlight of the evening was an impressive performance by the Sea Trainees and Mr Haakon from Sastraad Lehmkul, the Norwegian Sail Training Ship. The Trainees and Mr. Haakon a renowned singer had prepared a surprise for the gathering. During the day Mr Haakon conducted a class on Shanty Singing for the trainees. This enthusiastic bunch thus gathered around and enthralled the audience with ‘Shantys”.
 

                                        Sea Trainees Entertaining the Guest with Shanty’s

            To wrap up the evening the Captain welcomed the Commander in Chief to the Tall Ship Events in Aalborg. On a lighter note the C in C was presented a “Crew Wrist Band” as the crew of INS Tarangini. This Wrist Band gives access to all the rides, all music festivals, all crew parties, and some pubs in town. With all these freebees associated to it, the crew wrist band was probably the most valuable gift the crew could give to their C in C.
 

FoC-In-C South Being Included As a Participant of Tall Ships Races 2015

            The guests were served Indian delicacies prepared by the ship’s cooks and some procured from a local Indian Restaurant. The crew has had the opportunity to sample the local Brew in every town that we have visited so far. So we the crew of Tarangini offered a toast with a popular Indian Dark Rum for the well being of those at sea. With captains of various tall ships attending the toast and the whole event including the Shanty’s turned out to be a spectacular success.
 

Guests Relishing Indian Delicacies

Stay at Kristiansand 28 Jul - 28 Jul 15

         Before departing Plymouth the ship had Midshipmen Frederich Flood and Christopher Windle from the Britannia Royal Naval College. They were the first of many that the ship is scheduled to embark for training from many other countries. So, immediately on arrival the two Midshipmen put to task. After a welcome address by the Captain they were conducted around the ship by the Divisional Officer. Practical aspects of sailing was explained to them which included sail evolutions and the organization onboard. The midshipmen performed the duties of Midshipman of the Watch during the watches.

 

Midshipman Frederich Flood And Christofer Windle Learning Chart Work

              During the past three months the ship had been working hard to get ‘Race Ready’, both materially and as a team. The passage from Plymouth to Kristiansand gave us an opportunity to take that to whole new level. The crew was divided into two watches and the rig was pushed to its maximum limits to ascertain what best could be achieved from the ship. Excellent winds and an enthusiastic crew took this “Old Lady’ to a sustained speed of 12.5 knots with winds of 24 knots. As we wanted to test the sustainability of two watch system during the race, especially in this cold and almost always rainy climate, we continued to push. She logged an average speed of 10.7 knots for a period of three days. Every day we would spend a few hours practicing Tacks and Wears, fine tuning Race Starts and then get back to racing.
 

                                                     12.5 Knots – Fastest So Far

            The race was between the two watches. A formula was devised to ascertain which watch sailed better, after catering for, the prevailing winds, distance covered in the watch, distance covered in the direction of the next wave point, the tidal pattern and the current in the region. Watches were given some leeway in case of fog and low visibility, however rain and the bone chilling cold was no excuse.
 

                                Bow Wave At 10.7 Knots

 

          After having reached the outskirts of Kristiansand a day and a half early we used the opportunity to prepare here for the festivities alongside. She was thus bathed, painted, brassoed, greased, varnished and the bathed some more. She was finally dressed over all while the crew manned the ship’s side for ‘Man and Cheership’ during the entry into Kristiansand, which was mired with strong winds and heavy rain.

 

Sailing Full And By

 

Entering Harbour Kristiansand

 

 

            On Air Chief Marshal Nak Brown (Retd) Ambassador of India to the Kingdom of Norway visited the ship. The Ambassador had a walk around of the ship. Thereafter the ambassador addressed Sea Trainees and the crew of the ship. He congratulated the ship’s company for the voyage so far and wished the best for upcoming events. During the address he also shared his experiences during his tenure as the Air Chief. On completion of the address he interacted with ship’s company and Sea Trainees.

Air Chief Marshal (Retd) Nak Brown Ambassador Of India Addressing The Crew

            A host of Crew Games were organized for the Tall Ships on 26 Jul 15 from 0900 hrs to 1200 hrs. Sea trainees and the ship’s crew actively took part in various games like beach volley, street basket and Steeplechase. To further the cause of friendship across the oceans all teams were mixed and Tarangini Team thus had Norwegians and Dutch playing as part of our team while the Sea Trainees from the ship played in their teams.

 

Beach Volley Ball as Part Of Crew Games

 

 

               A Crew Parade of all the participating ships was held from Kristiansand City Square to the Main stage in the port area. The ship paraded two contingents. A marching contingent of Officers and sea trainees and a contingent of ship’s company dressed in traditional wear representing different states of India.

 

Crew Parade at Kristiansand

            The crew of the ship had created a two minute continuity drill for the marching contingent. This drill was practiced at sea and then finally fine tuned on the jetty at Kristiansand. The ship’s marching contingent which was lead by the “Nishaan Toli”  in full ceremonials, with the Bugler playing and the Sea Trainees singing along has been a big hit with the spectators. Even the crew from other ships stopped during the parade to watch our drill.

 

Nishan Toli during Continuity Drill
 

 

Continuity Drill During The Crew Parade

 

Continuity Drill In Town Square

 

 

            One of the oldest ships “Shtandart” participated in the Tall Ship Race from Kristiansand to Aalborg.

One of the Oldest Ship Shtandart
 

 

 

Ship dressed Overall at Kristiansand
 

 

Sail Parade

 

Yards Man Aloft During Sail Parade

 

Lining Up For The Start Of The Race

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 



 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Stay at Plymouth 15 Jul - 17 Jul 15

It was a foggy morning and the Echo sounder reading had finally come down to two digits after ten days in the Atlantic, an indicator of our proximity to the next port of call, Plymouth. As the ship closed further, the foggy scene turned into an overcast sky and then a drizzle, another indicator of the typical Plymouth weather. This being Tarangini’s maiden visit to Plymouth, the Sea Trainees were scheduled to ‘Man the Yards’ for this seven mile long channel into the Devonport Naval Harbour. The drizzle didn’t help as the already cold breeze turned chillier and the rig got slipperier.

             A call of “Land Ahoy” from ‘Fore Royal’ turned our attention to the lush green hills and anchored yachts off ‘Plymouth Sound’. Though the winds had been good, the sky had been overcast for the last four days. This beautiful sight was thus a welcome one with the forts and ramparts at the harbour entrance giving an indication of its rich history. The whole skyline was either lush green hills or these medieval looking structures.   

The seven mile passage of this “White Swan” through the channel, with the yards manned drew quite a few spectators, inspite of the weather. Every yacht or boat that passed, altered course to take a closer look, click a few pictures and wave at the crew. The Bridge Team assisted by the Plymouth Pilot, and the Marine Police boats escorting the ship, had their hands full as the weather, visibility and inquisitive yachtsmen stayed with the ship till she got alongside at Wharf 4 on the Rubble Jetty.

Like every other port the visit to Plymouth was also supposed to be packed with activity. Plymouth due its proximity to Dartmouth offered a rare opportunity to the Sea Trainees to visit the Britannia Royal Naval College. Having just finished their four year training at the Indian Naval Academy, Ezhimala, this was an excellent opportunity for them to compare, learn and exchange notes with their Royal Navy counterparts. The visit including the drive to Dartmouth through picturesque countryside was an excellent learning experience for the future leaders of the Indian Navy,

The stay ashore is a privilege accorded to the Sail Training Ships as a consideration of their physically tough and demanding work environment. Thus a stable bed where one can stretch his legs is something the crew looks forward to on reaching a port. The stay at ‘Jury’s Inn’ brought all that was desired including sumptuous meals. The hospitality and support extended by the City of Plymouth and Royal Navy was reciprocated as the second day brought an opportunity to host local dignitaries onboard for a reception and dinner. The popularity of the ship and the media coverage accorded ensured that the function was a full house. The ship was dressed overall, and the guests were enthralled by performances from the Ship’s Bugler and the Sea Trainees as they enjoyed Indian Delicacies prepared by the ship’s cooks.

The ‘liberty’ for the crew at the beautiful city of Plymouth was quite memorable. While the ship was berthed in largest Naval Dockyard in UK, the crew were put up right next to the City Centre, giving them an opportunity to just walk across to the marina and enjoy the architecture and the history that goes along with it. These walk would inadvertently end with ‘Fish and Chips’ and a glass of the local ‘Ale’, as recommended by the locals

Today as we leave Plymouth and head north to Kristiansan in Norway, we take along Midshipmen Frederich Flood and Christopher Windle. Both the Midshipmen have come from Britannia Royal Naval College and are going to train with our Sea Trainees while we instill the time honoured traditions of courage, camaraderie and Espirit de Corps in these future leaders of the sea going community. What better way to acquire the proverbial ‘Sea Legs’ and attain the so called ‘Sea Sense’ than sail the English Channel and North Sea on this Tall Ship.

EXO's Blog

LIFE COMES A FULL CIRCLE

         In the wee hours of a January morning in 2003, an enthusiastic and newly passed out cadet from the Naval Academy, disembarked at the busy railway station of Ernakulam. He was coming after spending three tough years in the Naval Academy at Goa training as an ,Officer Cadet’ for the Indian Navy. These three years of rigorous and intense training was to be put to a test, now, at the First Training Squadron (1TS) of Southern Naval Command, Kochi. The six months onboard 1TS as a Cadet were meant to initiate him towards the naval way of life onboard a ship, as a professional and an Officer of the Indian Navy. Little did he know that this busy town of Kerala was about to change his life into a roller coaster ride (quite literally).

         Joining one of the ships as scheduled the uncanny cadet soon found himself wandering about the numerous innocuous alleyways trying to be inquisitive about what was coming his way for the next six months. He had heard a lot from his seniors about how the whole world would come at him hard, as his trainers would run against time to get him trained in the basics of a ship life. He came across the hallowed class room from where a number of his seniors had passed out to become officers in the Indian Navy. Exploring the classroom with awe his eyes fell on a list on the notice board which had his name amongst 30 others. The heading read “First Batch of Cadets for Circumnavigation Voyage of INS Tarangini departing on 24 Jan 03”.

         In 2003 INS Tarangini, Indian Navy’s only sail training ship was to set sail for 18 months on a circumnavigation voyage across the globe. It was to be the first time a ship of the Indian Navy was to set sail for a voyage of such enormity. Cadets of the First Training Squadron were to form part of the crew in batches of 30.  Starting from Kochi the first batch was to travel till Palermo in Italy, visiting the ports of Djibouti, Suez in Egypt and Iraklion in Greece, on the way. So here he was, standing in front of the notice board delving upon the age old saying “Join the Navy and See the world”. Hardly ‘baptised’ into the Navy, he was out to see the world.

         The remaining 10 days saw a flurry of activities towards preparations for the voyage. From preparing the ship for this arduous journey to getting travel documents ready, to getting his uniforms stitched for the ‘Overseas Deployment’, the list was long and time short. Finally the day big day arrived and the majestic tall ship “Slipped” from South Jetty, with the then Chief of Naval Staff, Admiral Madhavendra Singh flagging her off. The dream had come true his Naval life was well and set truly on its course.

         Twelve years have gone by and lot has changed, both in his Naval life as well as the Navy. The 12 Naval years have seen him serving on eight of the finest warships including one of the aircraft carriers while developing into a Missile and Gunnery warfare specialist. It was towards the end of his specialist tenure onboard a frontline destroyer as the Gunnery Officer that life was about to come a full circle for him. Going through one of the innocuous list which marks the end of one’s life as specialist onboard frontline warships of the Navy he finds his name as the Executive Officer (Second in Command) of the same ship which had marked the beginning of his Naval Carrier, INS Tarangini.

         The carrier of 12 years which had an auspicious beginning onboard the sail training ship flashed past his mind. He had been to at least one foreign port on each and every of the eight ships he had served on. So when he got his appointment he had a feeling that something big was coming his way. And so be it, the surprise turned to reality, for soon he realised that INS Tarangini was to set sail for Lokayan 15 to Europe to take part in various Tall ship events.

         So standing here on the deck of this magnificent ship as the Second in Command, life has now come a full circle for me. To have sailed out with the golden swan on her very first voyage as a cadet and now as the EXO is what I call destiny. Today as we close the shores of United Kingdom to make a port call at Plymouth on a much similar ship to the way the Britishers had come to our country in the 17 ^th Century, one cannot stop but have a feeling of dejavu. As leaders of men in uniform and as trainers of leaders onboard it seems like a privilege to visit a country from where the Indian Navy inherits most of it’s customs and traditions. For INS Tarangini being designed by Mr Collin Mudie, a British National himself this visit to Plymouth is turning out to be a sort of homecoming. As I travel 17000 miles, across 08 seas, 03 oceans, travelling across 13 countries in 17 ports sailing for 221 days I firmly believe that both of us (The ship and I) will have memories which we shall cherish for long after the end of the voyage.

Captain's Blog

                                                  

                                               THE ATLANTIC EXAM

                  It has been a little over two months since we left the sheltered environs of our own backyard called the Arabian Sea. Things actually changed the day we said our farewell to our escort at the Horn of Africa, Sumitra and turned that corner at Bab El Mandeb. Weather has been interesting ever since, mind you (and) when I say interesting, it doesn’t necessarily mean bad, it means interesting and challenging. And that being the essence of this Voyage –

                                To Experience And Overcome New Challenges.

                 This Tall Ship and her sturdy bunch of officers and sailors have done very well so far. We used to think that weather in Arabian Sea could get bad and then we entered the Red Sea. One couldn’t imagine what havoc that little Pond of a Water body could create. So we thought “Okay Now We Have Seen The Worse”.

                And then, we turned another corner at Suez and it got even more interesting. Well, with history like that on either sides (Egypt on one while Greeks and Romans on the other) Mediterranean’s gotta have an attitude to match. So the sail to Malta had newer lessons to learn, newer tricks to deal and a new bunch of Subalterns.

                 This new bunch of Trainees are now a month old on this ship. They have seen three countries and an equal number of seas in their first one month at sea. And as we approach the last Leg for this batch we also start testing them for what they have learnt and if there are any further areas that need to be focused on.

                Our examination hall - the Atlantic. Examiner - the Atlantic. The crew is now just invigilators, keeping an watchful eye, as the Trainees are now able to keep independent watch at places, where they were taught. So as we turned another corner towards the Atlantic at Cabo de Vicente, Spain ….. weather again got interesting and this time nothing like what  we had seen so far. Wind speeds in excess of 35 knots, wave height of more than the ship’s freeboard and that too head on.

              One of these rough afternoons I called the EXO and asked him to find out what the Sea Trainees wanted to eat and have the cooks prepare it. Thinking that they might want to have Khichhidi and Rasam (Our Staple during rough seas – Easy To Eat And more importantly Keep Inside).

               At around nine in the night while the sun was still up I went down for dinner and was astonished to see Pizzas on the table. The EXO steps forward and says “Sir They have passed the Atlantic Exam. None of the Trainees wanted to eat Khichhdi, they wanted Pizzas and an assortment of topping. The fear of the word called ‘Sea Sick’ has diminished in their minds. To add to top it all, in spite of the ship being tossed around heavily the cooks were able to produce remarkable pizzas.

   The Rigging Team Securing the Anchors with Additional Lashings

Principal Medical Officers Blog

AND TWO MONTHS ARE OVER ALREADY…..!!!

It was 27 Apr 15, far back in time, when we started our journey, have travelled about 6300 miles already away from home across four seas and five ports in five different countries and three different continents.

Seems like a lot of numbers …….

But many more are yet to come…..

Talking about numbers, all this on a small 54 meter ship …..

It seems that mother nature has been not very happy with us so far. We have been fighting with Winds, Seas and above all Time….

They say you will not know and time will fly by…. Well it seems true for us now…!!! Two months have already passed and it’s just the beginning …. we are not even half way there …..

Talking of half way mark …we are atleast on the imaginary center line of the earth, as we cross The Greenwich Meridian today, the meridian that defines time for most of us. We are going to pass it again in the coming months, four times to be precise …..again the numbers. I know some of us don’t even cross the state border in a lifetime.

Sunset is at 2122 hr today, giving us 15 hour between sunrise and sunset. As we cross into another time zone I realise that most of us spend our entire lives in GMT + 5:30. Like the Europeans, Day light saving is thus the call of the day.

Spectacular Sunset At Mediterrenean Sea With Stbd Lookout

It seems, by the end of this voyage we are all going to have so many numbers integrated in our memories and we will cherish this journey forever. And it is these events, numbers and adventures that motivate us to strive for more …..

            This passage through Mediterranean Sea will be the sixth for the ship. As the ship and the sea revive their old friendship they seem to be getting along quite well. We have been on a comfortable Broad Reach for the last two days and it is likely to continue.

Sailing Full And By

Every day here seems to bring new challenges for everyone of us and we are learning new lessons of life. Even  the Old Man has drawn out a long list of QRs from each one of us, just to ensure ,…… and I quote, “By The End Of This Voyage We Go Back Better Men - Both Professionally And Personally”.  

EXO, EO, GO And Self And Our Makeshift Gym

The list of things that one learns from life at sea can be exhaustive…. For instance …. The importance of silence and peace, learning to leave the paltry pleasures of life and look for the real treasures, not using mobile for long, controlling the cravings of taste buds as there are no Dominos, Pizza huts, McDonalds, KFCs, Fancy Buffets…. No Movie Theaters, No current affairs, or Bollywood gossips….

As we go farther from home we realise that one doesn’t need much to live. There are distractions that keep us from the finer things in life. The day one learns to enjoy basic elements of all composition …..the Wind, Sea and Earth …. life would be so much simpler. Because as one says, best things in life are free. All one needs is a ….. “A Tall Ship, Fair Winds and a Star to Steer her by”.

What more could you ask for if you had an amazing team to share this with. As what we have here is the company of an amazing group of men. We work and toil together, we play together, we laugh together. It is these bonds formed in this life of hardship and adventure that will last forever.

Group Laughing during Sea Trainees Variety Entertainment Programme