Falmouth & Royal Greenwich Tall Ships Regatta 2014 Arts Project with Artist in Residence John DyerThe day the tall ships came,
I knew the ships’ names,
The white sails,
The milk pails,
The black shadow,
The blue hoe,
The coronation,
And finally: the salvation.
Its white sails flailing,
The wind wailing,
The waves crashing,
It sounds like a whip lashing.
My hopes are up,
My face erupts,
My salvation is near,
Falmouth is here.
We’d just left the mouth of the Thames and that’s when I saw the big, black, stormy clouds coming towards. I tried to turn back but it was too late, me and my dog Bilbo were swept away by a huge greeny-blue wave. We were tossed and turned from side to side the water beginning to pour in. All of a sudden a huge flash of lightning covered the sky and then the thunder rumbling like a hungry person’s stomach. Before I knew it I was swimming in the icy cold water of the sea, Bilbo paddled to me howling and shivering. Our little boat, The Mary Lee, named after my mother, who died in a storm, had been over turned by the strong current of the sea. The sky was getting darker and darker, the rain began to tip down in buckets. I managed to catch hold of a piece of driftwood from our boat, then in the distance, I caught sight of a ship, but this wasn’t any old ship this was one of the tall ships. Its masts so tall and the flags flapping wildly in the wild wind. I shouted ‘HELP! HELP!’ Fortunately one person aboard the ship heard us and as the ships drew nearer a piece of rope was thrown out and Bilbo and I were pulled in. Once aboard we were wrapped in warm towels and I was given a nice hot chocolate to drink. One girl aboard called Matilda came over to us, sat down and said, ‘you were lucky we saw you, in this storm you would have drowned to death’. She patted Bilbo and took us down into a tiny little room with a single bed and a basket, a little port hole let a bit of light through. After a few minutes Bilbo and I were fast asleep.
Hours later I woke to the sun beaming through my window and Bilbo yapping in my face. I then realised we had stopped. I had no idea where we were. All of a sudden Matilda came storming in, ‘its time to get up now breakfast is ready up on deck,’ she said with such a calm voice. We were then left. In silence. The only sound was of the sea gently lapping against the tall ships side. I quickly got up and dressed. I opened the door to the glorious smell of freshly baked croissants. I ran up the stairs to the deck with Bilbo at my heels. I then sat down and started gobbling away at my absolutely delicious breakfast. This is the best breakfast I’ve had in ages, I thought to myself. As I sat there seagulls soared over my head calling to each other, the salty sea lapped against the boat and the waves rolled onto the beach nearby. The smell of seaweed wafted past my nose. Everywhere you looked bunting was hanging from every house, every shop and every boat. Red, blue, green, purple, orange and pink. I then suddenly had the awful thought, Dad is going to be so, so worried about me and Bilbo.
After breakfast we hopped off the boat and went for a look around the town. When we walked into the bakery to buy some bread we asked the person at the till where we were, they replied ‘welcome to Falmouth.’ I then thought, I could text dad and tell him where we were, but then I remembered I’d lost my phone at sea when we were tossed by the waves. Instead, I asked the person at the till if I could borrow their phone, they said yes, so I called dad. As soon as he heard my voice I could hear he was so, so pleased to know that I was safe. I told him about how we were rescued by the tall ships and what a lovely breakfast we had. He then asked me when we’ll be back, I said around some time at 6 o’ clock this evening. He was even more pleased then. After that phone call I went and had a look around some of the other shops and bought a postcard with a painting on it called ‘Tall ships’, I then looked at the artist and saw it was by John Dyer, and then I remembered he had come to my school one day to talk about this painting.
It was about 4 o’clock in the afternoon when Bilbo and I boarded the Tall ships once again. I had enjoyed my adventure, but was looking forward to going home now and being tucked up in my own nice, warm, cosy bed. I think Bilbo was too. I stood on the deck leaning against the edge of the boat, listening and watching the seagulls calling and soaring around in the sky. I watched as some dolphins leaped out the water spraying my face. As the air began to get cooler I went down to our little cabin and lay down for a bit but before I knew it I was fast asleep. I was woken to the voice of my dad and a big, warm hug, I was so glad to be home again. Before I left I said my goodbyes and thank yous’ to everyone on board and then I went and sat on a wall with Bilbo, and watched as the Tall ships left the harbour, and now every night I watch the boats from that wall and will forever more.
White topped waves
Like galloping horses
Leading the ships away
As they fade into the distance
The wind resists
But I just wave
Goodbye
Have you ever met a pirate? Do you want to? Well I know two, not including their daughter Diana Rose Smith, who live in Cornwall. They have a house on land that is a boat and one in the water that is a boat house. Their boat was the biggest boat in the bay, it had a huge black base with a ten centimeters of gold lined around the edge. Her sails were blue and she had a flag with a grey cloud and two lightning bolts crossing over each other. It now looks ragged and covered in bird poo though.
Diana had a friend Mohham and his father was called Mark. He lived on a boat house called, ‘My Wife Sophie’ because that had been his wife and he had made it for her before she died during childbirth. Mohham never saw his mother.
One day Mohham and his father were sailing away from the island to buy some food. The boat floated away into the sun getting smaller and smaller and smaller. It ended up just being a pin prick in the distance.
“Aww I wish you’d let me go out on my own, and follow alongside that boat.” Complained Diana “You never let me out alone.”
“We’re just paranoid!” Jess (Her mum) replied. “Anyway its already 9 ‘o’clock, go to bed.”
“Fine, night mum, night dad.” Diana said grumpily as she sulked upstairs and into bed.
Fifteen minutes later she was still awake staring at the tall ships as they stood still mirroring into the water that they floated on. Then ‘BRRRR! BRRRRRRR!’. Her phone started to ring. She looked at the screen and it said ‘Mohham Calling.’
“Hey hey hey, enjoying your trip?” She sat up.
“No, no the boats sinking quickly, get out here and help!”
“Oh my God! Yes I’m getting up. Where are you?” She asked, panicking.
“Oh about c27, c28 maybe. Hurry we haven’t got much time!” Diana ended the call and hurried out of the room down the stairs and out of the house. When she was out the cold winds blew against her face like it was hurrying her on. Diana climbed into their little boat and rowed.
Row, row, row, row. Her arms ached and her hands were numb but she carried on. When her satnav said that it was about c26 she slowed down so that she did not run into either of them. It seemed that there was nothing out there until,
“HELP, HELP!” she heard a cry, It sounded like the voice was hoarse like it had been shouting for too long.
“I’m here don’t worry. Just climb in.” she replied trying to sound calm.She rode a little closer and she felt a hand come and pull up its body. It was like a zombie trying to get over but it wasn’t it was Mohham. He was shivering and so Diana gave him an emergency blanket. She saw another hand and pulled up Mike giving him the same treatment.
The group finally heard the sound of water lapping against the shore. It was like a dog that has seen a bone, and looking at its owner pleadingly licking its lips frantically. When they had got to Diana’s house they sat on the floor beside the heaters.
“W..w..w..ere a..r..re you..re par..ren..s?” asked Mohham.
“Upstairs in bed,” whispered Diana “don’t wake them though, I didn’t tell them that I was coming.They don’t know and probably wouldn’t let me.”
“Oh I understand” Mark whispered back.
When they had all warmed up Diana asked
“So, what happened?”
“Well,” started Mark, “we were sailing along, and I heard something splashing in the water so I looked over the edge of our boat thinking that I would see a dolphin or something. I didn’t though I saw a face. Sophie’s face. I reached out to touch it, having not seen my wife in such a long time, and the boat jerked like something was hitting it from beneath. This creature, or whatever it was, kept hitting the boat. Constantly until we saw water coming into the boat from a hole that this thing had made. Bits of our boat fell off everywhere, and Mohham called you leading us here.” At the end Mike seemed exhausted so Diana brought them some of her fathers clothes, a couple of extra blankets and they slept on the sofa.
In the morning Diana went downstairs to check on them, but when she got to the sofa she noticed that they weren’t there. She called and called but no-one replied. Eventually Jill came down and asked what on earth she was on about, so Diana told her the whole story, Including every last detail.
“What are you on about? When was this then?” Jill asked
“Well,” Diana tried to remember when the call was, “About 9:15 I suppose” she answered.
“It can’t have been, I checked on you then, you were fast asleep. My phone even went off and you didn’t stir. Oh no silly, it must have been a dream.”
But was it?
The water wanders over my feet as I look out to sea. A wave crashes against the cliff face leaving surf sprayed across my cottage garden on top of the hill. Me and the ocean. The moon gleaming down on us like a spotlight. But I have to leave my friend to climb up the steep and slippery cliff to my millionaire mansion.
“Where on earth have you been?”
“I’m fine Dad. I’ve just been down the beach.”
“I don’t care whether you’re fine or not! Me and your mother are going out tonight. This place better be spotless by the time we get back!”
As the door slams behind me, I look down to the floor. I’ve left a trail of sandy foot prints. A single tear rolls down my face. I wipe it away and run out the door. Down the cliff. Across the wet sand. My little rowing boat rocks in shallow waters. I wade into the waves and roll into my boat. The tears start to flow.
I’ve been rowing for at least half an hour now and my arms are numb and stiff. I feel like I could just lie down and die, give into the world. I look up at the stars. The stars are then covered by waves…
I wake up breathless. Coughing up salt tasting saliva. People come running in and crowded round me.
“Give her some room, give her some room!”
“Where am I?”
“Hello, I’m glad you’re feeling better. I’m Pip. Captain of this ship you’re on.”
“I am on a boat?”
“Yes. Why don’t you start with telling me your name.”
“My name is Clara. How did I get on this ship? The last thing I remember is me and my little boat being swallowed by the waves.”
“Don’t worry. You’ve had a hit to the head. Get some rest and you’ll be fine.”
I jump out of bed and run on to the deck. The sea breeze chills me to the bone. It feels real. The cold air is real. But here…am I real? Looking up, I notice the tall, strong masts with their sails flying high. I wish I had a ship like this. I’m now back in bed. They have left me pencils and paper. As I sit on the bed, I draw…
Finished. Done. Probably the best drawing I’ve ever done. My own little cove with my little rowing boat and my horrible, big mansion. Oh how I would hate to go back there. But in the middle, under the spotlight of the moon, Pip’s grand, spectacular ship. Pip, I wonder where she is?
“Pip? Where are you?” She comes running in.
“Are you all right?”
“Yes, I just don’t know where I am. I’m lost.”
“Don’t worry. You can go back home if you want.”
“NO! I’ll never go back there!”
“But if you go home it will be fine.”
“Honest?”
“Honest. Your mum and dad will be very kind and life will be perfect.”
“Then how do I get back?”…
I thrust my drawing into my pocket and head out on to deck with Pip.
“Now, go to the edge. And jump.”
“Jump? No way!”
“Do you want to go home or not?”
I look to the floor and nod my head. I’m scared. Getting up on to the side, I catch Pip’s eye.
“Jump.” She whispers. I smile at her and J
U
M
P
Ahhh. I wake up on the sand, soaked to the bone. That was an incredible dream. But then I feel something in my pocket. I pull it out. It’s the picture I drew…
‘Are you ready?’
The Captain shouted as he gripped The May Rose’s wheel as it sailed into the harbour.
‘You must be ‘Rhys’’.
It was eleven in the morning on a Sunday in August and I was about to set sail on my first trip aboard a tour ship.The gleaming ship had just arrived in the harbour and was due to depart in about an hour. The reason the May Rose had only just arrived was that there had been a storm and the ship had been stranded in a dock in Ireland.
‘As ready as I will ever be,’
I replied apprehensively. I felt that funny, wobbly feeling in my stomach like the sensation people get after they’ve been sick. I wobbled along the deck towards the Captain, concentrating putting one foot in front of the other.
‘How old are you and where are you from?’
The Captain asked me smiling gracefully.
‘14 ⅓ and from South Africa.’
I answered feeling a knot in my throat. The Captain looked at me lowering his glasses and smiled knowingly. He had a grey beard, a heavy Irish accent and a twinkle in his eye that made me feel welcome.
‘Right.’ said Jack sighing.
‘You do know how to sail?’
He questioned with a concerned look that made me gulp and tightened the knot growing in my throat. I nodded. Then, looking impressed, he said,
‘Welcome Rhys who is the newest and youngest member of the crew. Welcome aboard ‘The May Rose’. You may call me Cap. That’s what everyone else seems to call me!’
Cap said chuckling. The sun was shining and the birds were singing again. I felt the knot in my throat loosen and untie almost instantly as Cap, gave me a second smile. An even more welcoming smile than the first if that were possible!
‘There are 10 other sailors working alongside you and me to get this ship to Greenwich. However they have all been with me since Ireland, I’m positive you’ll fit in fine.’
Cap explained as he took me around on a tour of May Rose.
‘Toilet, dorm, dorm, dorm,’
Cap said tapping doors as we strolled along a corridor.
‘Aha!’
Cap halted by a door.
‘This is where you will sleep and, you will share with Sakie. The second youngest member of crew who is 17 next Saturday.’
After Cap knocked he entered the little room to find ‘Sakie’ at a desk writing.
Sackie was small, thin and from Malaysia however his English was impeccable. As soon as we entered the room Sakie turned around and smiled.
‘Hi you must be Rhys!’
He, like Cap, had a warm, soothing smile. I was shocked. How did he know my name? Had we met before? He recognised the faltering look on my face and laughed.
‘Cap told me I would be sharing this room with a younger ‘Rhys’ and I assumed that was you.’
I sighed, relieved that I shouldn’t remember him from anywhere. After we had talked for a while Cap ‘left us to it’ and announced that we should come up onto deck in 15 minutes.
After Cap left I had time to examine to the room. I found it was small. Only lit by a desk candle and a candle attached to the wall. The ‘dorm’ had a bunk bed. The top bed was loaded with bags so I assumed the bottom was mine and, after leaving my small bundle of possessions by the door I had 10 minutes of daydreaming to do just lying on my bed. When it was time to make our way onto deck Sackie and I clambered up together.
When we appeared on deck. We found the harbour was full of people. All waving flags of different nationalities. I could see Clara, mum and dad in the front of the clan of people waving and cheering. After a while a smile grew on my face. All these people were cheering me and the rest of the crew. Sakie and I decided to join Cap at the front of the boat. We could see everyone more clearly. The crowds covered most of the streets and went back across Falmouth for what seemed like miles but wasn’t really very far.
Suddenly a clock struck midday. Cap announced it was time to go and went to the reel. He gave everyone jobs, Sakie was in charge of hoisting the anchor and my job was assisting him. All the other boats also started to set sail and some blew horns.The Crowd, plus mum, dad and Clara got further and further away until they gradually disappeared into the distance.
After about half an hour Cap gave us a new jobs. I was directing the sales. This was hard work but I felt very important. At about 8:30 pm it was time for half of the sailors to have supper. The others would have supper when we had finished. When I got back onto deck and swapped with Sakie it was almost pitch black except for the lanterns lighting up the edges of the boat. And, at 10:30 it was time for the sailors that had been on duty to go to sleep while more dorms of sailors that had been asleep started their long nights shift.
As soon as I got back to my dorm I lay down on the bed drained of energy and fell asleep before the candles had ran out.
The next morning we were woken by a fog horn. It was about eight thirty and Sakie and I dressed, went to breakfast before emerging on deck to take over shift. Cap, as we then found out, worked different shifts to everyone else. He worked through half of each shift so, this meant he worked from 5:00pm until 00:30am and 5:30am until 10:30am.
Although The May Rose had travelled for almost a day, the ship was still surrounded by the rest of the tour ships, however each about a mile apart were just visible in the distance.
After two days working shifts on The Mary Rose disaster struck. The Chef had managed to give himself, the captain and everyone who had eaten the chicken at dinner last night (7 other people) food poisoning. This meant that there were only four people to do twelve people’s jobs. The sailors along side me working were Sakie, Mitch (who was from Spain, about 26 and didn’t speak much English) and luckily (seeing as Sakie and I were only rookie sailors who had only one day of training before coming aboard,’ The May Rose’) Freddie, who was a fully trained sailor/fisherman from Wales.
Whilst the other sailors all tried to recover in their rooms the four of us allocated jobs for each other depending on our strengths. I was in charge of cooking, (pasta only) steering the ship (on rota with Sakie) and navigating. Mitch was in charge of cleaning as those were the only Spanish words the rest of the group knew, (clean is ‘limpio’). Freddie was the new ‘Cap’, head of the engine and working out things like new shifts. Sakie was in charge of the Sails, look out and (with me) on the steering rota.
The next three days were quite tricky. If someone asked me to describe them I don’t think I could manage it. They went past in a blur that seemed like forever when we were working! I spent six hours sleeping out of each 24 hour period and, as the days progressed, everyone became weaker and weaker. On the second day at lunchtime the ‘emergency pasta’, as Freddie called it, was all eaten and now although we knew we would arrive in Greenwich the following evening.
Luckily, the next morning Cap, the real Cap, and thankfully the cook were feeling better. It was like a giant weight had been lifted from our shoulders because the one thing Freddie wasn’t he told us very good at was getting ships into harbours plus, none of us could cook anything but pasta and we had run out the day before. I was so relieved and tired when we arrived at Greenwich harbour that the first thing I did when I got off the ship was sleep in mum and dad’s car as they drove me home. I had mixed feelings about my experience aboard a tour ship: hard work and satisfaction.
Soon the ships will be here.
Under the stars they’ll float on by.
Nearly here they’re on the horizon.
Sunset “ahh” the ships are here.
Early this year.
Tall ships this time.
Seven in a group.
Hurray!!! They all cheer.
I watch with glee.
Parrots on all the shoulders of the men.
Sunsets over the boats are leaving, the night is over.