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The Esperance 88 (Thöpaga) at Sydney harbor
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The Esperance 88 (Thöpaga) at Sydney harbor
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Crew ! on the Esperance, here w/ Cpt Nicole
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Crew ! on the Esperance, here w/ Cpt Nicole
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1988, during bi-centennial celebrations in Sydney. Build of wood in 1924 in Aguilas, Spain, 44 meters and 850m2 of sail; a beautiful vessel ! The Thö-pa-ga was hired by the French government to participate in the festivities and renamed “Esperance 88”, in honor of the first French settlement in WA, 1792. She would perform a tour along the South coast of Australia, heading for Fremantle, Mauritius and back to France. Upon arrival from France half of the crew thought Sydney was a nice city to hop around a bit longer and the boat needed crew to sail her back: Mark and me hopped on without blinking an eye !! We were hitchhiking thru Australia and on the right spot at the right moment; whatta vessel, whatta luck !! Having sailed all of our lives, this was something to dream about – WHOW !!
We had a fantástic time sailing the South coast of Australia, this was mega quality time ! How well she sailed, how impressive her grand bow plunging the waves and when playing with dolphins hanging on the bow chains. The young & mixed crew didn´t need much to keep up a great atmosphere onboard and both sea and onshore marvels kept on surprising us almost daily ! It was a political goodwill trip from the French government so everywhere we stopped, we had cocktails and high percentage HulaHula – a crazy contrast of the sailor’s life. We had a marvelous encounter with the Leeuwin, a 3 mast student adventure vessel; beautiful ! Around Cape Leeuwin we had true spontaneous orgasms; 30 knots of wind and all sails full and tied ! 13 knots with the old lady is something you don´t forget… The next few hours also not: 1 enormous gust too much and the first real scary moments when the 2 topmasts broke like a toothpick; Whow ! A big BANG and all hens on deck, even the cookie ! The great maneuver of the owner showed his skills: the Esperance laid quiet -almost frozen- and we were able to tie it all up without ripping any sails. The hull was ok except for the bow; some planks had come loose, seeping a little water. Underwater putty resolved it for the moment and the rest would have to done in drydock, later in Fremantle. Still a bit shaky but everyone slept very well that night; hard work up there !
3 months Fremantle on a slipway, redoing planks, pulling the shaft, changing out some rigging and total hull maintenance. The Italian shipyard owner and his 7 sons – all called Bruno, haha !! I still don´t know how he managed to call “BRUNO!” and the correct Bruno looked…. And of course, he called us all Bruno as well…. Hilarious !! Hard work & long days – but wonderful to do; to be part of it all, part of the family – part of the boat; whatta fun we had !! The spirit was even higher: the Indian Ocean was awaiting us… Oh Gloria !!
Bye Bye Fremantle; Mauritius here we come and with high expectations we heaved away. Only 3 days away to enter in a storm…. Holy Mo ! This was what you call a storm…. 2 days of fighting, sleeping, fighting and some fighting. Wonderful, I was in my element and never thought I would have so much “fun” in a severe storm ! Well, “fun” is not the correct word but I think you know what I mean; otherwise you would have stopped reading already. It´s the challenge I guess, trusting your capabilities to exceed your limits within the respect zone of safety x oceanic forces. Even with a meter of water in my cabin, I felt warm & satisfied when wind, rain and clouds slowly disappeared; Caramba !! The days after are great: washing, drying, cleaning up, repairing, napping, eating and relaxing – then days fall into their rhythm; the wonderful rhythm of sailing, stars and ocean… how perfect live can be ?!!
Close to Mauritius we had another chilling surprise but this time only 1 topmast broke. No big storm but those furious gales one by one, dangerously coming from nowhere. Well, experienced broken topmast sailors, we repeated our jobs from Cape Leeuwin. Only this time the swell was higher, it broke lose, swinging into the main sail ripping it apart…. As I was the main guy up there, I got a heap-load of the good old French curse words form the Captain. She stressed out and out of control, it seemed all my fault: I was banned to my cabin for the rest of the tip to Mauritius….
Below deck, I was flabbergasted – felt the injustice deep into my bones… I just couldn´t believe a Captain could lose his/her head like that ?! Ok, maybe I fucked up but is this a proper way to react, sending somebody out of sight, putting stress on entire crew, jeopardizing atmosphere, joy and goodwill ?? No… for me this was enough: we stepped off in Mauritius and flew back to Holland with only 1 thing on mind:
A boat like this is fantástic, one of the 8 wonders of the world BUT it must be your own to avoid crazy Captains like this !!
And this is how a new adventure started… to have our own two mast topsail schooner – be aware world; something is going to happen – Joho and a bottle of rum; Oh Goria !!!
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