Don Quichote del mar - By Captain Andreas
by the Crew of Tres Hombres on 05/17/13
If I would have had a great spear I would have struck down a windmill today. One windmill, on the end of a huge field, closed the entrance into the Knock Deep and we had to tack in between the South cardinal and the windmill. Henk came just out of the galley with 2 pots of tea and a great cake made of old porridge, when I put some orders for an immediate tack on him….
Since today I am a fierce windmill opponent and that from heart. There are places and uses for them which I really appreciate, like on the davits of our ship or on the breakwater of Oostende harbor, direct use without complete destruction of the landscape or blocking sailing ship traffic on open waters. Or like the great windmills used in Holland as grain mills or water pumps where people used to live in, where the sheets were manned by hand and the impact on the landscape was a beautiful one.
It's all good ideas mankind has, but like with everything manmade there is not the least sense of sustainability or responsible acting in man's desire for development and everlasting growth. How many more windmills do we want to place to make more project managers rich and wash politicians green with them?
We can produce so much green energy that we can spend all day inside with air-condition or heating in front of a screen planning stuff or in a fabric producing stuff to spend all that energy. But then the energy does not necessarily need to be green because no one looks outside at the green anymore. Filling up the earth surface with modern windmills, nuclear power stations or other great inventions in order to produce energy for sitting inside or flying around the globe is old fashioned. Hope young people understand the message and come sailing with us.
Captain Andreas
picture by vansessa kimbell
picture by vansessa kimbellthe Tres Hombres- Sail Along!
by the Crew of Tres Hombres on 05/16/13The Tres Hombres
The Brigantine Tres Hombres is the one and only freighter carrying cargo across the Atlantic without engine. Propelled entirely by windpower. The experienced crew sails the ship and enjoyw sharing their knowledge with you.
Welcome on board!
Sailing along on Tres Hombres is not a trip you will or can book through a travel agency. The Tres Hombresis a cargo ship. You sign on as crew. You step into another world; a world of the wild elements of nature, companionship and tradition. It can be gruelling; you may beexhausted,wet and even seasick… however there is nothing more satisfying than reaching the destination or delivering cargo, by sail, without spoiling the environment!
Who can sign on?
You! Male or female, young or old, experienced or “green hand” . The crew of Tres Hombres welcomes you. The only thing of vital importance is health and the right mentality… Signing on means working hard and little or no privacy in exchange for an unique experience and adventure. Are you ready for hard work? Do you want to taste the romance of the seas? Than gather your gear, say your beloved ones good bye and sign on to set sail!
Interested?
Keen to go sailing, feeling the swell and ready to embrace adventure? Information free of obligation, or, if you made your choice yet, sign up through the form on the website. www.svtreshombres.com or mail to sabine@fairtransport.nl
Ahead of the schedule - by Captain Andreas
by the Crew of Tres Hombres on 05/10/13
Solent, Cowes, Isle of Wight
GENERAL SYNOPSIS: ON BOARD THE TRES HOMBRES
WIND DIR:SW
WIND SPD:7-8
CLOUDS:8/8
SEA STATE:1
SEA TEMP:12
AIR TEMP:12
AIR PRES:1018
GENERAL SYNOPSIS: ON BOARD THE TRES HOMBRES
WIND DIR:SW
WIND SPD:7-8
CLOUDS:8/8
SEA STATE:1
SEA TEMP:12
AIR TEMP:12
AIR PRES:1018
picture by New Dawn TradersNow we ended up in Cowes, the 3rd stop in the UK already, where just Portsmouth was scheduled and where we still have to go.
In the same way you can get stuck in the middle of the horse latidudes, you can also be pushed ahead of the schedule by fine winds. Therefore stand the phrase: -Gij zult geen goede wind verleggen…!-, you will be surprised how true this is, once you did not set all sail she could carry but kept her slow, awaiting more wind. Behind the next cape you will find yourself with headwinds and against the current, tacking an extra day to arrive at your destination…
After a furious start through the rainy, almost invisible islands of the A?ores we arrived, 2 weeks ahead of the schedule, with a fresh NW-erly breeze at the Scilly Islands. The circumstances were ideal so we raced with full speed through this first rocks in sight since 13 days and caught a glimpse of the beautiful nature there. Coming out of Mary s Sound we logged 11.6 knots on a flat sea, every touch at the wheel was a degree on the compass, every little gust heeled her over softly. Full with excitement we aimed for the next sight: Wolf Rock, where a lonely lighthouse visible from far welcomes the homebound merchant man. 2 hours further, in the dark then, we pass the Lizard, where back in the days notice would have been taken of the return of a long-voyage ship and orders were received by flag signals for the last part of the passage to the European port of unloading.
In the morning the green and hearty coast of Cornwall awaits us with a fine but cold, northerly breeze which brings us smoothly in front of the ancient harbour of Charlestown. Two Tall Ship's masts were sighted by our mate Eric and he could say by eye which them was, as he did some long winters of maintenance aboard them. After getting familiar with local tides and disco's as described in other, surely just half-true stories, we loaded up with the New Dawn Traders and made for a one-night cruise to Brixham which took another, very pleasant evening and night, due to not used winds…
The weather in the early morning at arrival in Brixham was ideal to sail into the harbor and make vast to a strong mooring close to shore. A fisherman who collected his lobster pots, gave us a crab and some cuttlefish, which gave Rob and me black hands for a week but tasted great in the plate. Lucy and Freya prepared a fabulous crab soup, after the poor animal chased Joel around the whole deck.
picture by New Dawn TradersAlmost one week in our UK homeport and not a drop of rain! That was maintenance at its best with some nice walks over the green Devon land, where the cows have a better view than the people and the horses are more curious and fearless than anywhere.
Once I got woken up at 7am by the sound of sandpaper. Looking out the hatch Freya was already oiling the newly scraped pin rails, her mum and Steven doing Yoga on deck, Tobi making pancakes and somebody washing plates. Family-like the whole crew gave Tres Hombres a facelift in Brixham which will do for all European ports and our kind visitors. Family-like we also visited the famous Brixham bars together… Feeling the change of weather come closer, we took the chance of the last evening on the beach with a barbeque of fresh fish and 10kg of mussels, given by our friend Tony, the famous artist, fisherman and sailor. Also supplying Stockholm tar, a fine pitch-burner and his everlasting smile he is our special agent in Brixham. The story about the barbeque adventure will follow by Henk I guess.
The next day, after an hour of hard beating on the mooring chain, which was tangled around ours, we slipped away smoothly and sailed through Torbay along the coast before jibing and heading around the Bill of Portland, aiming for the Needles Channel. In the Solent a strong current pushed us up to Cowes, where we -let go- and dropped off Sander at his birthday, just in time to catch his already booked flight back home.
3 knots of current and 35 of wind are currently making us watching the chart plotter constantly, having 4 shackles out and a little anchor lashed to the chain to keep her down more. Looking forward for easier weather and a cheering shanty chorus when we haul up all that iron from under water…
Captain Andreas
And so it begins… Voyages of New Dawn Traders & Tres hombres
by the Crew of Tres Hombres on 05/09/13
And so it begins… Voyages of New Dawn Traders & Tres hombres
Some weeks totally blow your mind. When I look back over the last few days it is difficult to believe it. My week turned upside down when I got a call on Sunday. -The Tres Hombres has arrived in Cornwall early. Do you want to go sailing?- -HELL YES!-
Within 24 hours I had boarded a coach to the Cornwall gathering up Alex, Jamie and Leo to join the adventure. We joined the good ship Tres Hombres in Charlestown, a stones throw from St Austell. The ship was anchored just outside of the harbour. We met Andreas, the current Captain and one the 3 -hombres-, in the harbour bar and immediately swapped tales and stories of the Caribbean, rum trade and history of the ship. Although we had not met before, it instantly felt like we were old friends..........................>> Read more
Tres Hombres and 50,000 Chocolate Bars Arriving in the UK - By Grenada Chocolate Company
by the Crew of Tres Hombres on 05/07/13On May 11th, the Tres Hombres sailing cargo ship, our trans-Atlantic chocolate delivery boat, will arrive at Cowes on the Isle of Wight. Everyone is welcome to see the ship there as we set sail again to make the short trip to Gun Warf Quay in Portsmouth harbor.
On May 11th in the afternoon, the 12th and 13th everyone is welcome to visit the ship at Gun Warf Quay and taste our chocolate, now aged for 2 months in the holds of the beautiful ship and tasting amazing.
We officially unload our UK delivery of chocolate to our importer on May 13th.
See you there, we hope.
Ahoy,
Mott
Mott
