Every day we receive a lot of letters from cooperative members, partners, sailors and other people who want to speed up the sailing cargo transition. Because you are part of our community, this weekend I like to share one of these letters.
A letter from an American Master Mariner who came for a week to join the refit-crew, giving a helping hand on De Tukker.
Enjoy reading Eric his letter.
If you want to speed up: the sustainable transition to wind powered shipping, and want to further support the work of the refit-crew and EcoClipper, you can still invest at the EcoClipper.org/invest/ page.
Thank you very much, have a good weekend and fair winds,
Jorne Langelaan
Dear Jorne and team,
Thank you for having me on board De Tukker for a week to help out with the busy re-fitting,
Even after having been through the website, and read the newsletters, I really didn’t know what to expect.
The nature of the crew, the condition of the progress, the fundamental condition of this historic vessel, etc, were a mystery to me.
But after having arrived on board at the Maritime Center in Den Helder, I had nothing but pleasant surprises. Please let me tell you that the top three of my first impressions were competence, warmth, and fun.
In terms of competence, it is immediately clear that the crew you have working on board are professionals at their jobs, and their pride in their work is evident. Shipwrights, trained in their arts and experienced at their craft, the things they were busy creating were beautiful to me.
As to warmth, no, I wasn’t talking about the weather. Winter in Den Helder is as brisk as could be expected. And the first introduction to the crew was not a glowing embrace, as it was in the middle of a working day and everyone was focused on their tasks. But as time went by and I met each individual on the team, their willingness to take the time and give me guidance and information, and help me understand the task at hand, took the chill out of the February air. And after the working day, gathered around the long table for a big dinner, (also prepared by one of the crew), the experienced hands went out of their way to be friendly and make sure us newcomers were comfortable And it wasn’t just for me, several other new volunteers joined the ranks during this time, one for a few days, and another with aspirations of staying aboard for the long haul, and each of them met the same welcome.
I believe the origin of this warmth comes from a combined vision of the end goal and of recognizing that the contribution of each participant, regardless of background or experience, has something to contribute. Whether scraping old varnish or painting hatches, together we were preparing this vessel to haul cargo at sea.
And finally Fun; It seemed like each workstation had its own musical theme, and between the whir of drills and the grind of saws you could hear Reggae, Celtic, Folk/pop and hear people singing under the sounds of their tools in various languages as they clearly enjoyed their work and each others company.
So, EcoClipper, thanks again, for making it possible to work together towards the goal of sustainable logistics by means of sailing ships.
All the best,
Eric
