Freilich

Name: Mara Freilich

Guiding Question: Would I like a leadership position on a tall ship?

(optional) Use this space to list possible activities, tasks, experiences. Remember everything you do should help you answer your Guiding Question. Liveaboard roles: Day sailing jobs: Voyaging jobs: Crew Management
 * Lead deckwash / sweep and swab
 * Tell people how to do dishes
 * Lead singling up
 * Details: handrails, snack basket, posters
 * Chores after u/w (guns, fender, lids)
 * Set + douse Mizzen + lead crew/passengers
 * Mizzen chief - lead quarter deck through a tack: flat in Mz, hands to main braces, mainsail haul
 * Prep docklines
 * Rotation
 * Hourlies
 * Traffic
 * Weather forecast
 * Voyage planning
 * Plot positions on wall chart
 * Standing orders
 * Bunk assignments
 * Watch + station bill
 * White board

(Required) This plan is a “best guess” as to what you and your mentor think you will be doing. It is not meant to be a hard and fast schedule for your Exploration. The plan should illustrate how you intend to complete a minimum of 80 hours.


 * ~ Date ||~ Location/Activity ||~ Number of Hours ||
 * = 5/11 ||= Education Sail - Wilmington, DE ||= 4 ||
 * = 5/22 ||= Tours - Lewes, DE ||= 4 ||
 * = 5/24 ||= Day sail - Lewes, DE ||= 4 ||
 * = 5/25 ||= Day sail - Lewes, DE ||= 4 ||
 * = 5/26 ||= Day sail - Lewes, DE ||= 4 ||
 * = 5/27 ||= Day sail - Lewes, DE ||= 4 ||
 * = 5/28 ||= Day sail + Tour - Lewes, DE ||= 8 ||
 * = 5/29 ||= Day sail + Tour - Lewes, DE ||= 8 ||
 * = 5/30 - 6/4 ||= Voyage - Cape Charles, VA ||= 72 ||
 * =  ||= Total Number of Hours ||= 102 ||
 * =  ||= Total Number of Hours ||= 102 ||
 * =  ||= Total Number of Hours ||= 102 ||
 * =  ||= Total Number of Hours ||= 102 ||
 * =  ||= Total Number of Hours ||= 102 ||
 * =  ||= Total Number of Hours ||= 102 ||
 * =  ||= Total Number of Hours ||= 102 ||
 * =  ||= Total Number of Hours ||= 102 ||
 * =  ||= Total Number of Hours ||= 102 ||

Journal:

Entry #1: (5/22) I got on board the ship today in Lewes. After giving tours for 3 hours, I had a meeting with my mentor (Captain Lauren) and she gave me an updated plan for what I will be learning and doing during my exploration. During the exploration, I will learn more about not only the operation of the tall ship, but also running a volunteer program. I will need to work on conveying authority in order to assume a leadership role. After dinner, I helped with dishes and started learning the detail of how the cook likes the galley to be run so that when crew comes on Tuesday for daysails I will be able to tell them what to do there. I have also been refreshing my knowledge of the ship's belaying plan and the commands for sail evolutions. I have stuck with my plan for the hours, adding more time to learn more about the functioning of the ship. I think this exploration will help me develop important leadership skills, which I will be able to use both on and off the ship.

Entry #2: (5/27) I have not been able to follow the plan exactly because many sails have been canceled, however we have gone on 3 sails, one with just crew members where I practiced leading the quarter deck through tacking and setting and dousing sails and the other two were with passengers, so I led deck washes and setting up the ship to be ready to receive passengers and leave the dock, which requires a lot of attention to detail. But not sailing doesn't mean not working, I have been working on a number of maintenance projects. On Monday, I worked with the engineer on learning the water system and some maintenance of the engines. Today I cleaned out one of the water tanks, and worked on some smaller projects while the tank was filling or draining. Part of being a leader on the ship is coming up with creative solutions, but also knowing enough about the ship to know how and why things are done the way they are done so that you can tell other people or fix problems. While sailing, I directed other crew members and passengers in hauling lines and I have learned to speak more authoritatively in doing that and in working on maintenance projects.

Entry #3 (6/6) This week we sailed to Cape Charles, VA. That trip took two days, where we were on a 24 hour watch cycle. I got very sea sick, which impeded my plans, but overcoming sea sickness at sea is an important part of taking a leadership position at sea. After arriving in Cape Charles, we had some time off and some time doing maintenance before giving free tours and a welcome event on Friday. Then on Saturday we had a day sail, after which I drove home.

Before we got underway, I helped the captain with some of the duties required to go on a voyage, including assigning people to watches and to bunks and planning our route for the trip (the route changed because the weather and winds were not as forecasted -- so when we needed to change the plan, I helped with that, too). In creating the watch assignments, I got some insight into the running of a volunteer program. Each person on the crew has a unique set of skills that a professional sailor would be unlikely to have, but very few are professional sailors, although some have been on the ship long enough to know it in great detail, others had never sailed the ship before. The watches and station bills that we made up took advantage of each person's unique experience and skills. The other tasks while voyaging, hourlies, traffic, and voyage planning required the special attention of the captain or mate on duty -- they have to focus on so many important details at the same time!

Through out this experience, I assumed a leadership role in part because of my experience on board the ship, when my fellow crew members had a question or needed something done (ranging from doing the dishes to setting sail) they would come to me. Part of being a leader was managing a crew doing so many difference things at once and knowing enough about the tasks to know which needed my intervention and which I could leave to be figured out.

My discussion with my mentor was about leadership in general and leadership on a tall ship. The Kalmar Nyckel has two captains, one generally does more organization and one is the primary captain during the sailing season. There are many different approaches to being a leader and many forms it takes, but one fairly unique aspect of leading a tall ship is that the crew is hierarchical, so the captain is usually alone in decision making and fully responsible.

5/7/11 POL presented successfully in Meeting Room. Mentor not present. Copy of mentor evaluation not yet turned in--she will get it asap. Thank you written and envelope submitted but not fully addressed. She will get us address and also evaluation.

J. Ergueta