Imagine yourself at the helm of the world’s largest Tall ship, its three-masted barque or helping to set more than 2000m2 of sail in less than one hour! It isn’t just a dream, because Dial-a-Cab driver Mike Bures (B01) has done exactly that. In the March Call Sign, he told of booking his place on the adventure trip, now he tells of his experience on the Statsraad Lehmkuhl …
   "The day finally arrived when at the ripe old age of 57, and never having been to sea, I decided to offer myself up as a trainee sailor along with 150 others on the Norwegian Tall ship, the Statsraad Lehmkuhl. The ship was named after a rich Norwegian businessman who bought it from the British government after the First World War. The ship was bounty! It was won from the German Navy and apparently sitting docked at Portsmouth until Mr Lehmkuhl took it back to Bergen.
   The Statsraad Lehmkuhl is not a passenger ship. You come aboard as a trainee sailor, which means that you participate in the activities of the ship. It is 325 foot long and the main mast is 157 feet high. She weighs 1516 tons and has 800 tons of Bergen cobblestones as ballast in her hull. She was built to train German sailors before they joined their Navy. The ship’s height - although restricted - is still a scary 157 feet from the deck. I know this from experience as I managed to overcome my fear of heights and eventually stood on a wire rope on the top Royal yardarm, while sailing south in the middle of the North Sea doing the job of letting out the gaskets to release the sail. A job that - believe it or not - I volunteered for!
   There are 22 sails, equalling 2000 square metres. There are no words I can write in Call Sign to tell you of the feeling of being up there, looking down at people on the deck looking like ants, with the continuous wind blowing and whistling through your foul weather gear and the horizon gleaming and shimmering in the distance! I thought of the sailors of old who did this without any harnesses to stop them falling and where, on long trips, they expected to lose two or three sailors overboard.
   You are on duty alongside professional seamen and doing anything from being on watch or steering the ship, to working in the galley. The maritime traditions are kept active, especially the sail manoeuvres. For many, going aloft up the rigging to furl or unfurl sails is one of the most exiting things on board. But it is absolutely

voluntary. And there might even be time for some shanty singing and a course in tying knots! The atmosphere on board is indescribable; it has to be experienced!
   The trip from Bergen to Rouen I can recommend strongly for those of you who are on the adventurous side and can afford a week away. Below are some links for you to see the ship. Sleeping in hammocks, steering at the helm, bow watch, fire watch, scrubbing the decks and polishing the brass, learning how to use a sextant and best of all, the range of people of all ages from all over the world - especially Sweden Norway and Finland – some of whom I am still in touch with via the net. Not to forget the excellent food they served - albeit one occasion while trying to walk in the canteen from the buffet to the table in rough weather reminded me of when I got really drunk many years and walking in a straight line was not an option!
   I will certainly go again. The Atlantic quite takes my fancy as the Statsraad Lehmkuhl does go to all the oceans on our planet. If you’d like more details about how to register, email me on buddybures@yahoo.co.uk.
   Well shiver me timbers…"

Ron Desborough (P42)