Ships and Boats

 

A beautiful three masted French sailing vessel currently docked in St. Malo

The history of voyages in ocean-going craft is almost as long as the history of mankind itself. The oldest known vessel is from more than 8000 B.C.E. Trade routes between Asia and Europe can be dated to at least 1300 B.C.E. Until the invention of the airplane, relatively recently, ships were not only the major means of trade, discovery and warfare between civilizations but the primary means of both ecological and social exchange. Man's natural attraction to the oceans around him is one of the oldest and most important aspects of mankind's development on this planet.

When you imagine ships and boats, pleasure craft, sailboats, water skiing, kayaks and the like may spring to mind. But living by an active commercial port one discovers how much activity there is out there on the oceans and how many people make their livings either upon it, or servicing those who do.

The seafaring life has always seemed romantic to me, if a little frightening. The Wager, by David Grann and Longitude by Dava Sobel are two of my favorite tales of crazy ocean adventures. 

We have a French friend, Bernard, who grew up in Brittany. He comes from a family whose bread-winners down the centuries were seamen. He was, in fact, one of few in his line for many generations who made his living on shore. Instead of working aboard ships on the open sea he repaired international commercial boats at one of the largest shipyards in Europe, in Finistère (literally, the end of the earth). We visited him there several times. It is very impressive to watch!

Sailing has always been in Bernard's blood, and upon his retirement he was gifted a chance to crew on the gorgeous Norwegian three master, Christian Radich. One pays for the privilege of working very hard aboard this vessel! Since his voyage ended in Saint Malo, he sent me some photos of his adventures aboard and has allowed me to post them here. 

Bernard is the handsome gentleman dressed in black. Bernard's Photo.

The Christian Radich is of a class of ships known as fully rigged. As you can see by all the ropes it takes a great deal of manpower to control a ship such as this. 

Bernard was patient enough to explain to me a little about the many types of ships that sail the seven seas. The definitions, as I understand it, tend to have to do with the way they are rigged. There are Brigs, Schooners, Cutters, Sloops, Ketches and Yawls, to name a few.

Close up of the ship's rigging. Bernard's Photo.

 The life of a sailor, which Bernard enjoyed aboard the Christian Radich for his two week voyage from Oslo and around the British Isles to St. Malo is definitely not for people with acrophobia! 

The experience which our friend had was, as he expressed it, more than boat training. There is a profound social aspect to life aboard ship as well. The crew, to be successful or even safe, must work together in a focused and cooperative way. The crew consisted on 20 permanent sailors and 90 paying trainees.

It takes a certain kind of person to be a sailor! Bernard's Photo.

The privateers (government sponsored pirates) who built up St. Malo during days of yore would have sailed in vessels much like these. They are quiet and agile.

The Christian Radich, docked (far right) in St. Malo. Bernard's Photo.

The days of the beautiful merchant sailing vessels ended with the invention of the engine. The wind no longer powers most modern sea craft. These days commercial ships are not so pretty, but of course much more practical. There are 55,000 merchant ships sailing the world at any one moment, including general cargo ships, fishing vessels, container ships, cruise ships, and tankers. Here at the Port of St. Malo, we watch all types coming and going from our bench at dockside.

Unloading bags of scallops, which will mostly be shipped to Paris for distribution.

Shipping may be the oldest industry in the world, but it still remains one of the most important. 90% of all goods we use daily are shipped from place to place. It is not only ecologically one of the least damaging means of transport, but also one of the most economical.

One of my favorite boats in St. Malo is the orange and green one, called the Pouquoi Pas (the Why Not?)

To quote an article I read on the subject: "Shipping is still the safest form of commercial transport. As a matter of fact, it was one of the first industries to adopt widely implemented international safety standards (in the 19th century). Shipping safety is regulated by the International Maritime Organization (IMO) and the International Labour Organization (ILO)." It seems to me that if the terrestrials could organize themselves and cooperate with one another as well as seafarers have, we might have a safer world.

Brittany Ferry on the horizon, coming into St. Malo one evening.

St. Malo is a major destination for people-moving vessels. In Europe alone more than 410 million people travel by ferry per year. The Brittany Ferry which sails back and forth between the UK and France can fit 650 automobiles and almost 2500 passengers. They are often docked across the port from our favorite perch.

Is it a tanker? Is it a freighter? Is it a container ship? I have no idea.

We are always curious when we see vessels we haven't noticed before on the move. The large freighter above identifies itself as Turkish, but we found in our marine identification app that it is registered in Panama and was leaving our port heading towards Rotterdam. Rick pointed out that it was riding high in the water, meaning it was empty, having just delivered its cargo into St. Malo. 

The dredging ship keeps the harbor free of debris.

We also enjoy watching the dredging boats and the police and rescue boats that are always on the scene in the waters around us.

A sailor rows his small plastic boat out towards his private pleasure craft, where it is moored.

I love the way the pilots of the local ferries elegantly land their crafts. This local ferry boat arrives from Dinard, ties up, unloads its passages, takes on more commuters, unties and sails again towards Dinard within five minutes. The crossing itself takes about 10 or 15 minutes depending upon how much of a hotdog the pilot is.

Video of a local ferry arriving (low tide)

Footnote:

This post's title is from the lyrics to Bob Dylan's 1968 song The Mighty Quinn:

Everybody's building ships and boats

Some are building monuments

Others jotting down notes

Everybody's in despair, 

Every girl and boy

But when Quinn the Eskimo gets here

Everybody's gonna jump for joy...

We rarely ever say the word ship or boat without saying instead ships and boats (what is the distinction between a ship and a boat anyway?) and remembering this song as we do so. 

I can't say if our grandson was actually named for this song, but it is certainly his theme song. Our own mighty Quinn will be turning 17 in just over a month.

Quinn, photo taken by Emily, Vienna in October.