On the afternoon of September 25th, a motley gang of brave East Coast Army members got a taste of what life would have been like on a classic wooden boat. The crew of Toronto Brigantine Inc.’s Tall Ship Pathfinder put us landlubbers through our paces as we learned how to ‘haul away’, ‘make fast’ and ‘trim’ the sails. With 18 knot gusts, a few showers a seemingly ugly day turned into an exhilarating trip around Toronto Island.

The journey almost didn’t happen. When we contacted the Toronto Brigantine Office on the Friday before our trip, their representative Laurie was preparing for the worst. Saturday's forecast called for 20 knot breezes and showers – not the most comfortable weather combination for sail training. Despite the rain, the fact remained that when the wind blows 20 knots (20 nautical miles per hour) it puts a severe amount of force on a wooden boat’s rigging. That type of strain raises the likelihood of boat damage and personal injury and usually means that wooden boats do not sail.

We were very lucky though to have the stormy weather blow through on Friday leaving a steady North Westerly breeze lasting through the day. So on board we went as Captain Julian and his young crew took us on a dock side tour of the boat, through some safety drills and a rundown of our roles as sail trimmers, sheet haulers and line coilers.

After leaving the dock, the 72 foot Ship motored through the Western Gap of Toronto Harbour into open water. There, the captain called for the crew to hoist the sails as we were summoned to our various duties.

Basically Tall Ship sailing is a lot like manual labour, only instead of a tidy lawn or a ditch, the result of your efforts transports you across a body of water. Those expecting a champagne and caviar cruise were in for a bit of a surprise as it can be pretty tough work to get a ship from point A to point B while keeping everyone on board safe. As our crew demonstrated, the enjoyment is directly proportional to the amount of effort one puts into the boat.

Take young Malcolm Nettie for example. The lone 12 year old on the boat was ‘pressed’ by his mother Robyn to take part in this event with a substantially older crowd. Despite his understandable preference for video games, Malcolm actually had a sports background which, coupled with his youth gave him a distinct advantage over us older folk. Most of the crew were only three or four years older than him, having spent the previous summers on board the ship as students and crew. Displaying unprecedented verve, they taught everyone the tricks of the trade. Two hours later the Ship was humming at 5 knots and Sean was having the time of his life - a sentiment that contagiously caught on over the course of the day.

After climbing the rigging and helping to furl the sails Malcolm met our group at the Watermark Pub and he was honoured with the ‘Most Valuable Sailor’ award for his skill and enthusiasm. A fitting end to a fantastic day of fun.

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