By Katie
Almost six months ago, I embarked on the yearly college tradition of desperately attempting to find a summer internship after hiring season was already over. I and other fellow procrastinators scrounged for leftover postings not unlike a flock of starving pelicans in the middle of an ocean, desperately searching for whatever we could find. In the midst of this frenzy, I found a notice for an internship with Tall Ships America, advertising utilizing social media while working on board a sailboat. I like water, I said to myself. Without another thought— such as the fact that I didn’t know when it would start, what my summer would look like, or even (most importantly) that I’d never sailed in my life— I applied.
The next thing I know, I’m packing up a veritable patchwork of items to go sail across the Great Lakes for a month and a half— my sun-stained childhood towel, scratched sunglasses, an old Yankees hat from a bygone Halloween costume, a battered pair of white tennis shoes I hadn’t used in years, and a friend’s pair of earrings (Sophie, if you’re reading this… yeah, I took them. Sorry!) all packed into my father’s thirty-year-old duffel bag, smattered with stickers from places I’d never been. I didn’t know what I was doing. In fact, I barely knew where I was going or what ships I would sail on. All I was certain of was that I was going to have an adventure and memories that would be stories to tell for years to come.
All of forty-eight hours into my position, I can already say that my assumptions were correct. The people I’ve met and stories I’ve heard (and experienced!) are full, vibrant, and colorful. There’s a captain who’s sailed all the way to the Netherlands, a boat that goes around the world, a woman who’s a living statue (did you know that’s a job?), eye-popping stories of an inflatable duck, and sea shanties galore— and that was just the first day. I fell asleep that night with stories and images spinning around my head so fast I felt dizzy with delight.
The second day was just as thrilling. I attended a meeting at a yacht club and met all of the ships, each more stunning than the last. They’re massive, wooden, majestic creatures, wondrous in the way that they throb with the life of the crew. Most exciting of all, I was able to sail for the first time on Appledore IV, an educational schooner. Learning how to sail was like (as described by another sailor) trying to drink from a firehouse, but the crew was welcoming and helpful, teaching me not only how to create a ballantine coil, how to hoist a sail, and some sailing terms, but also what sailing tattoos meant, what superstitions I needed to know, and how to talk like a sailor. I left the Appledore IV with “HOLD FAST” emblazoned across my knuckles in Sharpie and feeling more alive than ever. That night, backlit by a stunning sunset, I was spinning not with just the images in my head, but with the rocking of the sailboat I still felt in my bones despite having been on land for hours. Sailing is, in a word, exhilarating.
I don’t pretend to know anything (or even much) yet— I’m barely a step ahead from where I started. I still don’t know where I’ll end up, what I’ll do on board, or even how to sail. But I do know that my world is about to expand light years beyond my own comprehension. One common thread that I find among all sailors, different though all of them are, is that they love sailing with every fiber of their being. Each and every one of them has a story to tell about sailing, a moment that they felt when they realized that they wanted to do this for as long as they could, that nothing compares to the feeling of being on a ship powered by yourself and your crew. After just two days, they’ve welcomed me with open arms, immense warmth, and given me enough memories for a small lifetime. If that’s what I’ve accumulated from a mere weekend, who knows what will be next?
Follow the race team on Instagram @tallshipsamerica