Tecla Workshop on Sewing

The Dutch Tall Ship Tecla is currently on her way from Greece, where she was taking part in the Historical Seas Tall Ships Regatta, and Antwerp for the start of The Tall Ships Races. They have sailed around the Greek island of Kithira where there were a lot of unlit islands and wrecks in the water. Jet Sluik reports:

“Without a moon it was a strange sight, but we found our way through but what we didn’t find was any wind. However, our new trainees are finding their way on board. Yesterday we held a welcome swim stop. As it had been hot all day most of us went into the water, the dog as well!

“Today we are in open water. During last night’s watch we only saw a few vessels passing by on a very long distance. Still no moon, but a beautiful starlit sky! The milky way was shown very clearly and falling stars are sometimes as bright as searchlights in the sky! During the night we kept the motor on, but in the morning we finally found some wind! Light winds, but non the less, wind! Speed went up and down between 2 and 8 knots, but with her new sails the Tecla seemed to glide over the water. 

“During our first ‘workshop’ we talked about the history of the Tecla, explained the use of the STI trainee logbooks to the new trainees and started working on our diddybags. These are bags made out of the old sails of the Tecla (the old jib) and can be used for a number of things. It introduces the trainees with the needle and thread, with knots and sail making. Lets see what they come up with!”

The Tall Ships Races starts in Antwerp on Saturday 10 July. For further information about the race, click here.