A More-or-Less Typical Working Day in Cardiff

 I tend to take, and show, lots of pictures from our explorations on days off, because that's what's unusual to me. The ship feels more or less the same everywhere we go, and the days working blend together. Partly because they're long, and partly because most people ask the same questions. (If you've been following for a while you know that my speech for the tours is completely rote; and if you go back far enough to around 2015 you'll be able to read it.)

The view from the quarterdeck. a.k.a. my "office" for this day, where I was stationed to answer visitors' questions. It was mostly MUCH more crowded than this; but when it was really crowded I was working. In the moments when it lightened up was my only chance to grab a photo or two.

I love explaining what we’re about to local law enforcement folks, and offering a brief moment of levity in what could be a challenging work day. I saw these folks on the dock looking at the ship before we opened one morning and invited them aboard for a quick look around, a courtesy we generally offer to LEOs. The one man that I had been chatting with (I had no idea of his rank, he was just the one who had asked a question) turned to his commanding officer and asked, "Can we, Sarge?" in a tone that sounded exactly like a cheerful and eager young kid, and I found it incredibly endearing.

Before we left we were gifted this plaque commemorating our visit.

It found its way onto our "brag wall" in the zona noble. Visitors love to look at these plaques we've acquired in our journey; they are literally from all over the world.

Cardiff Dia Libre 2

 Here's the second of our days off in Cardiff. For some reason I can't fathom the photos loaded in reverse order. We didn't really have breakfast at the end of the day.

Our life aboard isn't all sunshine and rainbows. (But it’s still pretty good). We had originally hoped to take a trip inland to seee the countryside. But after a gorgeous weekend (some of the 4,000 locals per day who visited the ship complained that it was too hot, at about 21C / 70F) we had chilly rain all day. Everyone in our dorm including us either has a cold, is just getting over a cold, or is coming down with a cold. We walked a kilometre in the drizzle to do our laundry, only to learn there was a miscommunication about the time that the laundromat was open, so we walked back with our still dirty laundry. Walked another kilometre to the place we had hoped to have dinner only to find it was fully booked (on a Monday evening at 5? Or maybe they didn’t want a pair of dripping wet customers? Idk? We found another place that was far more welcoming about 10 minutes walk away.) Could have been worse, at least we’re not sailing in this weather. Now we’re warm and dry and full of good food and ready to rock tomorrow! 

Now filled in, you can see this footbridge used to be a lock

Tile detail

Opulent staircase

The main hall. In the late 1800s and early 1900s this area was bustling and wealthy with coal and wool exports. But as coal was replaced by oil, it declined until very recently when it was reinvented as a tourism area.

Remarkable terra cotta work. The building is now owned by the Welsh parliament. And speaking of which, these folks hadn’t been self governing for a **thousand years!** The sweeping modern parliament building was only built in 2006 (but that’s a story for another post)

Finally learned the context for the “pier head building,” build in 1897 where the railroads meet the docks. Also nicknamed the Welsh Big Ben. The harbor has been in some kind of use since at least Roman times.

Welsh breakfast cakes may become my new obsession! 

Cardiff Dia Libre (literally "Free Day" or our first day off to wander) Photo Dump

 In ports where we stay longer than a weekend, our work schedule is 2 or 3 long days on, and then 2 days off. We joke that we don't sleep in on our free days; if anything we get up even earlier than we do on work days because we don't want to miss a minute of our opportunity to explore new places. 

Coffee and pastries (“pastel de nata”) at a Portuguese cafe started our day.

I did find my castle. A thousand years old! Right in the middle of town in a lovely park setting.

The Welsh dragon, symbol of protection or defender.

Random street scene on our 3 km walk to the castle.

National museum.

And lunch of fish and chips and a beer at a two-hundred year old pub. A “new” building relative to the castle just beyond! We met a group of local businessmen here (who admitted to having had a few pints before they met us) and chatted about many things. Coal mining, and that Wales is actually a rather poor area outside of where we were in city centre, and our Galeon, and how many Spanish ships the British took at Waterloo (they were quite proud of the latter, but I reminded the em that it was still more than 100 years in our ship’s future) and more .

And the interior; all I ever expected from an old pub!

There was a LOT of public art. This one, honouring coal miners, was titled “from pit to port.”

This elaborate building has, at various times in its life, been a train station, the harbourmasters office, and now owned by the Welsh Parliament, is open to the public as a museum. So much intricate detail on this building. There used to be a huge dock here; you can see the old lock mechanism and a footbridge that used to be the top of the lock. We met a guy at the pub who was the grandson of a local merchant mariner here, who told us the history.

As coal ceased to be an important source, the port -- and in fact all of Wales -- faced a falling economy. Recently the area has been working to reinvent itself with some tourism. This photo has a piece of everything: the old train station, the ferris wheel showing the appeal to vacationers, and the old lock mentioned above. What had been the bed of the channel has been paved and is now a gathering place for summer concerts, street festivals, etc. 

A better view of the lock.

This enigmatic piece of art was definitely my favourite. Viewed from one side it’s a wrecked boat; from the other, a human face with closed eyes. It honours merchant mariners lost during wartime.

Nighttime, and nightlife, on the quay; lots of shops and restaurants. The shift to tourism seems to have been successful.

Part of the city park around the old castle.

Housing made from reused shipping containers; on our walk from the location where the ship was docked to the castle.

More wonderful architecture. This is on the grounds of the castle, above. The whole area is a free public park; you have to pay to go into the buildings to help support their upkeep.

Arrival to Cardiff

 Somehow in my mind Cardiff was an ancient city, with castle, forest, and fortress. Of course it's not, it's quite modern, as these drone photos of our arrival show.

Once docked, we set up the ship for visitors. We got a warm welcome; maybe just a bit too warm. Little did we know just how popular we would be! Though the income from selling many tickets is great, when we get that many visitors we don't really get a change to engage with people and answer their deeper questions or give them the context of the ship, we're mostly just "traffic control." Still, Cardiff was going to turn out to be one of my favourite cities. 

Morning chores: before opening for visitors we do various maintenance tasks. One of my favourite ones is getting the “zona noble” (VIP area, in the old days) ready for visitors. Here’s a few views of the elegant room where the captain would entertain his visitors. By contrast, the common sailor would be lucky to have a spot to sling his hammock below decks between the cannons or in a corner.

The pretty stained glass doors lead to a private balcony wrapped around the stern of the ship.

Seating area (that reminds me a lot of the sofas in my parents' house, right down to the pale green silk upholstery!)

St Augustine friends will recognize the location in this painting

Dining area. The table is bolted to the floor, and underway we tie the chairs to the table to keep them from being tossed about if we have a rough passage. The artifacts and decorative items all get carefully packed in a closet.

Sleeping accommodations for the common sailor.

Example food below decks. Dried beans, dried rice, salt pork, maybe whatever fish they could catch, and a dried biscuit that could be dunked in soup to soften it for eating (if it hadn't gone moldy or wormy).

Decks full of VIPs for the opening event.

Jersey to Cardiff: Our First Passage of the Season

 Our first passage with the ship promised to be an easy one -- benign weather and just a couple of days long. Good way to get back into the rhythm of the ship and the job, and to get to know our shipmates a bit better. And most of all, time at sea gives a chance for the contemplation away from the distractions of the internet.

The helm; we still steer the ship from here. The views are great but it means we're out in all weathers. 

A rubber duckie mascot leaving the Jersey festival with us. Rubber duckies became almost a theme on this trip.

Entrance to the harbour guarded by these old fortifications.

The very coolest job I could ever imagine having.

Lines and lines. Another anachronism as the lines of rigging contrast with the contrail of a jet.

"Land's End" is an actual place, not just a US-based clothing company. I'm not singing sea chanteys, I'm living them.

Everybody pulllllll! The mainsail weighs 2 tons and is raised entirely by hand.

View forward from the helm as the crew works the foresail ("trinqueta" in Spanish). The ship has 10 km/6 miles of rope rigging.

At sea, everything is blue ... blue sky and blue ocean, all day long. So those 15 minutes of orange at sunrise and sunset take on an outsize importance.

The edges of the day are magical and peaceful.

Again a huge tidal range, and three locks to pass through before we got to the basin we would be docked at, which had no tide at all thanks to said locks. But we had to time our arrival and departure pretty carefully.

Climbing into the rigging to hang the Welsh courtesy flag.

Crew briefing. Mostly logistics, any special events, and what to expect from our time in the city.