Arjen Boogie van der Veen Jorne Langelaan Andreas Lackner
Captain's Log
May 17, 2002
Leaving Tuckerton Seaport New Jersey by tow. The old Tug boat Mellodie 2 and its crew did a great job bringing us to our anchorage close enough to sail with a Northerly out the Little Egg Inlet. That night a 25 knots Northeaster hit us on leeshore plus the tide going out while the anchore was holding strong. Andreas and Jay Masterson ran into troubles finding the Pierius Magnus at night after picking up the latest weather report from the internet.
May 20-31, 2002 Made friends in Virginia Beach
May 18, 2002
At 4pm we hove up the anchore and set sail with the outgoing tide. Winds North 15-20 knots seas 7 ft. Going through the breakers was a joy ride and she tanked right over it. Andreas and Justin had mixed feelings, but soon enough they started to feel comfortable as she went down wind the coast.
May 15, 2002
The sail training/cargo vessel Pierius Magnus and its crew of first mate Andreas Lackner and Deckhand Justin Whitton is ready to set sail to foreign lands. This voyage will take us from Tuckerton New Jersey to Virginia, Bermuda, Azores, Canaries, and the Caribbean.
On board a cargo of 2,5 tons engine bearings, 3 tons of baged graffel, and a full size upright piano.
stores: 100 gallon water, 100s cans, 90 lbs rice, fresh fruit and much more. The hold can still carry 4 more tons of cargo.
Winter 2001-2002 Tuckerton New Jersey
May 31-June 13 ¨First blue water voyage¨
Crossing the Gulfstream from Cape Hatteras to Bermuda in 13 days with winds and waves out of all corners. We Andreas, Justin, Alex the only female aboard, put the Ship to the test. One reef in topsail in a 25 knot wind full sail with water in the scuppers. The currents in the Gulf stream are going in all sorts of direction and made us drift 300 miles north of Hatteras. With Bermuda in sight the wind turned SW and made us sail 15 miles of the East Coast of the Bermudas, tacking for two days and finaly arriving in Saint Georges dropping achore right in front of the Custum house.
June 13 - Jully 3 2002 Bermuda
Great to be back in Bermuda. Andreas and I had sailed to Bermuda on the Tall Ship Europa in 2000 making lots of friends. Meeting old friends again is like drinking a good old Bermudian rum. Just Great. The Pierius Magnus was an atraction itself, visiting locals and thousands of tourist of the big charter boats from America. After being and seeing Saint Georges we were invited to sail to the Sands Boat club close to Hamilton were the club with most of the members of the Tall ship 2000 team made a great party for us. People came up with so many different donations, most of all canned food including beans!!! Time was great and the hospitality exellent. The Pierius Magnus on front of the Bermudian Royal Gazette got us two new crewmembers Karsten Bruun and Maximus Alick non who ever sailed before. On the 3th of Jully we set sail to the Azores fully loaded with suplies from Bermuda. Thank you..... it was hard to leave, but we´ll be back and never forget.
At 10:30 Anchore up headed ESE with a 15 knots wind making a good 4 knots speed. 3 storms and one tropical storm named Arthur with winds up to 50 knots. All in all the Pierius Magnus and its crew managed it all. Fishing, Catching rain water, Navigating, reading, cooking made our little ship a world on its own. Arriving in Flores Azores after a 22 day voyage we were all what you call ¨Salty¨ Landfall was great eating fresh food again and the smell of flowers made your head go high.
After a night of celebrating with other sailors in a local restaurant we started to drag achore in the morning. No holding for us and we set sail to Horta Faial a fantastic island with a nice harbor with many things to do and see. Horta, the port of call after Bermuda. Many sailors had gone before us, but not many quite like us. Friends again we made for life, a German film crew made a short documentury about the story of the ship´s history. Plus a American writer wrote a story for a american sailing magazine. We also met a local sailor hero who sailed around the world single handed. Our crewmember Maximus jumped ship and flew back to his girlfriend. He finaly realized he couldn´ live without her. I hope he writes a book about the whole experience, he´s a good writer and hard worker, I´m glad we could give him the experience he needed. If you ever in Horta go to Cafe Sports........... look also for the painting we did on the concrete dock on the end in the new harbor.
Azores, August 12 - August 15, 2002 Horta Faial - Punta Delgada Sao Miguel.
After a smooth sail towing the dingy behind us we arrived under full sail including studding sails in the harbor Punta Delgada. Dropped our anchore infront of the harbor entrance and waited till the wind died. And it did around 7 O´clock pm. Our 6 horse Johnson towed us to the mooring with a speed of 1 knot. The island is great to explore by hitchicking. That´s what Andreas and I did, and we ended up seeing half the island and met a wonderful family that where having a picnic at vulcanic lake. We ended up playing music and eating the most wonderful Azorian dinner you could think of. The next day we did it again, but with three new crewmembers who jumped ship from a yacht. Our crewmember Karsten had to go back to Bermuda to do service in the army. We hope he learned something out of this adventure. After a wonderful stay we left fully provisioned, the food was donated by our new made Azorian friends. Andreas, me, Jackie, Fay, and Joanna set sail for us another sail, for them a new adventure.
August 22 - August 23, 2002 Punta Delgada, Azores - Vila do Porto, Santa Maria, Azores
A beautiful night sail, down wind sailing we came to the south coast of the most southern coast of the island and here we had to sail upwind, for us a challenge with about a 70 degree wind angle. We made it at last tacking about 8 times. We dropped again anchore infront of the harbor, but here we got a tow in from a local fisherman. We were lucky and enjoyed a free achorage and a rock concert. Waiting for the right winds, our friends from the Sailing vessel Rebellious arrived also headed for Madeira. Two days later we left together with a NE and a 5 day forecast headed for Madeira.
31 days out at sea New New New
Isla Graciosa "An island paradise"
Laying moored on a pontoon where also the wooden fishing boats docked. The Pierius Magnus was the center of attention, I think half the population that counts only 500 people came to see this strange looking ship. Children age 5 till 12 where climbing the rigging and sailing our dingy Grauwe Auke, all very happy with there new play ground. With our strange looks and outfit and me with a full beard, we were soon called Pirata and the ship Barco Pirata with her frysian flag in the top. Soon enough we became locals ourselves. Andreas left to see his parents and friends in Austria after 3 years of travel. Soon enough I got a whole new crew of adventurers, mostly surfers. We almost have the ship ready for sea again, I earn some money by playing at a local bar and doing construction. The crew have there own trade. I gave a unbelievable concert at the school for 64 children all dancing and going crazy on Rock 'n'Roll. "An island paradise" It seems wherever I come, people are wonderful and so helpful, they are all Angels to me.
