To be able to go aloft on a square-rigged ship is the dream of many a person who has read or dreamed of these ships. My own dreams began as I read the stories of Melville, Dana, and the Hornblower series. I could always picture myself climbing up into the rigging, out onto the yard and unfurling the t’gallant as the ship picked up speed as she headed out to sea.
So how did the reality stack up to the dream? Let's say the command goes out to unfurl the main topsail.
These days you begin by strapping on a safety belt, of which there is a plentiful supply in the lower shrouds. You decide which is the windward side and begin your climb on that side. If you forget or misjudge do not worry, the mate will correct you, gently of course. You pull your self out board onto the shrouds and begin climbing the ratlines (ladders) upward toward the fighting top. The Rose has no futtock shrouds (outward leaning ratlines) to the fighting top on the fore or main masts. These were removed so that she could brace closer to the wind so all must use the lubber hole. At first I was relieved by this. The futtock shrouds, bending backwards out over the deck had always intimidated me. The Rose does have some of these on the seldom-used mizzenmast shrouds and I tried them one day. They ARE easier than crawling around the fighting top supports and through the lubber hole.
Anyway when you reach the supports leading up to the fighting top you must crawl around the supports to reach the lubber hole. This is your first introduction to depending on main strength to stay aloft. You swing out and around the supports and pull yourself up into the lubber hole, using what foothold you can find. If you are heading up to the topsail you swing outboard again and continue your climb and about this time you begin to become more aware of the height. Near the middle of the top mast shrouds you reach the spot that you must step out onto the footrope or onto the rigging to reach the footrope, depending on how the yard is braced around. If she is braced away from you, you then swing around the shroud and onto the crane lines, running crossways between the shrouds for just this purpose. To find the crane line it is necessary to look down. At this point and you are suddenly very aware that you are a long way from the deck. Still, other hands are waiting for you so you go on. The crane lines are reasonably stiff and you work along these to the mast. Reaching the mast and the footrope you call out “laying on” port or starboard to the nearest body already on and they answer back “Lay on” to confirm they’ve heard you. You then swing off the crane line and onto the footrope. You then lift the back rope over your head and clip on to that and begin to move outboard to your station, ducking around various lines as you must. Your arms over the yard are your main means of hanging on and when you reach your station you lean over the yard to free your hands for work.
Then you look all around at the sea and the sky and at the deck far below, the ship and the water are rolling together below you and the wind is blowing through your hair and you realize that you are here, working aloft on the yard of a square rigger and sharing an experience your ancestors knew for about as long as ships have gone to sea. For me this was a glorious moment but quickly put to rest by the work at hand of loosening the gaskets and making gasket coils, no time to waste looking around, for now it's back to the deck to help set this sail.
Yes it can be a bit scary at first but chances are good that you will quickly gain confidence and soon be moving about well enough to be a bit useful up there and it can even get to be fun, at least on a light day.
Go for it if you can, this can be an experience of a lifetime.
Top