by Arne Stefferud
“Arne has been a steady hand the whole voyage. Below are a few of his perspectives.” Captain Daniel Moreland
As I near the end of World Voyage 7, I reflect on the places I’ve traveled to and the people I’ve sailed with. Descriptions of the places have been covered in other entries of the Captains Logs. Here is my perception of World Voyage 7 sailors.
They are personable. They feel out new friendships because they are living together. They have shared fun times, stressful times and at times sad times together. They have become a family.
They are perceptive. They are aware of their surroundings on deck and aloft to safely move about the ship – a constantly moving home that “keeps you on your toes.”
They are positive. They have encountered and surmounted impediments as they have learned to sail and maintain the tall ship Picton Castle. It’s very gratifying to successfully complete tasks after surmounting or struggling with “sticky” manila rope, gravity, tight spaces or large gaps and other challenges.
They are persistent and practical – not perfectionists. Sometimes it takes several attempts to do a task correctly, but they persevere to “get the job done.” They have learned a lesson from the Second Mate, “perfection is the enemy of progress”, for they do their jobs well enough and move onto the next one.
Most importantly, they are passionate about this endeavor to travel around the world or a portion of it on a tall ship. World Voyage 7 is a “once in a lifetime” experience. I believe the people we’ve met, the lessons we’ve learned and the experiences we’ve had will remain with us forever.
I believe we have crossed many latitudes and longitudes with a positive attitude and hearts full of gratitude to see the world’s pulchritude.
