Before the Mast - Tall Ship Training on the Great Lakes
Published: Friday, April 23, 2021
By: Bruce Kemp
Around 21:00 hours Captain Andrew Fryer came out onto the poop of the STV Pathfinder to check the course and wind. With Fryer’s chores complete, Watch Officer Emily Hine asks him to sing “Loading Sugar,” an old shanty about taking on cargo in Mobile Bay. As Fryer moves into the song, the kids on deck join in. They know the chorus and several other traditional songs by heart. The incongruity in the scene is Fryer’s iPhone. He uses a karaoke machine to take him through the lyrics.
Two hours earlier, Pathfinder left harbour sailing westward into a flaming sky. If “red sky at night…” held true, then the next day promised to be absolutely glorious.
We were bound out of Kincardine on Lake Huron’s eastern shore heading to Sarnia, 88 nautical miles down lake. But the moderate breeze was on the nose and to get there, Pathfinder first had to sail across the wind almost to the American shore before she could be tacked onto a more southerly heading.
The additional hours didn’t bother the ship’s crew. They were in it for the sailing and to learn something, so the more sea-time, the better.
Inspired by the movie “Windjammer” about the cruise of the Norwegian sail training ship, Christian Radich, which appeared in Toronto in 1960, J. Garfield Lorriman and his wife Mary began looking into the possibility of building a Canadian tall ship for Toronto.
The Lorrimans discovered there was already a tall ship sailing out of Kingston. The St. Lawrence II had been designed and built by Francis A. McLaughlin. At the time, she was the only tall ship in Ontario. As a result of their collaboration, in 1962 Toronto Brigantine Inc. (TBI) was registered and a second ship, S(ail) T(raining) V(essel) Pathfinder, was commissioned from McLaughlin.
It took two years to raise the funds and build the vessel. Pathfinder slid down the ways in 1964 and commenced sailing with men only crews. T.S. Playfair was launched later and personally christened by Queen Elizabeth in a ceremony on Kingston’s waterfront making her the ship the first in Canada to be named by a reigning monarch.
The non-profit program was originally based on the command structure of similar Royal Navy vessels in the War of 1812. The only things missing were the cannons, rum and lash. But, like everything else in this world, TBI changed with time. Morphing from a quasi-naval orientation, today’s goals are to teach the co-ed crews self-reliance, self-esteem, teamwork, responsibility, and leadership with the bonus of sailing on a gorgeous ship thrown in.
It recently morphed again to become Brigs Youth Sail Training and it changed homeports from Toronto to Hamilton. Just before the move, S.T.V. Pathfinder was retired in 2018.
Brigs Youth Sail Training (BYST) is one of the Great Lakes best-kept secrets. It’s open to kids from all walks of life and economic strata. There is a fee to sail with them, but there is also a policy in place that no one who wants to sail will be left behind. A bursary fund was developed to help teens who want to join the ships.
T.S. Playfair is available for day-sail and multi-day group bookings. In the past schools and yacht clubs from as far away as Louisville, KY, have sent students to sample life as it once was before the mast.
In Kincardine, the ships are welcomed by the town, which views them as a prime tourist attraction whenever they are in port. It’s not unusual for a lakeport community to adopt the boats. Many American and Canadian towns gracing the shores of Ontario, Erie, Huron, Georgian Bay and Superior, love to see them arrive each summer.
With a crew change happening in Kincardine, the ships’ personnel had what amounted to a day off. They made good use of a host family’s showers then attacked their kitchen with a vengeance. Breakfast was made for everyone without their hosts having to lift a finger. Cleanup was accomplished just as efficiently.
Back aboard the ships it was time to meet the new trainees. Before you can be an officer you have to put in time as a trainee and that means doing everything from climbing the rigging to swamping down the decks. Progression through the ranks is by merit, not simply through attendance.
If a trainee enjoys himself or herself enough to continue with the program, they’re invited to the Hamilton shore base to take part in the winter activities.
The off-season program is a mixture of maintenance (skills with tools and mechanics are taught to both sexes) as well as introductory navigation, seamanship, and leadership training. The leadership instruction intensifies the longer a person stays with the Brigs. Graduates of the program have gone on to hold executive positions in major companies and to command commercial ships.
Next step on the ladder up from seaman is to become a petty officer, then from there to watch officer and executive officer. After that, the only position left is that of captain – which is a paid office.
Sometimes there is a diversion and a petty officer becomes the ship’s cook or bosun. Crews perform every task from cooking to cleaning to steering through storms. Food aboard the boats is edible with the designated cooks receiving training in the basic culinary arts.
Motivation for signing on varies. Parents send some trainees in the hope that their offspring will become self-sufficient and develop a sense of personal discipline; others are attracted by the romance; and there are a few, like 18 year-old Christian Campbell, who view this as a stepping stone to something bigger.
Campbell already has an impressive resume. As a sea cadet, he recently completed a transatlantic deployment aboard the HMCS Preserver. Now he is getting time under sail with Toronto Brigantine. Campbell, a chief petty officer 2nd class with RCSCC Haida, is planning on a naval career and is padding his resume with as much maritime experience as he can.
Christine Chesterman served as executive officer under Capt. Fryer and has just been given command of the ship. Her experience with the Brigs allowed her to travel the world. She took part in the Scottish national sailing program and sailed in Norway.
Whatever the sailors choose to do, their experience in Brigs have imprinted an indelible stamp on them that will stay with them for the rest of their lives.
Brigs Youth Sail Training Contact Info
Brigs Youth Sail Training is not solely a Lake Ontario organization. Trainees come from across Canada, the United States and around the world. If you’d like to learn more about Brigs Youth Sail Training, or if you’d like to support the organization, contact their office.
www.brigs.ca
Phone: 416-684-4410
208 Hillyard St., 2nd Floor,
Hamilton, Ontario, Canada L8L 6B6
The program is making plans to deal with the COVID-19 pandemic and is adjusting their programs as the situation shifts. Contact them for more Pandemic Info.
About the Author
Bruce Kemp is an award-winning writer and photojournalist who lives in Merrickville on the Rideau Canal in Ontario, Canada. He is also the author of The Fugitive’s Son, Weather Bomb 1913, and the recent The Whales of Lake Erie.
A version of this article appeared in the Spring Issue (Mar/Apr) 2021 of Great Lakes Scuttlebutt magazine.
tags: Canada, Education, Great Lakes, Kids & Pets, Sailing
