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With full sails, clipper takes Dunedin couple back to sea
By JULIANNE WU © St. Petersburg Times, published November 10, 2000 DUNEDIN -- Howard Eddy has always had a fondness for the sea. When he was 19, he signed up for a nine-month hitch on the Passat, a four-masted Scandinavian sailing ship. That was in 1938-39, before he went off to World War II as a Marine. Last month, Eddy, a retired stockbroker, finally returned to the sea in a tall ship. Eddy and his wife, Margaret, spent two weeks on a new clipper ship, the Royal Clipper. Owned by Star Clippers Co., it is said to be the world's largest sailing vessel. "When I was young, I wanted to see what it was like to work on a ship," said Eddy, 81, of Dunedin. "I was a working apprentice . . . the lowest thing just above a worm. We worked in shifts, except in a storm . . . then all bets were off." Ever since the Eddys first heard the Royal Clipper was going to start sailing, they were eager to book a cruise. The ship was launched in July after construction was finished in the Netherlands. The cruise took the couple and about 220 other passengers from Cannes, France, to Barbados in the Caribbean, via the Canary Islands. There were also about 100 crew members. "By my standards the weather wasn't bad," said Eddy. "I loved every minute of it. It didn't rain, but it did blow. The ship couldn't tack." Mrs. Eddy, 76, shook her head. "It took some getting used to. The weather was horrendous at first," she said. "The ship rolled a lot. Lots of dishes and things were broken. And lots of passengers and even some of the crew members got seasick." The 42 massive sails, 52,000 square feet of material, were made in Clearwater by Doyle Ploch. The company -- one of 33 subsidiaries of Doyle Sailmakers in 16 countries -- also hasreplaced 16 sails on Star Clippers' 360-foot sister ships, the Star Clipper and the Star Flyer. The 439-foot Royal Clipper is equipped with five masts and has a beam (width) of 54 feet. Its sails, set on masts as high as 197 feet, are designed to be able to push the ship at 20 knots, even faster under ideal sailing conditions. The Royal Clipper is the first square-rigger with five masts since the Preussen was launched in Germany in 1902, according to Star Clippers. The ships were called "clippers" originally because they "clipped off" many days and thus shortened the time it took to complete a voyage. In the late 1930s, Eddy, as part of the Passat's crew, had to manually work the sails and perform dozens of other tasks. On the Royal Clipper, Eddy was impressed by the ease with which the sails were worked. "Now, they're controlled by buttons, except the two lowest yards (horizontal cross spars that spread the sails)," he said. While the ship stopped at various ports, the Eddys spent most of their time aboard the Royal Clipper. "On deck, the ship was pretty standard," said Eddy. "But down below, it was utter luxury." Mrs. Eddy chimed in: "Unlike a cruise ship, though, you had to make your own entertainment." The Royal Clipper has three small swimming pools, a library, a forward observation lounge and a lounge for underwater observation, a fitness center, an atrium that stretches throughout the ship's three decks and a dining salon built to accommodate the passengers and crew in a single sitting. Diesel engines handle the electrical needs of the ship, as well as motor the ship in and out of harbor. "And the food was delicious by most people's standards," said Eddy. "I'd like to go again sometime."
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