Understand how the crew functions aboard an 18th century frigate
A trimmer is one of the crew members on the starboard watch. A watch is the length of time a crew member is on duty. Indeed, when sailing, it is necessary to be on standby at all times, so the crew must divide the tasks among themselves. The day is then divided into watches, often six in number, which last four hours. In the navy with sails of the time, the crews were divided into two watches, one on the starboard side (the triboards) and one on the port side (the porters). These watches were in accordance with Rule 5 of "Watchkeeping" of the "Part B Rules of Steering and Sailing" of the "International Regulations for Preventing Collisions at Sea", which states that "Every ship shall at all times maintain an appropriate visual and auditory watch, also using all available means appropriate to the prevailing circumstances and conditions, so as to enable a full appreciation of the situation and the risk of collision
Live a day on board the Hermione on video
Olivier, one of the Hermione's crew members carried a camera for a whole day to let the public discover how a day of trimming was going. We can thus see his daily life when he is on watch, but also when he is at rest. You will find his first night shift in video 1 and his day shift in video 2.
The day of a tri-boat in charge of the "zerak", the shift that goes from midnight to 4 a.m. and then from noon to 4 p.m., begins with a wake-up call at 11.30 p.m. After getting dressed, the tribordais swallows a "fika", which means "snack" in Swedish. This Swedish term refers to snacks and snacks that are taken throughout the day, approximately every 2 hours.
We then find ourselves on the dunette for the shift change, the muster (pronounced "meuster"). Every four hours, two of the three thirds meet around the duckboard to listen to the navigational information and the work to be done, transmitted by the officer in charge of the previous watch. At the end of the transmission, the entire crew of the previous watch wishes to "Good quarter to you." to the shift change, and in song, please!
"Since we left the Canaries, most of the night work has consisted of fine-tuning the sail settings in relation to the wind in order to optimise our speed as much as possible. To put it plainly, this consists of stirring up the yards more or less at the tip of the yardage (more or less in line with the axis of the boat). The watches are therefore not overloaded..." we can read on the Hermione's blog.
On the first video, it is pitch black on the deck and this is normal since there is no light on the deck during night watches. The first reason is that it is important that the crew, especially the jiggers (specializing in sails), know the location of each manoeuvre and the filming points. " They continually review by testing the materials, strength and observing where the ropes go in the rigging, to recognize cargos, halyards, topping lift, sheets, mooring lines, arms and counter arms..." The second reason is more poetic is simply related to the beauty of the starry sky.
Arrived at 4 o'clock in the morning, it is time for the tribordais to join their bunk or their hammock to leave the place to the volunteers in the middle. They will get up again around 10:30-11:00 a.m. to take lunch, before attacking their new shift at 4:00 p.m.
Shift work alternates between deck and aftermarket work (including caulking and fodder) [Reinforcing a rope by wrapping it around another rope] ). You can also see how the meals in the battery, which are signalled by the sound of the big bell, or discover how the sailors sleep, in the false deck. During the rest hours, the volunteers rest and keep busy by reading, watching the sea or looking for dolphins. In any case, whether in the middle of the day or at night, music is omnipresent on the deck, because at every moment of the day, there are volunteers resting.
