Sailing Through Life. Experiencing Difference Within Mutuality on Tall Ships
[eng] This study sets out to understand the experiences of young people as they undergo Sail Training aboard tall ships (i.e., traditional rigged sailing ships propelled exclusively by wind). It goes beyond current literature on the educational value of Sail Training by focusing on how youngsters ac...
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| Tipo de recurso: | tesis doctoral |
| Estado: | Versión publicada |
| Fecha de publicación: | 2020 |
| País: | España |
| Institución: | Universidad de Barcelona |
| Repositorio: | Dipòsit Digital de la UB |
| OAI Identifier: | oai:diposit.ub.edu:2445/173816 |
| Acceso en línea: | https://hdl.handle.net/2445/173816 http://hdl.handle.net/10803/670734 |
| Access Level: | acceso abierto |
| Palabra clave: | Antropologia marítima Navegació a vela Velers Marins Relacions humanes Maritime anthropology Yachting Sailboats Sailors Interpersonal relations |
| Sumario: | [eng] This study sets out to understand the experiences of young people as they undergo Sail Training aboard tall ships (i.e., traditional rigged sailing ships propelled exclusively by wind). It goes beyond current literature on the educational value of Sail Training by focusing on how youngsters actually experience sailing as a way of life. Many young people sense a tension between what they are expected to do, for themselves or their families, and what it feels like to live with everyday decisions. To find harmony in one’s path of life, just like in sailing a ship, one must deal with these contrary forces. On board a tall ship, a manifold of lines is continually generating harmony by way of the tension imparted from the ropes to the sails, from the sails to the whole boat, and from any part of the boat to its crew members. Dwelling on board arises from within this tug of contrary forces. It is a creative dwelling since movement is a constant to which every element in the oceanic medium adjusts itself. In the introduction, I establish the theoretical basis of the study in the maritime environment, in which sailing was practised long before the science of the West attempted to put the ocean under control as it had already done with the territorialisation of the land. To follow the history of the maritime environment and its inhabitants reveals a complex set of skills not only for building the boat as a craft, but also for staying afloat once at sea. Sailing on tall ships offers opportunities to become involved in this process in which, as in every society in past times, experts instruct novices in the course of working together. In the first chapter, tall ships are presented as large sailing vessels that, like earlier craft, need permanent maintenance to remain seaworthy. To keep them so, some friendship races and regattas are organised by Sail Training International, with host ports using the fleet to hold heritage events. These events help to raise the funds to enable young people to participate. Chapter two describes how youngsters without previous experience of sailing, and amateurs including myself, enter this environment as crew members. In the process of becoming familiar with this environment, they get their sea legs. Chapter three shows how the craft, as a shelter affording movement and perception, is both a home in which to stay afloat on the waves and a calming of the wind that, thanks to the sails, provides the required energy to glide the hull over the water. Chapter four describes the organisation on board, with its system of watches or work shifts. This seems simpler than life on land because one does not have to worry about anything other than the established routine. However, since one follows the same daily routines, an awareness of environmental changes emerges with the perception of non-human phenomena like wind, dolphins, waves, clouds and so on. Crew members become sensitised to the ocean environment, to the others and to themselves when responsibilities on board are shared day and night. Attention at sea is existential, it is a matter of life and death, whereas on land it remains contingent on particular interests. At sea, the watch system leads to the development of a meshwork of relationships, described here as a taskship, a creative and trustworthy bonding which lasts for the duration of the voyage. The mutuality on board, discussed in chapter five, allows crew members to develop a sense of who they are while in the company of others. Thus the taskship is constitutive of dwelling on board. Optimal sailing is evidence of the quality of the relationships on board and vice versa, the quality of the relationships on board is shown through the best set of sails to get underway. Finally, in chapter six, it is shown that the wisdom and skills obtained in this ocean-sky world make the difference between an experience that is intentionally transformative for the young person undergoing it and a sailing experience that opens up to an understanding of life. |
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