I shouldn’t be the one writing for you, you know. Not only I’m not the best witness of what’s going on there, having arrived only a couple of weeks ago for my first time on Tres Hombres’ refit. But until last Saturday, I was busying myself from dusk ‘till dawn, happily templating, cutting and learning to shape steel beams for the forepeak. Alas! Life sometimes takes unexpected paths and twists. In this case the path was the one of a nocturnal bicycle ride, the unexpected was its lack of flatness, and the twist is now in both of my wrists, which leaves me unable to do better than a bit of single-handed paint job… and a bit of drawing and typing. Bye bye, angle grinder, see you later… But while recovering, I therefore have plenty of time to tell you what’s happening on Tres Hombres’ yearly refit in Den Helder now.

So, what’s going on there? As usual, Tres Hombres has been out of the water for its annual maintenance. As the 100-Ton crane from the Teerenstra shipyard requires one mast to be removed to lift her out, this year the foremast went off for its 5-year complete overhaul.

The hull got some new planking on the stem, some new planking on the stern, and the forepeak is getting quite a refit: now the foredeck is a gaping hole forward of the samson post, some new steel frames are in, and all deck beams and large chunks of old rusty reinforcements are gone, replaced by an improved structure. The inside has been stripped of its furniture, rust-busting by needle gun and painting are underway. Once the planking was completed, seams caulked and sealed under the waterline, the lady went swiftly back in the water on the 25th of October, with her hull freshly painted shining in the afternoon sun.

Now that the ship is back next to Fairtransport’s office in Willemsoord, the work continues: Fresh water tanks cleaned, harnesses checked, countless other yearly maintenance done, new fire alarm system, and I’m only picking random things I noticed. On deck, the aft roof also got a refresh, pins, cleats and other wood bits soaked in linseed oil, whatever metallic chainplates and similar equipment sanded and painted fresh, etc. But the biggest work is happening in the galley: I can’t wait to see the face of Giulia, our well respected and beloved cook, when she will discover the changes being implemented to her kingdom.

Above deck, the yards are shining in their new paint and varnishes, waiting to go back aloft: a new topmast was manufactured for the foremast, the kind of beautiful work full of clever inserts of hardwood that makes you feel like practising woodworking and joinery. It’s already up there, the riggers dancing around in harnesses, carpenters pumping at the windlass to raise the whole stuff by pure human power. One obstacle however: the Bowsprit will be needed at some point to receive the stays to be tensioned, but this must wait for the fore deck to be put back in place…

As for the sails I don’t have a clear view of what’s going on in the cosy sailloft of Willemsoord: I’ve mostly seen patching of existing sails the few times I went there. But having seen Chad studying literature about the best cut for new sails this summer and measuring the fore stays, I can’t wait to see the result of that work too.

But enough of the technical stuff, please forgive a ship’s enthusiast for wandering in admiration. The refit of Tres isn’t simply about wood, steel, tar, linseed oil, hemp, leather, paint and canvas. It’s mainly about humans. And peanut butter. They say Tres is powered by wind, but during refit, the main source of energy is peanut butter, (with significant complement of jam and bread), something most sailors can certainly relate to.

Monday to Saturday, a normal day on the refit starts at 8:00 on the ship for a first round of coffee, especially needed if it follows an eventful evening, and a blessing to the weather, which has been incredibly good since I arrived: very little rain and lots of sunny (albeit chilly) days. Coffee break nr1 at 10:30, lunch at 13:00, coffee break nr2 at 16:30, end of the day about 18:30. By the end of the second coffee break each day, about 1 kg of peanut butter, a bunch of biscuits and a good pot of jam have become part of the ship.

Besides my exaggerations about peanut butter, I must add an homage to one that keeps us all standing and running, our refit cook Sabine: She may not have to work in a rolling galley to feed us, yes, but that also means she toils and works mostly alone, in a kitchen far from the ship and the merry crowd of 20-30 persons she feeds each day. And she feeds us well indeed.

I must extend that homage to the whole team of Fairtransport, all those invisible hands in the background that keep the show running. An operation like the one of Tres is the sum of many works. Some of these are staggering show-off that attract people, displays of muscles or skills that everyone will awe to; but nothing would work without the many hidden jobs that make sure supplies arrive in time, todo lists are written and checked, volunteers have a bed, plates are filled with delicious food, paperwork is in order, etc, and that there is money to cover all these needs. These are the dull jobs that give only trouble, lots of responsibilities, and little reward, because most would not understand the true achievement of e.g. “I got this paperwork done!”, but everyone would instantly complain if there is no coffee in the pot. All jobs are important, but I believe the most difficult ones are never the most fun and spectacular ones, but rather those no one notices unless it goes very wrong. So praise for all the invisible little hands that have been keeping this project running successfully for so long.

Dammit, I drifted again, I wanted to talk about humans. Quite a team we have here among the volunteers and workers on the project. Beautiful humans, full of care and goodwill, coming as volunteers for the fun and the experience, or paid poor wages in regard to their qualifications, just because everyone loves this damn ship and what she represents. I’ve heard many praises about the level of competence gathered on this refit, Some strangely coming from people unaware of their own high skills… Almost everyone has their own tale about ships they either sailed or worked on, such as Gotheborg, Batavia, Avontuur, Brigantes, Hermione, De Tukker, Biche, Ceiba and Vega, to quote just a few random names from a long list. That gives passionate technical talks about ship design and shipbuilding craft, from the rigging to the hull, as well as beautiful or hilarious tales of sailing adventures. And more generally talks about the prospects of small sailing cargo, the way of life of shipwrights, riggers and sailors, and the future of things to come.

I could digress here, wondering about what kind of world we would like to build, hoping for a path for sailing cargo that would not be the ongoing gigantism of steel, carrying along goods of questionable purpose, manufactured in disastrous environmental & social conditions, but greenwashed with giant sails or “carbon neutral” fuel. That instead, as for farming, and actually pretty much everything else, I am hoping some small scale, artisanal sailing transportation, ships built of environment friendly materials, using the best of tradition and modernity together for minimum environmental footprint, capable of reaching small harbours carrying goods that make sense for the world, and paid a fair price. But I’m drifting again, and this subject would deserve lengthy debates and mingling of ideas, so let’s go back to the human life on this yearly Tres refit.

Along with the mentioned conversations, quite a few evenings ended up with beers in front of the ship, the hosting house, at the local bar. But as not everyone is fond of this, there are always alternatives: a few evenings ended up in music instead: violin, guitar, saxophone, accordion, harmonica, clarinet, etc,. quite some beginner or experimented musicians came and left in the short span of my stay (and I’ve heard rumours of a bagpipe and hurdy-gurdy waiting to play their part). A few other evenings also saw acrobatic duos instead. But between the long working days, the many arrivals, departures, birthdays or important milestones of the accomplished work to celebrate, the weeks are quickly filled and chill evenings with early bed hours are also blessed.

I’m forgetting many things, simple words can hardly describe collective life. To keep it short, people are some sort of a family here, an adopted, self-built family, united by common values, in which everyday new members full of wonders come and leave, promising to meet again, don’t know when, don’t know where, but sure we will meet again some sunny day. Anyway, who knows what the future will bring, for now Tres is doing good: she brings people together, inspiring them to talk, think and tinker for a better world. I’m very much looking forward to seeing what will come out of all this.