Bermuda Sun – November 3 2006

"Teaching the children's a bit like being a dad"
B. Candace Ray
INTERVIEW/Capt. Chris Blake
Professional seaman and master of Bermuda's tall ship, the STV Spirit of Bermuda, Capt. Chris Blake is difficult to categorize. He's friendly, hospitable, seemingly detached, yet runs his ship like a benevolent father catering to the young minds that come to him with questions.

He was born in Nigeria, brought up in Uganda and Kenya and was schooled in England. He went to sea at 15-1/2, married an American, became a resident of Australia and now, at 61, lives in Bermuda.Capt. Blake talks about Spirit as you might expect of someone intimately familiar with her final appointments.

"(Spirit) is the fruition of a lot of hard work by a lot of other people over the last seven or eight years or longer than that," he said. "I've been involved for the last 18 months. I helped with the construction organization, ideas, implementation of plans, changed a few things to make it more sail training than 'yachtie', recruited the permanent crew, interviewed all the watch leaders prior to them being accepted on board.

"Though he's been in sail training for some time, he noted that the Bermuda version with its intense educational component goes much deeper than just taking people out to sea for a few days. This is where the on-board teachers, according to the captain, break down into simplistic terms the concepts broached by classroom study guide, The 7 Habits of Highly Effective Teens, so that the students can grasp and apply them to their own lives.

"We make people aware that they're not the only person in the world, make them aware that what they do affects everybody else and the overall running of what they're doing," Capt. Blake said.

He's set up three sail training organizations, for which the challenges were the same - begin, recruit and get the message out.

Office administration, ship's routines, legal ramifications and rules and regulations of the registrar must all be conformed to.Spirit is well on its way. It has a full programme planned through the end of this first year.

"When do you stop teaching children?" the captain asked.For the lessons he personally passes on revolve about the bridge, nav station, watch keeping, steering, discipline and self-control - "Anything," he said, "a dad normally teaches his kids, or tries to."