If there were a single word to describe Alghero it would be “Blue”. Looking out from the deck of the sailing ship everything is Blue- The water, the sky, and even the mountains in the distance are blue. The sea water is the purest blue color I have ever seen in my entire life. The purest, most pigmented, thing on this Earth. It is as if god took the blue from the Sardinian water and used it to create all other shades and hues of blue as we know it. They all seem to be derived from this stunningly pure pigment. While gazing into the depths of the blue sea I worry that without my sunglasses it would wholly consume me.
Andrea Jensen is a traditional wooden Gaff Ketch built in 1939 as a Danish fishing vessel, where it fished under sail for about 50 years. It was retired in the 1980s and bought privately by an Englishman. He converted it into a passenger vessel in the late 90’s and early 2000’s before sailing to Spain and starting a tourism business there for a few years- then to Alghero, where he established the tour and what it is today. As of 2024 the tour will have been running out of Alghero, traveling the exact same path, for 20 years. Rachel and Colin (the owners) bought the boat 8 years ago. They saw an add for it on ebay and came to check out the boat a few times before quiting their factory jobs and selling their house and moving to Alghero, Italy. Can you imagine buying a life off eBay?
The wooden deck is covered in lines of varying size, length, and color. Most lead to the rigging above supporting the two masts, with the rest being using to control the sails. The deck is old and wooden- everything above the deck is wooden, with the exception of the side stays on the rigging which are made of sturdy metal. For variety and functionality the wood on deck is either finished with a nice polish or painted. The railing is painted a nice white to hide the conjoining pieces of the rub rail and the other individual joining joints. The deck is painted in certain spots to prevent water from leaking in over the engine; Water drips down in unpainted worn spots into the innards of the ship.
The air hangs heavy in the inner cabins: humid, suffocating, and hot. The oppressive heat is only disturbed by the noise of the boat settling. Ropes grinding against the hull, footsteps on deck, and the motor-driven water pump are semi regular occurrences. The low hum of the dishwasher coats the back of the soundscape like a thin varnish; similar to the one on the wooden fixtures- permanently there yet unnoticeable until you look for it. It is a constant baseline to the other sounds’ irregularity.
Inside the hull of the ship is where the real heart of it lies. The main cabin features a large kitchenette and a saloon which easily seats 8. Three rooms and two baths adjourn the sides of the common space towards the bow, with a separate cabin at the stern that doubles as engine room and my personal living quarters. Heat permeates everything. Hot air often gets trapped in the cabins, making it cooler on deck once the sun goes down. The weather is atrocious and unpredictable. A heat wave in July had us reaching temperatures of 40 celsius for a steady 2 weeks.
As for the wind here, it is fickle. The forecasts are often wrong. When projected to grow stronger it dies out, and when no wind is expected it appears from a random direction, changing on a dime. I have not yet tamed it, and I know it is foolish of me for thinking I can.
Amongst the inhabitants of the boat there are Rachel and Colin, the owners, and Smokey- a stray gray cat, so named for her smoke colored fur. She began coming on the boat only a month before I did, declaring it her part time home while we are at port in the Marina. A fun fact about the Marina is that it has decided to make more money by renting out part of their land space to a restaurant. Meaning the Marina office, showers, and bathrooms are shared with the restaurant, and that to get to the showers after a long day of work you need to walk through 4 rows of dinner tables cutting directly across.
The Nescafé mug… Small, Red, Ceramic. Its thick even glaze offers a high quality feel with a healthy weight. This mug in particular is reserved for whomever is the current crew of the Andrea Jensen and not given out for customer use. It’s shiny red exterior acts as a beacon amidst the cabinet of assorted other mugs- the only bright color next to the neutral ones. It has become one of my top 10 favorite mugs of all time. It is also one of the comforts I will miss the most on the boat.
This mug is something so personal yet so shared. It belongs to me for the three months I’m here, like a car lease. Once I leave it will belong to the following crew member: how it has belonged to many, many crew members before me. I have a feeling I’ll end up buying myself a replacement on ebay once I own my own place.
A previous crew member was studying film and made this video about Andrea Jensen a few years ago, which I think perfectly captures part of the heart of the ship experience.