Navy Today July 08 | Issue 134 - Royal New Zealand Navy

INTERNATIONALI HAVE RECENTLY RETURNED from just undertwo months on the Chilean Navy sail trainingship BE ESMERALDA. The ship is based inValparaiso, home of the Central Zone Fleet offrigates. I was lucky enough to spend a week inChile before we sailed however the days werespent mostly chipping and painting as the shipprepared for their farewell and a visit from theMinister of Defence.At night the Chilean Midshipmen showed methe night life in Vina del Mar, a beach resorttown. I was also taken to the Chilean NavalAcademy where the Midshipmen, who joinaged 16, spend four years before they embarkon their ESMERALDA cruise. Another highlightwas the opportunity to spend time in theBY SLT PIERS ROUTLEDGE RNZNWN 08-0022-09mountain town of Los Andes at the home ofthe Marine Corps Midshipmen. While in LosAndes I was taken to visit the Army SpecialForces Mountain Warfare School where theMarine Midshipmen had spent time as part ofthis specialisation.Having prepped and readied the ship wewere finally ready to meet the Chilean Ministerof Defence. It was a huge occasion for the shipand the ceremony was impressive, attendedby the newsmedia. The following day, boththe front and back pages of the regional papercarried stories about ESMERALDA. Hundredsturned out to farewell the ship, and the wharf inValparaiso was packed with families and wellwishers, there was native dance performancesand music by the naval band and local indigenousmusicians.Once at sea we settled into a routine of sorts.It wasn’t unusual for the Chileans to drink afterwork; many bottles of the Chilean nationaldrink Pisco, an un-aged grape brandy, werecarried and consumed onboard. It was alsoa common sight for the ships band to playon the quarterdeck at sunset with the 15 Officers80 Midshipmen and 200 crew perchedand crammed into every available space towatch.After a short night we rose early for a climb upone of the four 150 foot masts, out around theoverhang and down the other side, all withouta harness. When the ship is rolling this canSLT Routledge on the focsle at seaWN 08-0022-10prove to be a more difficult task than expected,especially once we hit the tropics and the shipwas coated in condensation.Our first port visit was Guayaquil in Ecuador,which gave me notable culture shock. Whileat anchor in the river that leads to Guayaquilwe were given a safety brief by the EcuadorianCoast Guard and Police, who outlinedwhere the dangerous no-go areas were to befound and where the green-zone safe areaswere. There weren’t many safe areas withinGuayaquil, the map they showed us seemedmostly red. The shops, even down to smallcorner dairies, were guarded by armed securitywho wore helmets, bullet-proof vests andcarried automatic weapons, shotguns andside arms.We attended a memorial ceremony for AdmiralArial Pratt, who was a Chilean naval herowho, along with Simon Bolivar of Ecuador defeatedthe Spanish and gained their independence.I also took the opportunity to visit oneof the tourist sights of Ecuador, which consistedof a very nice hill and a lighthouse. It was alsoquite an experience to tackle bartering with thetaxi drivers in my very poor Spanglish - while Iknew the taxi drivers were applying Gringo taxit amounted to so little that I was happy to pay,so both the taxi driver and I would go awayfeeling victorious.From Ecuador we headed north to Panama inorder to transit the Panama Canal to the CaribbeanSea. The ship raced north under motorand arrived the night before we were due totransit. The next day we began our pilotagethrough the Panama Canal and were able tosee the Bridge of the Americas. The passagethrough the lakes and going through the lockswas great experience. It was however a longpassage, ten hours with specials closed upand it was a good feeling to finally reach theCaribbean Sea.Our port visit in the Caribbean was Port ofSpain, the capital of Trinidad and Tobago. Ourfirst night along side saw us host the Presidentof Trinidad and Tobago, foreign ambassadors,the Minister of Foreign Affairs and local universitystudents for a cocktail party. The cocktailparty is a favourite activity for the Chileans, wholove to dance and party. While in Trinidad I wasable to sample the nightlife, visited the mostpopular beach, visited Brian Lara’s house andeat a lot of ‘Bake and Shark’, which is deepfried Shark in bread pocket. All too soon it wasThe countries represented BY foreign officers on board (l tor): Bolivia, Canada, Republic of Korea, NZ, Australia, Morocco,Chilean Police, Columbia, Ecuador, Argentina, Chilean AirForce, Brazil, Chilean Army. The photo was taken in front of theGraduate plaques at the Chilean Naval Academy in Valparaiso.Commonwealth officers on board:LT Clancy Canadian Forces, MIDDavies RAN & SLT Routledge RNZNtime to say goodbye to the ship and begin thelong journey home to NZ.The opportunity to live closely with 80 non-English speakers where space and privacywere scarce, showed me the necessity forachieving successful communal living. I alsolearnt that comradeship is not dependent onspeaking one language, it is more important tohave a common goal. My Spanish eventuallygot to a passable level on board, but despitemy initial limited language I was able to contributeto the ship due to the assistance of theMidshipmen on board. The shared hardshipsand close confinement meant we were forcedto communicate and get along despite thelanguage barrier and in the process I madelife-long friends.WN 08-0022-11WN 08-0022-1212 NT134JULY08 WWW.NAVY.MIL.NZWWW.NAVY.MIL.NZ NT134JULY08 13