Tall Ships Erie 2022: Life aboard a tall ship — hard work, little sleep and a stuffed toy octopus

Being a seafarer is not for the faint of heart: It takes guts, stamina and a good deal of physical and mental strength.

But for Matt Gibas, captain of the Appledore IV, a Michigan-based schooner now at Tall Ships Erie 2022, luck also plays a role. And for him and his five-person crew, that luck comes in the form of a stuffed toy octopus.

"It's Fweej the Overseer," Gibas said.

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The 30-inch, orange-colored octopus, which Gibas refers to as the crew's "good luck charm" and "mascot," is not entirely original. The character of Fweej the Overseer stems from a social media post that told of a high school class that jokingly began to "give offerings" like food and money to a stuffed toy octopus in their classroom. The character gained an online cult following and became an internet meme.

Gibas, 45, said younger people will likely recognize Fweej after a simple Google search.

"We give him offerings, too, and all of a sudden the weather improves," he said with a smile.

'Old-school' living and a bit of labor

Every little bit helps on the water.

The Appledore IV made a 52-hour voyage from Bay City, Michigan to Erie for the festival, with just one stop in Cleveland. Gibas, who's raced sailboats for much of his life, described the journey — and life in general aboard a tall ship — as a lot of manual labor and boat maintenance, with crew members rotating on four-hour shifts.

"That eight hours feels like a whole day because you work for four hours, then you sleep for four hours. Sleep and work. And then the next thing you know it feels like it's Thursday but it's really still Monday," Gibas said.

The crew — despite all being 22 or younger, except Gibas — lives "old-school," as Gibas described it, playing cards and reading books when they can, instead of being glued to an electronic device.

The food is also simple, with most meals consisting of fish, rice, vegetables and fruits. Gibas said the ship has a cooler filled with ice, a diesel fire stove and an oven onboard. The ship does have electricity, which powers radios and other equipment.

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For Taylor Lantz, the 22-year-old ship's first mate, life aboard the ship isn't just a profession, it's his life. He's lived full-time on the ship for the past two years.

"It's a lot like an apartment in college and you have a lot of roommates," he said. "You don't really get personal space but you just have to learn to get over it and work together as a team."

Lantz described his duties as "skilled labor."

"We do electrical stuff, plumbing, carpentry, varnishing — real detailed work," he said. "But even old-time stuff, too, like worming, parceling and serving."

He described this as a process of preserving steel cables and ropes by wrapping them in cotton and canvas and tarring them for protection.

As Lantz put it, "it's a traditional maritime thing that people don't do anymore."

Don't whistle on deck, and other superstitions

Days can be routine but bad weather is always a possibility. Gibas said every four hours is "meticulously planned" with the weather forecast in mind, so the ship can navigate around or in between storms.

This is where superstitions come into play.

"We have quite a few superstitions," Gibas said. These include not whistling on deck — which some sailors claim brings bad weather — and knocking on wood whenever someone says something negative.

"You also never mention the name of a sunken shape while you are on deck," Gibas said. "So if you're talking, we'll literally jump off the ship onto the dock and say the name of the sunken boat and then come back onto the ship."

So far, Gibas said the journey to Erie has been smooth sailing. The Appledore IV participated in Tall Ships Erie 2019.

"When you come to ports like Erie, this is kind of what we live for," he said. "It's super exciting to be here."

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As for Fweej the Overseer, the Appledore IV remains his home. Following the Parade of Sail on Thursday, Gibas retrieved him from a cupboard and placed him on a mast.

"He gets mysteriously moved, kind of like an elf on a shelf," Gibas said.

Check out the Appledore IV

While day sails on the Appledore IV are sold out Saturday and Sunday, the vessel can still be viewed up close when it is docked on the west side of Dobbins Landing.

The schooner, which launched in 1989, is owned and operated by BaySail, a nonprofit based in Bay City, Michigan.

The schooner was originally commissioned by Herb and Doris Smith and built by Mark Treworgy. The name "Appledore" was chosen by Herb as a tribute to his wife who he first saw while sailing a small boat off Appledore Island, according to the Tall Ships Erie website.

More Tall Ships coverage online:

All our coverage of Tall Ships Erie 2022 can be found at GoErie.com, Facebook.com/GoErie and Instagram.com/goeriecom.

A.J. Rao can be reached at arao@gannett.com. Follow him on Twitter @ETNRao.

This article originally appeared on Erie Times-News: Tall Ships Erie 2022: Captain talks life and luck aboard Appledore IV