Around
The Wold
on board the biggest Polish frigate - Dar Młodzieży- in order to document this unique way of celebrating the centenary of Poland regaining independence in 1918.
The Independence Sail
The longest, most demanding and unpredictable project I have had the pleasure to participate in.
Over 313 days and 37,000 nautical miles, 3 oceans, 6 continents and many terabytes of recorded material - as one of two people on this voyage, I got on and off in Gdynia (it is worth noting that many members of the permanent crew did the same , with a short one month brake). My work during the Independence Sail focused on photo / video documentation of the entire project, although it was not limited to that only. At the same time, I ran the FB profile of Dar Młodzieży and the travel itself, also provided materials for use by the media.
One of the biggest challenges I faced for 10 months on board was sending materials via satellite Internet from the most remote locations of the world (there was times when one photo loaded onto the server for 24 hours ... specificity of the vessel and the impact of rigging on the satellite signal) - it required me to know or find different ways to upload the above-mentioned files with channels that wanted to work with the currently connected satellite. Another undoubted challenge was the fact that all raw materials (RAW photos, video files) had to be processed on board the ship - otherwise there was no chance of sending them anywhere. Non-standard working time (24/7 standby), "unstable" studio and almost complete isolation from the outside world, family and friends for 10 months, was also a challenge for the psyche - apparently I did not go crazy, or boarded the ship already beyond repair and therefore changes did not occur.
Personally, I think that my greatest success during this project was the great cooperation with the crew throughout the entire time and gaining their trust (it's not easy to trust a guy with a camera). Of course, I am also pleased with the satisfaction of my work on the part of the Gdynia Maritime University, the shipowner of Dar Młodzieży and one of the organizers of the Independence Sail project. The material that UMG received from this voyage will certainly be used for many years to promote the university and the frigate itself, in various configurations and on various occasions.
The total amount of data I collected during the project reached 10 TB (after selection). Including several thousand photos, among them several hundred typically promotional and several thousand universal ones, to be used on other occasions. In addition, dozens hours of video and audio material, mostly shot sequences of several to several dozen seconds, etc.
During the Independence Sail, the cast of Dar Młodzieży consisted from permanent crew, lecturers, trainees (students and laureates of the nationwide competition - I really did not like this division, because everyone worked and were treated the same, one part simply wasn't judged at the end of the internship), as well as rotating media and priests.
In numbers it was as follows: 948 trainees (539 UMG students, 61 maritime secondary school students and 348 competition winners), 77 members of the permanent crew. Additionally, media representatives that are not included in these calculations.
It is no secret, although not everyone knows it, ports are as busy for the crew as the journey itself, sometimes more. I think it's worth mentioning because it is often believed that the training at Dar Młodzieży means holidays under the sails, a cruise comparable to a weekend charter in Masuria and visiting the world.
My record in lack of sleep occurred in Osaka, which was not only on 11.11 (100 years of Polish independence - the reason of our sail), but also one of the longer stops - it was over 72 hours of high intense work (recording / photo, processing, uploading, repeat) with few naps up to an hour.
The trainee crew consisting of students from the navigation department of the Maritime University in Gdynia had the longest course in past years of Dar`s service. Their training started in Singapore and ended in Panama. They also had a full month long trip across the Pacific. During this time, the group of contest winners changed three times.
We were carried away by the Pacific winds so close to Hawaii. Unfortunately, the tight schedule of ports and the procedures related to arrivals to various countries did not give any chance for an unplanned stop.
This was what separated us from going under the Golden Gate bridge on a full set of sails. Everything is ready, the crew in blocks, unfortunately no permission to enter the port ahead of time ... the show of a sundown with us under bsail was watched only by one post-panamax, also rolling along the Californian coast (it would be a pity not to put everything up, since it had already been prepared).
- 01. Location : deck of Dar Młodzieży / world
- 01. On deck : 20.05.2018 - 28.03.2019
- 02. Documentary film montage : 04.2019 - 30.12.2019
- 04. More about the project : The Independence Sail