<p>Hey I have to do a senior quote and was wondering if anyone had some idea for some quotes dealing with either USMMA or some sort of maritime/nautical quote?</p>
<p>im thinking about using Acta Non Verba</p>
<p>Not sure if this is what you are looking for, but I just read an incredibly well written paragraph about how sailing builds character in the Waterfront blog. Check it out: read the paragraph under the photograph of the newly donated boat (beautiful), Summerwind; IMHO it’s powerful: [Kings</a> Point Waterfront: Coast Guard has the Eagle…Welcome Summerwind to Kings Point](<a href=“http://usmmawaterfront.blogspot.com/2009/11/coast-guard-has-eaglewelcome-summerwind.html]Kings”>Kings Point Waterfront: Coast Guard has the Eagle........Welcome Summerwind to Kings Point)</p>
<p>Good luck.</p>
<p>Further thought drove me to publish this because it is at the heart of this Academy. Plus it is too great to not do so. I believe these are the words of Captain Prosser:</p>
<p>*Then there are the special educational influences of being at sea under sail. Probably the most important additional quality induced is self-reliance. Life under sail is nearly always a perpetual struggle with the blind forces of nature which are no respecters of persons nor can one contract out of the struggle. It has to be waged by each individual on board with all his powers. Because sailing ships are often smaller than power vessels and always more dependent upon and susceptible to weather, special discipline must prevail. The man in charge must obey instantly under all conditions, very often conditions of extreme fatigue and discomfort. The discipline which the safety of the ship and the crew require must be accepted with willingness and alacrity. The occasional condition of danger or potential danger, while giving opportunities for the display of courage, quickly produces prudence and the habit of thinking ahead in a way that few other activities rival. And finally, if as is often the case, the crew is small there is constant scope and encouragement for unselfishness, that most truly respected of all qualities.**</p>
<p>Here’s the whole thing… a little long but I treat it as the Waterfront Bilble. Written in the 70’s. </p>
<p>Sail Training
Captain C.A. Prosser</p>
<p>Introduction
It is realized that to express the hope that we might take an interest in the larger sailing ship as a training medium would be little more than wishful thinking. Although the U. S. Merchant Marine would appear to have disregarded such training completely, most institutions dedicated to the seafaring profession hold different views. Is it conceivable that approximately 58 countries are all running these large vessels for purely sentimental reasons? No, they find that such ships have value, even though most of them are costly to operate. One thing is certain: sail training is not dead. These nations consider its advantages sufficient to justify the expense, even though experiences gained by the students will have slight bearing on their technical qualifications in these days of the mechanically propelled ships.</p>
<p>In the case of the earlier sail training methods, there was no question as to its practical value or purpose. Sailing ships still played a very large part in the commercial field. It is the value of such training, after the decline of the sailing ship, which concerns us. Obviously it is of little technical value, but no such claim was ever made. It is aimed at character building. We regard our playing fields as important factors in the type of officers we produce, yet our mission is not to produce professional football players or athletes. If we are to accept the long-held view that our playing fields have had some little effect in molding character of statesmen and mariners, then we cannot entirely reject the claims that time spent in an ocean going sailing ship is of value in the production of self-reliant officers. Our real attitude in this matter seems difficult to define. We seem to like the idea but not the responsibility for operating it.</p>
<p>SAIL TRAINING
Our seafaring tradition, although not as ancient as countries such as Norway and Denmark, has indeed been a proud one; but it is obviously relevant to consider how other countries and modern seafaring nations, including our own, train their sea officers. We find that nearly all still rely to a great extent on sail training. Completely up-to-date statistics about sail training ships are not easy to find, but it may be surprising to learn that there are approximately 58 sail training ships in commission today, many of them newly built. They are employed by such countries as the United States, Norway, Sweden, Denmark, Germany, Belgium, France, Italy, Spain, Portugal, Poland, Russia, Rumania, Brazil and Argentina.</p>
<p>There are various types of sail training; and the most important distinction between types concerns the size the vessel in which training is carried out. Sixty years ago when sail in provided the motive power for a large portion of our fleet, training v us necessary with the types of sail that the fleet used, namely those of toe square-rigged ships. Each had tiers of many square sails set one above the other on very lofty masts. These had to be handled aloft on the yards which supported them. This involved the crew in much arduous and dangerous activity, hundreds of feet above the deck, in a most testing exercise, particularly in bad weather. Such work produced seamen who were active, strong, and inured to danger.</p>
<p>Large training ships still have similar advantages. They can take long voyages keeping pupils at sea long enough to absorb their training slowly and thoroughly, and as part their lives, visit distant foreign countries, in itself an educational asset, and the proportion of instructors to trainees can be such as to make to make them economical in this respect.</p>
<p>But the smaller ship also has advantages. Probably the most important from the educational point of view is that, as the size of the and the crew diminish, each man on board becomes relatively more important; whereas, in a crew of 60, most individuals would be submerged in the mass. In a crew of 12 it would be possible to assign some vital job for which one man alone was responsible to each man on board. Any one who has had experience in training would admit this is important in developing character and a sense of responsibility. In addition is the fact that in a smaller ship one is physically closer to the sea. With every foot the freeboard decreases, the process of identity is accelerated and intensified. An important gain from medium-sized training ships is achieved in the matter of capital expenditure in that four medium-sized vessels, each accommodating 15 trainees, would cost far less to build than one big vessel accommodating 60. It is true that the proportion of instructor to trainee necessarily increases as the ships become smaller until the point is reached in a dinghy holding two people where one instructor to one trainee must be the rule. But in considering the needs of our seafaring officers, this disadvantage of decreased size is offset by the fact that a larger number of medium-sized vessels will provide much more command experience than a smaller number of big vessels. Experience of command for young officers is a consideration of very special importance. Besides being the immediate ambition of most young officers, it is generally agreed to be by far the most valuable experience a young officer can have. To command a ship, whatever her size, is an experience unlike anything else. To be the one person on board to whom everyone looks for decisions as to what is to be done and how it is to be done, decisions which must affect the actions and may affect the survival of everyone on board—this is an experience which, in the opinion of those who have enjoyed it, builds confidence more quickly than any other. To have this experience when still young is a privilege of utmost value.</p>
<p>Aside from the command experience, what are the particular educational influences which support the claim for sail training, whether or not a young man is destined for a sea calling? Perhaps it would be useful to divide them into two categories, those associated with any sort of sea-going, and those associated particularly with sea-going under sail. These influences are almost by definition intangible, their effects being incapable of proof, but they are nonetheless potent.</p>
<p>The educational influences of mere sea-going are especially tangible; they include separation for the duration of each voyage from all the distracting activities of modern civilization. A crew wins the experience of comradeship, of being one of a team bound together by common duties and interest (ultimately the safety of the ship), controlled by a discipline which is so obviously necessary as to be unquestioned. The crew learns the experience of night work which is known to so few on shore. They alone know what the world, the sea, and the sky look like when most of mankind is asleep; the witness the daily miracles of sunrise and sunset. Each knows the discipline of watches, where the deck must be relieved punctually day or night, not ten minutes, not even one minute late. They also can come to a decent humility and awareness of God through being constantly face to face with nature. These are some of the rewards of sea-going.</p>
<p>Then there are the special educational influences of being at sea under sail. Probably the most important additional quality induced is self-reliance. Life under sail is nearly always a perpetual struggle with the blind forces of nature which are no respecters of persons nor can one contract out of the struggle. It has to be waged by each individual on board with all his powers. Because sailing ships are often smaller than power vessels and always more dependent upon and susceptible to weather, special discipline must prevail. The man in charge must obey instantly under all conditions, very often conditions of extreme fatigue and discomfort. The discipline which the safety of the ship and the crew require must be accepted with willingness and alacrity. The occasional condition of danger or potential danger, while giving opportunities for the display of courage, quickly produces prudence and the habit of thinking ahead in a way that few other activities rival. And finally, if as is often the case, the crew is small there is constant scope and encouragement for unselfishness, that most truly respected of all qualities.</p>
<p>And what of the young man who is training for a sea career? Sea sense is an expression that cannot be over used. Although it is well understood by seamen, it is perhaps worthwhile to attempt to define it. The need to acquire and exercise sea sense arises from the fact that the sea surface is not mans natural habitat, and that experiences at sea differ widely from those on shore with which all human beings become automatically familiar by the mere process of living. Perhaps the most significant one is that of relative motion. The comfort and safety of all of us depend on the ability to avoid collision with moving bodies, be they motor cars or people. Children, though they don’t possess it at birth, in their early rears rapidly acquire the ability to work by eye, complicated problems of relative motion or triangles of velocities. When these problems arise on the public highway, their solution becomes an important aspect of road sense; but the problems become more complicated when we foresake the dry land and venture onto the sea which is fluid and, more often than not, moving bodily under the influence of the wind or current. The seaman’s problem may be to gain or avoid contact with another moving shin or with an object on land or under water. The wind, current or both will be acting with the current not so apparent. If another unit in the problem is another moving ship, wind and current will be affecting her motion too, though not necessarily to an identical extent. If the other unit in the problem is on land, or under water, like a rock or shoal which must be avoided or a jetty which she may wish to go along side, the wind and current will be affecting only his own ship. This is a type of problem which generally speaking is not present on land but which constantly exercises the seaman.</p>
<p>But sea sense does not consist only of this ability to cope with special problems of relative velocity. It is concerned with a constant pro-occupation, waking or sleeping, with the weather and its effects, both now and in the foreseeable future on the safety and movement of a ship. It is concerned with an ability to sense the stresses to which a ship is being subjected by rough seas and to take steps to relieve them before they become critical. It is concerned with a realization of the seas’ overwhelming power when in any angry mood, the size and power of modern ships not withstanding, and with the ability to react to a crisis not with terror which is the natural human reaction, but with coldness and judgment. It is concerned with thinking ahead and acting prudently, making things fast so that they are not only safe now but will remain safe in a few hours time: when it is dark, the tide has turned and the wind increased. Sea sense means to think as the sea thinks, to feel as the sea feels, this sensibility comes most positively through the prideful mastery of sail training.</p>
<p>Within the profession there is no doubt as to the conviction that sail training is a good thing and that there should be much more of it in this Academy. Surely an institution whose greatness was founded and built on the sea and whose continued prosperity and existence depends so much on the continued production of the world’s top professional mariners should lead in all possible aspects of professional training methods and facilities.</p>
<p>But what of the Department of Commerce policy in this matter? A certain minimum amount of instruction is given here at Kings Point in boat handling, but most of the sailing which takes place is on a voluntary basis. A number of fine sailing craft have been donated by citizens who obviously share the sentiments of this paper. The use of such craft is permitted and encouraged, mainly on a recreational and extra-curricular basis. There are insufficient craft in number and it is highly unlikely that appropriated money could be found to replace them when they are worn out or damaged. The Academy also has the use of 15 small dinghies for inter-collegiate training and competition. The cadets receive little or no assistance for dinghy maintenance or operations in funds or personnel. Appropriated funds for these few invaluable training aids is conspicuous by its absence, but fortunately through the dedication and ability of our Admiral and the alumni in soliciting donations, it has been possible to operate our modest but insufficient fleet of small boats effectively</p>
<p>The Sailing Association’s share in the athletic funds is small when compared to numbers involved. Sailing is by far the largest major sport. Over and above ocean and YRA racing, intercollegiately we compete every Saturday ant Sunday for six to seven months every year, completely devoid of large audiences and big steak dinners. The strength of the Sailing Association is at present limited by the lack of boats and the financial burden on individual cadets to purchase the necessary sports clothing and equipment appropriate to the sport.</p>
<p>The argument against this essential type of training can be grouped under three headings: lack of need; lack of time; and lack of money. As to the need, this paper has demonstrated the need and believes that few professional mariners would dispute it. As to the time, it is true that our Merchant Marine officers have a great deal of technical knowledge to acquire and practically all of it must be acquired ashore for reasons of efficiency and economy. The result is that sea experience of any kind tends to more and more to be curtailed. This provides a strong argument for giving a sea training period of the most intensive and thorough kind, namely under sail. The teaching of the basic trade to become a seaman should surely have priority over all other training, but it is true to say that it is now classed as a recreation. Such a procedure is the equivalent teaching an accountant all the intricacies of company law, cost accounting etc., and leaving him to master simple arithmetic, if he feels like it, in his own time.
As to the money, the capital cost would be small when viewed against a background of millions of dollars that are being spent in less basic needs. It therefore seems certain that the cost is not the deciding factor. If the Department of Commerce were once convinced that sail training is necessary for the U. S. Merchant Marine Academy, cost would not stand in its way. Sail training is still relied on by almost all European nations and most other institutions in the United States, including the Navy and the Coast Guard.</p>
<p>CONCLUSION
The accidental extinction of appropriated funds for this invaluable training as a temporary emergency may be sound policy for the moment, nor are we in the least concerned to question the decision of the Department of Commerce in such a matter, but the real issues involved are far too important to be foreclosed in this way. Professional opinion is, as we know, sharply divided on the question. The cadet in a modern ship of the Merchant Marine is admirably trained the duties pertaining to his position, but they are largely undisciplined, and mechanical duties making little or no demand on his self-reliance and resources. What he learns is to do as he is told and to do it well, willingly, and it may be, intelligently. He has very little concern with the result of what he does which is for the most part mechanically foreordained, but in the handling of mast, sails and small craft, a man begins by learning that on his individual efforts and skill depend his own safety and that of his shipmates.</p>
<p>Whatever fearlessness, resources of quick observation, instant helpfulness reside in his nature it is evoked by self-interest and quickened by comradeship, and the dullest cannot but realize that on the exercise of qualities such as these depends his success, his happiness, very often his life. The same stimulating influence heightened by an early and urgent sense of responsibility is brought to bear on a young cadet under sail regardless of the size of craft.</p>
<p>The moment a Kings Point cadet graduates and takes up his duties as an officer in the U.S. Merchant Marine, every quality he has must be ready for instant service. He knows that men’s lives depend on the quickness of his eye and the steadiness of his nerve. He is dealing with forces inconstant and incalculable which may at any moment entail mishap or even disaster unless he is swift to perceive and prompt to remedy what has gone amiss. He should have learned to understand men, because after all it is in emergency and not in routine that human nature comes to the front, and by understanding them in this comradeship of danger he learns how to rule them. In today’s modern vessels such opportunities as these are far less frequent, if they exist at all. Whatever our cadets learn at Kings Point, they learn admirably, and with the zeal, good will and good sense that animate the whole Academy. They learn much more than might be expected, but the question still remains: do and can they learn all that the discipline of mast, sail and small craft teaches them as a matter of course? If they do, well and good. If they do not can we afford to discard this invaluable discipline from the training of our future U. S. Merchant Marine officers?</p>
<p>PRESENTED BY:
Captain C. A. Prosser
Sailing Master</p>
<p>Outstanding. That’s a keeper. Deepsea, you come through again; thank you. I hope they include that paper on plebe PKTs; should be mandatory reading for all Kings Pointers. </p>
<p>I take it that Captain Prosser was the sailing Master there? Is he an alum? Whomever he is, he is an incredibly profound writer.</p>
<p>Captain Prosser was the Academy’s first Sailing Master. Not an Alum, he served in the Canadian Navy during World War II, and was quite a character while at Kings Point. I have the honor of holding down his job, his desk, his house, and his vision.</p>
<p>All this is great but isn’t PrepRmblr looking for ideas for the “one liner” that you can put in your Yearbook entry?</p>
<p>In which case there are several good ones I’ve always like with regard to hsving a good star to sterr by the implication being the foundation we get at KP is one of those stars to steer through life by… of course it’s hard to make these suggestions since it needs to have personal meaning as well asit seems like he’s looking to sound “profound” and not be one of those quotes you look at 30 years hence and say WTH was I thinking about when I wrote this?</p>
<p>Here’s some of the better ones from my class’ yearbook (mine isn’t in this list):</p>
<p>Perhaps the closest to what I think PrepRmblr seems to be looking for:</p>
<p>“Ideals are like the stars;
We never reach them, But . . .
We chart our course by them.”</p>
<p>Similarly:
“Ideals are like stars; you will not succeed in
toughing them with your hands. But like the
seafaring man on the desert of waters, you
choose them as your guides, and following them
you will reach your destiny.”
- Carl Schurz</p>
<p>“They will alwaies saile by the Carde and Compasse of their own mind.”
- Daniel Tuvil</p>
<p>“The wonder is always new that any sane man can be a sailor.”
- R.W. Emerson</p>
<p>“There is a tide in the affairs of men, which,
taken at the flood, leads on to Fortune …”
- Shakespeare</p>
<p>“The world is not interested in the storms you encountered; but, rather, did you bring in the ship?”</p>
<p>Another I liked is:</p>
<p>“There is, one knows not what sweet mystery
about this sea, whose gently aweful stirrings
seem to speak of some hidden soal beneath …”
- Melville</p>
<p>“A journey of a thousand miles begins with the first STEP”</p>
<p>“What one has is not important, but what one accomplishes with what one has is.”</p>
<p>“Follow the water one year same as the next. Ain’t no sense in it, but I do it just the same.” attributed to an Anounymous Chesapeake Bay Waterman</p>
<p>From a feamale classmate with a wry sense of humour comes this quote from James Conrad, perhaps the most nautical of classic authors and I sure quite well undestood by female KP grads where the M-F ratio persists as quite non-reflective of the worlds demographics:
“Beaing a woman is a terribly difficult task, Since
it consists principally in dealing with MEN!”
but I don’t think that’s what you’re looking for…</p>
<p>Some can be meaningful and self-depricating without ending up stupid 30 years later from a setback in my class:
“Better late than never”</p>
<p>my motto when it comes to sea-going/KP/the whole experience has been
“keep on truckin”
short and sweet, but it says a lot in those few words. i might just put that as my senior quote in midships this year :)</p>
<p>is2day - yes, my original reply to PrepRmblr was “not sure this is what you are looking for” HOWEVER I am so glad we stumbled onto Captain Prosser’s amazing words.</p>
<p>and never read any “one-liner” pre-requisites either.</p>