The captain of the only sailboat in Lithuania: “After two days of travel, it is clear who can work on board and who cannot” | Lifetime

The “Brabander” sailboat was sailed from the Netherlands to the port of Klaipeda almost 14 years ago and became part of the Klaipeda University (KU) fleet. The university has three ships on which scientific and teaching missions are carried out.

When asked how unique this ship is, its captain emphasizes that it is the only traditional sailing ship in Lithuania.

“It just came to our attention then. A biscuit, a quarterback schooner, one with two masts and the only one that can sail in the sea. What we all hear is Meridian, but unfortunately it is no longer a ship. And here is a ship real built especially for training, which we have already tested with the Lithuanian Maritime School (LAJM). It is gratifying that after a few years we managed to adapt the boat to its direct purpose, “says the captain.

J. Andriejauskaitė / 15min photo / Valdemaras Vizbaras

Feel the taste of the sea.

Under the sails of this ship, young people feel the first taste of working at sea, becoming sailors or … not converting. V. Vizbaras says that after two days of travel it is clear who can work on board and who cannot. Even when traveling to the nearest port of Liepaja, there are young people who choose to return by bus.

“If a person” dies “from seasickness before leaving port … There are people who board the ship, it is tied to the dock, scared, there will be kaput… “says the captain of Kupiškis.

According to him, most of the captains of the ship come from cities far from the sea: Biržai, Pasvalys, etc. At a time when Klaipeda residents are further away from the sea over the weekend, residents of other cities fly to the Baltic. This is how love for the sea is born from a distance. Marine science students come from all over the country to study.

There are people who get on the boat, are tied to the dock, scared, soon there will be kaput…, says the captain of Kupiškis.

He is glad that the director of the Academy V. Stankevičius, the former captain himself, deeply understands what it is to be a sailor. Theory alone is not enough.

“He is very aware that it is not possible to spend state money for five or four years, and then it turns out that the person cannot work at sea at all,” says V. Vizbaras, emphasizing that surviving at sea, according to him, is not sufficient.

– Books are good, books are knowledge. There is a very good saying: you need a captain’s certificate to sail and you need knowledge to return. There is no waiting, there is no escape, there is no apology at sea. A wave has come, you have beaten yourself, you have worn down and received. I neither feel nor wait. It can happen a thousand times in a row, and you have to survive. “

The captain gives students a simple example each time, emphasizing what type of water can be ruthless. This was also demonstrated by the tragic events of recent years, when sailors who did not wear vests died.

A wave has come, you have beaten yourself, you have worn down and received. I neither feel nor wait. It can be a thousand times in a row, and you have to survive.

“I explain something simple to the cadets: a person can boldly climb four kilometers without any oxygen apparatus, can breathe and cannot live underwater for half a millimeter.” A person can get drunk with a spoon, this is not just a saying, the reality is this. We have people forever when something happens at sea, our rescue services malfunction here. Everyone is doing their job, but the one who started drowning didn’t do their job in the first place, ”says V. Vizbaras, who has accumulated decades of experience at sea.

For many years, the man deepened his knowledge of the sea while sailing on yachts, and to operate the “Brabander” sailboat, he had to acquire additional knowledge at the Gdynia and Klaipeda Maritime School.

Life was so organized that the hobby became a job. Vizbar calls it the worst case scenario and says don’t believe those who claim that hobby must coincide with work.

“It just came to our attention then. I came from aviation to navigation, and while sailing I took care of aviation. I was an engineer at the Panevėžys air club for six years, I flew on planes and gliders.

There is very little to do in aviation in the winter, pilots change their minds about production. A friend made a catamaran in 1982. You see, sailing on a ball like that, from a canvas sail. As a pilot, you feel the weather, the wind. I have been involved in airplanes since childhood. My hands are bare, cut off.

I think: uh-huh, I can do better. And I did it during the winter. I became a seven-time champion with my boat in the Rubikiai (Joniniai) regatta, which took place 36 times this year – V. Vizbaras spoke about his innate love for boats.

– So, a little around 1990, a collective farm “went out”, the yacht was left unattended, I bought it, turned it so much that I could probably build a house. There were three children growing up in the family, they learned what life is like on a yacht. My wife and I broke up with those things … Of course, I swam too much …

Now that the family is coming together, it seems that that yacht, in addition to those bad qualities, also had good qualities, as it developed a character for the children. Now they are entrepreneurs, scientists, very well managed, everything is fine. Who, who and the sea develops their character!

With three children in the family, they learned what life is like on a yacht.

The three sons of V. Vizbaras founded the Brolis Semiconductors laser company, which was opened by President Dalia Grybauskaitė. Ingrida, a daughter who works in the lumber business, won the Children’s Book of the Year award for publication The Story of a Warrior.

KU photo / Brabander sailboat

Enter the sea

This summer, Klaipeda residents and city guests will also be able to navigate around the port on the Brabander sailboat. Travel is planned to take place not only across the lagoon, but also to the sea and, in the future, perhaps also to nearby ports: Liepaja or Gdansk. Such trips are expected to help them get to know the sea more deeply, about which, Vizbaras says, their compatriots have very little knowledge, to put it mildly.

“Klaipeda residents who do not have their own boats, do not know at all what the port of Klaipeda is like. I am saying this very responsibly because to understand what a port is, you need to see the port from the water. We do not have any pleasure craft like the one in Rotterdam or Kiel where he buys a ticket and takes a tour of the port to see what happens through the port. Everyone talks: port, port. And who is he?

Everyone talks: port, port. And who is he?

People who navigate the docks begin to realize what goes through the mechanism, what goes through that port. Because from the edge of the port, a fence on which it is written that entry and entry are strictly prohibited. That is all understanding.

The only access to water in Klaipeda is at the cruise terminal, where “Boy and Puppy” (sculpture – ed.). No more. When you travel by ferry, you don’t see the port, just on the other side, one two and the other side. That’s the number of times we’ve been swimming, it just doesn’t surprise me … Klaipeda residents look and wonder, “Wow.”

Another thing that people in Lithuania have very little perception of the sea is, to put it mildly. The further from the sea, the less it is. Around the Kryžkalnis border, where the sea is perceived as a beach, “says V. Vizbaras, who can tell a lot about the sea, sailboats and yachts.

The impression, he says, remains when you tell people that when a container ship arrives, it takes a hundred and a half tugs to get the containers out, or an example that the ship can hold ten steps.

In Lithuania, the perception of the sea is, to put it mildly, very low. The further from the sea, the less it is.

Trips around the Curonian Lagoon and the Baltic countries will be made according to a specific schedule, which will be published on the social networks of the University of Klaipeda. Registration is required to swim. It is true that the beautiful navigation around the Curonian Lagoon will sail without raising sails, because it is not necessary to do it in the port.

“In the port, we cannot do what we do at sea. We cannot lift sails, they are not fake, but real. It takes ten people to lift this sail, which is above our heads. Far from all travelers They want to participate in that procedure, because if we all started to lift that candle, we would get a bucket of water on our heads as the candle rises.

J. Andriejauskaitė / 15min photo / Sailboat “Brabander”

You see what the logs are, the parts of the platform. There is no easy job here, like on a small pleasure yacht, where you can drop something with one hand and pull something. Nothing comes out here, “says the captain.

This sailboat represents Klaipeda in the decoration of maritime festivals in other countries. This, as Vizbar says, is the main bread. This summer, all plans were foiled by the coronavirus. Sweden has not yet opened the sea route to ships. Many countries have canceled planned vacations, so plans are still vague and overseas travel is likely to be impromptu.