The Barque "Tovarishch" / "Gorkh Fock I" - the "icebreaker" that broke ices of the Cold War.
I'm Gennadii Zherebilov, 69 years old. I now live in retirement in Lipetsk.
But 50 years ago, during the period of "Detente" in 1972, I was a student at the Odessa Higher Marine Engineering School and on the sailing ship "Tovarishch" I participated in the "Friendship voyage" across the Atlantic Ocean from Odessa to Baltimore to celebrate 175 anniversary of the sloop-of-war "Constellation".
Until now, I am sincerely grateful to the Almighty and the American people for the wonderful discovery of America, which fate gave me half a century ago!
The ageless fusion of romance and courage, which the participants of this voyage acquired on the masts and yards of the sailing ship "Tovarishch", has become the core of character, helping many of us throughout our lives to rise to the heights of the spirit on the sails of faith, hope, love.
A half century later, I see that by crossing the ocean during the "detente" in the period of the Cold War, we not only overcame severe miles of ocean sailing, but also broke the ice of the Cold War.
Let me remind you a few interesting facts about who was and who became the sailing ship "Tovarishch" before and after reincarnation.
Fans of sailing ships (and how can one remain indifferent to the elegance of horses and sailboats?!) know that after 1945 the German barque "Gorch Fock I" was renamed in "Tovarishch": length 82 m, width 12 m, main mast height 41 m.
May 3, 1933 "Gorch Fock I" was launched from the stocks in Germany.
Since 1934 the barque has been used for training purposes. Team - 60 seafarers and 180 cadets.
"Ship of dreams" - they called it not only in Germany, but also abroad.
After 1945, the barque was named "Tovarishch" and became a training sail ship for future navigators of the merchant fleet from the marine schools of Odessa and Kherson (Ukraine).
The handsome sailboat took part in the filming of more than forty feature films.
The memory of the tragic fate of another German sailing ship forced us to work with the sails quickly and sparing no effort.
We knew that in 1957 the German sail ship "Pamir" was caught in Hurricane Carrie and sank off the Azores, with only six survivors rescued after an extensive search.
The crew and cadets of the sail ship "Pamir" did not have time to remove the sails.
Seafarers believe that in another life they turn into dolphins, which often accompany ships, frolicking in the waves in front of the stem ...
But let's come back in 1972.
September 2 - 12, 1972 the barque "Tovarishch" was in the port of Baltimore, and the crew and students took part in the celebration of the 175th anniversary of the launching of the USS Constellation.
Like the pilgrims from the Mayflower sailing ship we arrived in America after the hardships of a long and perilous voyage.
And through hard work and the blessing of heaven, we have received a bountiful harvest of smiles and heartfelt American hospitality.
We visited the Baltimore Printing Office, the United Nations Buildings in New York, the Merchant Marine Academy at King's Point, and many other places.
In turn, the barque "Tovarishch" was visited by many VIPs and ordinary Americans.
Since my friend and I were also stewards in the wardroom in addition to the usual duties of students, we were fortunate to associate closely with Julia Nixon Eisenhower - the daughter of the 37th US President Richard Nixon, the City Mayor of Baltimore William Donald Schaefer and many other famous people.
The hospitality of officials and ordinary Americans exceeded all our expectations.
The American authorities awarded the crew and students with the "Golden Cup of the Atlantic" and handed us a symbolic key to the city of Baltimore.
The history of relations between the cities of Odessa (Ukraine) and Baltimore began with the visit of the sail ship "Tovarishch".
And in 1975, an agreement was concluded between them on twinning.
No matter what, I never cease to be proud that the sailing ship "Tovarishch" became an "icebreaker" that broke the ice of the Cold War, and young sailors became, so called the "infants of detante" - staunch supporters of world peace.
In 1996, I again visited the USA.
At the same time, my book in Russian "Justification of Human" was accepted for safekeeping by the US Library of Congress.
I tell young people about this legendary voyage.
I carefully keep old photographs that capture the historical moments and faces of Americans whom I met half a century ago.
I learned German in secondary school and only started learning English in 1970.
Therefore, I sometimes confused the words and when the Americans offered to take a photo with me, I said often "for forget" instead of "for remember".
The Americans smiled and always corrected me, saying "for memory"!
And even now I remember them with gratitude for their sincere hospitality: young lady Sulphia New, who gave me a white gold bracelet as a keepsake, Allen May, a student from the Merchant Marine Academy "King's Point", and a shipboy from Baltimore, whose name I, unfortunately, do not know, as well as the names of many guests who have been on board the barque "Tovarishch", that means "Comrade".
I am now 69 years old, my American friends have also matured.
I hope they remember us.
And I will never forget them and I dream to see them again and city of Baltimore, the USA.
In a place of honor at my room are kept a handmade medal for a participant in the Odessa-Baltimore voyage and an American commemorative medal made of copper from the USS Constellation's cannon, as well as other commemorative signs.
The knight of the brush Claude Monet created in 1874 an innovative work "Impression. Sunrise".
The artist's style was unusual, but this is how one could capture the momentary in eternity, "catch the elusive."
The world is rapidly changing.
We don't have many years in spare.
And it depends on all of us which etudes "Sunrise" or "Sunset" will become the prototype of the New picture of the world.
I like idea of ;;training the future leaders of the New Era.
It is clear that they will need new ideas for the image of the future.
For more than 25 years I have been developing a new paradigm of development, which I presented in my philosophical books and topical essays on "Comprehensive society and economics", or in the picture of the world "Era of Eden".
The ideas and conclusions of my books and articles are especially relevant now, when humanity is charting a new course to the better future.
I hope that some of the young leaders will become a co-creator of a new civilization of the "Gardens of Eden", in which "everyone cooperates with everyone" instead of the "Wild Forest" civilization that has exhausted itself, in which "everyone is at war with everyone."
I hope I will find time to write a compelling story or adventure movie script about this unforgettable transoceanic voyage. Especially if there will be support from sponsors.
In the meantime, it turned out to be such a short but sincere etude.
This legendary voyage will forever remain in my memory as a lesson in courage, which forged future brave seafarers from 19-year-old marine romantics, capable of keeping the true course in the ocean of life, despite hurricanes and undercurrents.
Good voyage for everyone!
Link to my articles: http://proza.ru/avtor/zherebilove