Portraits of Russia: Nikolai, boatswain

Nikolai Mikhailovich Kozlov - senior boatswain sailboat "Sedov". This four -masted bark is the world's largest sailing ship. He was launched in water in 1921 in Germany, after the war he was transferred to the ownership of the USSR, and after the collapse of the Union they overtook Riga to Murmansk. Shortly before that, Nikolai Kozlov became a member of the Sedov team.

About the sea

I have two older brothers became sailors. One, now deceased, died at sea, walked in the trade fleet, the second in Rybnaya. And I, looking at them ... I first entered the University of Gomel at the Faculty of History, and then, without graduating from the first year, went to sea. The story remained like a hobby only. He went to the fish fleet, to the Riga base of the trawl fleet. Then he transferred to the Baltic detachment of school courts, which was at this base, and in this Baltic detachment, which included Sedov at one time, continued to work further. And so the chain of events brought me to the "Sedov".

Photo: Daria Mityaeva/Publicpost

About the profession of a boatswain

We have not been taught anywhere on a sailing boatswain. I just studied at the boatswain in 1985, in Riga, working on fishing ships. On a sailing boatswain - already by practice, trial and error. Just as they are not taught to sailing sailors now, although this profession is peculiar, differs from the sailors who walk in the trading fleet.

The boatswain is a work that requires a peculiar nature. Even from old sailors, not everyone will pull the boatswains. One must be tough in relation to all, even friends, tough in relation to work, but at the same time diplomatic with the same old sailors. If you take our sailboat, you need to know well sailing weapons, a rank, troove, to know the device of the ship, not theoretically, but almost crawl through all the holds, kofferdams, by all tanks, interned and ballast, to know where these tanks are, that they are where the problems arise. When you pass more than one repair on this ship, you will recognize all the sores, all the problems, then, probably, you will be a boatswain.

About the team

Unfortunately, youth, unfortunately, is now coming to the fleet, to sailboats, especially to our sailboat. The whole question is in the salary. Those who have romance somewhere who came, tried-they remain. If you take a deck team, we have been working 70 percent for more than ten years. I have been working here for the 24th year.

Photo: Daria Mityaeva/Publicpost

The decking team we have, in fact, constant. If we change, then one or two people, and that’s all. Now, let's say, there will be repairs, new sailors will come for repairs, because the old ones should go on vacation. If some regular place is released after the repair, then from these sailors who will be on the repair, someone will go to this regular place, but the best will go, of course. If he works for me, for example, in a deck team, then I myself will take a closer look at him, then we decide with the Starpom and with the captain whether to take it or not take it. And so the team is selected. Some come, the flight has departed - and leave. Someone likes to walk in the trading fleet, someone in fishermen, some unusual sails are unusual, they cannot master. Differently. But there were two cases when businessmen were tourists, after that they did marine documents, and they have a business separately, and they go to the sea like sailors and work.

If the cadets are already coming now, then they know what they need, what their life is waiting ahead, that they need to get a smell, get a good recommendation to work somewhere to work somewhere. Not the way they came before: here I will go this practice here, and then I will play the guitar in the "polar dawns". Now they are suitable in a different way, more practical. Romance comes later - many cadets will go on practice here, leave, and a year later, after two you meet: “Nikolai Mikhailovich, as you want to come back to the ship,” but there are no more possibilities. Maybe this is romance.

About the market

In the 60-70s, the ship stood for a long time on restoration repairs in Kronstadt. The question was decided, to leave it or cut it into needles. One hundred captains of long -distance voyage and professors of naval schools wrote a letter to the Party Central Committee on to preserve it. But while all this was being decided, the ship, in fact, was dispersed. Not like a bell, Fok-Roya lost somewhere in the crossings from one parking to another. We have a new foc-ray, it was made on the model in those days. And, of course, the bell also disappeared somewhere. There were many military vessels at the Kronstadt plant, and some details from there, from the military ships that were written off, acquired. But the bell could not be purchased and decided to steal. There was such a senior boatswain Yakubovich, he looked at the bell from the fireman Kalanchi at the Marine Plant. This bell was church. They chose a day off and began to shoot a bell. The director of the plant passes, and immediately the question: "What are you doing here?" And the boatswain was so sharp in the tongue, resourceful, he says: "Yes, the head of the workshop ordered the bell to remove, so we take off on the weekend, but he does not want to pay." And for any director of the plant, the payment issue is a problematic question. He: "Take off, take off, pay everything." And quickly left the conversation. The director did not have time to leave - the head of the workshop goes: "What are you doing?" - "Yes, the director of the plant ordered the bell. Here we take off ..." - "Take off, remove." So the bell was removed. If you look at him, he has a purely church stroke. There, as they say, there was still a ligature, the inscription of the church, it was cut off on a lathe. The bell’s voice was very beautiful, and then, when they drilled and the inscription “Sedov” was nailed, that is, they violated the bell constructively with drilling, the voice did not change a little for the better. And so - a church bell on the nose of the ship.

Photo: Daria Mityaeva/Publicpost

About Captain Mitrofanov and cigarettes

Pyotr Sergeyevich Mitrofanov was a captain for many years, thanks to his efforts, the ship was preserved. In the early 90s, he died, he was cremated and, by testament, the ashes were handed over to the ship so that we buried it in the southern Bisemai. He himself indicated the coordinates. The ashes were in the cabin, in the urn, and for a long time we could not go out, we did not succeed in flights. And then we went out, there was a transition to Meditoga, we passed. Before that, it was stormed, but on the day of the burial - it calmed down, such a helmet weather, the sea was mirrored. Sminali boat, a mourning rally, all, made a burial. After that they starred, then we went. At night, it was a little new, and in the morning, about 10 hours at 10 hours, the excitement went on the deck-the cigarettes sailed. Suddenly, packs of cigarettes, blocks, boxes swim over the sea. And everyone began to catch cigarettes. And this is 1991, remember what the problems were in the state - and with cigarettes too. Well, we shake the boat and began to collect boxes by sea. We got into the drift, the boxes that sailed, tried to catch, everyone was interested in general. They caught cigarettes. For each person on board, regardless of what he smokes, he does not smoke, 12 blocks of Winston cigarettes, American cigarettes, and American cadets. And we said among ourselves that Peter Sergeyevich was an avid smoker, and how we buried him, so he sent us in gratitude for this as a gift.

About the circle

This is the first time in around the world. So everything had to walk on their seas.

Here literally every entry is peculiar. The ship everywhere aroused very great interest, many people wanted to visit the ship. And in general, every entry, literally no matter what, brings many impressions. Each city is peculiar. The same man, which seems to be a vain and dirty city, nevertheless, interesting. It is difficult to say which one is better. The most exotic impression is, of course, Tahiti. By cleanliness and order are Nagasaki. Hong Kong is a huge metropolis compressed from all sides, beautiful, especially from the sea, but very unusual, too civilized. It is difficult to say about the rest.

Photo: Daria Mityaeva/Publicpost

I would like to get to Easter Island and the island of St. Helena. Here are two islands where I would like to be. I hope that we will get in the next roundabout. I am interested in the civilization that was on Easter Island. The tour Heyerdal brought the signs from there, encrypted, which cannot decipher. To go to the island of St. Helena - to see Bonaparte's grave. In general, there are a lot of interesting things on Earth, you will not get off with one circulation.

About history

I collect all the papers that are associated with the ship, created an archive in which all the papers, unnecessary in work. I'm trying to sort them. There are many interesting documents since Soviet times. The same work plans, training on the ship - as previously carried out, and now. Orders, the surnames who sound there, those people who have already been retired for the captains for a long time. It is interesting to sit with the old sailors, look through, read, recall. This is an archive that will remain on the ship even after us.

Much has changed. I will tell you that if you take the Baltic detachment of school courts, it was a very good detachment where there were five commercial ships, one educational and transport, and at first, during the organization of this detachment, two sailboats-Kruzenshtern and Sedov. And then Kruzenshtern was transferred to Tallinn, and in Riga there was only one "Sedov". There were very large achievements in the educational practice of cadets. And when the ship was transferred to the University of Murmansk, it was just the collapse of the Union, the collapse of all established traditions, there were disputes and claims from Latvia. Nobody transferred the training base, there was no possibility of picking up it. And the university had to restore everything, to start all, in fact, from scratch. They received a ship, but there was no methodology. And the new one differs from that, sometimes, we will say so, not for the better. They lost a lot of good with the collapse of the Union.

About the photo

I used to attract landscapes, sea landscapes. And then, after years, you are reviewing old photos - landscapes, in fact, remained, and the faces of people have already left. Therefore, I am now more interested in persons. This is not like portraits, but people in work. I take off so that they do not pose, so that the faces remain for the story. These photos also remain in the archive.

When I go to the masts, I also take a digitalist with me-to shoot some complex places that should be explained in words, show the boatswains. Now it’s very convenient, you don’t have to go upstairs together, I went upstairs, made control, photographed, went down - and that’s it. So the camera is with you all the time.

About the working day

In the morning I do not like to rush, so I get up exactly on the rise or a little earlier. In the morning, before the divorce of cadets, I collect boatswains on the bridges. The captain comes, the old man, they set the task for the day, explain what awaits us, I set the task for working for the boatswain, who needs what to do on what mast, the same - carpenters and a sailing master. We solve the working issues - where to remove the sail for repair, which tackle to change. And after that, as all the working issues were resolved, we are building cadets on a small tidy. After the tidy, the workflow begins - either for working with sails, with the rigging, or with painting the vessel, with restoring order. If sailing marshmallows do not distract. And sailing marshmallows are also a workflow, such a one who is knocked out of the rhythm, but necessary. Some issues with maintenance personnel are resolved. As such, the end of the working day is not, all daylight hours are a working day.

Photo: Daria Mityaeva/Publicpost

We only have an emergency night work of night work or a sailing an emergency or night. Well, of course, mooring, anchor production, anchor removal. But this is all clear, this is a sea business, so there can be no contradictions there. It is a little inconvenient to wake up at night, of course, but on the next working day the schedule does not change. Even if we got up at night, worked for two hours, then in the morning at 7 o’clock the rise - and continue to work. Nobody will change the daily routine due to the night work, this is pampering.

About "console"

"Consolation" is the first sailing yacht in Russia with an iron building. It was built in 1898, at first it belonged to Count Olsufiev, then to some merchant, I don’t remember exactly already, somewhere I have recorded, and now its body is at the dacha at some businessman, he supposedly restores it. And we have masts with this "consolation", wooden flagpoles, which are on the masts the upper part. How old they are - I do not know, the memory of our friends did not save this.

At the Svetlovsky factory, when we were repairs, the old, broken yal, four were lying, and with the permission of the director of the plant, I took this yal - just an hour before the ship departure from there he allowed me. And I now keep this yal in a circle -lighting with the permission of the captain on board and restore. Almost already restored, in the infirmary he lies with me, well, there is still a little work there. Now a big transition will begin - and again I will work with it - all the lunch breaks with Yal and after work all daylight hours with Yal. It will turn out the sailing yal "consolation". With a mast, with sails. The sailing master promised me to sew the sails normal, so that it is on the Neva, walk on Ladog. Walk through the Old Ladoga channels - there is such a dream. Well, do not sit the sailor at home on the shore, right?

About the house

I, in fact, come home to pay bills for the apartment. Paid - and left. I come twice a year-somewhere in the month of June and after the New Year. My neighbors not everyone know me, I rarely appear. Now I am counting on vacation after circulation, when there will be a mushroom season. To pick mushrooms in the forest is another hobby of mine.

When I stayed for a month or two on the shore, I would like to go back to work, to the ship. He took the mushrooms - and on the sailboat back to work. If the house is where you spend more time, then the ship is a house. We come to the shore just relax, look a little and go back to the ship.

We thank for help in organizing an interview with a video operator Sailor "Sedov" Alexanda Kucheruk.