Life On Board

Sailing on Shtandart gives you a unique opportunity to personally experience the life of an 18^th century sailor. At the same time, in spite of being a replica of the 18^th century frigate, Shtandart offers modern levels of comfort and safety.

At sea

Upon arrival on the ship, each person is assigned to a watch. There are three watches. They are named after the frigate’s masts: Fore mast watch, Main mast watch, and Mizzen mast watch. Watch changes happen every four hours. During watch time you will get an opportunity to act as a lookout or a helmsman, you will learn how to work with the sails, and develop various maritime skills under the supervision of our experienced instructors.

After four hours of active duty, your watch becomes the stand-by watch for the next 4 hours. During the stand-by watch, you can take part in the ship’s maintenance work and, if necessary, help the active watch. Four hours after this is your rest time.

When Shtandart is in port, crew members welcome local guests and visitors on board. The Watchman on the gangway answers multiple questions and has a wonderful opportunity to meet new people and practice languages.

When in port, the crew also carries out maintenance work which would be difficult to do during sailing. All the off-duty crew members can have a nice shore break and enjoy sightseeing. There are sometimes festivals, celebrations, parties, or other activities to enjoy during our port visits.

Cleaning and cooking

At sea and in port those on kitchen duty help prepare the meals under the watchful eye of the quartermaster. Even if you can’t cook, there will always be something for you to do, and by the end of the trip you’ll be sure to leave with a new set of skills.

Under typical sailing conditions, the crew receives four meals a day. The standard menu consists of familiar home-cooked dishes, including porridge, soups, vegetable salads, side dishes of cereals and pasta, and main courses featuring fish, meat, and poultry. We can accommodate specific dietary preferences or restrictions such as vegetarian diets or allergy considerations. Sailors with special dietary requirements are encouraged to actively participate in the preparation of their meals.

Every morning after the flag rising ceremony the crew cleans the decks and the living quarters.

The first Russian Maritime Code of 1720 paid a lot of attention to the ship-husbandry requirements and procedures.

This is what it said: “Ships are to be cleaned and scrubbed on all days. Windows between all decks are to be open as often as the time will allow. The insides as well as the outside will be swept and washed every morning and evening.”

Shtandart follows this tradition religiously!

And deck-cleaning in the company of good friends very quickly becomes a fun thing to do!

Shtandart timetable:

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