(including tall ships and very large lakes).
At least one MBer has recently run away to sea and returned; others have dabbled in matters maritime and notions nautical; still others just like reading about them. Here’s a place to talk about the whole watery Weltanschauung.
Do small sailboats count? I’ve never really been on a boat/ship longer than about 30 feet, but I’ve spent quite a bit of time on those.
This thread has the promise of being EPIC. Thankyouthankyouthankyou to the GAPAs! *hugs and heaps of choklit*
Anyway.
Ships are, quite simply put, amazing. Small boats are nice too, they’re good for learning how to see waves and understanding the principles of sailing, and therefore lots of fun as well in their own way.
However, I still prefer big ships, preferably square riggers.
Barquentines have got to be one of the most hideous rigs though, please forgive me if you’re a fan of them, but why not just have a schooner? Or a barque?! But to have a barquentine is just….well, I’ve never sailed on one, so I can’t say. They just look weird to me. *boat geek*
~Fiddler
2- Ooh, I saw a picture of a barquentine once. It was so bizarre.
3~ Exactly, it’s a downright strange looking rig. They always look unbalanced.
I wonder where my infamous shrouds post was…on some movies thread somewhere, but I don’t know which one or where.
Next year I’d like to be an apprentice on the Niagara if I can, and stay for most of the season, if not all…several months. I’d really like to do that. Next year is going to be exciting on the great lakes too though, with the tall ships challenge going on there, the race that goes through ALL of the lakes. Wow! that would be incredible.
I’d also like to sail on other ships, and go in the ocean, not just the great lakes (which are incredible as well).
It would be unbelievably amazing to sail on a ship that goes all around the world, like the Picton Castle or Europa or something. *drool* Though those are both steel hulled, not to mention of nationalities other than the United States. *sigh*
But maybe.
I’d like to sail and get up sea time.
I don’t know if I’d make a full time career of it, but who knows? When I start thinking about sailing again I really, really miss it. I wonder if I can do anything in Baltimore over the winter, there are some ships there…..hmm. There’s probably a lot of maintenance going on in the winter.
This all reminds me, I need to get some carharts….*wanders off in pursuit*
Was this the shrouds post you were thinking of ?
4.1~ That’s the one! Funny, I had remembered it as being a lot longer than that…..eh, whatever.
I had some fun thinking about that as I hung onto the shrouds at an elevation of 100 and some feet while tossing in about 5 foot swells clipping and unclipping my harness. Och, what fun that was! Oh yes, I’d love to go out on the seas, where 5 foot swells are pathetic. *imagines* *is slightly terrified but still wants to do it*
Sounds wonderful. Right now, I’d give almost anything just to look at the ocean. *feeling disgustedly inland and ready to run away to sea* One morning I’m going to get up early enough to make it worthwhile to drive the four hours for a day trip to the coast so I can walk on the beach and breathe deeply until I have to turn around and drive home. Every night I fall asleep to a recording of waves, but nothing can take the place of the smell or the air or the sand between my toes as the water rushes over them.
I actually have The Arts of the Sailor now. I’d completely forgotten the book recommendations.
5.1~ Now I’m feeling positively sick with longing to be on the water again, to smell it, feel it all over, hear it, and just have the presence of a large body of water that you can somehow just know is there.
*sigh*
I need to see what I can do involving ships this fall and winter. It is a need, not just a desire, like other things. It’s a need just like music or air.
Or Carhartts, but that’s different.
Goodnight everyone, I shall return.
While I was on vacation, one of the towns I passed through was having a maritime heritage festival with four tall ships: Denis Sullivan, Friends Good Will, Madeline, and the Red Witch. Three schooners and a sloop! I saw only one of them tied up, though — the Madeline, I think.
Am I the only one who’s sick of the ocean? I suppose so. Don’t get me wrong, I generally enjoy it, but I snorkeled for two hours and 1.7 miles this afternoon, and by the time I got out, I was ready to go far, far, away from the ocean and not come back for some hours. The trouble is, that’s so hard to do when you’re staying in a beachside condo in Hawaii. Not that I’m complaining. I’m sure I’ll be glad to be near the ocean by tomorrow morning, but I’m never snorkeling that far again.
I suppose this isn’t really related to ships, but it is related to the Sea, so there.
9) Wow, a beachside condo in HAWAII??
I haven’t been sailing on the high seas (yet), but I have been sailing around in little 4-20s on the lake.
Yeah. One of those hotels with stacks of privately owned condos that rents them out, actually. Can’t say exactly where, for my own safety, of course. My dad’s parents invited us.
8- A sloop or a brig? Reading about the navy has hopelessly confused me as to those two terms. A sloop-of-war is a brig, so does that mean that sloop and brig are now interchangeable, or have they re-separated?
I hope to do sail training on the Niagara next year, as well as return to the Adventuress as an apprentice. I was all excited about the Lynx, but then I realized that they maroon you in Hawaii, and I got considerably less excited.
Fiddler– The sailing world is a very small one, I believe, and therefore, if we both make careers out of this (as I am certainly considering), we’re liable to run into each other eventually. This is not to say I’m not still crossing my fingers for a kokon on the Niagara next summer, of course.
I went on an Outward Bound sailing course this summer – 28 days off the coast of Maine. Every day, we jumped into the frigid water for a dip and then got back into our 30-foot pulling boat. On the way up, the water got colder every day of course, and at the tip of our adventure, we had to walk into the 50-degree water on a beach – my feet hurt with every step when I got out, it was that cold and that painful. But on the way down, the water got warmer… on a 60-degree water day, I got back in just because it felt so nice.
The weather was cold and foggy and drizzly and foggy. And the wind was rarely strong enough – we rowed A LOT. We slept every night on the boat, except for our 4day/3night solos on an island. The trip was a lot of fun, really tough, and incredibly crazy!
Oh, and we didn’t shower until the very last day. We were lucky they even let us use a real bathroom twice. Flushing the toilet was AMAZING!!! Because normally we’d just go right over the side of the boat, or in the bucket and dump it. XD
We got lots of free stuff, I guess because we looked so pathetic. People from other boats would throw cookies and snack bars and fruit and trail mix at us. It was great! But the food on the boat was good too – always made from scratch with the supplies we carried with us.
I miss the sea, I really do. I’d love to run off and join a schooner… and play my cello, of course.
In college there is a program to do a semester at Sea.
This summer I was by the seashore for a week. I love diving through waves and beach combing. My friend once found a rusted pocket watch on the beach. What have you found beach combing?
One summer tall ships came near where I live and we went to go look at them. I loved standing on the deck and feeling the way the ship moved on the water.
Thank you for this thread, GAPAs!
11~ A brig is a certain type of rig, with fore and aft sails (your typical small sailboat is technically a “Marconi Sloop” as far as I can tell) I believe. A brig is another type of rig, like the NIagara, with two masts, setting square sails on both of those along with a spanker, or a fore and aft sail on the main (rear) mast, as well as staysails in between.
I don’t know about the sloop-of-war term, though I think Constellation was called that, and she’s a ship rig! (Three masts, squares on all and fore and afts on the mizzen [furthest aft mast].) Now I’m all confused too.
I don’t know if I want to make a full career out of sailing, but I would certainly like to do more of it. *wistful sigh*
12~ Huh, but you got to go swimming every day! That’s nice. Pray tell, what boat was this?
I know what you mean about cold water, when I was on the Zodiac we went swimming a few times and it was COLD, 40, 50, 60 degrees or so I guess.
Just this summer a friend who joined us on the Niagara had been on the Bowdoin in the arctic, and talked about swimming there….brr. *shivers*
I am feeling ship withdrawal. I would like to go do something on a ship. Just about anything at this point, even sanding and painting if that’s what needs to be done. Even on a schooner if need be.
I wonder what’s going on in Baltimore…..hmm……..
I compiled a list of some ships on the East Coast (staying local, y’know?) that I’d like to look up and see what’s up with them. *is pondering how to get back on a ship for the fall and winter months, even if not sailing*
I went sailing today. Now this should be wonderful and everything, and it was while I was sailing, but in retrospect it was not a very intelligent thing to do. I always do these things without thinking and then when I think about them later I realize how unwise they are.
I went down to see the guy with the sailboat and we talked for a while and then he asked me if I was prepared to go sailing. I said sure, let’s go sailing, and so we sailed across the river and back, and it was fun. Then my mother called, because I’d been gone for like three or four hours, and asked where I was and I said “I sailed across the river” and she was thrilled and she said “How many people were there?” and I was like “Just me and [boat guy’s name]” and she was kind of taken aback. And he really didn’t seem creepy at all, just kind of nautical and British, and I’ve met him before with Mother and he gave me a boat newspaper, but nonetheless it occurred to me that I probably shouldn’t have gone sailing with an almost complete stranger before Mother had OK’d it. And I’m the sensible one!
So my horror at my own thoughtlessness is kind of overpowering my glee at finally going sailing. It was fun though. It was a trimaran.
And now I’m over it. And I think I’m on a crew too… Yay!
14 – It was a 30-foot pulling boat, just called “Pulling Boat 16”. It had a main and mizzen and oars if there wasn’t enough wind. We usually meandered at 3 knots, but got up to 6 on an amazingly favorable tack. And we rowed everyday – I mean, we only three days that had absolutely no rowing.
Ha, on our first day, we had to do a capsize drill. The water was hypothermic (as always) and it was windy and rainy. But we capsized it alright, spent about 10 minutes in the water. And then we had to try to sail in gusts of 30 to 40 knots, which is too much for our little boat, and especially on our first day when we had no idea even how to sail.
And the swimming every day – that’s not such a great thing. You wake up at 0530, you get your sleeping bag put away unless you want it to get wet, you roll back the sleeping tarp, you jump in, you get out. You’re freezing cold. You put on as many warm layers and probably your Foul Weather Gear (we looked like yellow rubber duckies!), you hope there’s a warm breakfast but there probably isn’t, and then you get stowed and get sailing.
Night watch was amazing too. Granted, I didn’t see the moon and stars until like the 14th night because it was always foggy, but to just sit out on the head and be completely alone except for the stars is just a wonderful feeling.
And I got freaked out by (what we think was) a curious Mickey Whale one night/morning… at 1 am, I hear this heavy puff of breath and I’m like “OH MY GOD IT’S THE MONSTER OF THE BLACK LAGOON… … … … Wait, I did NOT just think that…”
*tee hee*
17~ Ohh, night and morning watches, best ones ever. Night watch is good because if you’re a night owl (like me) chances are you didn’t have to be woken up for it, and then once you get off at 0300 you’re free to sleep all day (unless you’re going through locks, then you’re woken up with everyone else and expected to work until everything is done or they can spare you to go below and collapse).
But morning watch, that’s amazing. Woken up at 0230, stumbling topside while pulling multiple layers of clothes, and trying to stay awake until the sunrise and breakfast. Getting to do a deckwash as the sun comes up, standing with pants rolled up to the knee shivering as the firehose blasts frigid water at you, smelling breakfast and woodsmoke in the air as the galley stove starts up….mmmmm.
The swimming does sound rather harsh, though after not bathing for five days or so just about anything would be a nice change.
16~ On a crew? Are you going sailing again? That’s exciting!
Hm, watch. We had anchor watch, which was simply an hour every night and then everyone was awake during the day. It sounds easy, but if you’ve got the 1100-1200 watch, you have to wake up fully after only an hour of sleep, which I found practically impossible. I think at one point I had three people waking me up at once. Then I hit my head on a beam, which did the trick.
19~ There are different kinds of watches during the night when underway, at anchor or on the dock.
The watch on duty during the night splits up for anchor or dock watches, sometimes one person, sometimes two at a time. There are also different things you have to do while on anchor or dock watch.
Anchor watch you need to do bilge checks and take bearings to make sure you’re not dragging anchor.
On dockwatch you do bilge checks and go off the ship to check for docklines and fenders and make sure no one boards who shouldn’t. Those watches are usualy one or two hours long at any time of the night.
When underway the entire on-duty watch comes up for four hours (in the modified Swedish watch system) during the night, so from 1100 to 0300 and then 0300 to 0700. While underway the on-duty watch is doing sail handling, lookout (two people at a time in the dark), helm and bilge checks, or idling midships waiting for orders and rotations.
Anchor and dockwatches are both a blessing and a curse, since you have to wake up for only one hour and then go back to sleep, but on the other hand you don’t have nearly as much to do on those watches and they’re short, so you get more time off. (Since if you’re on the on-duty watch, but not on-watch at that time all you have to do is be on or near the ship, but sleeping or whatever you want to do, if that makes sense.)
Underway watches are much more tiring and your days and schedule off the ship get wacky , but they make more sense in the context of the ship.
I want to go sailing now after hearing all of your stories.
Fiddler- When you applied for the Niagara, did you get to choose when you went, or did they tell you when you had to go?
22~ The application has a place where you write down the arrival and departure dates you wish. I’m sure that we can figure out a time to both be on board at the same time.
21~ Then you should! It’s amazing fun.
I miss it so much. *sigh*
23- Oh yes! I wasn’t as worried about not being on at the same time as you, though I suppose that could be an issue. I was more worried about not being able to fit all my stuff into one summer.
At any rate, I can’t even find their application. -sigh-
24~ I think they just changed their website (from “brigniagara” to “flagshipniagara”), so they’re still putting things up.
Hmm, just checked. Under “flagship Niagara” click on “sailing adventure”, then on “Download mail-in registration form” and it should get you the PDF to print out and mail in.
25- It’s not working… Another thing. Did you need a passport?
26~ I did, because we went out to Canada, and they require a passport when entering by sea. (Or lake, I suppose in this case.
)
So I’ve been absent from the blog for quite some time, and I’m caught up in school/college admissions stuff, but this thread is worth taking some time out to post on.
Onto the small boat side of things! I went to Nationals a few weeks ago, as foredeck crew on our juniors triplehanded team. The town we stayed in was amazing- so old (the house we stayed in was from 1708), small, and friendly. And rich, that was nice too. So many yachts! Anyway, we sailed out in the ocean, in Rhodes 19s (not a favorite boat), in conditions ranging from flat and calm to upwards of 20 knots and 6 ft. swells. (We did much better in the heavier conditions, when it was calm we were in last, when it was gnarly we placed 3rd).
At nationals I also saw a Mr. Rich Wilson speak about his Vendée Globe experience. The Vendée Globe is an around the world singlehanded race, French in origin, that takes about 3 to 4 months. It is the most extreme sailing anything I have heard of in a long time. You must water a helmet to sleep, as the boat is constantly slamming into waves, and you can only sleep in 75 minute intervals. about 30 boats started, and only 10 finished- these were mostly brand new carbon fiber ships too, about 60 ft long with 90 ft. masts.
The Niagara sounds like a great opportunity, I hope you sail on it one day Alice! Maybe I will too. I might also race in the Marblehead NOOD regatta next year, and the Halifax to Marblehead after that, if I’m really lucky.
I missed the sunfish race around Shelter Island, I’ll have to do that next year, and Buzzard’s Bay too. Lots to look forward to!
PS- Yes, most smaller boats have Marconi rigs, with the notable exceptions of Catboats, Optis, and Sunfish (locally, anyway), which have gaff, sprit, and lanteen rigs.
28~ That sounds awesome! Small boats are fun. I’d like to have a chance to play with our sailboat sometime. It’s about 16′ long and sails about as well as a bathtub, but it’s better than nothing. I like the Flying Scots….mmmmm, beautiful boats. *drools*
And RE: small boat rigs, the Niagara’s cutter 2 has lugsails, which were most interesting to sail with. They have to be dipped and the yard lowered each time we tack of wear. (“Jibe” as most people would say now.)
29- Yeah, all the qualifiers were in Flying Scots, the only issue I have with them is the strange wire halyard system. They’re planable downwind though!
). Does the same apply to tacking?
The cutter 2 sounds very interesting, I’m not quite sure what you mean by needing to lower the yard to gybe (as I spell it
30~ Hmm, how is their halyard system? I haven’t actually sailed one, and I’m not too familiar with small marconi-rig boats…
Yes, whenever we tacked or wore (gybe/jibe). Because the lugsails hang down from a yard (as opposed to a gaff boom) and part of that yard projects forward of the mast, it needs to be dipped (swung to the other side of the mast) each time you come on a new tack. We’d pass the sheet around and get ready to catch the sail, then lower the yard and swing the forward part aft and to the other side of the mast, hoist the yard again while hauling aft the sheet and then belay the halyard on the windward side of the boat (we’d have to pass the halyard over each time too). It was interesting, because with the halyard on the windward side it accomplished several things; it made a shroud of sorts to support the mast (the masts came up or down, so they were only clamped in, no support to the sides or fore-and-aft) and it, obviously, kept the sail from chafing on it and spilling wind.
It was quite interesting and loads of fun. Entirely preferable to rowing, though that was fun too, for the first ten minutes or so with Emily as stroke oar. I’ll say this, we went fast, but expletive it hurt!
I’ve talked to Mother about the Niagara, and she’s all for it. I suppose I should improve my swimming skills, eh? And get a passport. How does one get a passport?
Also, I hate the pool. Ugh.
32~ That’s grand!
I know, I hate swimming laps with a bloody passion. I do like to swim though, just for the fun of it.
I love swimming laps. I just get into a groove and keep going. It’s very meditational and relaxed. As much as I love ocean and lakes, except for the chlorine, I prefer swimming in a pool where I don’t have to watch out for waves or rip tides or fish nor worry about heading out in the wrong direction.
33.1~ I can see where you’re coming from. But for me swimming laps was pure torture; being totally incompetent and receiving no guidance, even when I asked for it, feeling as though everyone else in the pool was laughing behind their hands at me, even though in reality they probably didn’t even notice us there.
I prefer to just float or body surf, sometimes splash around and just have fun, and look at the natural wonders of lakes, oceans and rivers. Just me I guess. *shrug*
I can understand your feeling that way under the circumstances. I could swim before I could walk, according to my parents. I lived across the street from the ocean the first year or so of my life. I did have to unlearn a lot of bad habits when I was on swim team, though. Even some small tweaks can make a big difference between a limp, ineffecient stroke and a sturdy, powerful one. It’s really not that hard if you have a good teacher. It’s also a valuable skill to develop — not only if you’re a sailor — and really can be fun, I promise. Also a great way to exercise without getting hot and sweaty.
I can swim, but laps bore me to tears. The ultimate agony is sharing a lane with another swimmer. Like Fiddler, I’d rather fool around like a kid.
I’ve always loved swimming underwater. I used to skim the bottom of the pool, pretending to be a manta ray. Not much opportunity for that in adult swim sessions.
Oooh, I did the manta ray, too! Such fun. And all kinds of underwater noise-making experiments. Army-Navy had a big L-shaped pool, and my brothers and I would get as far apart as we could and communicate in beeps. At the lake, we’d drive my mom crazy because we’d disappear for ages underwater. My kingdom (or queendom) was beneath the surface.
Sharing a lane isn’t bad if the other person knows proper etiquette. If they don’t, yeah, I share your horror. I like the fooling around, but ultimately I get bored and want to actually swim.
I’m the one who doesn’t know the etiquette. You don’t want to share a lane with me! I’m an aquatic nightmare. (“The giant manta ray glides across the continental shelf. Who will be his prey?”)
32- Do you not have a passport at all or is yours just expired? Your parents can do the paperwork, but you’ll have to go in to get photographed at the nearest photo store.
Sometimes it can be done at Post Office too, but while it’ really easy there, they might only do that at certain times. Also once you have one, renewing is pretty simple. Getting a new one take a while.
Re: swimming: I have been afraid of getting my head wet for as long as I can remember. Until I was six or seven, washing my hair was the worst punishment anyone could imagine because I had to dump water over my hair. (Then I realized that I could lean back in the tub and get my head wet to the hairline without endangering my mouth or nose, so washing my hair wasn’t so bad after that.) But swimming was kind of an issue because of that. Also, I had somewhat traumatic experiences with swimming lessons and instructors that would dunk me repeatedly without warning to get me used to it. So I didn’t actually learn to swim until I was eleven.
And then my parents gave me swimming lessons and I was the only twelve-year-old in a class of seven-year-olds who could swim circles around me.
Since then, I’ve sort of just dealt. I can swim all right, but only if I’m not putting my nose in the water. And especially at the pool, where it’s all full of chlorine.
Slightly nautical related, because the river in question flowed to the sea: We lived near a big river that was tidal so one time we went squelching around in the mud with some other village kids. They had brought tubes and boards and things, so they would put them in the mid-calf deep mud and then run and slide on them. That looked fun, but we didn’t have enough time to try it. The only problem was that you could wash off all the mud in the river, but then you had to go back through it (which had sharp rocks in it, ow!) to get to the beach.
Robert, you should be ashamed of yourself, I almost suffocated with giggles when I read that. I’m sure you make a properly terrifying giant manta ray, and I’ll heed your advice not to share a lane.
Swimming underwater (and especially gliding along the bottom) is one of the best things to do in water though, I completely agree. Adult swim sessions must be the most boring and horrendous thing ever (or close to anyway) if they don’t let you do that without getting strange looks. *sigh* Oh adults, they’re too often consumed by grow-up stuffiness. Poor dears, remind me never to become one.
Where we used to swim as kids, the adults had their own pool. As far as I could tell, they didn’t do anything but splash themselves occasionally and baste in the sun on deck chairs (sunbathing is the ultimate in boredom in my view). My mom and I called it “seal rock.” For that reason, I could hardly wait till I was old enough to be allowed in (16, I think), because the pool was all but empty, and I could swim and use the diving board without competition from hordes of screaming children.
I LOVE swimming underwater, especially when it’s reasonably clear so one can see what’s on the bottom.
38.1~ Oh, sunbathing. Who wouldn’t want to lie around when there’s water nearby, simply baking themselves and doing absolutely nothing?! Ultimate boredom indeed. I love the “seal rock” that describes it so wonderfully!
Those are good reasons to look forward to the adult pool though, if the adults were simply in a dull stupor and ignoring the pool and you had it to yourself.
Robert: Gliding around underwater is the best. Though in my lake where it’s all murky it’s more fun to be a sea monster for ambushes.
Though perhaps soon I will experiment more with squid-like undulations.
I was a sea monster my first summer after college, while working at a boys’ day camp. (My job was teaching arts and crafts, but I also helped out with swimming.) I probably looked the part, rising from the depths to stand at full height with all my hair swept forward over my face in long, dripping ropes, and two or three boys dangling from each arm.
I can just see that. Mustve been fun!
40.1~ That’s awesome!
Ooh, and while we’re on the topic of underwater swimming techniques, does anyone else do the corkscrew thing? It’s quite fun.
You mean twisting as you swim? There are also some synchronized swimming moves that are kind of corkscrewish.
Has anyone done synchronized swimming? It’s a somewhat bizarre practice, but some of the moves are very cool indeed. I especially enjoyed the one where you float along on your back and then suddenly fold in half and sink beneath the surface, snapping shut like a clam.
Meh, I miss the sea too. I’ve never sailed on a tall ship, being a cruiser like Armada. Why do I have to live in a landlocked country! I miss cruising too; now I only sail every summer. Yes, I sound like a spoilt brat, but I’ve been cruising since I was 1 year old. </rants, complains and whines
I love the sea! In particular sailing… especially in a Shields. I found an abandoned Shields at the dock that the dock owners were going to toss and offered to clean it up so they could rent it in exchange for free use and now I’m stuck with a problem: How do I remove the barnacle- encrusted rudder from the ship (I mean barnacle encrusted as in, it drags behind the boat and sometimes catches fish), which is below my reach over the side, without capsizing the boat? Swimming under it is out of the question due to a population of rather unfriendly sea lions in the vicinity. They have, on occasion, been known to utilize the abundant sea squirts at the docks to fend off unwanted intruders, and I have no wish to be bitten, thumped, or squirted. Ideas? So far I am attempting to build a sort of hook-on ladder that will stay on the rear of the boat. Limited success thus far and a lot of unlooked-for water in my nose. Please advise.
41.1~ I don’t really know how to describe it, other than going under the surface and propelling oneself by violently twisting in a corkscrew sort of motion and nothing else. It’s fun.
That’s what I thought you meant. And yes, it’s fun.
MF- Lug sails sound a tad tedious, but thanks for explaining! The halyard becomes stay system is neat. The Flying Scot has a rather bizarre wire halyard system, I suppose to keep things neat, but it just gets fouled up and broken. There’s a winch box, to which the winch handle comes off. The handles are designed to break before the halyard does, but if you try to get the sail all the way up, it’s pretty easy to break a handle.
Lake swimming- I swam in a lake in Connecticut once, other than that I don’t have much swimming in lakes at length experience. ( I do sailing, but it’s not interesting. I don’t suggest it, especially on small lakes.) Anyway, there were great towers of colorful weed rising from the murky depths, swaying with every splash.
K52- I’ve never sailed a Shield, but I love fixing old boats!
Just to be clear, we’re talking about a 30′ keelboat with 360 sq ft sail area and an even larger spinnaker? If so, there will be envy.
Do you want to remove the rudder itself, or just the barnacles? This boat will stay in the water year round? Is it possible to capsize (with a keel and all)? Do you have any tools?
Hmm. I think all the comments here are very interesting. I too love to do the manta ray in the pool (this sounds like a dance move…how disturbing)
I don’t have much experience with sailing or even really being on any sort of waterborne vessel. I want to go sailing at some point in my life…it sounds fantastic. I do love the ocean though. I used to think that I felt crazy when we went further “inland” because I was getting away from the ocean but now I know I was just being homesick (harhar)
There are a lot of nice beaches within a reasonable driving distance around here, so sometimes we just go down and walk around. I love the feeling of walking on the pier beyond the shore. I love being at the beach when it’s overcast…/rambling
Nothing wrong with a bit of a ramble…
Ive always wanted to try sailing. It sounds fun. I’m going on a cruise in a few weeks but that doesn’t really count in my opinion, though it would be really cool to go on an actual ship ship for a long period of time… or at all…..
I’m drawing this really cool picture of a ship at school.
I like boats.
Going to the maritime hall today has made my ship withdrawal even worse. I really must see if I can do anything with boats, and soon. That’s one of those things that grabs ahold of you and doesn’t let go, being out on the water.
41.1 I used to do synchronized swimming. ‘Twas fun.
Anyway, I went sailing last Saturday. In our Cyclone, on a local lake. Very fun, for the first part at least. Out sailing, my sister steering and I managing the sail. I had an idea for a story, and all was fun and good.
Then we capsized. Into fifty seven degree water. Ugh.
See, my sister had this brilliant idea, took over managing the sail, and sent me up to the bow to fix the forestay, which holds the mast from falling on our heads in heavy winds. She thought it was too loose, so I went forward to tighten it.
There was an ingenious device holding the forestay on. Basically, there’s a part which holds everything together and a wimpy little keychain that holds the other part on. I really didn’t think this was a good idea, but my sister told me to do it anyway. I went up front, took out the part that held everything together, and, surprise surprise, dropped it overboard. It didn’t float. So anyway, I was up there trying to form some makeshift way to get us to land, and while I was up there, the winds got unwieldy, and the boat turned on its side. Dumping us into the water. Which was fifty seven degrees, but felt a lot colder. A lot colder. Then I had to get pretty much all in, (I had stayed about half out of the water at first by clinging to the bow) to get a rope for my sister so she could pull it upright. So she got it upright, and then it blew over onto the other side.
We were off the water pretty quickly after that.
I think my legs went numb while I was in the water. They stopped feeling cold anyway, which at the time I interpreted as getting numb, but thinking back I could have been just adjusting to the water. It was cold.
I MISS SHIPS AND BOATS AND SAILORS AND WATER AND EVEN GROSS SMELLING FOULIES. Well, maybe not the last bit…but I miss sailing.
However! There may yet be relief in sight! I’m hoping to get to Baltimore to see the start of the Great Chesapeake Bay Schooner Race next month. (Can I say that? Eh, I’ll try.) I hope I can go, I really do. I found a friend of mine I haven’t seen in 3 years on FB the other day and we were talking, turns out she’s back in Baltimore and in the course of our discussion she offered a couch to sleep on if I came down to see the schooner race…I’m thinking I might just taker her up on that, unless I decide to just run down there and home in the same day. I mean, it’s only an hour or so of driving. So now, to see if she was in earnest about that and to convince the Dear Parents to let me gallivant off and make Plans. Oh geez, I just realized it’s only 12 or so days away….gah! Plans. Soon. I need them.
BUT! Boats! Even schooners. I’ll even go see schooners. Schooners are nice, they just seem like cheating. I mean seriously, there’s none of this MILES AND MILES of rigging, not half as many lines to sort through and keep track of, and you barely ever have to go aloft. What fun is that?! I make fun of my friends that’ve jumped shop and work on schooners now. They’re such lazy bums. HANDS TO BRACES BRACE UP ANOTHER POINT. AND ANOTHER ONE. OKAY, NOW COME ABOUT! NOW WEAR SHIP! NOW BRACE IN SOME! Yeah, you just don’t get that on a schooner.
Also: hammocks are so hardcore. I loved the reactions of all the other sailors this summer when they saw where we live. It’s like, oh yeah, all 30 of us cram in this tiny little space where you can’t even stand up. And we sleep in hammocks. We’re such hardcore sailors. And they’re like “dude you must be either insane or ****ing amazing.”
I love Niagara. I love tall ships.
I want to get some good foulies. This rain is making me think about it even more.