a tall ship tour

greg and i visited three tall ships this afternoon (in the misty rain which never let up). the first we toured was the u.s. coast guard eagle, second was oosterschelde out of rotterdam, and the third was the pride of baltimore ii.

the eagle was the largest to walk through. half the crew was busy in the galley and the other half were in their dress blues ready to answer questions. 

the eagle was originally a german training ship before and during world war ii and was afterwards taken by the u.s. as war reparations. she was commissioned into the u.s. coast guard as the eagle in may of 1946 and sailed from bremerhaven, germany to new london, connecticut (through a hurricane, so the story goes . . you can read more about it on wikipedia). the red, white and blue racing stripes were added to the hull when the ship was prepared to be a host ship in operation sail 1976.

the shaggy fringe on the standing rigging near where they come in contact with the sails are called baggywrinkle and are made from old lines, providing a softer wearing surface so the sails don't chafe.

finishing up in the galley . . 

i spoke with the young servicemember standing here how they hoist the sails. she said a leader calls heave, and the others call ho as they pull. her favorite part, she added, was to be up the mast, in the rigging. later, i thought to ask her what she needed to do in the rigging as the sails went up, but i couldn't find her. 

the information posters scattered about the ship mentioned that the servicemembers learned celestial navigation with a sextant. i always thought that would be interesting to learn.

heading down the gangplank for the next ship . .

the oosterschelde, which had been a cargo ship and is now a touring ship.

we actually have a similar painting at the house that my mom and dad bought many years ago . . 

okay, the last ship, the pride of baltimore ii . . she's indirectly named after a baltimore built topsail schooner chasseur which participated in the war of 1812, sailed by privateer thomas boyle.

you can read more about the pride of baltimore here.

heading home we passed two servicemembers from the eagle . . 

and you can't see it, but a misty rain was still wafting about . . 

you can see all three ships sailing in the parade in this video . . first would be oosterschelde, followed by eagle, and then the pride of baltimore.

the parade of tall ships

 

on the way to see the tall ships . . 

security!

here they come . . 

pilot #1 led the parade . . (i love the call of the ship's horn)

greg said, imagine a hundred of them (british ships) anchored off of sandy hook, ready to attack (in 1776 when the battle of new york took place). 

many of the ships were playing music . . 

not all of the ships were warships . . here's the south street seaport museum ship, and the hudson clearwater sloop also sailed, but was turned away from the parade by the coast guard for hoisting their banner promoting the clean water act, climate solutions, indigenous rights and racial justice. a little beacon blog shares the story of what happened. in the past, the clearwater sloop has sailed in the bicentennial 1976 tall ship parade and the 1986 rededication of the statue of liberty parade.

i love the firefighter boats . . 

ships calling to each other while passing in the daylight . . 

tree damage from yesterday's storm . . 

so many trees were lost . .

heading home . .

selling flags at the corner . .

debris from the storm. we lost a tree in front, but fortunately not in the back.

korrina's sweet wash the cat, not enjoying the firework explosions coming from outside.

good night!