Thar she floats!!

Ahoy Mateys!
So the last few weeks has seen us visiting some vessels of notable historical significance. You can see the picture below of the USS Constellation. This weekend the "Tall Ships" were visiting Tacoma. There was quite the festival, complete with carnival folk and cheesy pirate entertainers. I would have taken some photos of these characters, but unfortunately our camera was about out of juice and I didn't want to miss out on any boat pictures.

We did end up standing in line for close to two hours. Amelia was a pretty good sport as it was really hot to begin with, then rained a little, then warmed back up. We both ended up with slight sunburns, but overall we were really glad we went.


There were three boats we went aboard:

The USS Eagle:


This is an officer training vessel for the Coast Guard. Under full sail it has over 22,000 feet of area to harness the wind. This vessel was originally built for Nazi Germany and used to train their naval officers. It was one of "five sisters". After WWII, we took it as a prize of war. Most of the cadets I saw were wearing caps that had 2011 on them, which would put them at the end of their freshman year. Not a bad way to spend your summer. It was quite a juxtaposition to see huge booms and sailing rigging and very modern equipment inside the galley.


The HMS Bounty:


This is a replica of the ship from the book "Mutiny on the Bounty". It is the exact ship from the movie. It was built in 1960 specifically for the movie. This replica is roughly 1/3 larger than the original Bounty would have been. The helm (or steering wheel) is the original from the movie and is one of the most "celebrity touched" items around. They also carry passengers for hire. If you are interested, you can check out this link http://www.tallshipbounty.org/.






The most historically accurate replica of Cristopher Columbus' Nina:

This was probably the most surprising of all the boats displayed. The picture doesn't quite do it justice, but this boat is relatively small. A crew member told us that currently they sail with about 7-11 crew members. However, if they were to cross the Atlantic Ocean, they would start with a crew of 16-20. Columbus sailed to the new world with 27 and went back to Spain with almost 120 people! There were about 30 on board touring it with us and that seemed crowded. There is only one enclosure on board and that was for the captain. It was about 4ft high and maybe 6x6. The crew slept on the decks and there is a hold for cargo and animals. Check out http://www.thenina.com/ for more info on this particular boat.


This saturday I compete in my second triathlon ever. We will make sure to post some pictures of that this weekend. Wish me luck!