#Windjammer

[ltwilliammowett]

Windjammer off Florida, by Patrick O’Brien (1960-)

[fossilizednewt]

Second mitten is knitted, still gotta do the thumbs though.

Did a lot of knitting today while hanging out at the Camden town landing at my friend’s mom’s booth at the Windjammer Festival.

I baked some blueberry scones (not pictured).

There were boats. And people. And good dogs.

[o-link]

Bar Harbor, Maine par Greg Hartford Via Flickr : A Schooner sits at the dock at sunrise in Bar Harbor, Maine located on the northeastern side of Mount Desert Island, home of Acadia National Park. View this large.

 NOTE: All images are Copyrighted by Greg A. Hartford. No rights to use are given or implied to the viewer. All rights of ownership and use remain with the copyright owner.

[devilfokke]

An old windjammer by Robert Watts

[grayrazor]

It seems like a lot of the windjammers made after the 19th century ended that were for carrying cargo or fishing or other actual work rather than being racing boats or pleasure yachts were made in Germany. I wonder if that was because of that landlocked country's ongoing difficulties in acquiring oil.

[uamariner]

S/V "Pommern". The only four-masted sailing ship in the world that's sti...

[stories-from-peter]

An Unfortunate Coincidence

When Barb and I were first married we both had good jobs and indulged ourselves in some ways. Barb had always wanted a horse and I had loved sailing ever since I was a teenager at summer camp. Barb found her dream horse and spent much of her free time riding. I found a small sail boat that came with a trailer we could tow with our little car. Barb’s family had a cabin in Point Roberts where I parked the trailer with easy access to the sea.

Thanks to a generous mother-in-law, Barb and I were able to take a trip to Hawaii when we had been married about two years. Barb’s parents took a vacation in Hawaii every year and told us all the best hotels to stay at and the best places to visit. We spent a week on Oahu swimming, surfing, and visiting all the usual tourist spots. Barb noticed an ad for windjammer cruises and suggested we sign up for one. We would get to travel on an older sailing ship like the ones that used to sail across the Pacific and Atlantic oceans carrying grain and other goods. Dinner and unlimited drinks were included in the price.

The day of our cruise we climbed on a bus full of tourists along with several other bus loads all headed for a cruise. A Hawaiian girl came on the bus and announced that the bigger ship was over booked and could some people go on the smaller ship. Barb raised her hand and volunteered. The “smaller” ship turned out to be a 90 foot staysail schooner called the Salee which at one time was the Vanderbilt family yacht. It had a solid teak hull and gold faucets in the bathrooms among other things. The Hawaiian girl escorted us onto another bus and later made sure we got seats next to the bar on the Salee. She also spoke to the captain of the Salee about us volunteering to travel on his ship.

We were under way in a short time and the bar was already open when we were seated. I was thoroughly enjoying the experience enhanced with a few drinks from the bar. I was surprised to be introduced to the captain who walked back to the bar to meet us volunteers. I was also surprised to learn he was from Saskatchewan, which is about as far as you can get from any ocean. I felt compelled to tell him I had a sailboat. I neglected to say it was 12 feet long. He invited to me to take the helm of the Salee. How could I refuse?

I managed to keep the Salee on course, aided by a few reminders from the captain, for much longer than I expected. My duties came to an end when dinner was served. Barb had been entertained watching an older couple slowly getting plastered with a steady stream of selections from the bar. Not long after dinner we heard that the woman of the couple had vomited her dinner over the gold faucets of one sink.

After two weeks we had to return home. We noticed the older couple from the cruise were on the same flight back to Vancouver. In those days security at airports was very loose. Passengers waiting for luggage mixed freely with people meeting arriving travelers. On arrival in Vancouver Barb saw her friend Sandy and her new boyfriend waiting near the baggage carousel. Barb had to tell Sandy all about our adventures in Hawaii, including the tale of the lady on the cruise. Barb pointed out the couple to Sandy just as Sandy’s boyfriend spotted his parents. To our horror we all realized that Sandy’s friend and Barb were pointing to the same people.

[gabe-sanders]

(via Windjammer Waterfront Real Estate Market Report December 2023)

Windjammer Waterfront Real Estate Market Report December 2023

[shujinacademyvgmclub]

Check out my next episode to learn my incredible fan theory tying Metal Slug and Neo Turf Masters together.

I might expand on it someday and work Windjammers in there, too.

[ltwilliammowett]

Großsegler im Morgennebel, by Hans Bohrdt (1857-1945)

[tokaath]

Follow our global adventure at www.scottnkristal.com

[archliches]

hmm visiting my grandparents and i always like to go on some kind of boat tour while i'm here. and i'm trying to decide between 2: one takes you out to a lighthouse and you get to go check it out - have done this one many times but it's always fun. The other is on a Windjammer and I've never done it! looks really fun but also I've never been on a sailboat like that and i don't want to hurl or something. But it looks coooool. what do u think

[arcadebroke]

[theleastprofessionalchef]

Is there an abundance of people who want to sail on the ship? Im just now starting to take in interesting in tall ships and it seems that there are very few like the lady washington, compared to how many people must want to be on ship it seems like demand must be way over supply.

Well, that's an interesting question with an interesting and nuanced answer.

So most people, everyday people living their 'normal' lives, don't really think of sailing on traditionally-rigged vessels as like. A thing anymore? It kind of exists in their mind as an old-timey thing, or something that's so niche and small that it may as well not exist anymore. It just doesnt occur to them- especially if they live in a more land-locked region, where they don't see even modern boats super often. There's only so many places that get the right wind and currents to sail like that, after all- the coasts, and the Great Lakes. Everywhere else is just too small for anything bigger than a personal sailboat, and wouldn't really drum up enough business to be worth it to bring/build one there.

The west coast also has much, <em>much</em> fewer tallships/similar vessels to her name compared to the east coast, or even the Gulf of Mexico (note: all I say is US-biased, since that's what I know about. I've heard there's loads of tallships around Europe though! Hell, all over the world- just go looking!). I don't know what it is about the waters here, but there's only a few scattered up here in the Puget Sound, and a few more down in SoCal, with not much else between. Meanwhile, if you pop over to the east coast, you can't spit without hitting a private schooner or windjammer in need of crew.

If you want an easier time getting into the field, the east coast would definitely give you a higher chance of being hired. A warning, though, because you can't have something good without the cons: since they're privately owned vessels and for-profit companies, they're a bit more vicious when it comes to what they demand of the crew, and, depending on who's running things, how they <em>treat</em> said crew. Lots of horror stories from people coming over from the Main Windjammers. I'd ask around other blogs for specifics, I'll toss this in the appropriate tags to see if anyone wants to warn you off, but yeah.

Honestly? Tallship sailing is a dying art. You don't get into the field because you want to be paid well, because you want to build up savings. And with more and more of living life requiring a hefty paycheck you just can't get onboard without several licenses under your belt, more and more people drop off for land jobs with better security and higher pay. It's hard work, and sometimes it isn't rewarding, but sometimes it <em>is,</em> and it can be the most fulfilling thing ever.

Definitely a job I recommend anyone able to, to give a shot at if they can. Even if you don't end up staying around, sailing and being part of a tallship crew is an experience that changes you. It broadens your horizons, gives you skills, and honestly makes you cooler for it. Who wouldn't want to say they've crewed on a (shudders as I say The Forbidden Words) pirate ship?

So yeah. Hope that answered your question in some way!

[uamariner]

"Moshulu". The largest remaining original windjammer and the winner of t...