Battle at Sea!

Last Saturday, July 31st, Reed and I drove up to the harbor of Anacortes to take part in a "Battle Sail" between the tall ships, Lady Washington and Hawaiian Chieftain. The Lady Washington is a 112 foot brig with 11 sails, and the Hawaiian Chieftain is 106 foot square topsail ketch with 10 sails. Both are very impressive! (And the Lady Washington was used in the filming of "Pirates of the Caribbean". We watched the movie last night and we think she was the "Dauntless" that Jack and Will stole.) The two ships are based out of Grays Harbor here in Washington and they travel up and down the coast providing educational opportunities.

We were assigned to the Lady Washington with a couple from the ward, Amy and Gary Soyke. They had other friends there who were assigned to the Hawaiian Chieftain. It made for a bit of fun rivalry.

The crew members are all dressed in period costumes, but our captain wore sunglasses. There were also other touches of modernity--the two ships are outfitted with radios so they can communicate with each other and the harbormaster--and with motors to help when there is no wind. And there were life jackets on board.

The first thing we were taught was how to yell--and what to yell. We had to repeat all of the officers' commands--and the steward taught us some gems like "What makes the grass grow?" and we had to yell at the top of our lungs "BLOOD!". We also learned to holler "Heave" and "Ho" as we were raising and lowering the sails. (Surprisingly it actually helps to do that--the ropes are very heavy!) The tall ships have an amazing array of lines and pulleys. The crew climbed up into the rigging to untie the sails. They were about 50 feet off the deck and we were relieved to see they wore harnesses. Not so in the old days. Lots of sailors fell to their deaths when up in the rigging in rough seas or during battle.

The tall ships are not very maneuverable. A tug came fairly close to us and did "donuts" in the water to show off. Then the tug went over to help its mate guide a tanker away from the dock and then out of the harbor to the open sea. A lot of boats in the harbor came by for a closer look--one sailboat got a little too close and our gunner fired one of the cannons at it. (There were no cannon balls. There was a tremendous bang from the gunpowder and that was all.) The people on the sailboat retaliated by shooting marshmallows at us. Like I say, we had a lot of fun.

Lady Washington at dock.



Stern cannons with gunner.

Scurvy crew!

Captain Cool!

Comic relief.

Ocean tug.


More scurvy crew!

Hawaiian Chieftain in full sail.

Hawaiian Chieftain after a broadside from Lady Washington. Arrgh!