Time Flies When Your Having Fun!

SHIP'S LOG:

     The weather has been great for sailing and so I have been sailing. And sailing. And sailing. On my boat and other peoples' boats, just sailing, sailing, sailing.

     I went out sailing with the CHARLES W. MORGAN. The MORGAN is the last wooden wailing vessel in existence and since 1941, it has been an exhibit at the Mystic Seaport. Somebody over there decided that it would be a wonderful P.R. stunt to  restore it to sailing condition and then send it out on a tour of southern New England.  They spent several years and a couple of million dollars and in May towed her over to New London so that she could be ballasted and all the proper gear and supplies could be put aboard.  Had they do that at the Seaport, they would never have gotten her away from the dock as the Mystic River at that point is simply to shallow to allow it.  After a couple of weeks of learning how to sail the ship, the crew took her on a tour of Newport, The  Cape, the Elizabeth Island and Boston. They even took her out to the whale watching areas of the Cape where they launched on of the whaleboats and approached a whale. No harpoons were tossed but it made for some great pictures.

       She came back to New London and for several days took VIP's with large checkbooks, out for a sail. And sail it was as the MORGAN has no engines! She was accompanied the whole time with a couple of support craft, including a tug which was with her for her entire journey as some days there wasn't enough wind to make her move. But she did sail most of the time and last Friday, I went out sailing with her, accompanying her in my boat along with several other boats. I out sailed her easily as she never topped 4.5 knots. The most impressive thing was watching them raise and lower the sails, of which there were approximately 15. You would never get me up the masts or on the foot-lines from which they furled and unfurled the sails. But all in all is was very impressive.

       And I got my Merchant Mariner Certificate and can now legally operate the launch. It has only been since March.