gone sailing with the tall ships

Just back from a week-long sail on the SCHOONER VIRGINIA.  Along with the PRIDE OF BALTIMORE II and the OOSTERSCHELDE, a three-masted topsail schooner from the Netherlands, we went up the windy James River to Richmond for a nice tall ship festival.  There were a lot of tall ship festivals going on this past weekend on Chesapeake Bay as dozens of ships from around the world are gathering for SAIL250 this weekend in Norfolk.  

A different kind of sailing for me, a communal experience versus my usual solo small boat sailing.  Five-hundred pound anchors, thousands of feet of canvas, the scale of the ships can be intimidating.  Sleeping in a bunk (more spacious than the bunk on SPARTINA), anchor watches in the middle of the night, shouts from the captain saying "hands to the main!"  I confess it was hot and humid, it IS that time of year.  But a great experience with a lot of good friends.

I hope to sneak out on SPARTINA this weekend to sail with the tall ships.