Day 82: Under sail

When we saw the Hawaiian Chieftain and the Lady Washington the other night(s) we quickly went online to buy tickets for one of their 3-hour sailing trips. The only one available was the today's morning "Adventure Sail", three hours in English Bay learning a bit about sailing a square-rigged ship from the late 19th Century. Quite apt given that we've only recently read Master and Commander by Patrick O'Brian.

We boarded the Lady Washington a little after 10 am, and chugged out of the harbour soon after. The next three hours passed by quite leisurely as we watched the crew manouevre the ship back and forth in the breeze, giving us chance to admire the Vancouver skyline and watch the Hawaiian Chieftain sweep by at close quarters. We were even treated to a cannon firing demo, despite the fact that this wasn't one of the battle cruises. What I enjoyed most was seeing how all the rigging was used to swing the spars and set the sails and I began to appreciate how such ships were handled and run. It was a great way to spend a sunny morning and, to my surprise, worth every penny of the ticket fee.

Square rigging