ABOARD THE TALL SHIP "HAWAIIAN CHIEFTAIN"

SO excited to do this today. I wanted to add to my memories of sails on the Manitou and Madeline on Grand Traverse Bay, so I bought a ticket for an "adventure cruise" aboard the Gray's Harbor Historical Seaport Authority's Educational and Ambassador Tall Ship "Hawaiian Chieftain". What a grand day. The weather was gorgeous on Penn Cove - perfect for sailing a tall ship with snapping sails. 

http://historicalseaport.org/about-us/our-vessels/hawaiian-chieftain/
Photo by Ron Arel for Grays Harbor Historical Seaport Aurthority

The Chieftain is a gaff-rigged, topsail ketch, which means she is 64 tons of beautiful fun with 4200 sq feet of sails. She has a crew of 10. The Chieftain was built in Lahaina, HA, in 1988 and became part of the Grays Harbor fleet (joining the Lady Washington) in 2005. She plies the West Coast seas between San Diego and Vancouver, BC. 

I got to the wharf early so I did a (very) fast sketch of the Chieftain from the land-side of the boardwalk. 

In port at low tide.

The masthead is (if not Kamehameha) a bust of another member of Hawaiian royalty.

60 feet in the air on a 75 foot mast, the hearty crew members untie the topsail, get ready for hoisting. They are all well safety harnessed in place, but still . . . 60 feet in the air!

WELCOME ABOARD!!

Cannons? Cannons? There are 6 cannons on board! 4 like these on the deck, and two on the railings that swivel. Protection against pirates?

Our Captain welcomes passengers aboard the vessel. I don't know how many of us there were, but the ship can hold 43.

setting sail

 Do the cannons work? Why, yes. Yes they do!!

BOOM!!!

It was an amazing day aboard the ship! Thanks to all the fun, funny, informative, polite, friendly, accommodating, helpful and interesting, energetic crew! You all made my day. 

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Here are the sketches I did yesterday. The first one was from the top of the landing of the boardwalk of my first view of the ship.

On this sketchbook page I did a sort of portrait of the Captain of the Chieftain, whom the crew called Cap'n Tiny. He plays ukulele and has an outstanding singing voice. Another crew member, BD, plays the concertina and also has an amazing voice. They, and several other singing crewmen (and crewwomen) entertained us with great sea chanteys.

Thank you all. Now I can't wait for the next time I can hit the high seas on a tall ship (maybe next time on the Lady Washington!)