Instead of a quiet night watch we braced all three masts sharp to sharp then doused and furled almost all the square sails.
Meridian passage fix within a few NM of the ships GPS. (That’s nautical miles, not nanometers)
Winds have picked up so we doused and furled the main royal and sky sails and then hauled out the spanker on the mizzen.
We doused and sea stowed the main topgallant, royal and sky sail before bed, and the other watch unfurled them this morning.
According to my calculations we crossed longitude 180 from west to east and have sailed into the future.
We have officially entered the Domain of the Golden Dragon and Wednesday is no more.
Wore ship and braced around. Now enjoying the quiet moonlight on the last lookout of this night watch.
Clewed up and furled the main course to unblank the stun sails set on the foremast.
Despite all that flogging canvas, we’re becalmed below the horse latitudes.
Didn’t have internet for a while so we had to enjoy the beauty of the Pacific Ocean.
Unfortunately one of the stun sails chaffed against the lower topsail yard and required a new patch.
Another night watch begins. Haven’t seen any other ships or even airplanes in two weeks.
After two days of nearly becalmed winds we’ve furled all the sails and are motoring for the first time in several weeks.
We’ve found the wind, unfurled the canvas and are back sailing on a starboard tack towards Japan.
Reminder that flags fly forward or sideways when under most points of sail, not streaming backwards like so many paintings.
We were becalmed in heavy fog and the night watch felt like sailing on a ghost ship.
The sails haven’t required much handling the past few watches, so I’ve been spending time working on projects in the bosun store.
The ship’s carpenter made beautiful butterflies to repair the monkey sheet block.
Glad we have modern navigation systems since visibility is close to zero today.
After weeks at see it’s now only a few more hours to Japan. Time to start harbor furling sails we won’t need.
@th Super grappig!
@th
Wait, the "Stad Amsterdam" has actual --decommissioned-- cannons on board? 😳
Aah! in case you have to go past pirates of course! Then I hope they're not decommissioned.
@th Hey hey! Will you guys be coming to Copenhagen this year again?
@th it's only the still ocean if it's between the us and east asia, else it's just sparkling ocean.
@th thanks for all the lovely photos! Reminding me of the many many hours I spent as a kid poring over nautical diagrams to tell a t’gallant yard from a jib boom… and also how many of the nautical terms have been inherited into theatrical stage rigging (boom, cleat, clew, etc)
@th I wasn’t aware ships carpenter was a career I could aspire to
@cinebox it’s challenging with only hand tools in cramped and rolling conditions but maybe that’s the job for you!
@th That is one lovely repair well made!
@th no steel lines?
@th That's so cool! Is it powered by the capstan?
@tty powered by two hand cranks and handles the bracing jobs of almost a dozen sailors during wears or tacks.
@th Amazing -- thank you for the response & photo! Are the braces made of steel? What fibres are the other lines made of? What IS this beautiful ship? :D
@tty the braces have both poly ropes that look like hemp as well as steel wire. Many of the sheets switch to wire at the yard and then to chains for the turtle blocks, as do the halyards at the gin blocks before they pass over a sheave through the mast.
@th for the handling of modern sails ?
@th 20 seems a lot on such a large ship, but I guess they heel the same as my 26' boat - 30something is the most I ever saw
@th it's beautiful! I hope all goes well!
@th It feels like you're doing every single one of the night watches :D I don't mind, but then it's not my sleep!
@th That is so cool. Where in Japan are you arriving? Tokyo?
@th Okay, so how many copies of the Aubrey/Maturin books are floating around aboard?
@th super shot anyway
@th
Please name the ropes, one by 1! 😘
@th That must be amazing to see in person.
@th And later on land, you find yourself in a straight corridor, which is moving around like crazy 🙈
@th OK, so when you say square rigged you really mean there aren't many triangular sails. It isn't just that the square rigged sails are for downwind headings only. Today I Learned.
@th En.. nog iets verkocht? ;)
@th
These photos are incredible, I wouldnt believe they were real, or were staged in a movie or something unless I saw the rest of the thread. Absolutely beautiful
Koningsdag!