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Argus Tall Ship by Edward Guo |
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August 21-22, 2004 |
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Have you ever been on a tall ship and sailed around in the ocean with nothing around for miles and miles but ocean? If you haven't, I can tell you that it is a lot of fun. I went sailing with twenty other people in the Argus, an old Viking tall ship that is older than my great grandmother who is nearly 100. It was one of the best times I have had in my life, and I have had many really fun times. I will tell you about a few of the most interesting parts of the trip, including the adventurous rigging climbing, messy cooking, and tiring anchor watch. Initially, we were headed to Whites Landing, Catalina, where we would drop anchor and spend the night. To get out into the ocean we had to pass slowly through crowded bay area. When we got out into the open ocean, the very first interesting adventure came. We had to quickly raise the sail and in order to raise the headsails we had to climb out on some wobbly ropes and use our hands to untie ropes around the sails. While we were out in the rigging we had to wear harnesses to keep us from falling down into the water. There was also more rigging to climb up at the top of the ship. It was even scarier at top because the ship was swinging side to side like a pendulum. If you let go you would be gone forever because it was a really long drop to the deck and the deck is solid wood. I have always liked food because of their good looks, taste, and smells. The second best part of the trip was cooking. There were four meals cooked on the trip and every one of them was delicious. I helped to cook two of the meals that were breakfast burritos and chilidogs. The other two were sloppy joes and spaghetti. After every meal the people who cooked had to do clean up duty and it was not an easy job. I thought that this cooking was more significant than other everyday cooking because who ever was cooking, cooked for everyone including the captain and crew. It is a very nice feeling to be cooking for someone who is older than you and in charge of you. If you like staying up late into the night then you would like anchor watch. Anchor watch is another one of those thrilling things to do on the ship. Everything is fun about it except for the freezing weather, your tiredness and finally the fact that you just sit and watch for the whole time. During your watch you have to check to see if the anchor light is on because it tells other ships your ship is near so they won't smash the side of your ship. You also have to stay awake and be alert even though that is the hardest part especially at 12:00 AM or later. You should also be alert in case there is a sound of water gushing in or a fire blazing. Of course, there is much more to tall ship sailing than climbing and cooking. There are things that need physical part of the body like raising the anchor that is 400 pounds. And here are some snap shots of the trip.
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