Battle Cruise

Last Sunday we went over again to the little coastal village of Morro Bay, which I had written about in an earlier blog. This time we were going over because the Grey's Harbor Historical Seaport, based in Washington state each winter sends their two tall ships to California for folks to sail on daylong cruises.

Hawaiian Chieftain firing Cannons

This year they were featuring battle cruises, where each of the two tall ships sail out into open sea and begin to duel with each other firing cannons.... pretty cool. Grey's Harbor owns two tall ships and we had the choice of boarding either for the cruise.

On deck of Lady Washington

The first ship, Lady Washington is a full-scale reproduction of the original Lady Washington. Built in the British Colony of Massachusetts in the 1750s, the original vessel carried freight between colonial ports until the American Revolutionary War, when she became an American privateer. Here is a You Tube video about Lady Washington:

The second ship is a topsail ketch called Hawaiian Chieftain. She is a replica of a typical European merchant trader of the turn of the nineteenth century. Her hull shape and rigging are similar to those of Spanish explorer's ships used in the expeditions of the late 18th century along the Washington, Oregon, and California coasts. She was originally designed for cargo trade among the Hawaiian Islands, and her design was influenced by the early colonial passenger and coastal packets that carried on coastal trade along the Atlantic coastal cities and towns.

We chose to sail on the Lady Washington, not so much as her ties to the revolutionary war vessel, but because she also has another name.... the HMS Interceptor. She was the fastest ship in the Caribbean which Captain Jack Sparrow stole to chase after the Black Pearl.

Lady Washington AKA HMS Interceptor

IT was literally, a blast... when we got back to harbor we asked our captain which ship won the battle cruise, he told us the Lady Washington did, and added, she always wins! Avast me hearties yo ho...