I was visiting a friend today when she informed me of a tall ship at dock on the water front. I hadn’t heard about it, and figured it was worth a look. I went back home, grabbed one of the DSLRs and traveled to see the ship.
Well when I got there, you couldn’t buy parking. It was so packed with people. Clearly everyone else must get a newspaper subscription, because they knew about it. I parked a good ways off and walked to the Roberta Bondar Tent Pavilion. I could just see a mast over the pavilion, and also a huge line. Not knowing what I was doing, but figuring that a lineup meant something worthwhile was at the other end…I queued up. This must have been the longest lineup I have ever seen. It took me a good 45 minutes to get to the ship…with the line moving at a good rate.
(In line and under the pavilion. It only took me a good 20 minutes to reach this far.)
(While waiting in line, they had a few kids and adults running around in period costumes. These I take it are British soldiers that date to the War of 1812.)
(While in line, we past a stage with some entertainment. Here you see small handful of Anishinabek (Ojibwe) dancers. They did put on a good show.)
Well after 45 minutes of a fast moving line, I was greeted with the first sight of the ship I had waited so long to see. Well what do you know, it was the Bounty. A replica of the famous (or is that infamous) British ship. This replica’s claim to fame was that it featured in two movies, the 1960 Mutiny on the Bounty, and the newer Pirates of the Caribbean Dead Man’s Chest. I of course did not know this until I overheard some of the period dressed crew on board.
(There she be! A nice relief from the 45 minute wait, and a sweet sight indeed.)
(Not quite done the lineup yet, but the end appears to be in sight. Um...those mast appear to be darn near 7 stories high. Yikes. You wouldn’t catch me up there.)
Once on board, the ship appeared cramped…oh wait…there must be a hundred people on board. Doh! Well after taking a closer look, the Bounty is a good sized ship. We were marshaled into her depths. We only went through one deck, and I was a bit disappointed to not see row upon row of cannons...but it was still neat.
(The great room, or is it the Captain’s quarters. Appears to be converted into a dinning area for the crew. We were not allowed in this area, and they had a crew member guarding it well.)
(The Officer’s cabins were like monk’s cells. I guess it was better then having a bit of floor space to call your own.)
(Oddly enough, I timed it right and this area was not filled with 25 people.)
(Not much air down here, even with the grates opened overhead.)
(3 of these tables comprised the mess area on the Bounty.)
(Back on deck, another crew member was teaching some of the kids knot tying.)
(They had 4 of these little cannons on the deck. 2 per side.)
After doing the bump and grind with the masses, I was able to get off the Bounty. It was the perfect time to take some more photographs of the ship at dock.
(Figurehead.)
Along with the Bounty was a second tall ship, the Pride of Baltimore II.
(Some information found on board.)
(A nice view of the Bounty’s Aft from the Pride of Baltimore II.)
(The insides of one of the row boats on deck.)
(If the Bounty felt a bit cramped with all the bodies, the Pride of Baltimore II was stuffed to the scuppers.)
(She has a few swivel guns.)
(The ships wheel.)
(Some cannons stored away.)
Back ashore, I came across a few other exhibits . There were a couple of period specific displays.
(There was also a bird sanctuary group present for the preservation of parrots, cockatiels, and parakeets.)
I was most fortunate to have visited a friend who informed me of this event. I would have kicked myself for missing these tall ships. As it was, they came in yesterday and are slated to leave around 4 PM today. Here is the HMS Bounty web site with even more information .
http://www.tallshipbounty.org/
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