sail away

Daniel got back from iGovern East on Saturday night. Abigail Taylor hurried up Sunday afternoon to see -us- him. ;) I had heard about the OpSail and Harbor Fest going on in Norfolk, and so I convinced Daniel and Abigail to take Sarah and I to the shores of the Elizabeth River to see all the tall-ships and sailing ships. It was a sight I will not soon forget. I was so glad that Sarah had her camera on her this time! She took many great pictures, some of which I've showed you below. :) I nearly lost my head with the sensation of travel and foreign-ness and novelty that came with standing in the presence of 51 ships from all the four corners of the earth.

Crazy-writer-girl ;)

I was taking research notes for Scuppernong Days--one of my new projects--and it was such a blessing to be able to see all these ships and get so much hands-on inspiration. :)

But of course I could not keep entirely to historical research. I did a great deal of people-watching, which is one of my most favorite things to do in public.

♫"I'm just people-watching, watching the people watching me!" ♫

I watched them.

I watched them...

I watched him...

And many others. :) I also amused myself by rating the ships on their courtesy, cleanliness, etc. The Mexican naval-training ship won for courtesy. They had immaculately-uniformed sailors positioned at the bottom of the steps down into the ship to help the ladies. :) I held my notebook in my right hand and grasped the rope-line in the other. "Let me help you!" one of the little, smiling middies said. I smiled and shook my head, being rather too laden with notebook and rope-line to hold onto his hand.
His face fell and he looked very sad indeed. "Please let me help you!" So, because of his pleading (or his charming insistence ;) I let go of the line, switched the notebook to the other hand, and let him escort me onto the deck. :D

Deep water...!

Chillin' in the hammocks. These things were way too comfortable. I'm thinking of resigning my bed and becoming a nightly sailor-ess. ;)

Rope knots!

"Course-sail, topsail, top-gallant sail, royal sail, sky-sail. " (from the bottom-up)

The love-birds & co.

Sarah & I

Ze beach-bum.

We only visited 7 of the 51 ships along the shore, but the ones we visited were beautiful! I must admit that I had strong thoughts of booking passage to some far-off country just so I could enjoy the ships a little longer--the breeze blowing on the castle, the billowing sails, the lines of taught rigging....it was amazing, and I know I shall never forget it. As it is, I wrote 7 pages about it in a letter to a friend, so I'm afraid it will become posterity. ;) My favorite ship as far as courtesy goes, was the Mexican ship. They won in that category. The Gloria from Columbia won as far as over-all-favorite ship, counting in sailors, look, flag (gigantic awesomeness) and music. :D The Indonesian ship was my least favorite. There was something very sinister and creepy about it, carved all over--as it was--with heavy flowers in dark wood.

I had a lovely lovely time and if ever I get a chance to go sailing, I might just brave seasickness to go! :) (we topped off the afternoon with steak fajitas as Plaza Azteca. Oh yeah! ;)