Square Rig Sailing
Adventure on James Craig by Liz J
Last year I placed the highest bid on the Square-rig sailing
Adventure silent auction on board the James
Craig and on Sunday 7th September this year my husband Errol and
I went on our sailing adventure.
Since we are from South Australia we incorporated this into a 10 day
holiday. We spent the weekend in Sydney,
then hired a car and spent the following week driving around eastern and
southern coast back to Adelaide. All in
all a nautical holiday.
On Saturday we had the chance to meet up with Jan Maree, Joan and Robin, Liz B
and her husband, Caroline, Stephanie and Leanne for lunch. It was great to meet other sewers, and partners
and a big thank you to Joan for organising this.
On Sunday, the day of our sailing adventure, the weather was
cold and drizzling with rain as we walked to the Wharf to board the James Craig. The brochure about the Sailing Adventure
did say that inclement weather adds to the adventure but as Errol and I are not
sailors it was with a bit of trepidation that we boarded the ship. Once on board and motoring out through the
harbour the weather cleared up and it was fine for the rest of the day. When we were past the Heads the crew worked
hard to unfurl the sails. This was
fascinating to watch – there are 21 sails and more rope than I had ever seen in
one spot, which we later learned was 14,500 metres. The swell was 1 to 2 metres which didn’t seem
too bad even though it took us a while to find our sea legs. We
were given the old sailing advice of ‘one hand for yourself and one for the ship’
Once the sails were
up, all power on the ship was turned off and it was like we were transported back in
time to when it was in its sailing day.
Here I am on the deck with the front of ship behind me.
Errol and I with the back of ship behind us.
We spent most of day in this pose (sorry Errol)
Crew tying up the sails – note the 6 pairs of legs
Finally the James Craig at berth at the end of the day.
We thoroughly enjoyed our sailing adventure and thank the
crew (all volunteers) who made sure passengers were looked after and given the
opportunity to help with the rigging throughout the day. The James
Craig is part of the Sydney Heritage Fleet and sails once a fortnight. Thank you Joan for offering the sailing
adventure in the silent auction. I was on
sick leave recovering from surgery at the time of the auction and the sailing
adventure seemed like an ‘alive thing to do’.
It certainly was.
..............................................
Till next time...................keep spreading the word and happy stitching!
Jan-Maree
xx
How wonderful, Thanks for the great story and for sharing your wonderful pictures with us.
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