 |
| SY Eros Under Sail (Source) |
As a reminder, she's been in the waters of Rhode Island for quite a few weeks along with SY Eleonora. I snapped this photo of those two lovelies on Wednesday last...
 |
| SY Eleonora on the left, SY Eros on the right |
Now Eros is an original, launched in 1939. Eleonora is a replica of an older schooner Westward. Eleonora was launched in 2001. It was very appropriate for Eleonora to be visiting Bristol and to be tied up at the Herreshoff Marine Museum. The Westward was actually built here in Bristol (by the Herreshoffs) back in 1910.
Goes to show that a good design is a good design, no matter the age!
 |
| SY Eleonora making way (Source) |
Gaff rig is a sailing rig (configuration of sails, mast and stays) in which the sail is four-cornered, fore-and-aft rigged, controlled at its peak and, usually, its entire head by a spar (pole) called the gaff. (Source)(My office mate is an avid sailor and from time to time will teach nautical terms to this aging landlubber. Yes, I enjoy nautical terminology more than is probably healthy.)
Maybe someday I'll make that downhill run to Papeete.
Wouldn't that be sweet?
(This next video is a little long-ish, but worth your time. Don't be put off by the music and the sepia footage in the beginning. That's just the intro...)
The wind, the sea, and the sky.
My definition of paradise...
The boats are true works of art. The time to maintain that wood so it keeps the "work of art" look about it is VAST. And if you're running in the open Pacific, better a carbon fiber mast(s) than wood masts and spars. I know, it loses some of the romance, but those boats are de-masted in storms and then where are you?
ReplyDeleteI recently heard a term for other yachts that made me laugh- "Plastic Fantastic." Definitely not as beautiful as these works of art.
DeleteLL - Concur. Romance is meaningless when you're way out on the ocean missing a mast or two.
DeleteThe races they hold south of Australia are pretty dicey, even the carbon fiber masts get torn away!
Tuna - When the J-Class yachts were here (huge boats, steel hulls) the local sailors were warned not to get in the way.
Delete"They'll go right through your plastic toy and not even slow down!"
Eros launched in 1939. . . Great Depression and yet somebody was working, and somebody was buying. Makes one curious about the people and stories behind these bits of history.
ReplyDeleteSomebody is always working and someone is always buying. I guess it's the "how many" of each which is the determining factor.
DeleteAh well, there ya go.
ReplyDeletehttps://www.sy-eros.com/the-yacht/
:)
DeleteI learned to sail as a teenage Sea Scout. I knew how to handle a jib, and was in demand as a 145 pound crewman in Thistle-class races. Ah, those were the days. Then I got old, bought a twin engine Carver Mariner and became a stink potter.
ReplyDeleteAfter six figures of money down the drain, got rid of the stink pot, and became a land lubber. But I still love to think about what could have been had I stuck to blow boating.
It took me long enough to realize it, as much fun as scooting around in a powered craft is, there is something magical about being under sail.
DeleteThe only sail-powered vessel I've spent time on is SSV Corwith Cramer. Did a couple-week summer program, which involved circumnavigating Cape Cod and then sailing a couple hundred miles south, off the continental shelf. Which put us in a good position to hear the Concorde's sonic boom. And also a good position to wade through some force-8 fun. (I say that non-ironically, but some may beg to differ.)
ReplyDeleteA brigantine! Fine looking ship.
DeleteI've had some of that Force-8 fun on a cruise ship out to Bermuda. You really felt the sea's power. Wife was horribly seasick, I had a blast. Can't imagine what it must be like on a sailing ship. How much sail does one leave up?
I do get the non-ironic bit, I really do.
I don't honestly remember how much sail we had up. I suspect they were taking it easy on us due to our greenhorn nature, and that normally they'd put on more sail, which would mean more rolling and more violent motion overall. (I suspect this because the first mate told me so.) Forty degrees of roll in one direction, into twenty degrees the other, seemed pretty intense at the time. Wasn't really worried about it, though, since they'd told us the ship would right herself from anything less than a 130 (!) degree roll.
DeletePure sensory overload, is the best way I think I can describe it. Never did quite get used to the "movement and rotation in all three axes simultaneously" thing.
Movement and rotation in all three axes simultaneously...
DeleteHell of a ride!
The Air Force calls it a "spin".
DeleteHeh, didn't think of it that way, but of course, you're right!
Delete