Day 20: 4 weeks in the bag and some more training - after all it is a Monday...

I got lots of sweet stuff to talk about today and I won't try and cram it in all today and rot your brain.  I will save some for the days to come.  I will start with the word for the day...

Galley

The galley is basically the kitchen area on the ship.  *Note if it's not on the ship - like the kitchen we are eating out of during uprig - it is a kitchen NOT a galley.  Our galley is run by the Steward - you met her last week (Gail).  It used to have a cool butcher block counter but the coast guard (I think) made us take it out for safety/health reasons.  We still do however use a wood-fired stove.  *beep*  *beep* back the truck up.  You said what?  Yeah.  There are basically three kinds of stoves for the ship - diesel, propane, or wood.  The two advantages of wood are 1) the wood will burn out unattended (in other words you can't accidentally leave it on.  2) the flame of the wood stove is contained INSIDE the structure of the stove itself - not true of the other two kinds.  I have a photo of the old one from the ship to give you an idea...

At least you get the idea.  Its small but it has to fit below deck and it's a small space.

So today we learned the traditional method of lifting heavy things on the ship with the capstan (the big human-powered winch we talked about before).  We have used it before, as you know, but today the captain took his time to explain to the inexperienced people the process and the forces at work, how to move it safely and how to look for unsafe conditions.

Here is the captain (red hat), the chief mate (blue hoody), and the second mate (green sweater) using some belaying pins and a slow match (the fuse for the cannon) as a model to explain the process.

So then we actually put the fore t'gallant yard up putting the theory into practice...

Here is the yard as it is coming up off the gallows ...

The yard as it approaches the cross trees - near it final destination...

And here it is in place and secured.  As you can see we now have two sails on the ship - the fore and main t'gallant yards that carry the royal sails.

So as a I have been promising here are a couple of me aloft...

This is me taken through the "lubber hole" on the cross trees (thanks to Matt for taking the photos.  You will meet him soon)

If you were on the ground watching me climb to the lubber hole (like above) this is what you would see...

So here is a shot from the plaza of me on the cross trees (note the arrow)

This is essentially the same perspective as the last shot but zoomed in (to prove that it was actually me all you non-believers).  That's about 90' to the water (not sure if it's to the deck or the water level - either way the air is rare up there)

Let's meet Jordan Hankison a new ordinary seaman from Madison, Wisconsin.  Last year he worked on the Lady Washington.  Which many of you probably didn't know you knew about.  If you have seen the Macklemore/Ryan Lewis video for Can't Hold Us - that ship is the Lady Washington.  If you have never seen it you can check it out here... Lady Washington in Macklemore video. 

How old are you Jordan?     22

What do you want to do when you grow up?  "Retire on a deserted island and drink margaritas till I die."

What should I tell Kiski (and my millions of other fans)?  "I like long walks on the beach, and...I dont know."

Well then how how about a quote?  "Spring break forever!"

Thanks for your help, Jordan!

Saturday we had safety training and I had to put on an immersion/exposure suit.  Maybe if it's a slow day I can show you that - if your in the mood for a good laugh.

Ahoy!